Outer Banks season 3 recap guide: All 10 episodes explained

The new season of Outer Banks has arrived on Netflix and fans are excited to dive back into the adventures of the Pogues. The show picks up where it left off, with the gang marooned on Poguelandia but the action quickly moves back to the Outer Banks as the Pogues begin searching for an exciting new treasure.

Along the way, they encounter new obstacles and adversaries, all while navigating their own personal relationships and struggles as they search for the legendary city of El Dorado. The season delivers the same thrilling action, suspense, and romance that fans fell in love with in the first two seasons.

Outer Banks season 3 episode guide: Complete recaps for episodes 1-10

Add Outer Banks season 3 to your Netflix watchlist!

The following article contains heavy SPOILERS, so keep that in mind while you’re looking through it. We’re breaking down each episode of the show’s third season, so if you have questions or want to learn more about the show, start reading!

Table of Contents

• Outer Banks season 3 episode 1 recap: Poguelandia
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 2 recap: The Bells
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 3 recap: Fathers and Sons
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 4 recap: The Diary
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 5 recap: Heists
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 6 recap: The Dark Forest
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 7 recap: Happy Anniversary
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 8 recap: Tapping the Rudder
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 9 recap: Welcome to Kitty Hawk
• Outer Banks season 3 episode 10 recap: Secret of the Gnomon

Outer Banks season 3 episode 1 recap: Poguelandia

As the new season begins, John B, Sarah, JJ, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo are still marooned on Poguelandia following the events of the season 2 finale which saw the Pogues wash ashore the desert island. While it’s unclear how long exactly the Pogues have been on the island, it’s hinted that they’ve been marooned for roughly a month which is shocking given how clean their clothes are after a month lost on an island, but I digress.

Though the group is enjoying their stay in Poguelandia, they’re just as eager to get off the island so when they see a plane flying above them in the sky they race to get the pilot’s attention. Fortunately for the Pogues, the group is able to flag down the plane which is when they meet its pilot, a man named Jimmy Portis, who offers to give them a ride off the island.

The action then moves to Guadeloupe, where the Camerons have been living since fleeing the Outer Banks with the gold. We discover that Ward is in a coma caused by the injury sustained in the season 2 finale showdown with the Pogues, the stolen gold is locked in a vault in their home, and Rafe is actively searching for the Cross of Santo Domingo.

As we move back to the Pogues, Sarah expresses concerns that the man might have been sent by her father but they all agree Jimmy is their best shot at getting off the island. They all quickly board his plane and JJ sparks up a conversation by asking about how he came to be in the area which was when Jimmy spewed off a story about fishing for Wahoo. The only problem is that Wahoo aren’t in season in September, meaning Jimmy isn’t a fisherman and he lied to them. This is when they discover a photo of the boat they were on in the season 2 finale in Jimmy’s bag hinting he’s not who he says he was.

A skirmish on the plane ensues and the plane crashes in the water just offshore. The Pogues quickly manage to swim away from the wreckage as they notice military-like men swarming the beach. However, when Kiara decides to save Jimmy from the crash, she’s separated from the group and eventually taken by these mysterious men.

Catching back up with Rafe, he’s found the cross and has arranged a meeting with a mysterious French man named Michel Arnaud, who tells Rafe he has a buyer interested in the cross but little is revealed about the mysterious buyer in the moment.

Back in the Caribbean, Kiara is taken to Vaux Hall and is convinced Ward and the Camerons are responsible for her kidnapping. However, she quickly discovers the Camerons were not behind her capture, rather she was taken by the mystery buyer interested in the cross — oh and Rafe is there too because he’s arrived ready to sell the cross. Carlos explains that he’s looking for the gold at El Dorado, and he wants Kiara and Rafe to help him get it. He wants Denmark Tanny’s diary, which he believes the Pogues have.

