In Syria, the search for Guus seems pointless after weeks without results. In fact he was captured and is torture-questioned by Jihadist rebels under Russian control but refuses even to give his name. After Leyla's Turkish contact informs them its' a Dutch general's son, a deal is offered, acceptable to the Dutch government: a prisoner exchange with Serbian war criminal Branco Titov, who seems sick enough to qualify for a humanitarian release anyhow. Rutger is reluctantly excluded from foreign missions, being the 'poster boy', assigned to command a northern air base and do some flights in the NATo air space patrols. As such he is ordered by chief of defense staff Roderick Walema, who obsessively refuses his second son -having lost Maarten executed by the Taliban- to benefit from an exception of the principal refusal of negotiations with terrorists, to threaten the Russian plane picking up Titov in the air. The Syrian teams stands by to repatriate Guus is Ruud puts loyalty first, but the Russians have their own secret plans for Titov and Ruud is the brass's scapegoat.
—KGF Vissers