The Broken Ghost: The hunt for the 8th chapter explained

Apex Legends’ season quest finally revealed who the mole is after nearly two months of waiting. The snitch had something to lose if Loba kept digging on the legends’ past and wanted to silence her once and for all.

But the story chapter is locked behind a short incursion into the Shadowfall version of Kings Canyon. Before reading who the snitch is, players need to clear out a hunt and finish the eighth part of the season quest. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

The hunt: Air Support

The identity of the mole doesn’t come that easily. To discover who betrayed the legends, players must first get through the Air Support hunt, which pits them off against a horde of Prowlers as usual. Teams already start fully loaded, with a gold backpack and body shield, as well as a Charge Rifle and a Spitfire.

The hunt takes place in the caverns near the center of the map. Squads will spawn on the dropship and have the choice to “snipe from above or drop into the fight.” The dig site will show up after taking down six Prowlers. Getting to the dig site is an uphill battle (literally) and players must take down a handful of creatures on the way.

The first house on the right after reaching the cave entrance contains a true arsenal: a Prowler, a Wingman, a Mastiff, an EVA-8, and an Alternator are all up for grabs, with tons of ammo to use. Of course, it’s guarded by Prowlers that are lurking inside. Breach the door with a melee attack and clear the area before scavenging for loot.

Players who are fast enough and make it to the dig site before the marker hits 5:15 can also loot another house further up ahead, which contains an R-99, G7 Scout, R-301, Devotion, and Havoc. The ring closes in quickly, however, and will inflict heavy damage on players who consider trespassing to get some gear.

Activating the extractor will begin the dig phase, when players need to hold out until the extraction is done. Prowlers have three possible entrances: one from behind the harvester and two behind the player. Climbing up on the rock in the middle is good to provide some line of sight and take advantage of Digital Threat scopes, but the Prowlers can still pounce at you if you’re there.

Staying aware of Prowlers’ locations and keeping moving are key to surviving the assault. Thermite Grenades are a good tool to inflict some damage, and the Spitfire that’s in the starting loadout has a hefty magazine size and does great damage to the Prowlers.

After the artifact is fully extracted, it’s time to evacuate. Getting to the dropship isn’t as trouble some as it could be, since a zipline will carry players safely for most of the way. Legends with good mobility like Loba or Octane can get to the zipline more easily, but taking a more defensive character such as Caustic won’t dramatically increase the difficulty of extraction.

After the quest is done, players will get another gemstone gun charm, another piece of the artifact, and the identity of the mole.

The Story: the Unwavering Protector

The latest chapter sheds some light in the mystery of Crypto’s guilt. The hacker was getting along with Wattson, even exchanging personal stories, and she admitted to trusting him in The Shattered Spirit. And his claims of being framed were right.

The chapter kicks off with a confrontation between two polar opposites: the heartwarming Makoa Gibraltar and the cold-blooded Caustic. Gibraltar laments the situation, but Caustic says that Wattson “is protected now from the hacker’s distraction. That’s all that matters.”

Caustic and Gibraltar argue. The scientist defends Wattson, saying she “has a mind of pure, natural genius” and that distracting her from her work “does a disservice to us all.” The greater good, according to him, is to keep Wattson working instead of spending time with Crypto — and it is within his power “to protect her time and energy for the greater good.”

The scientist outright admits to being the mole. He told Revenant everything because “Loba Andrade was digging into our pasts and uncovering skeletons best kept buried,” in reference to his previous life as Alexander Nox.

Nox worked for a pesticide company developing deadly compounds. He eventually designed his trademark, the Nox gas used in the Apex Games, and tested it against living subjects, likely humans. His boss discovered his experiments, so Caustic murdered the supervisor, faked his death, and set the building on fire. The Gaea Global Task Force suspected he was guilty of the crime, but since Nox was ruled dead, they couldn’t punish him.

In the Prologue, Loba had information on all the legends, including Caustic’s “pesky legal problems” in Gaea. Nox’s trap aimed to keep his criminal past from surfacing and possibly causing the Task Force to hunt him down.

Although his main goal was stopping Loba from discovering his past, setting Crypto and Wattson against each other was a secondary part of his plan. It would allow Caustic to control Wattson and ensure she was still working. “She stays focused on her work, and technology continues to progress,” he said. “A temporarily broken heart is a small price to pay.”

Caustic leaves the bar after some more confrontation. Gibraltar insists that everyone is worth saving and rallies the legends, but they’ve gone off on their own to find the piece. He maintains his trademark optimism, however, and knows that there will be “a crack of light,” even in dark times.

Bangalore arrives at the Paradise Lounge, but mentions that the rest of the legends have gone off on their own. She’s armed and has somewhere to be. “You’re going to her, aren’t you?” Gibraltar asks. “You’re going to help Loba.”

Bangalore maintains that she doesn’t like Loba, but it’s her fault that the thief is on Revenant’s sights after the Sargeant exposed her plan to get the simulacrum’s source code. “Either I bring Loba back alive… or the Sim back dead. Either way… this ends tonight,” Bangalore says.

Bangalore also made her contribution to the long list of hints towards what (or who) the artifact is. She asks if the legends were building another Revenant head, which may be close to the truth. Chapters five and six contained a heavy nod towards the Titanfall franchise, and a data miner spotted a hidden spoiler on one of the pieces of the relic.

The full mystery will have its conclusion next week, with the upcoming final story chapter and the epilogue set to debut on Tuesday.