Howard looks askance at his son. He knew what the crimson ring could do, and isn't ruling out that Gene's done...something...with it to Tony. (Incidentally, Howard is both correct and not even wrong.)

"That snake plays a long game, as you know," Howard says darkly - but he also knows Tony's been here far longer than he has, and he wants to believe Gene has the capacity to change. He just isn't optimistic enough to trust that he actually can. And it's a lot to take in, the idea that someone he saw a week ago, who threatened to kill him, has been here for years and has turned his life around.

Gene could have killed him, could have rewritten history so he'd never existed, could have disintegrated him with a thought as easily as he'd disintegrated the dampening rifle. He hadn't, which had honestly kept Howard up at night. Maybe he can be different. Maybe he can be better. Maybe there's some humanity left in that snake after all.

"Do you trust that he's changed? Do you trust him?" He suddenly looks alarmed, thinking. "And if he saw the Makluans - Tony, does he have the rings?"