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"Dark" is one of the best Netflix original series to date. To see a description of the show and all of my episode recaps, go here. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains suicide ideation, matricide, and hints of child abuse.
Episode 3.7 Between the Time
This episode opens with an informative presentation about Schrodinger's cat.
"What is reality? And is there only one of them? Or do several realities coexist?" An animation shows one box becoming three. The presentation continues: "Erwin Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment. A cat is locked in a steel chamber with a tiny amount of radioactive substance, a Geiger counter, a vial of poison, and a hammer. As soon as the radioactive atom decays inside the steel chamber, the Geiger counter releases the hammer, which smashes the vial of poison. The cat is dead.
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| Tannhaus explains Schrodinger's cat |
Our perspective changes from the presentation to seeing who is giving the presentation. It's a version of HG Tannhaus (Heinrich Gustav) between the one in 1953 and the older one we see talking to Stranger Jonas in the 1980s. He is talking as if he's on a TV show about science. He goes on to explain that since we put these objects inside a steel box that is sealed, the actual fate of the cat is both dead and alive. Until we look, we don't actually know if the radioactive substance decayed, triggering the chain of events leading to the death of the cat. Until we look, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time.
The scene then switches abruptly to Martha from Dark. This Bill Nye the science guy-esque TV show first appeared in season 1, when Eric was held in the torture chair in the bunker. Helge had the TV tuned into this channel. But who is Tannhaus teaching to?
Tannhaus then switches from teacher to narrator inside the world of Dark. "But what if the simultaneous existence of life and death also applied to the macrocosmic world?"
Inside the house, Jonas sits by the corpse of OG Martha, promising to make things right. Tannhaus then posits a world where instead of the cat either being alive or dead, there are two realities and the cat is both alive and dead, even though the box has been opened. "Could two different realities potentially exist side by side? Could we manage to split time and allow it to run in two opposing directions? And by doing so, allow the cat to simultaneously exist in both states, dead and alive? And, if so, how many different realities could exist side by side?
We get the first of two replays of events we've seen before. In world 1, alt Martha stands outside the Kahnwald house on the day of the apocalypse. The screen splits, but instead of seeing what happens to Jonas (he goes with Martha or escapes in the basement), we see what happens to Martha to cause both states of reality. In one version, Martha goes inside to save Jonas. In the other Martha doesn't go into the house because Bartosz calls her name and stops her.
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| Martha doesn't go inside the house to save Jonas because Bartosz stops her |
In this version, Bartosz says, "You can't go in there. Adam and the others lied to you. He doesn't want to help you. He's going to kill you." Bartosz's clothes are ripped and his face dirty. "In the future he doesn't want to stop the apocalypse. Everyone will die. Not because of you, but because of Him." He promises Martha he knows where the origin is and how it's all connected. This is what alt-Martha is supposed to say to Jonas. Instead Bartosz makes the same promise to Martha, begging her to trust him. Martha accepts his promises, and the two of them disappear into a cloud of golden stars.
This is a piece of the puzzle we've been missing. For how did all of these different Marthas come to be? There were two fates of Jonas and now there are two paths of Martha, causing branch upon branch in the timeline.
Cue title credits
We then jump to the workshop of HG Tannhaus in the year 1974. The style of clocks he is working on looks visibly different than we have seen before. And in 1974, Tannhaus looks the same age as the man on the TV screen. He glances at a photo on his desk of his son and family, including baby Charlotte. Because there are so many quick jumps through time, throughout this episode, we have a new transition device of a countdown clock that shows us the rapidly shifting years of time.
A voiceover of Tannhaus says, "It's hard for people to accept death. We hold on tightly to things that are long gone. We long in vain for a way to turn back time. A way to reverse death. But if time is relative and nothing is ever really in the past, and the simultaneous overlapping of different realities is possible, shouldn't it then be possible to bring back something that was believed to be dead long ago. And to create a new reality in which what is dead lives again? If our life is defined as that which lies between birth and death, then it exists there in infinite versions. Could we succeed in cheating death by finding a way to bring back life?" All this talk makes me think of Charlotte saying you have to get to the person you want to save when they are young.
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| The grave marker for Tannhaus' dead family. Charlotte is on there, too, even though her body was never found -- just like Mads. |
We see a grave marker for the Tannhaus family, dated November 8, 1971. Marek, Sonja, and Charlotte are the names engraved on the tomb. Tannhaus visits the grave at the church of St. Christopher. This is a place we have seen characters from Dark go before. Jana visits Mads. Jonas visits the graves of Martha in 2053. Claudia buries Regina. He places a red stuffed animal beside Charlotte's name. Note that they put Charlotte's name on the tomb, even though her body was never found. He then walks to the bunker that we all know and love. He walks down the stairs and finds a perfectly empty room.
Fun fact: users on reddit like illecebrous-91 and brenoimatos have gotten much joy out of pointing out the similarities in the names of Tannhaus' loved ones to the names Jonas and Martha. Sonja and Jonas are anagrams, and Martha is the first parts of Marek Tannhaus put together. And Martha and Jonas' love causes an apocalypse, just like Marek and Sonja die together in a car crash.
In 2021, we enter the cave to find teen Noah and Elisabeth hard at work lifting stones, trying to clear the passage that was blocked by the explosion at the power plant. I guess these two are now joined at the hip since the death of Peter. They finally reach the door to the Sic Mundus tunnel.
Afterwards, Elisabeth holds the "For Charlotte" pocketwatch. She asks Noah to tell her about paradise. He has now learned some sign language. He says, "Paradise is free of pain and suffering. Everything we've ever done is forgotten there. Any pain we've ever felt is erased. And all the dead live. Adam will keep his promise. The passage will open."
These are important promises for Elisabeth and perhaps Noah, too. Noah has already murdered at least one person, and Elisabeth probably wants to forget the terrible day in the RV. The day her father died because of her. Also, he promises that the dead live. Maybe she can see her family again one day.
