Willow writes a letter to the Archon, describing her dilemma regarding the judging of the candidates in the form of a parable about a merchant seeking to select the best pot in order to determine the best potter to be his successor. She then spends some time thinking over her problems and her course of action for how to next test the candidates, and then gives instructions to a couple of "false candidates" on how the candidates should be divided into groups for a gardening session … and the spreading of some rumors about Willow, to see how the candidates react. Lastly, Willow receives a response from the Archon.