Endings and Beginnings

* Main date
* Time card 1
* Time card 2
* Time card 3

## *Dark*

**"Endings and Beginning"** is the eighth and final episode of Season 2 of *Dark*. It premiered on June 21, 2019, and is the 18th episode overall.

## Summary

On the day of the apocalypse, Clausen executes a search warrant at the power plant as Jonas and Claudia use the time machine to connect past and future.

## Plot

### June 27, 2053

The middle-aged Elisabeth Doppler makes her way through the forest alone, stopping near a crashed helicopter. She uncovers a hidden box containing a Doppler family photo, her old fox hat, and polaroids of Noah, a woman, and their baby, Charlotte. Close inspection reveals the woman to be Elisabeth herself, albeit younger, cleaner, and with longer hair.

Noah, in a voiceover, says that the beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning. Everything is interconnected. He could not tell Charlotte who her mother was.

### June 27, 1921

The older and younger Noah stand next to each other in the Sic Mundus lair. The older Noah continues, saying that, similarly, there are things he cannot share even with his younger self. He would not exist if his younger self had not followed the same path that he did. They are not free in what they do because they are not free in what they desire. The middle-aged Magnus Nielsen and the unknown woman enter and say everything is ready. The older Noah tells the younger Noah he must go now. The teenager follows the woman through some doors as Magnus gives the older Noah a final look.

### Day of the apocalypse (June 27, 2020)

The Stranger retrieves Aleksander Tiedemann's gun from his mother Hannah's stash.

### June 27, 1987

The younger Jonas and Claudia Tiedemann are in the Winden Caves. His future self tried to close the wormhole to reverse it all but did not break the cycle ("Alpha and Omega"). The elder Claudia had told him that they could change one factor in the equation so that he would succeed on the next attempt, and all the subsequent events—Mikkel vanishing, their fathers dying—would never occur. All he would need to do is change the details—a grain of sand and, with it, the whole world.

### June 27, 2020

At the Tiedemann home, Bartosz asks his mother about his grandmother. He reveals that she is not dead and tells his mother that Claudia came to visit the previous fall ("Everything Is Now"). Regina is startled to hear this. Bartosz hands her a photo of Claudia and Regina from 1986 and tells her that Claudia is sorry and that if she could turn back time, she would have done things differently. Regina is moved to tears. Bartosz kisses her tenderly, then excuses himself and promises to return without answering Regina when she asks where he's going.

Inspector Clausen hands Aleksander a search warrant for the Winden Nuclear Power Plant. He vows that even if he cannot prove that Aleksander murdered his brother, he will still get him for whatever is happening in Winden. Aleksander, distraught, begs Torben Wöller, once his inside man at the department, to help him and stop Clausen. Torben says it is impossible; perhaps things will be better now that the truth is out.

The Stranger goes to Martha Nielsen's house. He tells her she must come with him and that it is his fault that everyone will die in a few hours when the new cycle begins, and the future starts. Martha is confused by this, but he begs her to trust him. He starts to caress her, but she shoves him away, repulsed, saying they're wrong together, and tells him to leave. He refuses, grabs her arm, and tells her he will not see her die again. He points the gun at her and tells her he is making things right.

### 6 hours until the apocalypse (June 27, 2020)

Bartosz meets Franziska Doppler and Magnus at the railroad bridge. He demands to know where the time machine is. Magnus says his mother, Katharina, has taken it. This disturbs Bartosz, who is angry that Noah did not explain things and tell him what to do. Franziska says that his only job was perhaps showing them how the device worked. Bartosz runs off to find the machine, and the others follow.

Katharina arrives with the device at the Kahnwald house, seeking Jonas, but finds it empty. She looks around his room and finds his backpack containing the orb light and his annotated Winden Cave map.

### June 27, 1987

The younger Jonas leads Claudia deeper into the cave to open the portal again, telling her he has accepted that he has to be part of the very disaster he wanted to prevent, having learned much from the older Claudia. There are two sides at war: Adam and Sic Mundus, who want to create a new world, and Claudia and himself, who want to save this one. Claudia does not know who Adam is.