Elsewhere in the episode, we see that Big John and Limbrey are both on the island as well after they show up on the beach to inspect the plane crash. We also get our first death of the season when Carlos captures and kills Jimmy for messing up his assignment to bring him the Pogues.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 2 recap: The Bells

After the Pogues confronted Jimmy in the premiere in hopes of getting answers about where Kiara has been taken, JJ steals the phone from Jimmy which the Pogues eventually use to contact Singh in hopes of tricking him into meeting up. The only problem was that Jimmy had already been killed by Singh by the time the Pogues used his phone to reach out to Singh which is how he knew it was a trap. Singh’s men quickly find the Pogues after he used Jimmy’s phone to track them, but the Pogues are able to get away.

Back at Vaux Hall, Kiara tries to trick Singh into letting her leave to find the journal for him, but he sees through the ploy. With their backs against the wall, Kiara and Rafe must work together to break out which they’re able to do when Singh’s men are distracted. Kiara and Rafe are able to make it back to Rafe’s boat and he offers to save her by giving her a ride back to the Outer Banks; however, he refuses to go back for the rest of the Pogues.

Not willing to give up on her Pogues, Kiara pulls a fast one on Rafe and knocks him off the boat which she then steals. After sending a text to the Pogues signed P4L, Kiara and the Pogues are reunited and ready to head back home. However, there’s one thing that throws an unexpected wrench in that plan.

Throughout the episode, Big John has been using a bell to attempt to get John B’s attention and it works. After reuniting with Kiara, John B tells Sarah and the Pogues about the bells which have the same melody as the one his father used to call John B back home as a child. John B leaves the group to go explore the bells and ends the episode by making it to the building where Big John and Limbrey are currently staying.

While the Pogues hoped to wait for John B before leaving, they’re forced to flee without John B after Singh’s men show up and open fire on the boat — leaving John B behind on the island alone.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 3 recap: Fathers and Sons

Picking up where episode 2 left off, John B is finally reunited with his father, leading to an emotional reunion between the pair. After catching up, the pair come up with a plan to leave the island with help from Limbrey, but first, they need to make a few stops.

Before heading back to the Outer Banks, Big John needs to stop at an antique shop to collect an artifact that could hold the key to help point them to the location of El Dorado. They’re not the only ones with that idea as Singh and his men show up shortly after, but they’re too late as Big John and John B are able to escape before Singh can stop them. With the artifact in hand, the pair make their way to the boat and eventually back to the Outer Banks.

While the Johns are reuniting and running from Singh, the rest of the Pogues begin their journey back to the Outer Banks which is when we start to see the beginning of the season’s slow burn in exploring the brewing romantic feelings between Kiara and JJ.

Also during this time, Rafe is able to make it back to Guadeloupe after stealing some random guy’s ID and boarding a cruise ship. Upon his return, Rafe is shocked to discover that Ward has awakened from his coma and is ready to make some moves to set the family up for the future. Basically, Ward wants Rafe to return to the Outer Banks to sell off the family businesses as well as Tanneyhill.

As the episode comes to a close, Big John and John make it home to the Outer Banks as well; however, John B has vanished — a realization John B has after waking from a nightmare and seeing Sarah by his side.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 4 recap: The Diary

After his brief moment of panic, John B discovers that his dad had gone to get the Twinkie in order to get his hands on the copy of Denmark’s diary located within it. Unfortunately, the diary was ruined by its exposure to water so they’ll need to seek out Mr. Sunn (John B’s former history teacher) who is in possession of the original diary.

It’s during this moment we also see some early tensions building between Big John and Sarah, as he makes it clear he does not trust her simply due to her last name and connection to Ward. Because of this, the Johns embark on the journey to Mr. Sunn’s house alone to get the diary.

Upon arriving at Mr. Sunn’s place, a pair of smugglers attack Big John and John B, and are able to get away with the diary. Big John and John B give chase, following the pair out into the waters where they confront the smugglers in hopes of getting the diary back. When it becomes clear they’re not going to hand over the diary, Big John kills them both and takes the diary before tossing their bodies into the sea. After, Big John begins to read through the diary and discovers a new hint at the location of the other half of the artifact he took from the antique shop — hinting at where the pair’s adventure will go next.