The clock winds back to 1890. It's been two years since alt-Martha abandoned Stranger Jonas, leaving a ball of goo behind. That goo is still in the vessel Jonas put it in. A figure covered in an early hazmat suit stands at a desk with two machines that hook up to three crackling pylons. The pylons all make an electrical current with the dark matter. Dials are turned to try different things. The figure notices that one of the pylons loses the connection with the dark matter. They march forward and climb up to use their hands to try and adjust the pylon, getting electrocuted in the process. It's Stranger Jonas, who has now become severely burned by the charge – the first of many scars he will endure. And still the ball of goo sits unchanged.
The Stranger goes to his room and finds Bartosz waiting for him. Bartosz is aggravated that his promise for a way out and to stop the apocalypse is no closer to being fulfilled. It's been two years. Jonas knows it will work because he saw it work when he was younger. Bartosz isn't buying it. He doesn't believe Jonas really wants to go back or stop the apocalypse.
Stranger Jonas grudgingly admits he's right, although he doesn't use those words. Instead he admits his focus has changed from stopping the apocalypse to discovering the origin and destroying it, calling that paradise. Bartosz scoffs at this idea of paradise. He just wants out.
The camera pans over rainy Winden, still in 1890. The Girl from the Future is wearing the dress alt-Martha wore. She quickly covers her hazmat suit with brush and branches. Bartosz grouchily walks in the woods. Perhaps he was on his way out of Winden? He hears a noise behind a tree. There, he finds the Girl from the Future. She introduces herself as Silja (blind one). They shake hands. This may be the same tree that Aleksander buried his things near when he appeared in the 1980s.
When I first saw this scene in the series, I felt happy that Bartosz had a new lady friend. Now I see that this is an insidious move on Adam's part. He sent Silja back deliberately to keep Bartosz occupied and connected to that time. The purposefully had Silja wear Martha's clothes, knowing that Bartosz is attracted to Martha. Silja also has dark hair. She was sent as a plant and a copy of Martha.
We wind forward to 2023. Teen Jonas and Claudia power up the machines and try to penetrate the covering around the small god particle. It's no use. They then spend time cleaning their suits. Jonas looks dejected. Claudia says they can try again tomorrow. Jonas doesn't look convinced. She encourages him not to give up hope. He doesn't think he can do this anymore. It's difficult to know what's on Claudia's mind. We know alt-Claudia told her to keep Jonas distracted. What is her intention? Does she really want him to keep hoping? Perhaps this is her trying to send him a silent message that all is not lost, even though she doesn't tell him the truth. It does seem cruel not to bring him in to the secret. But Claudia still needs to make sure that she doesn't mess up the plan.
Jonas does what he always does when things look grim. He goes home, looking as much like the Stranger as we've ever seen him. He looks at the spot where Martha died. He goes upstairs and enters the room in which his father hung himself. He fashions a noose and gets ready to follow suit. In this moment, I feel Bo and Jantje are giving a voice to how we might feel as viewers seeing all of this death and tragedy time and time again. Seeing Jonas take this step let us know just how dire he feels about the state of his future.
Just then, teen Noah comes into the room, beckoned by some thread of time to this spot at this moment. He grabs his knife and begins to saw furiously at the rope. Jonas falls to the ground, gasping for air. Once he sees Noah, he moves away as quickly as possible, and teen Noah tosses back just as much hatred in his eyes. There is no love between these two men. They met once back in 1921 and never saw each other again.
Jonas accuses Noah of following him. Noah says, "You promised me something. Adam promised me something. You said the apocalypse must happen. So that we can be saved. So that all of us will be saved. You can't die." Noah may mean literally or figuratively. He hands Jonas a gun. Jonas fires it at his own head five times, but the gun doesn't go off. Noah then grabs the gun and shoots the wall. The gun goes off just fine. Noah explains that Jonas can't die because his older self exists. Time won't allow it. No matter what he does, someone or something will keep him alive. He then tells Jonas that he and Elisabeth found the passage, and that Jonas must keep his promise.
So much to say here. This is a wild bit of storytelling, and there's a treasure trove of theories waiting on Reddit or elsewhere speculating about the truth. Just like Stranger Jonas needed Bartosz to keep going, teen Noah needs Jonas to live another day. Perhaps his words are correct, and the gun will not go off since Jonas cannot die. But I read at least one theory where a person speculated that Noah handed him a gun, knowing there was only one bullet. That there was space for six bullets but only one bullet in the last chamber. Thus it seemed like Jonas could not kill himself.
Also let's remember how Noah died. He brought a gun to kill Adam and instead that same gun was used by Agnes to kill him. Does that mean he forgot his own advice that Adam could not be killed? Did he forget this moment in their relationship? Either way, it's a sick form of justice. Something did stop Jonas. That something was Noah. If he killed himself, Jonas would not become Adam, a person whom Noah tried to kill. But if time will intervene, if Noah did not come in, perhaps the beam Jonas tied the rope around would give away or the hope would falter. It's fun to speculate either way.
Moving on, teen Noah shows Jonas the passageway and the Sic Mundus tunnel. The door is now open, but the air doesn't flow freely. The passage is still blocked. Noah says, the passage will open and then you – Adam – will lead us to paradise. "He said we will be friends before you betray me." An interesting bit of information. What could have motivated Adam to tell teen Noah this about Stranger Jonas? Or was it his older self? He wanted to keep just enough suspicion between the two of them.
We wind back to 1904. Silja goes into a painful labor, with Bartosz and a midwife at her side. After some painful pushes, Silja gives birth to a baby boy and names him Hanno. So, another puzzle falls into place for us, Bartosz and Silja are Noah's parents. His own baby boy drugged him into this mess called Sic Mundus. And we've seen Bartosz's older self by now and also know that it was Bartosz whom Noah killed at the beginning of season 2. What a dysfunctional family.
We wind to 1974. Tannhaus hangs the family photo of his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter on the bunker wall – Marek, Sonja, and Charlotte. Tannhaus's voice says that fate plays cruel games, but we always will believe there is a way to turn the tide in our favor if we want it badly enough. Tannhaus is the first to hang photos of dead people in the bunker. We then pull back. He has brought boxes and various contraptions down to the bunker.
He says, "A person is able to pursue a goal, no matter how unattainable it may seem, over the course of an entire lifetime. No resistance, no obstacle is great enough to stop one from pursuing one's will." Tannhaus has a small prototype of a nuclear device and some plans. "Is this stubbornness in our striving not that which distinguishes us from animals, which know only short-lived desire. And isn't all progress, through all ages, not the product of this unquenchable act of will."
