Pretty Little Liars season 7, episode 9, continued the Kahn game and set us up for an epic season 7A finale.

On one side of Pretty Little Liars season 7, episode 9, “The Wrath of Kahn,” we had a rogue Hanna chasing down Noel Kahn. On the other side, we had the rest of the Liars chasing down…well, Noel Kahn. The show’s current red herring revealed his true colors in this episode, and they weren’t quite as red as we expected.

How Hanna managed to convince anyone that she was going to New York to work on her business with Lucas, I’ll never know. You guys, it’s Aria’s move to leave at inappropriate times, not Hanna’s! Because of everyone’s stupidity, Hanna was flying solo in this episode.

The previous episode of Pretty Little Liars showed Hanna on the phone with some unknown entity. After Pretty Little Liars season 7, episode 9, we still don’t know who was on the other end of the line. She did somehow manage to find a drug dealer who sold her a narcotic to knock out Noel, but the phone conversation was about retrieving keys for her lair.

I definitely understand why Hanna felt the need to chase down this lead on Noel. When she left, she was the one with the largest personal stake in the matter. She was tortured mercilessly, and she believes Noel’s the one who did it to her.

That being said, I don’t really understand why Hanna had to go “off the grid” just to follow Noel in her car. I’m pretty sure the Liars wouldn’t have stopped her, and they probably would’ve offered their help! When you feel the need to make an “if you’re watching this, I’m already dead” video, that’s probably the right time to call for backup.

Even though she was going it alone, she managed to find some real, incriminating evidence against Noel. He drove completely out of his way to dispose of some trash, which included Sara Harvey’s cell phone! Hanna knew it was Sara’s phone because…there was a giant picture of Sara on the lock screen.

If that’s the only evidence there is, I’m going to have to question if this is really Sara’s phone at all. Did she really want to look at herself every time she pressed the home button? Could this actually be Jenna’s, or even Charlotte’s phone? I’ll table this for now and take Hanna at her word, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this comes up again.

Hanna’s original plan, which involved trying to drug Noel, was an epic failure. Noel initially took the bait of a joint alibi for the two of them, but was too smart to drink the drugged beer. All I could think when he effortlessly took the phone from her was, “this probably wouldn’t have happened if you just brought backup.”

Noel didn’t deny that any of Hanna’s accusations were true in this scene, but he definitely didn’t confess either. If he didn’t kill Sara himself, he likely knows who did, at the very least. I would be worried for Hanna, since he issued her a not-so-subtle threat on his way out, if she hadn’t completely taken care of him with that baseball bat! She might face some assault charges, but at least she accomplished her goal.

We’re conditioned to think that Noel is perfectly innocent, given Pretty Little Liars‘ affinity for the red herring, but we keep getting more proof that he’s actually involved in something big and really, really bad. Hanna was the one who took Noel down in Pretty Little Liars season 7, episode 9, but it was the rest of the Liars who uncovered the most valuable information.

Probably the most relevant piece of evidence is that Noel ordered a red velvet cake from Sabrina. Just kidding. But seriously, what’s with the cake? If this was just thrown in to cause tension between Emily and Sabrina, I’m not going to be impressed. Could Noel be building a new lair out of cake? If so, Emily was justified in her freak out. If it’s for literally anything else, she was being crazy.

Aria teamed up with Jason to figure out if Noel could be Mary Drake’s second child, so we finally got some insight into what happened between them during the time jump. It seems like their relationship was actually pretty serious, with Jason trying to convince Aria to move to Ethiopia with him! Luckily for Ezria shippers, she was able to resist the abs and flowing blonde locks, and took a job in the good old US of A to be closer to Ezra.

Even though Aria and Jason broke up roughly three years ago, it doesn’t look like he’s completely over it. The random leg touches and “she’s really special” comments were all slightly uncomfortable to watch. That being said, he seems to be respecting (for the most part) Aria’s engagement, so he can stay, for now. Especially since his connection to Mary Drake proved to be so helpful in Pretty Little Liars season 7, episode 9.

Using Jason’s DiLaurentis-ness and Aria’s tenacity, they were able to get the adoption file for Mary Drake’s second child. Unfortunately, almost every piece of important information was redacted. The only thing worth noting about the file was the judge’s name. Steven Kahn. Naturally, since Noel’s dad was the judge on the case, he must have adopted the child! Does that sound like a stretch to anybody? Aria? Jason? No?! Okay…

With Sara’s (potential) phone, a mysterious (or not) red velvet cake, and Noel’s father’s name, we had three pieces of evidence that told us absolutely nothing definitive about Noel Kahn’s involvement. Luckily, there’s one more piece of evidence that makes us not feel even a little bit bad about the bump Noel’s going to have on his head tomorrow.

While searching Noel’s parents’ cabin, Emily and Spencer found a box with a familiar symbol on it. The last time this symbol was an important feature was in Pretty Little Liars season 3, episode 9, “The Kahn Game.” In that episode, Cece invited the Liars to party that Eric Kahn, Noel’s brother, was throwing at the cabin! The symbol was a stamp that allowed people regular entrance to the party. Maya and Holden definitely wore the symbol, and Jenna was also an attendee at the parties.

There are still a lot of secrets around the symbol, but the box only held one secret. A thumb drive with 5 folders in it. The folders were labelled Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Mona, and contained videos of their time in the dollhouse. If that wasn’t creepy enough, the videos featured Noel Kahn participating in their torture!

After witnessing him spread blood all over Spencer, we can no longer dismiss his sketchiness as being unrelated to the main plot. He was definitely at the dollhouse, and his cabin is in the same area where Hanna was tortured separately. There’s probably still somebody else that he’s working for, or at least, working with, but Noel Kahn is undoubtedly playing a huge part in what’s happening to the Liars now.

Of course, having a thumb drive with indisputable proof of Noel’s involvement would be too easy, so naturally, the thumb drive was stolen. Luckily, Hanna has the real Noel Kahn held captive. We’ll find out what she does with him next week, on the Pretty Little Liars summer finale!

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What did you think of ‘Pretty Little Liars’ 7×09?