Elsewhere in the episode, the rest of the Pogues are reunited with their loved ones and attempt to settle back into their old lives. Kiara has an emotional reunion with her parents, JJ discovers the bank has foreclosed on his home, and Pope introduces Cleo to his parents and they offer to allow her to stay with them.

As for Sarah, she returns home to gather some clothing and personal items which is when she overhears Rafe taking a call from Ward. Listening in on the call, Sarah discovers the plan to move it that night as Ward and Rose look to give it to a museum to help atone for their past actions.

Sarah quickly relays this news to the Pogues and they come up with a plan to steal the cross back from the Camerons, not knowing that Ward has met with Barry to develop a plan of his own for stealing the cross from under Ward’s nose.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 5 recap: Heists

As the episode title suggests, episode 5 is all about pulling some heists with our two groups each going after very unique items. Let’s start with the Johns.

After getting their hands on Denmark’s diary, Big John and John B head out to Charleston in search of the other half of the artifact in their possession, which we eventually learn is an idol known as a gnomon. Their hope is to look through artifacts at a church connected to the diary, but sadly they discover the church is no longer standing and that the artifacts once housed in it are now located in a nearby museum’s storage facility. Upon making this discovery, we see the lengths Big John is willing to take to get the treasure after he forces John B to rob an elderly woman in order to get her keycard to the facility.

When John B is unable to follow through with his dad’s plan of robbing the older woman, the pair stake out the storage facility and are able to make their way into the building after a couple sneaks in after hours to make out. At first, it seems like their search was for nothing, but they’re able to find the other half of the idol in a box and quickly flee the facility… only to discover the Twinkie has been stolen by Limbrey.

The pair make their way to Limbrey’s home which is when she confronts Big John about trying to pull a fast one on her by not holding up his end of the deal to find her the magical healing shroud. We see how conniving Big John truly is when he gives her a fake shroud which he passes off as the real deal. She takes it and believes it to be the real deal, discovering she can walk again which helps the Johns to escape back into the night.

The second big heist of the episode comes as the Pogues develop and enact a plan to steal from the Camerons. While they develop a plan for getting the cross back, they realize they need a mode of transportation which is when they turn to a very unexpected ally: Topper! With Sarah’s help, she’s able to convince Topper to help them by using his dad’s truck as a means of transportation for the cross.

When it comes time to enact the plan, things actually seem to go the Pogues’ way for once as they’re able to get the cross off the train and evade the police — thanks in part to JJ going rogue and giving us a fakeout death moment.

Unfortunately, when the cross falls out of the truck, they discover it was a fake and that the cross was not in the box. It’s then that we discover that Rafe and Barry got to the cross first and have a plan of their own for it. Refusing to allow his father to give it away, Rafe decides to melt the cross down for its gold as the episode comes to a close.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 6 recap: The Dark Forest

After going on their unique adventures, the Pogues are finally reunited at the top of the episode, but Big John quickly begins to drive a wedge between them when he urges John B to keep Sarah at a distance — advice John B ends up taking. You see, Big John is not a fan of Sarah and doesn’t trust her with the secret that they now have the Gnomon of Solana in their possession which could hold the key to locating El Dorado.

Big John seeks out a woman by the name of Kelly Keple, an archeologist he’s hoping will be able to help translate the glyphs on the gnomon. However, he finds out she had a heart attack and died after getting back from a dig in South America which sends him and John B searching for Professor Sowell.

Sowell says three of the five people from the dig have died since returning, but he agrees to help Big John with the translation of the glyphs. Before he’s able to do so, Sowell is struck and killed by a poison dart shot off by Singh’s men. As he dies in John B’s arms, he’s able to utter the name “Neville,” a hint that will come into play later.

Singh’s men quickly enter the home and take Big John hostage knowing he’s the key to translating the gnomon. Singh then orders his men to kill John B, but he’s able to escape and eventually makes it back home where he tells JJ everything that has just gone down, and the pair begin to hatch a plan to make it to South America.