We continue to watch Tannhaus at various stages of building some sort of device in the bunker as he drones on and on about will and progress. The will guides us towards an idea of progress. As long as you feel you are getting somewhere, you will keep going, just like the characters in this show.
We wind to 2040 and the ruins of the power plant. In the middle of the room, the small glowing remnant hangs in the air. Middle-aged Noah, Stranger Jonas, and Claudia wear yellow hazmat suits and push buttons and pull levers, trying to get the small sphere to evolve in some way. They allow electricity to penetrate the sphere and one lightning bolt actually makes contact. The glowing orb begins to cloud over as a small black spot covers the globe, forming what looks like the unstable god particle. The group looks at each other, although no one seems too excited or impressed at this change. They can't do much with an unstable god particle. It seems they are checking each others' reactions, which hints at distrust. We see the time when these three people worked as a team.
Stranger Jonas and Noah warm themselves by a fire. Stranger Jonas asks why Noah thinks that their efforts aren't working. Noah suggests Claudia doesn't want it to work. He wonders why Jonas trusts her. Stranger Jonas asks Noah why he trusted Adam when he lied. There is no paradise. Jonas promises he won't become Adam and assures Noah that the portal will work because he's seen it in the future. He still believes he can change the course of events. His older self failed, but he won't. Stranger Jonas may mean Adam but he may also mean the Stranger Jonas she met when he was a teen. He claims to have changed the components in the passage.
Noah interrogates this claim. Noah is onto something here, as alt-Claudia talked about the positive feedback loop between Jonas and Claudia. Jonas believes he changed the components because Claudia told him he would. Claudia also disappears for days. Noah remembers that Claudia said not everything that's here belongs here and ponders what she meant by that.
Just then, Elizabeth comes out, pregnant. She gestures for Noah to come inside. This is the paradise Noah should enjoy if he has any sense. He tells Jonas once more that they can't trust Claudia. Jonas doesn't seem convinced.
We leave Jonas and overhear a conversation between the two Claudias. OG Claudia assures alt-Claudia that Jonas still doesn't know the other world exists. Alt-Claudia reminds her that the matter must not work yet. The knot must be upheld in both worlds. Alt-Claudia is just about ready to exit with her golden globe when OG Claudia stops her. She wonders if Eva actually knows everything that will happen. She wonders if alt-Claudia has met "her." At first, I think she means Eva, but she is speaking of her older self. Alt-Claudia has never met older Claudia.
Claudia recalls what older Claudia said, "If everything goes right, Regina will live." She has thought about that all of these years and she can't believe that older Claudia meant for Regina to just suffer over and over again in a repeating knot that must be preserved. Alt-Claudia has no words. With that OG Claudia takes a pistol out of her pocket and aims the weapon straight at alt-Claudia's head. She says, "There must be a way to untie the knot without destroying all life in it. A way for Regina to live. I think neither Eva nor Adam know that path. But I'll find it. In my world or yours." And with that, OG Claudia shoots alt-Claudia.
OG Claudia becomes the first person to break the chain. Claudia does not take orders from others. Bernd told her if she wants something then take it. She also realizes that since alt-Claudia never met an older Claudia that alt-Claudia doesn't survive to older age. She cradles the golden sphere in her hands.
We warp to world 2, the Erit Lux lair. OG Claudia now enters Erit Lux, dressed as alt-Claudia. There she meets Eva, with dark hair. She is older than Stranger Martha and younger than Eva. Eva looks as if she's expecting someone else along with Claudia. She thought maybe the other Claudia would come with this time, too. OG Claudia must think of an answer: Noah was watching too close for her to come.
Saying nothing else, Eva walks to her desk and rolls up the plans for the time machine, the ones that the Unknown stole. She gives them to the fake alt-Claudia. Alt-Claudia is to give the plans to OG Claudia, who must then give them to Tannhaus. Eva seems hesitant to give up the plans without making sure that the Claudias understand that everything must happen again. The tension mounts as if we wonder if Eva will realize she's talking to the wrong Claudia.
We then wind to 1910. A woman with a slash across her face lies across a bed. Blood covers her nightgown in the stomach area and all down her legs. The innkeeper named Erna has her arm around the young boy named Hanno, the first child of Bartosz and Silja. She encourages him to be strong for himself and his father. Silja has died giving birth to her second child, a girl named Agnes. Bartosz rushes into the room to find his wife dead. He says her name. Erna tells him that they did everything they could. The look on Bartosz's face speaks volumes. He must have heard Agnes' name from Noah and now the pieces have all snapped into place in his mind. His son is Noah, the man who recruited him. He was uneasy when Silja named the baby Hanno, but now he can't deny the truth of his son's identity.
We wind forward to 2041. Noah and Elisabeth walk outside hand-in-hand. They fold laundry and do the things couples do. Elisabeth stops to ask him to tell her about paradise. It's a conversation they have had many times before, but Noah seems to have lost his conviction somewhere along the way. He looks weary. He recites his speech: "Paradise is free of pain and suffering. Everything we've ever done is forgotten there. The passage will open, and then we will be there: You, me, and Charlotte." They hold each other tight.
Unbeknownst to the couple, intruders are now watching them. Charlotte and adult Elisabeth enter the grounds and the couple's home. There on a small cozy bed, lies tiny baby Charlotte. Elisabeth is overwhelmed with emotions as she remembers the pain of losing her daughter. She picks up the baby tenderly and presses her face to the infant's warmth. Charlotte has no words. But she does look down and sees the pocket watch. She takes it with her. So now we know that Elisabeth and Charlotte are the ones who kidnap baby Charlotte.
The pocket watch goes from Noah to younger Elisabeth, from Elisabeth to Charlotte, from Charlotte to Peter, from Peter to Elisabeth, from Elisabeth to baby Charlotte, from baby Charlotte to Tannhaus, from Tannhaus to young Charlotte, and now I must desist from tracking the watch.
