As You Sow, so You Shall Reap

* Title card
* Quote

## *Dark*

**"As You Sow, so You Shall Reap"** is the eighth episode of Season 1 of *Dark*. It premiered on December 1, 2017.

## Summary

In 1953, the disfigured bodies of two boys are exhumed at a construction site, the future location of Winden's nuclear power plant.

## Plot

*"Hell is empty and all the devils are here!"*
―William Shakespear**[src]**
### November 10, 1953

Young Helge Doppler rides his bicycle along the edge of the forest. A police car speeds past him, sirens ringing, driven by Egon Tiedemann. The boy follows him. Egon arrives at a construction site and is greeted by Daniel Kahnwald, the chief of police. Two dead bodies of children have been found, both with charred eyes. The boys are dressed in strange clothing. Above the site stands a billboard reading: "An important investment: Nuclear power for every household!"

### November 10, 1986

The Stranger arrives at the clockmaker's shop to see H.G. Tannhaus. They continue their conversation about the Einstein-Rosen bridge, a passage linking a black hole, the entrance, and a white hole, the exit, which connects time and space. The Stranger adds that to pass through it is to travel through time. Tannhaus continues that their way of thinking is shaped by dualism—entrance and exit, good and evil—but that is wrong. He holds up a drawing of the triquetra, which The Stranger recognizes as a trinity knot, to illustrate that there is a third dimension: there isn't just up and down, but there also is a center. Tannhaus confirms that a wormhole doesn't connect two dimensions but *three*: future, present, and past.

### November 9, 2019

The elderly Helge Doppler is deep inside the caves, chanting "Tick-tock." Ulrich Nielsen uses his lighter to find a long red cord connected to a metal ouroboros attached to the ground like a handle. Suddenly, Ulrich hears the sound of a loud wind roaring from a distance. He follows the source of the echoing through a rock-strewn crawl space and finds the metal door with the Latin message "*Sic Mundus Creatus Est*." He opens it. He reaches an intersection with two pathways and chooses the left one.

### November 10, 1953

Helge cycles back home (his home being a stately mansion that will become Waldhotel Winden in 2019). In the entrance hall, his mother, Greta Doppler, calls out to him. She comes down the stairs and scolds him for his dirty clothes, telling him to take them off. Helge hesitates, which prompts her to seize him by the ear. She insists he removes all his clothes before her, leaving him with his underwear. Bernd Doppler walks in with the aid of a cane. His father strokes him affectionately. Helge tells Bernd that he was at the construction site, and two dead bodies that looked like children were found. Hearing this, Bernd abruptly leaves. Greta hands Helge a clean pair of shorts and tells him he is late for his tuition with Claudia Tiedemann.

    In the police coroner's room, pathologist Udo Meier informs Egon and Daniel that the dead boys have severely burnt eyes, as if from a phosphorous grenade, and their ears are completely destroyed. They both have pfennig coins, dated 1986, strung around their neck with red cords, and their clothes are labeled "Made in China." Egon wonders whether the boys are from China.

Meanwhile, Ulrich leaves the caves and senses things are different. Helge cycles to the bunker to play by himself. He takes sticks and pinecones, pretending they are rifles and grenades. He goes down to the bunker, continuing to play, and notices two dates written on the wall: "5.11.1953" and "9.11.1953".

### November 10, 1986

The Stranger asks Tannhaus about writings concerning Nietzsche's eternal recurrence, a universe that endlessly repeats itself. The Stranger hands Tannhaus a copy of *A Journey Through Time*, which he remarks had only 500 copies printed. The Stranger asks about the lunar-solar cycle, in which everything repeats itself every thirty-three years. Tannhaus explains that every thirty-three years, the cycles of the sun and moon are synchronized again, but thirty-three has greater significance:

* Jesus performed thirty miracles.
* There are thirty-three litanies of angels.
* Dante wrote thirty-three cantos.
* Thirty-three is also the age at which the Antichrist began his reign, as added by the Stranger.

### November 10, 1953

Noah is standing outside the church as the bells ring. He carries the triquetra notebook. Meanwhile, Egon asks why someone becomes a murderer–whether one is born that way or becomes that way. Daniel suggests their jobs would be far easier if they knew that ahead of time so they could lock them up when young before they get on the wrong track.