### June 27, 2020

The Stranger takes Martha at gunpoint to the bunker, which he tells her is the only safe place. She asks if it is true that Mikkel will return. He tells her Jonas will return, and everything will happen as it always has, but he asks her to promise to remain there. He locks her inside and apologizes.

### June 27, 1987

In the cave, Jonas inserts a vial of radioactive waste into the machine, which activates it. "This is time," he says, "We connect past and future."

### June 27, 2020

Charlotte returns to the police station and Torben, surprised to see her, warns her that Clausen has arrested Aleksander and obtained a search warrant for the power plant. Torben admits that he helped Aleksander hide a secret stash of radioactive waste on the plant grounds. As Jonas has told her about the apocalypse, Charlotte realizes that the waste triggers it.

Peter Doppler, at home, leaves a desperate voicemail for Charlotte, asking if Franziska is with her. He tells Elisabeth they must leave because Noah has said only the people in the bunker will survive. Elisabeth asks about her mother and sister; Peter says things will be okay.

### 4 hours until the apocalypse (June 27, 2020)

Clausen arrives at the plant. He is told he cannot go further due to the radiation, but Clausen insists.

Katharina comes downstairs and spies a photo album of Michael. Leafing through it, she sees pictures of her son as he grew up, which brings her to tears. The adult Jonas walks in. She asks him how to use the machine and get Mikkel back. Jonas tries to explain that it's impossible. Katharina says he doesn't want him to return as he won't exist. Mikkel belongs there; he doesn't. He replies that the past can't be changed, as he already exists and that the events that lead to his existence cannot be changed. He says he would trade his own life for Mikkel's but can't because his future already exists. He thought he could prevent it, but it's beyond his control.

### June 27, 1921

Noah approaches Adam, accusing him of lying to him—that he never had an interest in saving anyone. Adam says simply that no one can escape his fate. Noah presents the missing pages from Claudia's notebook and throws them at Adam, saying Adam is not waging war on God but on humanity. Angry at being used as a pawn, he pulls a gun and aims it at Adam. Adam is unmoved and says Claudia was right: Noah still does not understand. Noah pulls the trigger, but the weapon does not fire. Time plays a game with us. It is not Noah's destiny to kill Adam, nor his to die now. We are only free when we are free of all emotion, only when one is ready to sacrifice what one holds dearest. He shows him a photo of Elisabeth. He tells Noah that Charlotte is his daughter and that Charlotte is both Elisabeth's daughter and mother. "No human is without guilt," he says, "This knot can only be undone by destroying it entirely; we cannot escape our fate." Agnes Nielsen then enters, takes the gun, and shoots Noah. Adam later enters the God Particle.

### June 27, 2020

Following his older self's death in 1921, the younger Noah steps out of the St. Christopher church in 2020 and heads out on his mission.

The noise of the wormhole opening is heard, lights flicker all around town, and dead birds fall out of the sky as Peter and Elisabeth drive to the bunker. They are surprised to see Martha there. Martha then rushes out before Peter can stop her.

Teenaged Jonas and Claudia exit the cave in 2020. He tells her to take the machine to the bunker near Helge's cabin and heads off, saying he must find his mother, Hannah, and Martha.

### 2 hours until the apocalypse (June 27, 2020)

Magnus, Franziska, and Bartosz are looking for Martha and Katharina at the Nielsen home but cannot find them. Bartosz says Noah was right, and Jonas is to blame for everything.

Alone at home, Regina is on the phone with the police, pleading for Aleksander's release or to be able to visit him, but she gets nowhere. Suddenly, the middle-aged Claudia, looking the same age as she did thirty-three years ago when Regina last saw her, appears at the door, telling her not to be afraid, quite unsuccessfully. Claudia apologizes for how she left and asks Regina to come with her now. Regina bursts into tears as Claudia embraces her.