Noah and Elisabeth go inside their shack and realize that baby Charlotte is missing. He goes straight away to the bunker, where Stranger Jonas bunks, convinced that he's the baby snatcher. He shoves Stranger Jonas against a wall. He remembers Adam's words – that they would be friends until Stranger Jonas betrayed him. Stranger Jonas assures him that he isn't the guilty party. Noah grabs him by the windpipe, ready to exact revenge. He leaves him with a curse, "I wish you all the suffering in the world." He leaves Jonas without another word.
Elisabeth sits, cradling a baby cap left behind. Noah kneels before her and vows to find Charlotte. He promises to return with the baby and takes the Sic Mundus journal with him.
A voiceover of HG Tannhaus: "A man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills." Earlier we saw Tannhaus talk about reaching goals. Noah has a goal, as well as Jonas, Claudia, and Eva.
We wind back to 1986. In the bunker, HG Tannhaus look at the portrait of his dead family. He says, "All the paths we take in our lives, every decision that we make, is guided by that which we desire deep inside ourselves. We cannot fight that desire. It determines every one of our deeds, no matter how grave and unimaginable they seem."
He starts up his machine to see if it will work. He pushes two buttons mounted to the wall. This machine sounds similar to the suitcase time machine. The machine lights up.
We wind back to 1911, to the Tannhaus factory. Bartosz works on a car. A woman approaches, holding a suitcase and the hand of a small girl. Bartosz stares in wonder. It's Hannah. He then looks closely at the girl. She has a familiar looking slash across her face. He calls her Silja. Hannah seems confused that he knows her daughter's name. This makes me wonder what time period Hannah chose to have her baby, based on her haircut and clothes, it seems perhaps the 1980s.
Hannah explains that she's looking for Jonas. Bartosz warns her that he's changed. Traveling has left marks on him. (We know it's not traveling but stupid handling of electrical equipment.) Even after his wife died, Bartosz never left Adam's side. Did he keep up hope that Adam would find a way? Or did he stay to be near his son?
We cut to the Sic Mundus lair and the Fall of the Damned painting. Bartosz escorts them inside. Adam has his back to them. Bartosz sits the suitcase down, waiting to see how Jonas/Adam will react. He turns, and Hannah can see her now scarred son. She's momentarily speechless but collects herself enough to introduce Jonas to his half-sister. Jonas says nothing.
He finally asks how she came to find where he was. Hannah seems to be trying to accept this new version of her son. She explains that a few days ago, an old woman named Eva came to see her at her house. She told Hannah where to find Sic Mundus, saying that Jonas was looking for her. The mention of Eva makes me wonder if this Hannah is actually Hannah from world 2, rescued by Egon 2 or if this is world 1 Hannah. We know that Eva doesn't really go to world 1. Jonas/Adam probably spots this right away.
Hannah apologizes for ruining everything between them. She overcomes her repulsion enough to touch his face. He has a tear in his eye, but awkwardly removes her hand from his face. Hannah registers that he's not happy to see her. Adam orders Bartosz to prepare the chamber for them, an ominous welcome as I've ever heard.
Later that evening, as the rain pours down, Adam enters the chamber as Hannah and Silja sleep. He begins to move the blankets off Silja. Hannah asks what he's doing, her mother instinct kicking in. He says that Silja doesn't belong there. "All the pieces have to be in position. She's in the wrong place. So are you." He caresses her face, a repeat of all the men who have touched her in this way before. He calls her Mom, and then proceeds to strangle the life out of her. There's something so raw about the way he accomplishes this – using his bare hands instead of a pillow.
Silja slept through that encounter. Now he goes to her bed and claims he wants to show her a secret. He picks her up and carries her out of the room. Silja doesn't seem scared to go with him.
We wind forward to 1920, to the Winden Inn. A group plays cards. In walks Noah, as if he's new in town. He goes right to the counter and tells Erna he needs a place to sleep. This is where he grew up, and he struggles to maintain his emotions to be here with the woman who helped bring him into the world. Erna calls for Hanno. And this is where Noah meets his younger self for the first time. He must surely remember this moment, but he seems surprised.
Older Noah walks down into the Sic Mundus lair and meets older Adam. Adam has been expecting him. He knows Noah thinks he lied to him. That he took Charlotte away. But he says that Claudia did it. He asks about the Sic Mundus journal. Noah has it. If he finds the last pages, Adam says he will then find Charlotte. He will find paradise, and Helge will help him: "Everything happens in cycles: Sunset is followed by sunrise. Over and over. But this time, it will be the last cycle." He gives Noah a Bible.
We then wind to 2052 and the wall of the bunker, covered in pictures. A voice says, "The material can finally be stabilized. Everything must happen again in exactly the same way. You have to lead your younger self down the same path. He must not act differently. You have to set the course, no matter how hard that may seem. But you'll finally be able to change everything." We pull back to reveal older Claudia talking to Stranger Jonas. "The device. He'll repair it. You must destroy the passage, and the knot with it." She hands him a copy of A Journey Through Time by HG Tannhaus. You'll succeed this time. Jonas, you must never lose hope." Jonas exits the bunker. Claudia opens the Sic Mundus journal and tears the final pages out.
Our montage begins, starting with photos of Regina. The song is "Pneumothorax" by Blueneck. Claudia walks out of the bunker. We see scenes from previous episodes, but this time from the perspective of the more knowing character. Stranger Jonas comes to town during a search party for Erik Obendorf. Noah calibrates the chair time machine in the blue wallpaper room. Older Claudia waits in the office as middle-aged Claudia walks in. Stranger Jonas leaves teen Jonas a clue to follow the signal. Noah waits in the limo as teen Bartosz meets him for the first time. Older Claudia leaves the time machine for middle-aged Claudia to find. Noah enclosed Helge in the iron maiden chair.
Older Claudia apologizes to Egon. Noah shoots older Claudia and finds the missing pages of the journal. Hannah embraces Stranger Jonas. Charlotte rejects Noah. And Claudia finds Regina on the day of the apocalypse. Noah throws the missing pages of the journal at Adam. Jonas looks behind the tree at Martha and Jonas at the lake. Agnes shoots Noah and looks unhappy about it. Teen Noah enters the bunker on the day of the apocalypse. Adam shoots Martha in front of teen Jonas.
