'Sleepy Hollow' Season 1, Episode 6: 'The Sin Eater' Recap

Abbie brings Ichabod to a baseball game, which is how she unwinds.

Afterwards she offers him a ride, but he wants to walk. He goes to Katrina's grave, and someone hits him with a tranq dart.

As Abbie drives home, she has a strange vision. She is in an old-fashioned house. A baby is crying. She goes to the baby carriage, but the Headless Horseman comes up behind her, and chases her through the house. She hides in a room, and finds witches chanting. They vanish. Katrina appears and greets her. She tells her the house is an echo of the home she and Ichabod once shared. She tells her that the Horseman will return to Sleepy Hollow by nightfall. Only the witnesses can stop him, but Ichabod has been taken and she can't find him.

She tells her she found a way to untie the bonds between Ichabod and the Horseman: The Sin Eater. Ichabod must be sanctified by sundown. Time runs out, and Abbie is back in her car, swerving to avoid a truck.

She goes to Irving with the information. She needs help finding the Sin Eater, so that the tie between Ichabod and the Horseman can be broken.

She gets her sister out of the hospital for 24 hours to help her.

Ichabod wakes in a room lit with candles. Ichabod notes he is a descendant of Edward Rutledge, and clearly a Freemason. The man claims to have the true account of Ichabod Crane's life. He asks him when he first heard "order from chaos." Ichabod tells him when they went to arrest a man named Arthur Bernard, a freed slave accused of treason. Ichabod is supposed to get a confession.

A Quaker nurse comes in to speak for the man - Katrina.

Jennifer explains that a Sin Eater reaches into your soul and absorbs your sins. She and Corbin had been hunting for one, but the man they were tracking had vanished.

Ichabod calls off the man hitting Bernard. He asks for the name of Ciscero, the man they seek. Bernard will not ruin a man's life.

Rutledge notes that he was called away, and three men accused of treason were hanged as examples. Ichabod tells his colonel that public displays are a bad decision. The colonel threatens him, and as he walks away, Ichabod sees his face change somehow, something evil flashing across it.

Ichabod follows Katrina, telling her it was not his fault. He tells her he has a strange feeling he's known her all along. She tells him destiny is a choice, not a matter of chance. He tells her he has heard tales (from Bernard) of a secret war between men and demons. She realizes he is the "one" who can bear witness.

Abbie and Jennifer seek the name of the Sin Eater. Jenny notes how upset Abbie is, and she confesses that Ichabod has given her a sense of purpose again, and makes her feel less alone.

Abbie realizes by looking at logs, that the Sin Eater takes on the name of dead men that he sanctifies on Death Row. They have the name of the last dead man, and they track him down. They know he is Henry Parrish. Abbie tells him she needs his help, but he says he doesn't do it any more. He was losing himself in people. He was going to disappear. They tell him he has a responsibility to help. They tell him about the blood tie and Death.

He asks where Ichabod is, but Abbie was told he could find him. He says only if their tie is strong enough. He tries to go, but she grabs him, and he sees where Ichabod is - underground, hidden behind a symbol of the Freemasons.

Abbie and Jenny go down to the tunnels, seeking Ichabod.

Ichabod goes back to continue interrogating Bernard, but the colonel tells him he has failed. He tells him to take Bernard to the forest and kill him. As they go through the woods, Bernard tries to convince Ichabod to join their side in the fight. He shoots, but doesn't hit him. He realizes he is Ciscero, and Bernard tells him order from chaos - to find Katrina, and tell her those words. As he goes off, Bernard is shot from behind - the colonel. He and Ichabod fight, and Ichabod stabs him. He turns into a demon and knocks Ichabod down, but a man on a horse scares him off.

Ichabod, wounded, goes to Katrina.

Ichabod tells Rutledge that he could have saved Bernard by acting sooner. That is the sin he must bear all of his days. The Freemasons tell him they are on his side. He has confirmed the account, but who wrote it? Katrina. She had worked with the Freemasons before, but betrayed them by hiding Ichabod. To end the Horseman, for the greater good, Ichabod must die.

Abbie and Jenny have found the door, and use their guns to get in. The Freemason says Ichabod will not be hurt... by their hand. Ichabod tells Abbie he can stop the Horseman entirely. He must die. She tells him that she's bringing him to the Sin Eater, but he tells her there is no time. This will end the situation. He will end the Horseman for certain if he kills himself while still tied.

He drinks the liquid in the jar the Freemasons have given him as he and Abbie say their goodbyes.

Ichabod hallucinates as he dies. The Sin Eater appears and clears the room. He realized that the reason he has his gift is Ichabod. He can stop the poison. He stabs Ichabod's hand and licks the blood. He feels the Horseman in Ichabod. He tells him carrying his sin in his heart allows the Horseman to stay tied. Ichabod has to summon Arthur Bernard.

He sits across from Ichabod now. Bernard tells him that his death was Ichabod's salvation. He needs to forgive himself. He needs to stop the Horseman - and the ones that ride with him.

The Sin Eater is back. Ichabod's blood on the table has split into two pools. The Eater sops one up and eats it. Ichabod is sanctified.

The sun has set, and the Horseman rides. He is coming for Ichabod.