“Cangku Shisi” is episode five of season five of Warehouse 13.
At the end of the previous episode, “Savage Seduction”, when everyone returned to the Warehouse, Artie discovered that Claire was missing. His natural first thought was that Claudia had removed her sister, but she hadn’t.
The episode opens with Artie and Claudia at the place where Claire no longer is. Claudia is worried that her attempt to cure Claire in “A Faire to Remember” may have caused something worse to happen to her, but Artie tells her it’s not her fault. Claudia is not impressed with the location’s security; Artie says she should have realised that when she broke in. Claire, when awake, should have destroyed the place, but it’s still intact. So Claire’s still attached to the record player that was keeping her in a coma.
Viewing what happened reveals the presence of Benedict Valda, who died in “Buried”. Not that they know this yet (but soon do), but this is the Valda who worked at Paracelsus’s Warehouse 13 in “Endless Terror”, and who survived the reset of his timeline. Valda has Claire and he’s fitted something to her that allows him to control her powers (and makes her look like a Borg). Claire resists, but Valda wasn’t kidding about the control. This Valda is definitely not a very nice person. Valda had been hiding in ‘his’ room in the Dead Agent’s Vault until now.
Pete is nervous about being alone with Myka now, after Kelly told him that he was in love with her, but he and Myka have to try to find out what Valda is planning (and Pete acts weird around Myka throughout). Valda’s picked up a few artefacts, and definitely has a plan, but it’s not clear what it is. Other than it will probably be bad for everyone else. Valda’s also broken into the Regent’s vault, presumably looking for something specific.
Valda has got a lot of artefacts which he’s using to enact his plan and make sure that no-one can stop him. His plan is to steal the Warehouse, and all the artefacts in it. This Valda comes from a timeline that used, and weaponised, artefacts, so him getting his hands on a Warehouse full of them would be bad. He also is recruiting an ally to help him.
Valda’s actions lead into the season and series finale, “Endless”.