Alt-Martha enters the Erit Lux lair with Bartosz 2. She sees the Adam and Eve painting. She asks Bartosz why he brought her here. He says they will help them. Martha is aghast. She struggles to explain to Bartosz that Eva is not a nice person. Bartosz calls them the light. Eva enters the room, and Bartosz looks happy to be bringing Martha here to this person he thinks of as reliable. Eva says, "Isn't it peculiar that one feels the greatest aversion towards the people who are most similar to oneself?" Martha tells her that they are nothing alike. Eva admits that she never saw this moment happening again when she was Martha. She couldn't imagine ever wanting what her older self wanted. Now, 66 years later, she understands. "Some pain is never forgotten. It brands us for our entire life. You and I, we share that pain. We bear the same scars." She then takes a dagger or sharp weapon and slashes Martha across the face, claiming Martha will now never forget which side she's on. Bartosz just stands there as Martha bleeds from the eye. Erit Lux is life and Sic Mundus is death.
You really have to feel sorry for Martha. As terrible as the transition from Jonas to Adam is, Martha gets terribly abused by herself, all the while the loyal Bartosz thinking it's for her own good. How twisted do you have to be to abuse yourself in this manner?
We then cut to Adam, repeating the scene where he destroys Martha on the pile of rubble in world 1. He expects this to destroy everything. Instead, Martha just disappears. Adam realizes that nothing has changed. His plan failed. As he stands there with egg on his face, older Claudia enters the room and says, "Hello, Jonas."
It's strangely satisfying to see Adam proven wrong. That smug expression is now gone, humanizing him at last. This was a wild ride of an episode, with Claudia in the Queen position on the chessboard.
Lingering questions or thoughts:
Fun fact: users on reddit like illecebrous-91 and brenoimatos have gotten much joy out of pointing out the similarities in the names of Tannhaus' loved ones to the names Jonas and Martha. Sonja and Jonas are anagrams, and Martha is the first parts of Marek Tannhaus put together. And Martha and Jonas' love causes an apocalypse, just like Marek and Sonja die together in a car crash.
In 2021, we enter the cave to find teen Noah and Elisabeth hard at work lifting stones, trying to clear the passage that was blocked by the explosion at the power plant. I guess these two are now joined at the hip since the death of Peter. They finally reach the door to the Sic Mundus tunnel.
Afterwards, Elisabeth holds the "For Charlotte" pocketwatch. She asks Noah to tell her about paradise. He has now learned some sign language. He says, "Paradise is free of pain and suffering. Everything we've ever done is forgotten there. Any pain we've ever felt is erased. And all the dead live. Adam will keep his promise. The passage will open."
These are important promises for Elisabeth and perhaps Noah, too. Noah has already murdered at least one person, and Elisabeth probably wants to forget the terrible day in the RV. The day her father died because of her. Also, he promises that the dead live. Maybe she can see her family again one day.
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| Stranger Jonas tries to create a god particle out of the leftover black goo |
The clock winds back to 1890. It's been two years since alt-Martha abandoned Stranger Jonas, leaving a ball of goo behind. That goo is still in the vessel Jonas put it in. A figure covered in an early hazmat suit stands at a desk with two machines that hook up to three crackling pylons. The pylons all make an electrical current with the dark matter. Dials are turned to try different things. The figure notices that one of the pylons loses the connection with the dark matter. They march forward and climb up to use their hands to try and adjust the pylon, getting electrocuted in the process. It's Stranger Jonas, who has now become severely burned by the charge – the first of many scars he will endure. And still the ball of goo sits unchanged.
The Stranger goes to his room and finds Bartosz waiting for him. Bartosz is aggravated that his promise for a way out and to stop the apocalypse is no closer to being fulfilled. It's been two years. Jonas knows it will work because he saw it work when he was younger. Bartosz isn't buying it. He doesn't believe Jonas really wants to go back or stop the apocalypse.
Stranger Jonas grudgingly admits he's right, although he doesn't use those words. Instead he admits his focus has changed from stopping the apocalypse to discovering the origin and destroying it, calling that paradise. Bartosz scoffs at this idea of paradise. He just wants out.
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| Silja/The Girl from the Future smiles at Bartosz |
The camera pans over rainy Winden, still in 1890. The Girl from the Future is wearing the dress alt-Martha wore. She quickly covers her hazmat suit with brush and branches. Bartosz grouchily walks in the woods. Perhaps he was on his way out of Winden? He hears a noise behind a tree. There, he finds the Girl from the Future. She introduces herself as Silja (blind one). They shake hands. This may be the same tree that Aleksander buried his things near when he appeared in the 1980s.
When I first saw this scene in the series, I felt happy that Bartosz had a new lady friend. Now I see that this is an insidious move on Adam's part. He sent Silja back deliberately to keep Bartosz occupied and connected to that time. The purposefully had Silja wear Martha's clothes, knowing that Bartosz is attracted to Martha. Silja also has dark hair. She was sent as a plant and a copy of Martha.
We wind forward to 2023. Teen Jonas and Claudia power up the machines and try to penetrate the covering around the small god particle. It's no use. They then spend time cleaning their suits. Jonas looks dejected. Claudia says they can try again tomorrow. Jonas doesn't look convinced. She encourages him not to give up hope. He doesn't think he can do this anymore. It's difficult to know what's on Claudia's mind. We know alt-Claudia told her to keep Jonas distracted. What is her intention? Does she really want him to keep hoping? Perhaps this is her trying to send him a silent message that all is not lost, even though she doesn't tell him the truth. It does seem cruel not to bring him in to the secret. But Claudia still needs to make sure that she doesn't mess up the plan.
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| Claudia tells Jonas not to give up hope |
Jonas does what he always does when things look grim. He goes home, looking as much like the Stranger as we've ever seen him. He looks at the spot where Martha died. He goes upstairs and enters the room in which his father hung himself. He fashions a noose and gets ready to follow suit. In this moment, I feel Bo and Jantje are giving a voice to how we might feel as viewers seeing all of this death and tragedy time and time again. Seeing Jonas take this step let us know just how dire he feels about the state of his future.