Elsewhere in the episode, after John B pushes her away, Sarah ends up meeting up with Topper who invites her to a Kook party. Feeling all alone, Sarah agrees. Topper asks if things would have been different if he didn’t do the things he did, says he wants her to be happy, and kisses her. She pauses and then kisses him back, leaving her future with John B up in the air.

As for the other Pogues… Pope attempts to return to school but is told he must enter lower-level classes due to the time he’s missed while away which leads him to walk away entirely. JJ tries and fails to get his old job back, but when doing so he overhears a conversation between Rafe and Barry talking about melting down the cross.

JJ soon relays this information to Pope, who reaches a breaking point running off saying he’s tired of being the good guy. We learn he took a gun and has plans to kill Rafe for what he’s done. Fortunately, Cleo shows up to talk him down and stop him from throwing away his future by killing Rafe.

Speaking of the Camerons, after Ward confronts Rafe about the cross being stolen, Rafe puts his father in his place reminding him that he’s dead in the world’s eyes and Rafe is ready to make his mark as the new head of the family. This conversation seems to be enough for Ward to realize he needs to make his way back home, which he does as the episode ends.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 7 recap: Happy Anniversary

With JJ looped in on everything that’s gone down, he and John B head out to Professor Sowell’s house to search for answers. While doing so, they discover a newspaper clipping that includes a photograph from the expedition which is when John B notices there is a man named Neville Persaud in the photo and that he must be the person Sowell was speaking of as he died.

John B and JJ are able to track Neville down on his houseboat, but Singh’s men arrive immediately to kill him. Fortunately, they’re able to help Neville escape and he’s able to help them form a plan for getting Big John back.

On the Ward front, after landing back in the Outer Banks, he wastes no time in confronting Rafe about his involvement in stealing the cross. It’s then that Rafe confesses he’s melted the cross down and makes it clear he does not need Ward anymore. We then learn that Rafe is starting to sell off the gold from the cross and see a plan begin to come together for Rafe to take Ward out of the picture entirely.

Elsewhere, Wheezie contacts Sarah and tells her she ran away, asking her to meet up. Being the good big sister she is, Sarah goes to meet with Wheezie only to be ambushed by Ward, who lured her there under false pretenses. Sarah makes it clear she wants nothing to do with him, but Ward isn’t ready to give up and leaves her with a key to the condo they’ve met at and a credit card loaded with funds.

Back to the Pogues, John B and JJ make their way to Kiara’s parents’ anniversary party in hopes of gathering the group to realign on the mission to save Big John. This is when Sarah drops the truth bomb on John B that she hooked up with Topper, this eventually leads to John B giving Topper a major beating that leaves him unconscious as John B and JJ flee the scene of the crime.

While this was unfolding, JJ attempts to get Kiara to come with him but she refuses to come and is still angry about him stealing from her parents.

Finally, the last key event of the episode comes as Pope and Cleo look for answers in Denmark Tanny’s belongings. This leads Cleo to find a letter to a Clarice Tanny, who we learn was raised by the Limbrey family. The letter mentions a city of gold and seems to have the translation to the idol Big John is in possession of.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 8 recap: Tapping the Rudder

After John B attacked Topper, Sarah goes into damage control mode and quickly heads to Topper’s house in hopes of convincing him not to press charges against John B — knowing that him ending up behind bars would prevent him from being able to rescue his father. Surprisingly, Topper isn’t as bad off as we were led to believe and is actually up and working out.

He tells her that if she is truly sorry for the role she played, she’ll testify against John B and makes it clear his plan is to press charges. She agrees to meet him at the police station later that day, which she does follow through with.

Elsewhere, John B and JJ are desperately attempting to figure out a game plan for how to secure travel to South America knowing they’re broke and don’t even have passports. JJ gets the idea to meet with a drug smuggler named Barracuda Mike, who agrees to give them a ride in exchange for them dropping a van off at a location. Unfortunately, the pair get caught by the cops and have to ditch the van… and the drugs inside.

Before they can figure out their next steps, John B is arrested by Deputy Shoupe, who had put a tracker on the Twinkie earlier in the episode.