The younger Noah enters the Kahnwald home, where the adult Jonas is waiting—with the gun. Noah says Jonas looks different from when he saw him last ("The Travelers") and that he wondered when Jonas became Adam. Jonas denies that he will ever do what Adam says, but Noah says Adam said they will become friends before Jonas betrays him. Noah says he follows Adam, and Jonas follows Claudia because they each hope for their own kind of salvation. Jonas raises the gun to Noah's chest, but Noah calmly pushes it back down, saying Adam is the savior. Noah then hands him a letter—from Martha. Jonas reads it anxiously, saying it is impossible. Noah tells him that he must hurry to save Bartosz, Magnus, Franziska, and later him and Agnes. The loop must be closed so that the next cycle can begin, as prophesied, so Martha can live. Jonas is beyond belief. He grabs the machine and hurries out.

Katharina goes to the caves with the map and orb light and heads in. She follows the stream of time particles to the Sic Mundus door and opens it. Claudia and Regina go to the bunker to join Peter and Elisabeth. Peter realizes Claudia is the White Devil from the picture there. Claudia stares at it strangely. Young Noah later joins them. The yellow waste drums are dug up as Charlotte and Torben arrive at the power plant.

The teenaged Jonas returns to the Kahnwald house, calling for his mother, but Martha responds. He has come back, just as Bartosz had predicted. She tells him she knows about everything and understands what he said in the rain and that it was he who visited her at the lake. She touches his face tenderly and repeats what he said, that they are a perfect match and not to believe anything else, and they kiss passionately and joyfully.

The moment is interrupted by Adam, who says that all the pieces are now in place and just need a push. Jonas lashes out, saying he keeps lying, which triggers the cycle to repeat. Why does he want this awful future repeated? Adam says what is created will be the beginning of the end, that the dark matter must be created so that he can lead it to a new purpose in the future and bring about the end of the world. He draws a gun, says he is the trigger of what will make Jonas what he is today, and then shoots Martha in the chest. She collapses on the ground as a distraught Jonas tries to reassure her. Adam says coldly that some pain is unforgettable and that Jonas will carry it with him for the rest of his life until he is ready to let go of her. He circles June 27 on the wall calendar as Jonas sobs. Adam says Jonas can try to save her or stop him, and he will know what he has to do.

Charlotte tells Clausen to stop and that opening the drums is a mistake. She says this is not about the missing people but the past, the future, and all their interconnections. Clausen brushes her aside and orders the drum to be opened. In it are rocks covered in an oily black substance that coalesces into a throbbing mass from which a God Particle forms.

The Stranger goes to the Nielsen home and pounds on the door. Bartosz recognizes him when he enters, saying it is all Jonas's fault, which Jonas freely acknowledges. He says he has come to save them from the apocalypse but doesn't answer when they ask about Martha.

### June 27, 2020/2053

Meanwhile, in 2053, Elisabeth activates the generators in the God Particle lab, and a wormhole opens up in the power plant, showing Elisabeth on the other side. Elisabeth and Charlotte walk towards each other from their respective times, Elisabeth signing "Mom." A large dome of dark matter encloses the entire plant as they greet each other. Jonas activates the apparatus at the Nielsen home, which envelops the teens, and they disappear. As Elisabeth and Charlotte touch each other, Charlotte disappears into the wormhole, and the sky goes dark. The black dome engulfs the plant and then expands in an apocalyptic fashion.

### June 27, 2020

The teenaged Jonas, still sitting over Martha's lifeless body, promises to make things right. He is startled as another Martha enters the house. She says she is not who he thinks she is. She says she will explain later, but he must come with her. She activates an orb, which begins to hum and whir and flash. He asks her what time she is from. "The question isn't what time, but what world," she responds, as the shockwave of the arrival of the apocalypse shatters the house. The last thing we see is a light flashing inside the Kahnwald home before it is enveloped in the blast.