Helge leaves the cabin but is ambushed by two teenage bullies. One pins him to the ground and steals his money, and the other unzips his pants and urinates on him. Suddenly, they hear someone rustling through the trees: it is Ulrich. The bullies run away, and Ulrich goes to Helge. He asks if he saw an old man in pajamas (Helge) passing by, to which the boy shakes his head. Ulrich then advises Helge to defend himself, but Helge says they're stronger than him. Ulrich suggests he should bite them next time.

    Ulrich reaches the road, which is still made of dirt. A car stops in front of him, driven by a woman wearing a red dress and gloves. She asks Ulrich where Killinger Strasse 61 is, which he tells her is the address where he lives. She asks if he is Egon Tiedemann. She introduces herself as Agnes Nielsen. She then introduces her son Tronte and reveals that they just moved to Winden. Ulrich realizes they are his father and grandmother. He asks them the year: 1953. Astonished, he runs away.

    Ulrich goes to see H.G. Tannhaus. He shows his book to the clockmaker and asks if he's that same author. Since there's a photo of his 1986 self, Tannhaus does not believe him. Ulrich again asks what year it is: 1953, which Ulrich finds impossible.

### November 10, 1986

Tannhaus demonstrates how a wormhole works using a drawing. He asks The Stranger to imagine he is standing in a dark room and flashes a light beam in the left direction. There is no way it could reach his right side, but a wormhole changes the topology of space-time: nothing is where it belongs anymore.

The Stranger asks Tannhaus if it is possible to change the course of events, but Tannhaus replies that any scientist would say no because determinism forbids it. But it is human nature to believe that our actions can change things. He tells the Stranger that he used to dream about traveling to the past or the future, but his dream changed. He realized his place wasn't in the past or the future but here and now. The Stranger continues that in the book, Tannhaus wrote that the number 33 might represent the difference between the planes of a three-dimensional wormhole. Tannhaus thinks that that might be the crux of the matter.

### November 10, 1953

In the Tiedemann home, young Claudia Tiedemann plays with her poodle Gretchen. The doorbell rings: it is Helge. Claudia tells him that he's late. Helge claims he left his money at home (the bullies took it) and promises to pay her soon. Claudia takes his work and notes many wrong answers. Agnes and Tronte arrive and are greeted by Doris Tiedemann. She says her husband (Egon) is not there much and is very dedicated to the police. She asks Agnes about her husband. Agnes answers that he's dead, so Doris apologizes. She tells Claudia to show Tronte around town later.

Back at the clockmaker's shop, young Ines Kahnwald and her friend Jana enter to pick up the watch of Ines's father. Ulrich realizes that the girl, Jana, is his mother. He overhears them gossiping about the two dead boys found at Bernd's construction site. This immediately alarms Ulrich, who rushes out of the shop, leaving the three puzzled. His jacket remains on the back of a chair.

    At the construction site, Bernd holds a press conference below a banner that says "*The Energy of the Future*." He talks about entering an era where humankind can dominate nature. This site is where he intends to build Germany's first nuclear power plant, which will ensure growth for the local community. However, the audience is distracted by police hammering "*Crime Scene*" signs.

Afterward, Egon asks Bernd for a list of workers who have been on the site. Bernd tells him he should be asking who has a problem with the Nuclear Plant being built and how two dead bodies could suddenly appear on the site, just as he had spoken with the town council about the building permit. He suspects his rivals, the coal plant operators, planted the bodies there to sabotage the project. He tells Egon he will provide a list of the coal plant operators involved in the conspiracy.

Claudia takes Tronte and Gretchen through the forest while Helge follows them. They come to the entrance to the caves; Claudia says they're not allowed to enter but sometimes do anyway, as a dare. She tells Helge to go home. Helge throws a stick into the mouth of the caves, and Gretchen chases after it. Helge then runs away.

At the police station, Ulrich asks Egon if one of the two bodies was his son, who disappeared: a brown-haired eleven-year-old with blue eyes. Ulrich wants to show a photo but realizes he has left his jacket. One officer thinks he's drunk, but Egon tells Ulrich that one boy is dark, brown-eyed and looks foreign, while the other is a redhead. Ulrich then asks about Helge Doppler, a seventy-year-old man, but he says that Helge is Bernd Doppler's young son. Hearing this, Ulrich dashes out again.