Just then, teen Noah comes into the room, beckoned by some thread of time to this spot at this moment. He grabs his knife and begins to saw furiously at the rope. Jonas falls to the ground, gasping for air. Once he sees Noah, he moves away as quickly as possible, and teen Noah tosses back just as much hatred in his eyes. There is no love between these two men. They met once back in 1921 and never saw each other again.
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| Jonas tries to kill himself. The tree branch coming through the broken window adds an ominous touch |
Jonas accuses Noah of following him. Noah says, "You promised me something. Adam promised me something. You said the apocalypse must happen. So that we can be saved. So that all of us will be saved. You can't die." Noah may mean literally or figuratively. He hands Jonas a gun. Jonas fires it at his own head five times, but the gun doesn't go off. Noah then grabs the gun and shoots the wall. The gun goes off just fine. Noah explains that Jonas can't die because his older self exists. Time won't allow it. No matter what he does, someone or something will keep him alive. He then tells Jonas that he and Elisabeth found the passage, and that Jonas must keep his promise.
So much to say here. This is a wild bit of storytelling, and there's a treasure trove of theories waiting on Reddit or elsewhere speculating about the truth. Just like Stranger Jonas needed Bartosz to keep going, teen Noah needs Jonas to live another day. Perhaps his words are correct, and the gun will not go off since Jonas cannot die. But I read at least one theory where a person speculated that Noah handed him a gun, knowing there was only one bullet. That there was space for six bullets but only one bullet in the last chamber. Thus it seemed like Jonas could not kill himself.
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| Jonas tries to kill himself with the gun offered by Noah |
Also let's remember how Noah died. He brought a gun to kill Adam and instead that same gun was used by Agnes to kill him. Does that mean he forgot his own advice that Adam could not be killed? Did he forget this moment in their relationship? Either way, it's a sick form of justice. Something did stop Jonas. That something was Noah. If he killed himself, Jonas would not become Adam, a person whom Noah tried to kill. But if time will intervene, if Noah did not come in, perhaps the beam Jonas tied the rope around would give away or the hope would falter. It's fun to speculate either way.
Moving on, teen Noah shows Jonas the passageway and the Sic Mundus tunnel. The door is now open, but the air doesn't flow freely. The passage is still blocked. Noah says, the passage will open and then you – Adam – will lead us to paradise. "He said we will be friends before you betray me." An interesting bit of information. What could have motivated Adam to tell teen Noah this about Stranger Jonas? Or was it his older self? He wanted to keep just enough suspicion between the two of them.
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| Silja gives birth to Hanno with Bartosz at her side |
We wind back to 1904. Silja goes into a painful labor, with Bartosz and a midwife at her side. After some painful pushes, Silja gives birth to a baby boy and names him Hanno. So, another puzzle falls into place for us, Bartosz and Silja are Noah's parents. His own baby boy drugged him into this mess called Sic Mundus. And we've seen Bartosz's older self by now and also know that it was Bartosz whom Noah killed at the beginning of season 2. What a dysfunctional family.
We wind to 1974. Tannhaus hangs the family photo of his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter on the bunker wall – Marek, Sonja, and Charlotte. Tannhaus's voice says that fate plays cruel games, but we always will believe there is a way to turn the tide in our favor if we want it badly enough. Tannhaus is the first to hang photos of dead people in the bunker. We then pull back. He has brought boxes and various contraptions down to the bunker.
He says, "A person is able to pursue a goal, no matter how unattainable it may seem, over the course of an entire lifetime. No resistance, no obstacle is great enough to stop one from pursuing one's will." Tannhaus has a small prototype of a nuclear device and some plans. "Is this stubbornness in our striving not that which distinguishes us from animals, which know only short-lived desire. And isn't all progress, through all ages, not the product of this unquenchable act of will."
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| Tannhaus constructs a machine in the bunker |
We continue to watch Tannhaus at various stages of building some sort of device in the bunker as he drones on and on about will and progress. The will guides us towards an idea of progress. As long as you feel you are getting somewhere, you will keep going, just like the characters in this show.
We wind to 2040 and the ruins of the power plant. In the middle of the room, the small glowing remnant hangs in the air. Middle-aged Noah, Stranger Jonas, and Claudia wear yellow hazmat suits and push buttons and pull levers, trying to get the small sphere to evolve in some way. They allow electricity to penetrate the sphere and one lightning bolt actually makes contact. The glowing orb begins to cloud over as a small black spot covers the globe, forming what looks like the unstable god particle. The group looks at each other, although no one seems too excited or impressed at this change. They can't do much with an unstable god particle. It seems they are checking each others' reactions, which hints at distrust. We see the time when these three people worked as a team.
Stranger Jonas and Noah warm themselves by a fire. Stranger Jonas asks why Noah thinks that their efforts aren't working. Noah suggests Claudia doesn't want it to work. He wonders why Jonas trusts her. Stranger Jonas asks Noah why he trusted Adam when he lied. There is no paradise. Jonas promises he won't become Adam and assures Noah that the portal will work because he's seen it in the future. He still believes he can change the course of events. His older self failed, but he won't. Stranger Jonas may mean Adam but he may also mean the Stranger Jonas she met when he was a teen. He claims to have changed the components in the passage.
Noah interrogates this claim. Noah is onto something here, as alt-Claudia talked about the positive feedback loop between Jonas and Claudia. Jonas believes he changed the components because Claudia told him he would. Claudia also disappears for days. Noah remembers that Claudia said not everything that's here belongs here and ponders what she meant by that.
Just then, Elizabeth comes out, pregnant. She gestures for Noah to come inside. This is the paradise Noah should enjoy if he has any sense. He tells Jonas once more that they can't trust Claudia. Jonas doesn't seem convinced.
We leave Jonas and overhear a conversation between the two Claudias. OG Claudia assures alt-Claudia that Jonas still doesn't know the other world exists. Alt-Claudia reminds her that the matter must not work yet. The knot must be upheld in both worlds. Alt-Claudia is just about ready to exit with her golden globe when OG Claudia stops her. She wonders if Eva actually knows everything that will happen. She wonders if alt-Claudia has met "her." At first, I think she means Eva, but she is speaking of her older self. Alt-Claudia has never met older Claudia.