Back to Sarah, she shows up at the police station as promised to meet up with Topper. Pulling him away from his mother, Sarah tells him about what’s happened to John B’s dad and asks him to wait to press charges as he’ll be off the island by the end of the day. She tells him she’ll stay behind which is when Topper tells her he still loves her which is super awkward but hey, anything to keep John B out of jail.

After convincing Topper not to press charges, Sarah meets John B outside the police station and tells him she has a way to get him to South America and everyone is waiting back at The Chaetue. Basically, she’s arranged for her dad’s plane to take them to South America.

At the gathering, John B and Sarah end up patching things up which Topper ends up seeing after he’s stood up. It’s at this point that Topper has a major heel turn and literally sets The Chaetue on fire… with the Pogues trapped inside!

Elsewhere in the episode, Rafe and Ward once again have a tense standoff as Ward informs Rafe that he’s had his lawyers create new papers which leave the name in Rose’s name, not Rafe’s. He’s also decided to cut Rafe off and is selling Tanneyhill. Rafe says he’ll tell the police Ward is alive to which Ward says he’d have to tell them Rafe killed Peterson. Rafe draws a gun on Ward but ultimately can’t shoot him. However, he doesn’t have any qualms with someone else taking Ward out, with Rafe meeting with Barry about following through with the plan to kill Ward.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 9 recap: Welcome to Kitty Hawk

As episode 9 begins, we surprisingly jump to the morning after the fire as it’s revealed that the Pogues have all managed to escape the fire and that no one died in it. Surprisingly, the house fire storyline is quickly glazed over as the Pogues prepare to head out to South America to begin their quest to find Big John.

Before they head out, the Pogues do the responsible thing of checking in with their parents before just leaving town (again). Pope’s parents take some convincing, but eventually give their blessing in trusting their son. Kiara’s parents, on the other hand, have an entirely different reaction and end up shipping her off against her will to a behavioral wilderness camp named Kitty Hawk.

When all of the Pogues meet up at the airstrip ready to take off, they quickly notice Kiara has not arrived and JJ leaves to go find her. It’s at this time that he learns about Kiara’s parents’ actions, and races out to Kitty Hawk to rescue her. He’s successful, the pair share a passionate kiss, and then race off to meet Barracuda Mike. Why meet up with Barracuda Mike you ask? Well, before saving Kiara, JJ made a deal with Barracuda Mike to secure transportation to South America by offering him a portion of the group’s score should they find El Dorado.

As JJ’s rescue mission is unfolding, Rafe has second thoughts about his desire to kill Ward and tells him to leave town. He then goes to tell Barry he changed his mind about offing Ward but Barry informs him he already hired a guy. The hitman shows up to kill Ward and Rafe is able to stop him, but Ward does sustain an injury to his leg during the battle. Making matters even worse, a man happens to be passing by as the fight unfolded and recognizes Ward.

Rafe quickly races Ward to the airstrip to get him on the plane, much to the displeasure of the Pogues. Before they can debate anything, they hear sirens coming in the distance as the police are coming both with the presumed goal of catching Ward and also arresting John B after Topper decided to proceed with pressing charges.

With the police closing in, the Pogues have to rush onto the plane without JJ and Kiara and take off just as the police arrive.

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Outer Banks season 3 episode 10 recap: Secret of the Gnomon

As the Pogues make their way to Venezuela, they begin to go over the plan while on the plane which gives Ward the chance to listen in and eventually crash the party (more on this to come).

John B and Sarah eventually are able to track down Big John at Singh’s safehouse and rescue him after creating a diversion with some fireworks. Once reunited, John B shows his dad the note Pope and Cleo discover, which he confirms to likely be a translator for the gnomon.

At the same time the Pogues land, JJ and Kiara arrive via Barracuda Mike’s plane and begin venturing into town. When Pope and Cleo spot Singh’s men driving out, they race away which is when JJ and Kiara spot them running through the town and are reunited as a group.

Back with the Johns and Sarah, the group makes their way to the fish market where they’re to meet a tour guide who will help provide them passage. Upon arriving, Ward crashes the party having already paid for their transportation, and tells the group he wants to accompany them on their journey to protect Sarah. The plan is to wait for the rest of the Pogues to arrive, but when Singh’s men arrive, they have to leave without them.

