Episode 23 of Kill the Dragon, Michael Deering's December 2016 Minecraft Hardcore Challenge, starts at the chests in the village house. "Today, we're going to head towards the portal, after I grab proper supplies, namely a pumpkin and some other things I forgot." The anvil goes in the bag too, "in case there's some cool books in the stronghold."
Across the swamp
Basket knows where the stronghold is and goes overland. "I consider taking the nether but I thought that might be more trouble than it's worth." The Depth Strider boots earn their keep, since a lot of the trip is swimming through swamp water. Then the rain starts and the extreme hills keep getting in the way. "I want to avoid having to climb up this mountain because it'll slow me down." Sometimes there's no way around. "Let's climb up the stupid mountain." Basket reaches the spot as it's "almost gonna be night."
Straight into the portal room
Basket marks the spot, caps the hole with cobblestone and digs straight down with the shovel brought "just for this." The shaft cuts through a cave on the way ("Hi, cave.") and then hits stone bricks. "This is a silverfish block, this is the roof." Basket drops in next to a lava pool and the End portal frame, and breaks the silverfish spawner in the room. A crafting table and a chest go down so Basket can stash gear and explore lighter. Jumping in isn't the plan yet: "I don't think I'm gonna jump in right away this episode."
Spiders, but no library
Through a door, Basket finds a mossy cobblestone room with a spawner and spiders crawling around it, and fights them off. There's no chest. A creeper turns up in the corridors and meets the sword too, and endermen wander past. What Basket really wants is the library and its chests, and it doesn't turn up. "Okay well we don't have a thing to explore. I don't really know where it's hiding."
Eleven eyes
With time left, Basket goes back to the chest and plans for the End. The ender pearls and blaze powder become eyes of ender. "We need 11." Basket sets them into the empty frames one at a time, and the portal lights up, a dark starry surface in the middle of the frame.
Then comes a gear check. "I have a sharpness three sword. Yeah, so I guess I'm going to stick with that." Basket tries the pumpkin on. "I'll have this on my head, so I guess it was irrelevant to enchant."
Water, the hard way
Water buckets were part of the plan, and Basket can hear water somewhere. It turns out to be up in a ravine, with lava close by. "This is a really dumb idea." Basket grabs it with the shield up and runs. "There we go, mission accomplished." Back in the stronghold, a small pool in the floor becomes an infinite water source ("Ninja water skills"), and Basket fills a row of buckets, then crafts more.
One more episode
"Oh, by the way, the episode has ended." In the last seconds a third-person view shows Basket in the stronghold beside the chest, shield in hand, a short walk from a lit portal. "Will I survive? Tune in next time for the finale." The episode ends with Basket alive and still in the Overworld. The end card follows, with no gameplay after it.