Spoilers ahead for Episode 2 of Chicago Fire Season 13, called “Ride the Blade.”

Chicago Fire is officially moving forward in the era of Dermot Mulroney’s Dom Pascal

as the new Chief of Firehouse 51, but it wasn’t his influence that had the house out of

sorts in “Ride the Blade.” In fact, it has only taken two episodes of the fall 2024 TV schedule for Damon’s presence to cause some insurmountable complications for the other firefighters. After Severide got a wakeup call, he informed his half brother that something needs to change, and it could lead to one of the two characters leaving 51

The trouble started when Truck, Squad, and Engine were all called to the scene of an accident, and Damon raced into the action to try and save a life despite Kidd yelling different directions. He later confessed to Severide that he’d heard what the Truck lieutenant had said, and Severide decided not to tell his wife – who also happened to be the lieutenant in question – about it.

And Severide might have just kept on covering for Damon if Cruz didn’t drop some hard truths on him. Cruz called the Squad lieutenant out for treating Damon differently than he would anybody else, and it was affecting the firehouse. It could also get much worse, if Severide had to decide between protecting his brother and doing his job.

That was enough for Severide to know that he had to come clean to Stella, who wasn’t happy that he’d lied to her, and it remains to be seen if she’ll be up for keeping Damon shortly after Pascal pointed out the amount of Truck turnover.

In a spectacular failure to read the room, Damon stormed up to Severide at Molly’s to yell at him for telling Kidd the truth, and Severide kept his cool a lot better than he would have back in the early days of Chicago Fire. (You can stream the early seasons with a Peacock subscription.) When Damon shouted that he thought Severide had his back about not telling Kidd, Severide told his half brother:

I did [have your back]. That’s the problem. I lied to protect you, which is something I wouldn’t have done for anyone else. She’s pissed, she has every right to be, at both of us… We can’t work at the same firehouse. One of us has to go.

Honestly, with how he calmly talked to Damon to make up for his mistake, maybe he is ready to start a family if/when Stella gets to the same place. If this exchange had happened between Damon and any other series regular, I would have assumed that there’d be no question whatsoever about which character would stay at 51. Since this is Severide we’re talking about, though, there are some variables to consider.