Loved and Lost

Loved and Lost is the fourteenth episode of the second season of Sandguardians and the thirtieth overall.

Plot
Nash and Jason enter the underground chamber residing under Seal's former laboratory, where Jason admires the chamber's large design and structure. Falling behind, Jason catches up to Nash who is swiftly walking from one area to the next. Jason pleads for Nash to slow down, but this only makes Nash impatient as she is too fixated on finding McGrath. Believing that their search is going along too easily, Jason informs Nash of the lack of alarms and guards around and suggests that they abandon the mission. However, Nash furiously declines Jason's suggestion and storms off, causing him to follow her. The two then stumble upon two dead Guardians and question why they are in the chamber. Jason believes that they were looking for McGrath as well and Nash and Jason give their condolences. As they proceed deeper into the chamber, Nash finally finds McGrath; a corpse of him. Upon seeing her lover's corpse, Nash becomes devastated and grieves over McGrath. Jason comforts her as a result.

In Sandbox Red base, the Guy in White places the corpses of Wilbur and Thomas in a pile and proceeds to pace back and forth. Gates tells the Guy in White that he hasn't seen anything unusual but the latter doesn't believe him. As the Guy in White threatens to kill him, Gates forcefully explains his vision to him. The Guy in White understands Gates and explains that he is looking for a special object containing immense power. With his target gone the Guy in White decides to kill Gates, as he has no need for him, and look for the Life Saver. Fortunately, Claire rescues Gates from death by knocking out the Guy in White, allowing the two to escape. Claire grabs Wilbur's shotgun in the process during their escape. Noticing Gates injured, Claire decides to call for help, but soon hears the Guy in White recovering from inside. Claire and Gates then stand their ground outside the base as the Guy in White approaches them, turning invisible in the process. With no way to locate the Guy in White, Claire and Gates attempt to fend for themselves.

Back in the chamber, Jason makes some observations over McGrath's corpse and informs Nash of McGrath's irregular muscular structure, but Nash doesn't respond. Jason tells Nash that McGrath is now in a better place and attempts to contact Seal and Dax about their discovery, but Nash quickly stops him. She tells Jason that if Seal finds out he will become devastated and give away their position, but Jason refuses to hide this from Seal. Nash reluctantly gives him the go-ahead but storms off in the process. So, Jason contacts Dax and Seal and tells them to come down to the chamber. They do so and regroup with the others, where Jason tells them that they found McGrath, much to Seal's excitement. Seal then spots the two Guardian corpses from earlier and proceeds to the next room. Dax also sees the corpses and questions why they're there, before proceeding to the next room as well. As Dax enters the room he finds Seal and asks if the latter has found anything. When Seal doesn't respond Dax asks if he is okay, but the latter still doesn't give a response. It is soon revealed that Seal has found McGrath's deceased body and is left quietly staring at it.

Guardians

 * Nash
 * Jason
 * Dax
 * Seal Vladaam
 * Ray (Deceased)
 * O'Neal  (Deceased)

Red Team

 * Gates
 * Claire
 * Wilbur  (Deceased)

ONC

 * McGrath  (Deceased)
 * Thomas  (Deceased)

Other

 * Guy in White

Transcript

 * [[File:Sandguardians-Episode_30-_Loved_and_Lost.pdf]]

Music

 * "Thunder Dreams" by Kevin MacLeod
 * "Interloper" by Kevin MacLeod
 * "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
 * "First Wave" by Trocadero

Trivia

 * This is the third longest-running episode of the series with a running time of 10:43, behind Birthday Bash! and Exposition.
 * Nash lamenting over McGrath's body was inspired by the video game Gears of War 2 in which Dom Santiago laments over his wife Maria upon finding her.