Narrative Connection
How these two moments in the story relate
Why These Connect
The narrative assertion
"Arbitan's blackmail mission sets the primary conflict in motion, directly enabling Yartek's coup by forcing the Doctor's companions to retrieve the keys, which Yartek later secures."
inferred by llm_cross_episode_arc
Why This Matters Across Episodes
The longer arc this connection carries
Arbitan's blackmail in Episode 21 forces the companions to retrieve the Keys of Marinus, creating the very circumstances that Yartek exploits in Episode 26 to seize control of the machine. Without this causal chain, Yartek's coup would lack the necessary preconditions.
About Causal Connections
A directly causes B. The first event sets forces in motion that produce the second. These are the load-bearing connections of plot--remove one and the story structure collapses.