## Cast

* Sandra Borgmann as Elisabeth Doppler 2053
* Karoline Eichhorn as Charlotte Doppler
* Carlotta von Falkenhayn as Elisabeth Doppler
* Stephan Kampwirth as Peter Doppler
* Mark Waschke as Noah
* Max Schimmelpfennig Noah 1921
* Wolfram Koch as Unknown Man in 1921
* Carina Wiese as Unknown Woman in 1921
* Andreas Pietschmann as The Stranger
* Louis Hofmann as Jonas Kahnwald
* Julika Jenkins as Claudia Tiedemann 1987
* Paul Lux as Bartosz Tiedemann
* Peter Benedict as Aleksander Tiedemann
* Sylvester Groth as Investigator Clausen
* Lisa Vicari as Martha Nielsen
* Moritz Jahn as Magnus Nielsen
* Gina Stiebitz as Franziska Doppler
* Jördis Triebel as Katharina Nielsen
* Dietrich Hollinderbaumer as Adam
* Antje Traue as Agnes Nielsen 1954
* Leopold Hornung as Torben Wöller

## Deaths

* Hanno Tauber (from Adam's world) - Shot by Agnes Nielsen (from Adam's world) - June 27, 1921 (in Adam's world)
* Martha Nielsen (from Adam's world) - Shot by Adam - June 27, 2020 (in Adam's world)
* Clausen (from Adam's world) - Died in the apocalypse - June 27, 2020 (in Adam's world)
* Alexsander Tiedemann/Boris Niewald (from Adam's world) - Died in the apocalypse - June 27, 2020 (in Adam's world)
* Torben Woller (from Adam's world) - Died in the apocalypse - June 27, 2020 (in Adam's world)
* Bernadette Woller (from Adam's world) - Died in the apocalypse - June 27, 2020 (in Adam's world)

## Quotes

*"We're not free in what we do, because we're not free in what we desire."*
―Noah to his younger self

*"Big and small things don't abide by the same laws. Maybe nothing big can be altered, but small things can. We're changing a grain of sand. And with it, the whole world."*
―The young Jonas to the middle-aged Claudia

*"Let me go!"
"I can't. I promised you I'd make it right. I'm making it right."*
―The Stranger makes Martha hide in the bunker.

*"Why didn't Noah tell me what to do? Why did he tell me it all? Explains the thing to me and doesn't tell me what to do with it."
"Maybe you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You showed us how it works. Maybe that was your sole task."*
―Bartosz and Franziska on Noah's involvement of Bartosz

*"What's that?"
"The passage. We're opening it again."
"You said you wanted to shut it, in the future… or the past. Your future!"*
―The middle-aged Claudia and the young Jonas

*"You taught me everything about the future and past. Everything that happened, everything that will happen. There are two sides out there. Adam and Sic Mundus want to create a new world. You and I want to save this one."*
―The young Jonas explains his past year with the elderly Claudia.

*"How can I bring Mikkel back?"
"Even if I explain it to you, it's impossible."
"You don't want him to return. Because then you'd no longer exist."
"I wish it were so simple. Things in the past can't be changed. Mikkel can't return because I already exist."
"Mikkel belongs here, and not you! You shouldn't exist at all."
"Yes. I'd trade my life for his anytime. But I can't die, because my future already exists. You'd be just as incapable of bringing Mikkel back."
"Then why did you return?"
"I tried to prevent the origin. But it's impossible; I can't. Adam is the endpoint. Maybe I can't prevent myself from becoming what he is, but I can stop what has become of me."*
―Katharina and the Stranger discuss Mikkel and Jonas's future self, Adam.

*"Only when we're free of all emotion are we truly free. Only when one is ready to sacrifice what one holds dearest. Charlotte is your daughter. She is Elisabeth's daughter. And her mother. No human is without guilt. None of them have earned a place in your paradise."*
―Adam confirms Noah's worst suspicions to him.

