David prophesies the punishment that will fall upon him, stating "the sword shall never depart from your house." When David acknowledges that he has sinned, Nathan advises him that his sin is forgiven and he will not die, but the child will. In fulfillment of Nathan's words, David's son Absalom, fueled by vengeance and lust for power, rebels. Absalom's forces are routed at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, and he is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree where, contrary to David's order, he is killed by Joab, the commander of David's army. David laments
A Boy in a Tree written and filmed prior to "The Man in the S.U.V", which was aired as the series' second episode. The story of "A Boy in a Tree" was conceived to explore the differences between the characters Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. Hart Hanson, writer of the episode, describes Brennan as "a product of top-notch private schools" while Booth is "a product of public schools and the down and dirty education of the US Army." On its original airdate in the Tuesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot, the episode attracted 7.57 million viewers with 5.8% household rating and 9% household share. Fox ordered