Egon finally returns home. Doris introduces Agnes to him, he asks why she would move to Winden of all places, and Agnes replies that her grandmother was from Winden and always spoke highly of it. Claudia and Tronte arrive, calling out that Gretchen has gone missing. Doris asks where Helge is, and Claudia wonders whether Gretchen is with him. Doris asks Egon to go to the Dopplers'.

### November 10, 1986

When asked why he's so interested in time, the Stranger explains that he wants to know if he could change things. He wonders if everything has a purpose and if they are decided by coincidence, God, or themselves. The Stranger states that human beings are enslaved to time and that everything recurs in an eternal cycle. Tannhaus tells the Stranger that there will be closed time loops as long as a wormhole exists. Everything inside is mutually dependent. The past doesn't just influence the future; the future influences the past. He compares it to the chicken-and-egg question, where no one can say which came first because everything is connected.

### November 10, 1953

Ulrich goes to the Doppler mansion and finds Helge outside, playing with a box of dead birds he has collected. Ulrich approaches him, asking if he is Helge Doppler, and he says he is. Ulrich shows Helge the pfennig coin, asking him whether he has seen it before; he says no. Helge asks him if he found the man he was looking for, and Ulrich replies, "Yes" (meaning him). Ulrich then asks what is in his box. Helge opens it, and Ulrich asks whether he killed the birds. Helge tells him no; he collects them after they fall from the sky; "They're beautiful when they're dead."

Ulrich tells Helge that he will eventually kill; the two boys at the construction site, his brother and his son- not now, but in the future. Ulrich tells Helge he can change the past and the future; if Helge doesn't exist, it won't happen. He grabs Helge, but the young boy kicks him and runs into the forest. Ulrich chases after him. Helge runs toward the cabin, but Ulrich grabs him and pins him to the ground. Helge finds a rock and tries to hit Ulrich with it, but Ulrich takes it from him. He hesitates but then repeatedly bludgeons him to the head until he is unconscious.

Egon drives to the Doppler mansion. He tells Greta he's looking for his dog, wondering if Helge has her, but Greta assures him that no animals are allowed in their house, so she cannot be there. Greta then goes to look for Helge. She finds his box of dead birds but no sign of him.

Meanwhile, Ulrich drags the unconscious Helge into the bunker and leaves him there. Tronte rolls up his sleeve, revealing several cigarette burns on his forearm.

### November 10, 1986

Tannhaus narrates that everyone's lives are connected: every action is merely a response to a previous action: cause and effect.

The Stranger asks Tannhaus how he would feel if time travel was possible. He then reveals the existence of a wormhole in Winden and that he came from the future. The Stranger shows the strange device he's been carrying around, which is broken, and he asks Tannhaus to fix it. Tannhaus says he can't do that, but the Stranger tells him that he built it, as his initials are on the device. The Stranger says that it's a time machine that can create a portal that allows the user to travel thirty-three years into the future or past. The Stranger says that a few months ago, an incident at the nuclear plant released a blast of energy and that the time machine can replicate the process. He wants to destroy the wormhole using the device. In a state of shock, Tannhaus tells him to leave. The Stranger tells him he can fix all that is wrong in Winden with the machine. He has seen the future and knows what will happen. Tannhaus must help him make things right. After the Stranger leaves, Tannhaus takes out another time machine and sets it next to the one the Stranger brought.

### November 10, 1953

At the clockmaker's shop, the younger Tannhaus sees Ulrich's forgotten jacket. He checks the pockets and takes out his smartphone, unsure what it is. He presses a button and is shocked to see the screen light up with a photo of the Nielsen family from 2019.

Meanwhile, Ulrich sits in the dark, staring at the bunker, contemplating his action.