*""I told you all the game's pieces are in position already. All that's needed is a little push."
"You keep lying! You wanted it all the exact same way. You're the trigger!"
 "The trigger is in us all. Each and every one of us."
"Why do you want this? Why do you want the awful future repeated?"
 "What is created today will begin the end. The dark matter must be created so that I can lead it to its destiny in the future. The end of this world. And I am the trigger, just not for what you think. I am the trigger for... (*shoots Martha*) only what will make you what I am today."
 "You'll be all right. You'll be all right. You'll be all right."
 "Some pain you can't forget."
 "Mar..."
"You'll carry this pain all your life."
"Look at me! Look at me!"
"Until you are finally ready to let go. Of her. You can stop me. Or you can try to save her. You'll know what you have to do.""*
―Adam and Jonas arguing before the former shoots Martha.
## Trivia

### Mysteries

* What is in the letter from Martha? When did she write it, and how did Noah come into possession of it?
* Did Katharina travel to another time and find Ulrich and/or Mikkel?
* Does older Jonas take Bartosz, Magnus and Franziska to another timeline?
* What world is the alternate Martha from? Is it the world Claudia mentions in "An Endless Cycle", which lacks a "Jonas"?
* Bootstrap paradox: Charlotte Doppler is Elisabeth Doppler's mother but is also her daughter! Elisabeth and young Noah were together in the bunker. Noah, in a voice-over, says the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. He couldn't tell Charlotte who her mother was: Elisabeth. They also meet in season 1 when Elisabeth was a girl and gives her the watch with Charlotte engraved.
* When exactly was Charlotte born since she is Elisabeth's daughter? In the future?
* Why does Noah seem surprised when Adam tells him that Charlotte is Elisabeth's mother? He was in 2019 and before Helge's kidnapping, he meets Elisabeth and gives her the pendant that says CHARLOTTE
* Does Adam use one of his guns or Hanna's (which is Aleksandr's) that the Stranger leaves at home?
* Where did Adam go after he shot Martha?
* Where will Magnus and the woman who find themselves in front of the God particle in 1921 go?
* Again: who is the woman next to Magnus?
* How does Elisabeth in 2053 recognize Charlotte from the time hole? In the episode Elisabeth only has pictures of little Charlotte.
* Where do Elisabeth 2053 and Charlotte 2020 go?
* Young Noah says the Stranger will have to save Noah and Agnes AFTER. How will he do it? For the moment he is only saving Magnus, Franziska and Bartosz
* How does the time machine sphere that the new Martha has work?

### Answers

* Elisabeth is Charlotte's mother, which Noah couldn't reveal due to the bootstrap paradox ensuring their existences.
* Adam is the one who kills Martha, instead of her dying in the apocalypse as hinted.
* There is an alternate universe related to the time loop, from which this Martha belongs to.
* Clausen was brought to Winden to break open the barrels, causing the apocalypse.
* Now we understand why the Stranger is already the second time in the house that he looks at the ground for a moment: it is the place where Martha will lie when she is killed by Adam. He's not ready to let her go yet since he is not Adam yet
* Now we understand why, in the episode Beginning and endings, on the calendar in the Kahnwald House on June 21, 2053, June 27 is indicated with a circle. Adam pointed this out in the episode Ending and beginning after shooting Martha and saying that pain will accompany him until he is ready to let go. The same circle is not indicated on Hanna's calendar on June 21, 2020 because the Apocalypse has yet to happen. Time is not linear and there is no exact contemporaneity between the epoches

### Themes and Motifs

Time

* The dates featured in this episode are June 27, 1921; June 27, 1987; June 27, 2020 and June 27, 2053.
* It's the day of the apocalypse, and marks the stop to the countdown which was prevalent in this season.
* For a brief moment before the apocalypse, the God Particle connects June 27 in both 2020 and 2053.

