In 1872, Arthur, feel­ing tri­umphant after dis­cov­er­ing the Flood Tablet, faces an unex­pect­ed turn of events when his employ­ers announce his return to Eng­land, despite his wish­es to extend his stay by the Riv­er Tigris. Despite his attempts to con­vince them to allow him to remain in Nin­eveh, he must reluc­tant­ly pre­pare to return home. On the night before his depar­ture, he shares a poignant moment with Leila, a local vil­lager, who spills water for luck and encour­ages him to return freely. Arthur marks a pome­gran­ate tree as a sym­bol of his promise to come back.

Upon arriv­ing in Lon­don, Arthur is met with adu­la­tion and claims of hero­ism. The media casts him as a cel­e­brat­ed schol­ar, and he is bom­bard­ed with invi­ta­tions, though the fame feels over­whelm­ing. While he resumes his work at the British Muse­um, he feels a sense of alien­ation, strug­gling with hybrid emo­tions amidst new­found praise and dis­dain from crit­ics, includ­ing accu­sa­tions of fal­si­fy­ing arti­facts.

Arthur’s fiancée, Mabel, is eager to fur­ther their wed­ding plans, reflect­ing her desire for social ele­va­tion through his fame. Shop­ping sprees for attire reveal the tan­gi­ble impacts of his ele­vat­ed sta­tus, yet Arthur feels uneasy; the grandeur feels con­strict­ing. At a par­ty host­ed by an afflu­ent count­ess, Arthur is con­front­ed with the com­mod­i­fi­ca­tion of the arti­facts he cher­ish­es, dis­played for the amuse­ment of the elite instead of respect­ed as cul­tur­al trea­sures.

The ensu­ing din­ner con­ver­sa­tion turns to accu­sa­tions about the peo­ple of the places Arthur vis­it­ed, lead­ing him to defend the Yazidis and empha­size their dig­ni­ty. This moment of dis­con­nec­tion from his din­ner com­pan­ions height­ens his feel­ings of iso­la­tion. Arthur sens­es a pro­found change with­in him­self, as he longs for Mesopotamia, a place where he felt authen­tic and con­nect­ed.

After mar­ry­ing Mabel, their strug­gles with finan­cial con­straints become appar­ent. While Arthur remains barred in his schol­ar­ly pur­suits, Mabel pres­sures him to seek a pro­mo­tion to sup­port their grow­ing fam­i­ly, reflect­ing their diverg­ing per­spec­tives on life. As Arthur immers­es him­self in his work, he remains haunt­ed by mem­o­ries of the land and woman he left behind, feel­ing a lin­ger­ing sense of incom­plete­ness and a yearn­ing to recon­nect with his past.

Wait­ing ai