## Cast

### Main

* Tom Philipp as Helge Doppler 1953
* Sebstian Hülk as Egon Tiedemann 1953
* Christian Steyer as H.G. Tannhaus 1986
* Andreas Pietschmann as The Stranger
* Hermann Beyer as Helge Doppler
* Oliver Masucci as Ulrich Nielsen
* Cordelia Wege as Greta Doppler 1953
* Anatole Taubman as Bernd Doppler 1953
* Antje Traue as Agnes Nielsen
* Joshio Marlon as Tronte Nielsen 1953
* Arnd Klawitter as H.G. Tannhaus 1953
* Gwendolyn Göbel as Claudia Tiedemann 1953
* Luise Heyer as Doris Tiedemann
* Rike Sindler as Jana Nielsen 1953
* Lena Urzendowsky as Ines Kahnwald 1953

### Supporting

* Florian Panzner as Daniel Kahnwald
* Paul Radom as Erik Obendorf
* Vico Mücke as Yasin Friese
* Henning Peker as Pathologist Udo Meier
* Nino Böhlau as Bully #1
* Lenz Lengers as Bully #2
* Roland Wolf as Officer 1953

## Quotes

*"Our thinking is shaped by dualism: entrance, exit; black, white; good, evil. Everything appears as opposite pairs. But that's wrong. Have you ever heard of the triquetra?"
"The trinity knot."
"Nothing is complete without a third dimension. There isn't only up and down. There's a center, too. I think Einstein and Rosen overlooked something.… A wormhole connects not just two, but three different dimensions: future, present… and past."*
―Tannhaus and the Stranger

*"You write about the lunar-solar cycle, in which everything repeats itself every thirty-three years."
"From a cosmic point of view, yes. Every thirty-three years, the cycle of the moon is synchronized with that of the sun. But the thirty-three... is more than that. We encounter it everywhere. Jesus performed thirty-three miracles. There are thirty-three litanies of the angels. Dante's thirty-three cantos in purgatory, and thirty-three in paradise."
"And it is the age at which the Antichrist begins his rule."*
―The Stranger and Tannhaus

*"Why would someone do that?"
"What?"
"Kill. Why? What's inside them? Where does it come from?"
"Why someone becomes a murderer?"
"Yes. Are you born one or do you become one?"
"It would certainly make our work easier if we knew ahead of time. Lock them up while they're still little. Before they get on the wrong track. Why does someone become a murderer?"*
―Egon Tiedemann and Daniel Kahnwald

*"My husband isn't here much. He's with the police. Sometimes it seems like he thinks he alone is responsible for this town. And your husband is...?"
"He's dead."
"Oh. I didn't mean to... I talk without thinking. It... I'm truly sorry."*
―Doris Tiedemann and Agnes Nielsen

*"Imagine traveling back in time and meeting your father, before he had you. Would you have already changed things with this encounter? And is it even possible to change things? Or is time an eternal beast that can't be defeated?"
"What do you think? Can we change the course of events?"
"Any scientist would tell you no. Causal determinism forbids it. But it is human nature to believe that we play a role in our own lives. That our actions can change things. All my life, I've dreamed of traveling through time, to see what was and what will be."
"You don't dream that anymore?"
"Dreams change. Other things become important. My place is not in the yesterday or tomorrow. Rather, it's right here. And now."*
―Tannhaus and the Stranger

*"They found two dead bodies on Doppler's construction site. Two little boys. They were abducted by aliens for experiments!"
"What did you just say?"
"About the aliens?"
"No, about the boys."*
―Ines Kahnwald and Ulrich Nielsen

*"The discovery of uranium fission has heralded in a new era in the history of humankind. An era of reason, objectivity, and the dominance of man over nature. We can harness this phenomenon by economically utilizing neutron-induced fission in nuclear reactors. A minuscule atom... can change the world. And it is here that we will build the first German nuclear power plant, ensuring the local community's long-term stability and prosperity."*
―Bernd Doppler promotes the nuclear power plant

*"And who put them there, in your opinion?"
"The coal plant operators. You don't believe me. If this power plant gets built, it will be nothing short of a revolution. Not only will it change Winden. Nuclear energy will bring growth and wealth to the entire nation. But it means change. The old must give way to the new. Not everyone likes that. I'll send you a list with the names of the coal plant operators. You'll see. The whole thing is a conspiracy."*
―Bernd Doppler accuses the coal plant workers of sabotaging his power plant

*"But you... Why are you so fascinated in time?"
"I want to understand if I can change it. if everything has a purpose, and if so... who decides about this purpose? Coincidence? God? Or is it us? Are we actually free in our actions? Or is it all created anew, in an eternally recurring cycle? And we only obey the laws of nature and are nothing but slaves of space and time."*
―Tannhaus and the Stranger

