In episode 9 of "Scandal" Season 3, Olivia's flashbacks reveal that her father had been protecting her all this time and that her mom is the real monster - not her father.

The episode opens with Huck putting Quinn through physical pain. Quinn says to him that she did not do anything, while Huck tells her how he enjoys dismembering a body. A call from Olivia stops him from pulling out a tooth of Quinn. Olivia tells him that her mother is alive and she is there at her apartment. Huck asks her to go with her mother to a safe-house, as Rowan will hunt them down. Before leaving to be by the side of Olivia, Huck pulls out a tooth of Quinn leaving her screaming in pain

Olivia is in complete shock and is sitting on the floor in a corner. She isn't saying a word, while her gang is trying to make sense of the new development. Harrison is finding it difficult to believe that Olivia's mom is alive, the woman who was dead for 22 years. Abby thinks that Jake and Huck have something to do with it. They all want to know from Mom Pope where she is hiding till now. Mom Pope spills-out all the details about how she came to know about her husband's identity and what he does for a living. The plan was to fly over to London and raise the sirens about him but before she could do that, Rowan had captured her and had locked her inside a prison under a false alias of Omar.

Since she escaped Rowan, Olivia's gang pounced on her to get out a tracking chip installed in her body, as no one escapes the command. Rowan's men reach the safe-house but only find blood on the table. Olivia and her gang disconnected their phones and put every barrier to ensure that Rowan and his men cannot find their location and that of Mom Pope.

Olivia remembers the moments before her mom had left home, 22 years ago. She remembers that her mother had talked to a journalist in London before leaving. Olivia asks Mom Pope to call that journalist as he can corroborate her story so she can live a life above ground. Instead, Mom Pope intends to run till Rowan is alive. Olivia's gang discusses the countries where Mom Pope can be safe. Olivia ends the discussion by saying that they are sending her to Hong Kong. However there is a glitch, Mom Pope's name has been put on a no-flight list as FBI's most wanted criminal making fleeing out of the country impossible. Olivia says that she will find a way out because this is what she does and what she is good at. Olivia calls up President Fitz where he insists on helping her. Further into the episode, the latter calls the Pentagon.

At breakfast time, Mom Pope tells her daughter that she imagined her daughter to be happy. Olivia demands to know if she looks unhappy to her. Mom Pope says that she has become more like her father and has less of her mother which she refuses to believe.

A special military flight has been arranged to take Mom Pope out of the country. Abby wants Olivia to hug her mother because she might not see her again. Olivia finally breaks her indifference and calls out to her mother and hugs her. Once the flight has taken-off, Olivia gets the final flashback of getting a call after her mom had left. The call had asked for Marie and not May Pope. Olivia calls Huck to know the name of the terrorist that her father had out on the no-flight list - it is of Marie. In the end, Olivia tells Huck it is her mother who is the monster and not her father who had been protecting her from the truth all these years. Now, Huck is in a fix.

Huck had arranged for the killing of Rowan. Huck had used Quinn's fear to make her the assassin while Quinn had seduced Charlie to achieve her objective. Quinn claimed that she only had Huck and now he has hurt her. Now, Quinn is left with no one. Charlie takes Quinn to Rowan's place, as he believes she will reveal the hide-out of her friends and what they are up to but Quinn has something else on her mind. Before stabbing Rowan to death, Quinn demands to have the photographs of her that would incriminate her in the murder of Omar.

Cyrus is having a restless time because of the pictures he had received of James and Douglas in a compromising position. He cannot directly talk about it to James. James on the other hand is talking in sexual innuendoes while mentioning Douglas, making Cyrus believe that there is something serious going on between his husband and Vice President's husband. He demands to know whether James is having sex with Douglas. James demands a divorce as Cyrus has destroyed the marriage by pimping his husband, treating him like a whore.

The Jesus fearing vice president decides to take the pro-choice line, picking up politics over God. She tells Fitz that she is going to stand-up against him as an independent Presidential candidate. Fitz tells her that she will regret her decision for the rest of her life. Later, Fitz screams at Cyrus for not containing the situation and doing nothing enough to stop Sally. Cyrus has a breakdown while Mellie tells him that he will soon be fine.

Cyrus shows the photographs of Douglas and James to Sally to make her back-off. Sally tells him that he is not going to publish them, as he would like to protect James and his marriage. Cyrus calls up James to say that he is sorry. As for Sally, Sally calls Cyrus to tell him that she has committed a sin - she has killed her gay husband.