Up until now, Bulshar the demon has been content to be more of a behind-the-scenes guy making people into trees in his basement, but Wynonna Earp 03×09 brought him out of the shadows and into full-on video game end boss mode.

Wynonna thought she had this whole video game metaphor all figured out, but it turns out Wynonna was trying to take out a raid boss all by herself, and we know how that goes.

Bulshar has Peacemaker. In theory, that’s it. Game over.

Except it’s not. Not if we look at what happened in the episode.

Wynonna was right about the whole dream state being like a video game and she was game-savvy enough to know how the basic mechanics worked. If you die, you respawn. If you level up, you hit a save point.

But she missed the part where the NPCs tend to offer information that will help you complete the quests or levels within the game — and she didn’t realize that, in this case, those NPCs aren’t as non-player as she thought.

Both Doc and Bobo are in the game with her. They’re locked into certain behavior, but they offer information that can help her on her quest.

Especially Bobo who, in the course of dying or killing Wynonna numerous times, mentions that the ring currently glued to Waverly’s finger used to belong to Ward Earp.

This leaves me with a number of questions about the ring. The first of which is the idea that the ring itself is inherently evil. But is it really?

The only people (I use that word loosely) who have been damaged by that ring since it’s been on Waverly’s finger are Constance Clootie and Derek the Revenant Jeweler. Both of whom were trying to hurt Waverly at the time. So what if the ring isn’t inherently evil?

Mercedes’ face ends up healed at the end of the episode, but earlier, Waverly had touched Mercedes’ face with her ring hand (prior to the Niagara Falls Mitt of Awesomeness) and told her she’s beautiful.

So what if the ring is just a conduit for the intention of the wearer?

Speaking of Bobo, something else he said caught my attention. During his conversation with Wynonna, the fact that Bobo, Juan Carlo, and Constance sealed Bulshar’s prison came up. But did Bobo also say he killed Bulshar? Maybe I heard it wrong, but it sure sounded like he said that.

Amidst all of this story, we also spent some time diving into (or is it uncovering?) more of the relationship between Doc and Wynonna.

There’s something incredibly telling in Bulshar separating the two of them. Somehow he knows that being apart doesn’t just weaken them as fighters, but eats at their souls.

Again, however, the NPC’s offer information that may ultimately win the game. Wynonna’s been worried about whether she can trust Doc and he reveals that Bulshar offered him a deal to escape Hell and that he refused.

When Wynonna asks Doc how he knows they’re not already in Hell, Doc says, “Because, Darlin’, in Hell I was alone.”

Bulshar may have wanted to divide and break Wynonna and Doc. Honestly, I think he just made them stronger and more determined to turn him into a fine dust.

Speaking of dust, how did Wynonna think she killed Bulshar that easily? I’m going to let that pass because she was clearly tired. But this guy’s been messing with her this whole time. That door is just sitting there tormenting her. How did she fall for that?

In the end, however, Bulshar gets what he wants and how he does that may be the best hint into how Wynonna may ultimately beat him.

Everything he’s done is to wear Wynonna down. His goal was to break her. Broken Wynonna gave up the gun. Like she tells Waverly, “He didn’t cheat, he beat me.” He torments her with their voices. And their deaths. He promises they’ll be safe. The ones she loves.

But he didn’t kill her. He didn’t kill Doc or even Bobo. Bulshar had to trick her into giving up Peacemaker, but once that was done, why let her live?

You could say it’s because Waverly, Nicole, and Jeremy showed up to save them, but Wynonna didn’t snap out of the trance until she’d given up the gun. There’s a hint in there somewhere, I think.

Maybe I’m just being overly hopeful or reading into things. But the fact remains the same. Wynonna and Doc are alive. And pissed off. That’s not a good thing for Bulshar.

That leaves us with questions and one more episode. Oh, and the hints dropped along the way. Why is it Waverly, and Nicole, and Jeremy, and even Robin can see those stairs but Wynonna and Doc can’t? Why won’t that ring come off Waverly’s finger? Did she really heal Mercedes?

And, because I’m curious, is Peacemaker the Tower? Could the ring be the key?

I know, that a lot of questions. But questions are good. I’m sure you have them, too.

Of course, Mercedes Gardner asked the best question ever in this episode, right?

“Is every dicktrumpet in Purgatory a demon?”

I’m just going to leave it at that and we’ll talk after the Wynonna Earp season 4 finale next week.

See you then!