*"Time loops have a significant impact on the principle of casualty. On the relationship of cause and effect. As long as a wormhole exists, there is a closed time loop. Inside it, everything is mutually dependent. The past doesn't just influence the future. The future also influences the past. It's like the question of the chicken and the egg. We can no longer say which of the two came first. Everything is interconnected."*
―Tannhaus discusses time loops

*"They're so beautiful when they're dead."
"But you will kill something. The two boys at the construction site. My brother. My son. Not now, but in the future. But I can change it, you know. I can change the past. And the future."*
―The young Helge Doppler and Ulrich Nielsen

*"All our lives are connected. One fate bound to another. Every one of our deeds is merely a response to a previous deed. Cause and effect. Nothing but an endless dance. Everything is connected to everything else. But that's just a theory. I can't shake the feeling that you're actually here about something else."
"What if I told you that everything in your book was true? That time travel is possible. Your theory on the formation of wormholes through gravitational impulses is not just theory. There is such a hole. Here in Winden. I come from the future. I traveled through the wormhole to 1986."
"Where... where did you get that?"
"It's broken. You have to fix it."
"I can't do that."
"Aren't those your initials? You built it."
"This device enables one to travel through time and space? It can create a wormhole?"
"It opens a portal through which one can travel thirty-three years into the past and thirty-three years into the future."
"And the wormhole you traveled through? Did that device create it?"
"No. A few months ago, an incident at the nuclear power plant released a blast of energy. But the device is able to repeat that same process."
"And you want to create another wormhole?"
"No, I want to destroy the one that exists."
"I want you to leave now."
"This town is like a festering wound, and we're all a part of it. But I can change it. Your device can change it."
"Leave. Leave now."
"I've seen the future. I know what will happen. I have to set things right again. And you have to help me."*
―The Stranger asks Tannhaus to fix his portable time machine
## Trivia

### Mysteries

* What year did Helge travel to?
* How will Bernd earn the building permit for the nuclear plant?
* Who is Agnes's grandmother?
* What happened to Gretchen when she went into the caves?
* How did Tronte receive the cigarette burns? Was he abused or performing self-mutilation like Regina Tiedemann?
* Why is Claudia in the future bunker? What year is she in?
* What will Tannhaus do with Ulrich's smartphone?
* Who gave to the Stranger's the H.G.Tannhaus Book?
* Doris tells Egon that the Nielsens will be at dinner. Are they related to Agnes? What Nielsen am I? Are Jana and Tronte both Nielsen and therefore related?

### Answers

* Two dead bodies- both with charred eyes- are Erik Obendorf and Yasin Friese. Noah and Helge have dumped them in 1953.
* The two dates that Noah wrote on the bunker wall in "Crossroads" were the marking dates for when Erik and Yasin landed in 1953. They have an arrival difference of 4 days.
* The passage in the caves connects three 33-year increments: 1953, 1986, and 2019. This is connected to some of the conspiracies that The Stranger and Tannhaus were conversing about.
* Unlike most characters who lived through the 3 time periods, Claudia's eldest self was introduced after the younger versions were.
* Since Old Helge is not 1953, this means he took the right turn into the Caves and he went in 1986
* Helge got his disfigured ear from an influence that originates in the future. Ulrich gave him those scars by trying to bludgeon him to death. This also explains as to why Helge was madly afraid of him in "Crossroads". This memory happens to be so traumatic, that Helge could even remember the words Ulrich said to him before the chase: "I can change the past. And the future.".
* The passage in the caves was the result of the Nuclear Plant accident that happened in the summer of 1986. That was what Bernd was trying to cover up, and he doesn't seem to be aware of the damage that was caused by the wormhole.
* The string wall from "Secrets" is in the Doppler bunker from the future. They included photos of the members within the four interconnected families, and the strings represent their connections. The wall seems to have been created by Claudia.

* The whole course of time is trapped in an endless time cycle that repeats when everyone ages 33 years. Everything is connected because of this time loop. There are paradoxes that shouldn't even exist. Determinism is a major factor, since it revolves around the past influencing the future, and the future influencing the past; a time loop.
* Tannhaus is the narrator that explained scientific conspiracies in previous episodes.