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| OG Claudia meets alt-Claudia in the woods |
Claudia recalls what older Claudia said, "If everything goes right, Regina will live." She has thought about that all of these years and she can't believe that older Claudia meant for Regina to just suffer over and over again in a repeating knot that must be preserved. Alt-Claudia has no words. With that OG Claudia takes a pistol out of her pocket and aims the weapon straight at alt-Claudia's head. She says, "There must be a way to untie the knot without destroying all life in it. A way for Regina to live. I think neither Eva nor Adam know that path. But I'll find it. In my world or yours." And with that, OG Claudia shoots alt-Claudia.
OG Claudia becomes the first person to break the chain. Claudia does not take orders from others. Bernd told her if she wants something then take it. She also realizes that since alt-Claudia never met an older Claudia that alt-Claudia doesn't survive to older age. She cradles the golden sphere in her hands.
We warp to world 2, the Erit Lux lair. OG Claudia now enters Erit Lux, dressed as alt-Claudia. There she meets Eva, with dark hair. She is older than Stranger Martha and younger than Eva. Eva looks as if she's expecting someone else along with Claudia. She thought maybe the other Claudia would come with this time, too. OG Claudia must think of an answer: Noah was watching too close for her to come.
Saying nothing else, Eva walks to her desk and rolls up the plans for the time machine, the ones that the Unknown stole. She gives them to the fake alt-Claudia. Alt-Claudia is to give the plans to OG Claudia, who must then give them to Tannhaus. Eva seems hesitant to give up the plans without making sure that the Claudias understand that everything must happen again. The tension mounts as if we wonder if Eva will realize she's talking to the wrong Claudia.
We then wind to 1910. A woman with a slash across her face lies across a bed. Blood covers her nightgown in the stomach area and all down her legs. The innkeeper named Erna has her arm around the young boy named Hanno, the first child of Bartosz and Silja. She encourages him to be strong for himself and his father. Silja has died giving birth to her second child, a girl named Agnes. Bartosz rushes into the room to find his wife dead. He says her name. Erna tells him that they did everything they could. The look on Bartosz's face speaks volumes. He must have heard Agnes' name from Noah and now the pieces have all snapped into place in his mind. His son is Noah, the man who recruited him. He was uneasy when Silja named the baby Hanno, but now he can't deny the truth of his son's identity.
We wind forward to 2041. Noah and Elisabeth walk outside hand-in-hand. They fold laundry and do the things couples do. Elisabeth stops to ask him to tell her about paradise. It's a conversation they have had many times before, but Noah seems to have lost his conviction somewhere along the way. He looks weary. He recites his speech: "Paradise is free of pain and suffering. Everything we've ever done is forgotten there. The passage will open, and then we will be there: You, me, and Charlotte." They hold each other tight.
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| Elisabeth asks Noah to tell her about Paradise |
Unbeknownst to the couple, intruders are now watching them. Charlotte and adult Elisabeth enter the grounds and the couple's home. There on a small cozy bed, lies tiny baby Charlotte. Elisabeth is overwhelmed with emotions as she remembers the pain of losing her daughter. She picks up the baby tenderly and presses her face to the infant's warmth. Charlotte has no words. But she does look down and sees the pocket watch. She takes it with her. So now we know that Elisabeth and Charlotte are the ones who kidnap baby Charlotte.
The pocket watch goes from Noah to younger Elisabeth, from Elisabeth to Charlotte, from Charlotte to Peter, from Peter to Elisabeth, from Elisabeth to baby Charlotte, from baby Charlotte to Tannhaus, from Tannhaus to young Charlotte, and now I must desist from tracking the watch.
Noah and Elisabeth go inside their shack and realize that baby Charlotte is missing. He goes straight away to the bunker, where Stranger Jonas bunks, convinced that he's the baby snatcher. He shoves Stranger Jonas against a wall. He remembers Adam's words – that they would be friends until Stranger Jonas betrayed him. Stranger Jonas assures him that he isn't the guilty party. Noah grabs him by the windpipe, ready to exact revenge. He leaves him with a curse, "I wish you all the suffering in the world." He leaves Jonas without another word.
Elisabeth sits, cradling a baby cap left behind. Noah kneels before her and vows to find Charlotte. He promises to return with the baby and takes the Sic Mundus journal with him.
A voiceover of HG Tannhaus: "A man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills." Earlier we saw Tannhaus talk about reaching goals. Noah has a goal, as well as Jonas, Claudia, and Eva.
We wind back to 1986. In the bunker, HG Tannhaus look at the portrait of his dead family. He says, "All the paths we take in our lives, every decision that we make, is guided by that which we desire deep inside ourselves. We cannot fight that desire. It determines every one of our deeds, no matter how grave and unimaginable they seem."
He starts up his machine to see if it will work. He pushes two buttons mounted to the wall. This machine sounds similar to the suitcase time machine. The machine lights up.
We wind back to 1911, to the Tannhaus factory. Bartosz works on a car. A woman approaches, holding a suitcase and the hand of a small girl. Bartosz stares in wonder. It's Hannah. He then looks closely at the girl. She has a familiar looking slash across her face. He calls her Silja. Hannah seems confused that he knows her daughter's name. This makes me wonder what time period Hannah chose to have her baby, based on her haircut and clothes, it seems perhaps the 1980s.
Hannah explains that she's looking for Jonas. Bartosz warns her that he's changed. Traveling has left marks on him. (We know it's not traveling but stupid handling of electrical equipment.) Even after his wife died, Bartosz never left Adam's side. Did he keep up hope that Adam would find a way? Or did he stay to be near his son?
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| Hannah and young Silja show up at the Sic Mundus lair as Bartosz stands by |
We cut to the Sic Mundus lair and the Fall of the Damned painting. Bartosz escorts them inside. Adam has his back to them. Bartosz sits the suitcase down, waiting to see how Jonas/Adam will react. He turns, and Hannah can see her now scarred son. She's momentarily speechless but collects herself enough to introduce Jonas to his half-sister. Jonas says nothing.
He finally asks how she came to find where he was. Hannah seems to be trying to accept this new version of her son. She explains that a few days ago, an old woman named Eva came to see her at her house. She told Hannah where to find Sic Mundus, saying that Jonas was looking for her. The mention of Eva makes me wonder if this Hannah is actually Hannah from world 2, rescued by Egon 2 or if this is world 1 Hannah. We know that Eva doesn't really go to world 1. Jonas/Adam probably spots this right away.
