Last week Sleepy Hollow introduced a plot line that has absolutely huge implications for the rest of the season/series, and then it got blown up. Literally. Will the show recover from such a drastic move?

In case you forgot what happened last week, let’s jog your memory: City workers uncovered a hidden room in the city’s tunnel system that contained the entrance to a secret vault designed by Thomas Jefferson. That vault, dubbed the Fenestella, was built to contain a vast amount of knowledge about a subject that Jefferson would not tell Ichabod about. The Fenestella was also guarded by a military troop called Reavers that had been supernaturally changed so they could stay alive for centuries, and when these creatures attacked the city workers, it caused present day Ichabod and Abbie to make it their mission to save them.

During their mission they gained access to the Fenestella and discovered that the entire vault was made solely for them: The Witnesses. In that room was a cornucopia of texts and maps and information that held the answer to all their questions: Why them? Why now? How will they win? Who can help them? Who should they not trust? It was their saving grace and their key to winning the war against evil.

However, all of this information and history aside, Ichabod and Abbey were too worried about the fact that the creatures guarding the Fenestella would hurt civilians. At that point the Reavers had already killed one of the three men who were abducted, and did not want anyone else to die. So what do they do? They friggin’ blow up the entire Fenestella.

This article is an explanation of why that move was the stupidest move, by far, that Sleepy Hollow has ever done, and how they could’ve gone a different route entirely.

The Fenestella makes things too easy

The entire idea/concept of the Fenestella is nice to think about, but then the existence of it makes things way, way too easy for Ichabod and Abbie. Suddenly they have all the answers that this series is supposed to give them over the span of several years?

We wonder why the show even decided to introduce the concept of the Fenestella because no matter which direction they go they’ll have ended up annoying fans. If they kept the Fenestella then things would be so, so boring when they decide to stop by it every episode to solve that week’s case. On the other hand, which is the one we’re on now, if they destroy the Fenestella then what the hell was the point of the thing? “Here are all your answers! Ahaha, just kidding. Now you have to search for them yourselves.” That is exactly what they were supposed to do from the beginning.

No one was in danger

The entire reason Ichabod and Abbie destroyed the Fenestella was because those creatures were too dangerous to be kept underneath the town. Were they really, though? Jefferson explains that the vault would contain them, and nothing in the episode told us otherwise.

Yes, the three construction workers were abducted, but that’s because they went out of their way to discover the vault and open the seal, which then prompted the Reavers to take them. Plus they only ate that one worker because they were starving. Nothing in the episode showed us that these creatures were a danger to the citizens of Sleepy Hollow, and in fact it proved otherwise: You’re only in danger if you’re stupid enough to open an unknown seal.

Given that Ichabod and Abbie were able to keep the Archives (which is easily found, as opposed to the secret Fenestella) a secret from basically everyone, they would have been able to guard the Fenestella and the Reavers just fine. As for the hungry Reavers? If they feed them then they won’t go around killing anyone — as proved by the fact that the two construction workers were still left alive.

It’s simply not believable

Here’s the fact plain and simple: The Ichabod and Abbie we know would not have simply destroyed such a huge, important historical artifact that also could have helped them win the war. Yes, there were lives in danger, but at the very end of the episode they even managed to save the construction workers before blowing up the Fenestella.

Are we seriously supposed to believe that if no one was in danger (which, face it, they weren’t) Ichabod and Abbie would just blow this up “just in case?” They’re both so smart that we’re positive they could have figured out a way to protect Sleepy Hollow while also keeping the Fenestella in tact.

Will ‘Sleepy Hollow’ recover after this?

After last week’s events, we’re incredibly saddened at the route Sleepy Hollow decided to take. We were so excited to finally get some answers, even if it wasn’t going to be all the answers, but now our hopes are crushed and we’re left wondering what this means for the rest of the series. Is the Fenestella plot truly pointless, or will the contents somehow be recovered?

The show has yet to be renewed and the hashtag #RenewSleepyHollow has been circulating on Twitter for a while, but was this the last straw? We’ll have to wait and find out.