* The device that The Stranger has been carrying (which was also what Tannhaus was inventing) is a time machine that allows the user to travel to 33-year increments, either through the past or future.
* The Stranger is trying to break the endless time cycle. He wants to know everything that he could know about breaking free from the forces of time and determinism so that everyone is at their free will. He wants to do this by using the portable time machine to destroy the cave's wormhole and the paradoxes with it.
* Since at every movie frame, there is a clock sound, Old Claudia in the Bunker is in 2019. She cannot be in 1953 otherwise we would see Helge's body or in 1986 otherwise we would see the Noah's machine and the colored walls. Hence she is in 2019 and she will show to Peter and Tronte the result

### Themes and Motifs

#### Time

* The dates featured are November 10, 1953, and November 10, 1986.
* This episode introduces the 1950s timeline.
* The Stranger and Tannhaus spend their entire conversation about time in the clockmaker's shop.
* Bernd presents under a banner that says "*The Energy of the Future*".
* By the time Helge returns home, he isalready late for tuition with Claudia.
* The pfennig coins found by the 1953 police are labeled "1986".
* Ulrich questions the year he has traveled to.
* The Stranger appears to have been conversing with Tannhaus ever since November 7 ("Truths").
* Daniel jokes around the idea of knowing ahead of time when someone would become a murderer.
* Ines goes to pick up a watch for her father.
* Egon Tiedemann has known Helge Doppler ever since the latter was a child.
* Ulrich tells Helge about his future of killing the kids.
* While Ulrich sits in the dark at the end, the sound of a clock ticking is heard.

#### Time Travel

* Ulrich travels from 2019 to 1953, meaning sixty-six years into the past.
* Erik's body arrived from November 5, 1986, to November 5, 1953. Yasin's body arrived from November 9, 1986, to November 9, 1953.
* *A Journey Through Time* centers around the ideas of time travel.
* The Stranger and Tannhaus have been conversing about wormholes and how they work.
* Tannhaus confirms that wormholes can connect three time periods. He also states that as long as a hole exists, there will be time loops.
* Tannhaus describes the idea of going back in time to meet your father when he was young. This scenario has been applied to Jonas Kahnwald, Ulrich and Mikkel.
* The Stranger describes the wormhole and the time machine as two separate mechanisms by which time travel is possible. He wants to close a chaotic loop.

* A way for the future to influence the past is by time traveling backwards. Ulrich traveleld back in time to inflict Helge's disfigured ear.

#### Determinism

* Egon wonders whether murderers are born that way, or become that way. Do they choose to murder or are they destined to do it? Could a murderer be prevented from murdering? It's in his heart of justice and goodwill that guides him in his thoughts.
* The Stranger asks Tannhaus if things can be changed and if everything has a purpose, and who has determined that purpose. Tannhaus tells him that so long as a wormhole exists, everything inside of it is mutually dependent.
* The Stranger asks Tannhaus if it is possible to change the course of events, but Tannhaus says any scientist would say no. Human nature, of course, requires that we believe our actions can change things. Ulrich believes he can prevent the future by changing the past, that if he kills Helge this will stop the deaths of his brother in 1986 and Mikkel, Erik and Yasin in 2019 from happening. Did Ulrich, in fact, inflict brain damage on Helge, turning him into what he became. Had it not been for this would the deaths never have happened? Was Ulrich's attempt to alter future events just what caused them all along? If past, present, and future actions all influence one another in a closed loop in which nothing can be said to have happened first, second, or third, then Ulrich’s attempt to prevent Helge from growing up and killing only helps ensure that he’ll do exactly that. It's all a chain of cause and effect.

#### Colors

* Agnes wears a red dress and red lipstick when she arrives in Winden
* Helge wears a blue sweater when he meets Ulrich, and when he accompanies Claudia through the forest.
* The road sign pointing the way to Winden is bright yellow.
* Claudia wears a red blouse when tutoring Helge, and when she meets Tronte.
* Tronte was wearing a blue jacket.
* Ines wears a red coat when she visits the clockmaker's shop.
* Helge has a red watch

#### Paradoxes

* Ulrich travels from 2019 to 1953 and tries to kill young Helge, only to cause the scars that Helge already has in 1986 and 2019. He also influences the permanent trauma that would drive Helge's actions throughout his life.
* Agnes wouldn't have found Killinger Strasse 61 if it wasn't for Ulrich, who is already living there in his present.
* Everything in time and space is trapped in a time cycle.