Hannah apologizes for ruining everything between them. She overcomes her repulsion enough to touch his face. He has a tear in his eye, but awkwardly removes her hand from his face. Hannah registers that he's not happy to see her. Adam orders Bartosz to prepare the chamber for them, an ominous welcome as I've ever heard.
Later that evening, as the rain pours down, Adam enters the chamber as Hannah and Silja sleep. He begins to move the blankets off Silja. Hannah asks what he's doing, her mother instinct kicking in. He says that Silja doesn't belong there. "All the pieces have to be in position. She's in the wrong place. So are you." He caresses her face, a repeat of all the men who have touched her in this way before. He calls her Mom, and then proceeds to strangle the life out of her. There's something so raw about the way he accomplishes this – using his bare hands instead of a pillow.
Silja slept through that encounter. Now he goes to her bed and claims he wants to show her a secret. He picks her up and carries her out of the room. Silja doesn't seem scared to go with him.
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| Noah turns to see his younger self |
We wind forward to 1920, to the Winden Inn. A group plays cards. In walks Noah, as if he's new in town. He goes right to the counter and tells Erna he needs a place to sleep. This is where he grew up, and he struggles to maintain his emotions to be here with the woman who helped bring him into the world. Erna calls for Hanno. And this is where Noah meets his younger self for the first time. He must surely remember this moment, but he seems surprised.
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| Noah, meet Hanno |
Older Noah walks down into the Sic Mundus lair and meets older Adam. Adam has been expecting him. He knows Noah thinks he lied to him. That he took Charlotte away. But he says that Claudia did it. He asks about the Sic Mundus journal. Noah has it. If he finds the last pages, Adam says he will then find Charlotte. He will find paradise, and Helge will help him: "Everything happens in cycles: Sunset is followed by sunrise. Over and over. But this time, it will be the last cycle." He gives Noah a Bible.
We then wind to 2052 and the wall of the bunker, covered in pictures. A voice says, "The material can finally be stabilized. Everything must happen again in exactly the same way. You have to lead your younger self down the same path. He must not act differently. You have to set the course, no matter how hard that may seem. But you'll finally be able to change everything." We pull back to reveal older Claudia talking to Stranger Jonas. "The device. He'll repair it. You must destroy the passage, and the knot with it." She hands him a copy of A Journey Through Time by HG Tannhaus. You'll succeed this time. Jonas, you must never lose hope." Jonas exits the bunker. Claudia opens the Sic Mundus journal and tears the final pages out.
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| Noah's actions make more sense now that we know he did it all to find Charlotte |
Our montage begins, starting with photos of Regina. The song is "Pneumothorax" by Blueneck. Claudia walks out of the bunker. We see scenes from previous episodes, but this time from the perspective of the more knowing character. Stranger Jonas comes to town during a search party for Erik Obendorf. Noah calibrates the chair time machine in the blue wallpaper room. Older Claudia waits in the office as middle-aged Claudia walks in. Stranger Jonas leaves teen Jonas a clue to follow the signal. Noah waits in the limo as teen Bartosz meets him for the first time. Older Claudia leaves the time machine for middle-aged Claudia to find. Noah enclosed Helge in the iron maiden chair.
Older Claudia apologizes to Egon. Noah shoots older Claudia and finds the missing pages of the journal. Hannah embraces Stranger Jonas. Charlotte rejects Noah. And Claudia finds Regina on the day of the apocalypse. Noah throws the missing pages of the journal at Adam. Jonas looks behind the tree at Martha and Jonas at the lake. Agnes shoots Noah and looks unhappy about it. Teen Noah enters the bunker on the day of the apocalypse. Adam shoots Martha in front of teen Jonas.
Alt-Martha enters the Erit Lux lair with Bartosz 2. She sees the Adam and Eve painting. She asks Bartosz why he brought her here. He says they will help them. Martha is aghast. She struggles to explain to Bartosz that Eva is not a nice person. Bartosz calls them the light. Eva enters the room, and Bartosz looks happy to be bringing Martha here to this person he thinks of as reliable. Eva says, "Isn't it peculiar that one feels the greatest aversion towards the people who are most similar to oneself?" Martha tells her that they are nothing alike. Eva admits that she never saw this moment happening again when she was Martha. She couldn't imagine ever wanting what her older self wanted. Now, 66 years later, she understands. "Some pain is never forgotten. It brands us for our entire life. You and I, we share that pain. We bear the same scars." She then takes a dagger or sharp weapon and slashes Martha across the face, claiming Martha will now never forget which side she's on. Bartosz just stands there as Martha bleeds from the eye. Erit Lux is life and Sic Mundus is death.
You really have to feel sorry for Martha. As terrible as the transition from Jonas to Adam is, Martha gets terribly abused by herself, all the while the loyal Bartosz thinking it's for her own good. How twisted do you have to be to abuse yourself in this manner?
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| Old Claudia shows up after Adam's plan to obliterate both worlds fails |
We then cut to Adam, repeating the scene where he destroys Martha on the pile of rubble in world 1. He expects this to destroy everything. Instead, Martha just disappears. Adam realizes that nothing has changed. His plan failed. As he stands there with egg on his face, older Claudia enters the room and says, "Hello, Jonas."
It's strangely satisfying to see Adam proven wrong. That smug expression is now gone, humanizing him at last. This was a wild ride of an episode, with Claudia in the Queen position on the chessboard.
Lingering questions or thoughts:
- What happens to Silja? It seems clear that Adam will take young Silja to be raised by Elisabeth? But one Dark recapper claims the scene between Adam and Silja hints an act of pedophilia? And all of her difficulties with childbirth hint at possible trauma.
- Why did Adam feel it imperative to kill Hannah? It seems messed up to bring her back only for this to be her fate.
- What does Tannhaus' machine do?
- What happens to Agnes? Her facial expressions during the flashback reveal that she was not a heartless killer, even at the height of her cult loyalty.
- Does the Schrodinger cat metaphor have deeper implications to the show than meets the eye? Survey says yes.
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