Upon making it to their destination, Ward suddenly begins singing a different tune and tells the group he’ll stay behind because he can’t make it up the mountain with his injured leg and that he’ll send up a flare if Singh arrives. The only problem is, before he tells this to the group, we see him drop his location to a mystery individual hinting he has something else planned.

After a long journey, Big John, John B, and Sarah make it to the dig site where they discover four columns that mark the cardinal directions as well as a temalacatl. The gnomon fits into the center of the temalacatl and when the moon hits its zenith, the action starts. As the moon hits the gnomon, symbols start lighting up revealing a message that is translated to “Brave traveler, if you have wisdom, I’ll reveal the wealth of the earth.”

The next pattern hints that the gnomon will guide them in the direction of El Dorado and then they’re given a new riddle to its location: “I am nothing but hold everything. No tongue but always speaking.”

Before the dust has settled, Singh and his men show up as it’s revealed that Ward had made a deal with Singh trading their location for Sarah’s safety. Singh demands Big John tell him the translation but he refuses.

Singh turns his guns on John B and his dad doesn’t say anything, father of the year that Big John. Ward ends up shooting one of the men when it looks like Sarah is in danger, giving them the chance to run. He then reveals he wants Sarah to come with him, but she takes refuses to go with him, and they go their separate ways. Oh, and we later find out that Big John has been shot during the exchange.

While searching for the answer to the riddle, Sarah hears a noise that leads them to a cave.
When they go into the cave, they discover an opening too narrow for Big John to fit through. It’s at this moment he sends the two off with some waterproof flares and the final piece of the puzzle: “The true and patient seeker needs not light to see.”

John B and Sarah make their way through the cave and after a long journey eventually discover the lost city of El Dorado, this after Sarah did the thing and cracked the final riddle leading them to the treasure. They scoop as much gold into the bag as they can carry and head back to share the good news with Big John. Only when they return, Singh has arrived and is holding Big John a gunpoint.

Big John whips out a stick of dynamite — because who travels anywhere without at least one stick of dynamite?! — and threatens to set it off if Singh shoots John B. To create a distraction, Big John tosses the dynamite into the cave allowing Sarah, John B, and Big John to escape. As for Singh? He races for the dynamite but it goes off before he can get to it causing the cave to collapse.

After taking down Singh, Ward shows up with a gun and says he isn’t letting them walk away happy. It’s at this point the other Pogues finally arrive and begin to witness the scene unfolding in which Ward says Big John is supposed to be dead and he liked him that way. This is when the Pogues run up and surround Ward armed with machetes, because hey why not?!

John B steps in front of the path of the gun pointing at Big John, and Sarah then steps in front of the path of the gun now aimed at John B before she grabs the gun from Ward. This is when one of Singh’s goons arrives and is looking to avenge his boss. He goes to shoot Sarah, but Ward jumps in front, takes several shots to the chest, and somehow manages to still tackle Singh’s goon off a cliff with the pair both falling to their deaths.

After the chaos, the Pogues make their way back to the boat and begin heading back up the river. Sadly, Big John dies before they get back to the dock, succumbing from the gunshot wound he sustained during the shoutout with Singh.

As the episode comes to a close, 18 months have passed and the Pogues are being celebrated for finding El Dorado. We don’t get major updates on what has happened in these 18 months other than that Kiara is saving turtles, Pope is about to go away to school, JJ has bought a charter boat, and John B and Sarah now own a surf shop.

Just when it begins to look like the season 3 finale was going to turn into a series finale, a mysterious old man approaches the Pogues. After complimenting them on their remarkable feat of finding El Dorado, he asks the group if they’d be so kind as to look at a manuscript and become his partners. It seems he’s for Blackbeard’s treasure and wants their help.

The ending seems to suggest the key storylines from the first three seasons have been tied up and the show’s fourth season will begin a new journey as the Pogues attempt to find Blackbeard’s treasure!

Outer Banks season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.

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