#### Historic Recurrences

* Helge collects dead birds which fall from the sky, much as his daughter-in-law Charlotte Doppler will do thirty-three years later.
* The dead boys' ears are completely destroyed, as with the previous dead bodies, Mads and the birds in 2019, and the sheep in 1986. Egon is told the same thing in 1953: Did he not make the connection? R : Egon is in 1953 and it is the first time that see dead boys with ears destryed.
* Ulrich lights the way in the cave using his lighter. Similarly, his son Mikkel also used a lighter in 1986, taken from Egon's desk, to light the way through the cave.
* The Stranger is aware that the forces of time and space are part of an eternal cycle that recurs in a 33-year span.
* Friedrich Nietschze's writings are mentioned; Nietschze theorized "eternal recurrence," the possibility that one's life will repeat itself endlessly. Acceptance of this fate is a characteristic of the *Übermensch*.

#### Religion and Mythology

* The Stranger notes that thirty-three is the age when the Antichrist began. The Antichrist, in Christian tradition, is a figure who presents himself as Christ, but is actually working in opposition to Him; he is a central figure in the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of St. John. In most traditions, he is not Satan, but a human whom Satan inhabits. Chapter 33 of Nietzsche's *Thus Spoke Zarathustra* is entitled *Der Antichrist*.
* Noah is standing outside the church of 1953.

### Observations

* We now move back another thirty-three years to 1953. This is not revealed until Ulrich asks what year it is. The older generation from 2019 (Helge, Jana, Tronte, Ines, Claudia) are seen as children. The old Egon from 1986 is seen here as a younger man.
* Ulrich asks Helge whether he has seen his older self, not realizing it's 1953 and the boy is Helge. As previously, the question is when is Helge, not where.
* Ulrich advises the child Helge to bite his attackers; later, Helge bites Ulrich when he attacks him.
* When Ulrich raves at the police station, one of the officers says dismissively that he must be drunk. Ulrich, in turn, always resented Egon as a drunk who mishandled Mads's case. Egon in 1953 is described as devoted to his job. Egon in 1986 regarded as a drunk who cannot wait to retire.
* Ulrich drags the beaten Helge into the bunker, similar to the older Helge dragging the dead body in "Crossroads".
* Ulrich tries to prevent a murderer by becoming a murderer himself, something he seems to be contemplating at the end of the episode.
* Bernd believes that the Winden Nuclear Plant will be the first German nuclear power plant. Although the full construction of the plant begins after passage of the Atomic Energy Act ("Secrets"), the first real-life German nuclear plant was the Kahl Nuclear Power Plant, opened in 1969.
* Helg in 1953 is bullied like Regina in 1986.

* Bernd's philosophy about one particle changing the whole world would be used in a couple of episodes in Season 2.
* Bernd in 1953 has a support cane and in 1986 is in a wheelchair. His health situation has worsened over time
* This episode establishes that all four families over time have someone working for Winden Police. Daniel Kahnwald is Winden's chief of police and Egon Tiedemann's superior in 1953. Charlotte Doppler is Winden's chief of police and Ulrich Nielsen's superior in 2019.
* Helge likes to pretend he is at war. This habit is probably inspired by the fact World War II recently happened.

* Ulrich gives Helge advice to fight against bullies, which is ironic since he was a teenaged bully himself.
* The montage song can be related to Ulrich's situation, where he can't find his beloved son.
* Egon appears to be afraid of Greta Doppler due to her stern attitude.
* Claudia doesn't seem fond of Helge. She immediately asks for the payment before the lesson, during which she openly expresses boredom. She even wants to leave him behind when talking to Tronte.
* Even though Greta tells Helge that he's late for tuition, he decides to play around first.
* Helge is playing close to the same cabin which he will take up to 1986 and then will be of Doppler's family.
* Just as the previous time travelers did, Ulrich meets his parents and grandparent before he existed.
* The elderly, demented Helge still remembers being beaten by Ulrich, which we saw in his nightmare/memory in "Crossroads". He told Ulrich in 2019: "I know you." and recounted his words: "I can change the past. And the future."
* If one looks closely at Agnes before she sees Egon, she sighs before turning around.
* The discussion between the Stranger and Tannhaus takes place in 1986, the Stranger telling him he comes from the future and traveled through a wormhole. Tannhaus meets Ulrich in 1953 (and does not recognize his future self from his book).
* H.G. Tannhaus asks the Stranger how he gets that machine (so he recognized it) but the Stranger doesn't answer and just says it's broken.
* This marks the first time Claudia Tiedemann has met Tronte Nielsen.

* Ulrich takes a left at the cave intersection to go back sixty-six years, whereas Jonas took a right at the intersection to go back thirty-three years.
* Old Claudia is looking at the string wall in the bunker, and knows about the red string connecting Mikkel and Michael.

### Cultural References

* ***Einstein-Rosen bridge******:*** The Stranger and Tannhaus continue their conversation about wormholes. The wormhole is sometimes referred to as an Einstein-Rosen bridge after Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen, who developed its theory.
* ***Lloyd 300******:*** The Nielsens arrive in Winden in this car. Lloyd 300 was a car with a wooden frame manufactured between 1950 and 1953 and marketed to the middle class.

* ***Queen Elizabeth II******:*** One the references Tannhaus mentions to Ulrich. Elizabeth II ascended the throne upon the death of her father in 1952, but was coronated on June 2, 1953.
* ***Nanga Parbat******:*** One the references Tannhaus mentions to Ulrich. Nanga Parbat, the ninth tallest mountain in the world, was summited on July 3, 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, covered in a famous documentary by German cinematographer Hans Ertl, himself a participant in the expedition.
* ***Joseph Stalin**:*** One the references Tannhaus mentions to Ulrich. Stalin was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet politician who ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death on March 5, 1953.
* ***Invaders from Mars (1953 film)******:*** Ines jokes about the dead boys being abducted by aliens from outer space. Alien abduction as a theme in popular culture was popularized by the American film *Invaders from Mars*, released April 9, 1953, but that film was not released in West Germany until November 28.

### Soundtrack

* **"Goodbye"** by Apparat
The opening song.
* **"Partita: III. Courante"** by Roomfull of Teeth
Ulrich meets Agnes and Tronte.
* **"Es wird ja alles wieder gut"** by Detlev Lais
Helge 1953 returns home.
* **"Fridolin"** by Nana Gualdi
Egon pays the Greta a visit.
* **"Wishing Well"** by Stomper
An evening at November 10, 1953. The string wall in the bunker of the future.

### Goofs

* Ulrich assumes that the 1953 police discovered the body of Mikkel. He describes his son as a brown-haired eleven-year-old with blue eyes. However, Egon says that one of the two bodies (Yasin) has brown eyes. This doesn't make sense since the eyes of both bodies are charred.

## Gallery

*→ See **75** images from As You Sow, so You Shall Reap at **Images from As You Sow, so You Shall Reap**.*
Helge 1953 rides his bike.The construction site.The 2 bodies.Daniel and Egon 1953.Nuclear Plant billboard.Arrival at the clockmaker's shop.The metal ouroboros.Ulrich's lighter.Ulrich travels through time.Tannhaus 1986 closeup.Greta 1953 pulls Helge 1953's ear.Greta 1953 is angry.Helge 1953 in his under-clothes.Helge 1953 smiles at his father.Helge 1953 and Bernd 1953 irritated.Fierce Greta Doppler 1953.In the pathology lab.Pathologist Udo Meier.Erik's pony tattoo.Ulrich outside the caves.Ulrich enters 1953.Helge 1953 plays war by himself.Noah's triquetra notebook.Body files.Egon 1953 wonders about murderers.2 teenage bullies.Helge 1953 complains about defense.DARK1x08JonasWithTannhaus.jpgThe Stranger talks with Tannhaus 1986.Tannhaus 1986 demonstrates a wormhole.hDARK 1x08 "Closedloop".jpg.jpgDARK 1x08 Tannhaus1953findphone.jpg.jpg
## Navigation

 Season 3 | "Deja-vu" **·** "The Survivors" **·** "Adam and Eva" **·** "The Origin" **·** "Life and Death" **·** "Light and Shadow" **·** "Between the Time" **·** "The Paradise"