### Observation

* The Stranger wants to prevent Martha from being killed by Adam and so the only thing he can think of is to take her to the Bunker. But for him this is still the first time he has experienced the apocalypse as a Stranger. So he couldn't predict neither the arrival of young Noah with the letter nor the arrival of Peter and Elisabeth in the bunker giving Martha the chance to escape. He has the memory of Martha dead and therefore wants to avoid her. Noah's letter gives the stranger hope to see his Martha again.
* Adam's plan is based on Jonas and the Stranger lack of knowledge. The Stranger knows that Adam will kill Martha and therefore locks her in the bunker but he could not foresee the arrival of Peter and Elisabeth and the letter from Martha that is given to him by the young Noah. Jonas knows that Martha won't survive the apocalypse but she doesn't know that Adam will kill her so he tries to reopen the wormhole to favor time travel.
* Since Jonas has reopened the passage, Kathrina realizes that the time machine is no longer needed.
* Jonas tells Claudia 1987 only that she has to go to the bunker with the time machine but, as the old Claudia told her, she has to save Regina first.
* Regina has never seen Claudia as an adult. Peter has never seen Claudia Adult but only the old one. Nobody in the Bunker has ever seen the Young version of Noah
* The passage in the caves was closed from 12 November 2019 (see Alpha and Omega) to 27 June 2020 and obviously in the same period in the years 1986-1987 and 1953-1954
* Theoretically Killing Adam is a solution because, not having him a future self, it is possible to do so. Just as it was possible to kill Noah and old Claudia, they had served their purpose. Noah fails because of Adam's tampering

### Callbacks

* The young Noah says the older Jonas looks different from when he saw him last, a callback to "The Travelers", in which he says the younger Jonas looks different from what he expected.
* Young Noah only saw young Jonas and the stranger remembers him. Young Noah has never seen the stranger but was evidently informed by Noah and Adam about his appearance
* Martha tells the teenage Jonas "We're a perfect match, don't ever believe anything else," repeating what he told her at the lake and what Jonas told her in their dreamt sexual intercourse, but contradicting what she said to the adult Jonas that they were "wrong." Jonas told that they were "wrong" also in Season 1 after Jonas has discovered that Martha is his aunt , since Mikkel's sister
* The scene where The Stranger points the gun at Noah's body resembles when Helge plants the screwdriver on Noah as they fix the time chair. But nothing happens in both cases.
* There is an analogy between The stranger who discovers something surprising by reading the letter and Noah who discovers about Elisabeth in the last pages of the Triquetra
* Clausen in uncovering the dark matter in the power plant connects Charlotte in 2020 with Elisabeth in 2053 (similar to when Jonas 1986 and Helge 1953 were connected in season 1). The connection is always between 33 years places.
* Just before the Apocalypse we see dead birds falling like in Series 1 when someone was using the caves to travel through time
* There is a recurrence between the following sentences:
* 1) Secrets: "The question is not how but when" -Mikkel to Ulrich after a magic trick
* 2) Crossroads: "The question is not how, but when" -Ulrich to Charlotte when she thinks Helge is involved in kidnapping the children while he is on his way to the caves
* 3) **Ending and beginning**: "The question is not from what epoch, but from what world" -The New Martha to Jonas just before the Apocalypse of 27 June 2020

### Goofs

* The English subtitles for this episode include at least one typo: at 35:33 they say "Buy" instead of "But".
* The Kahnwald house is seemingly blown up in the apocalypse in 2020 but is still standing when Jonas travels to 2052 ("Beginnings and Endings"). However, it is possible that the blast did not destroy the entire structure, merely damaging it severely.
* In the morning The stranger says there are two hours left but in the next announcement it is said that there are 6 hours left

### Soundtrack

* **"My Body Is a Cage"** by Peter Gabriel

## Gallery

Happier times for the DopplersElisabeth's old fox hatAn unlikely family photoThe Dopplers asleepThe NoahsJonas retrieves the gun1987 Claudia and 2020 Jonas before the drumsA tender kiss for Regina from BartoszTorben observesA desperate AleksanderAdult Jonas encounters MarthaFranziska and Magnus waitKatharina finds the orb lightKatharina with Michael's mapJonas brandishing the gunMartha in the bunkerMartha in tears2020 Jonas and 1987 Claudia in the cavesPensive PeterWaiting for mother and sisterInes with MichaelNoah takes aimAgnes shootsNoah dead on the floorA time vortexJonas emerges from the caveClaudia outside the caveCharlotte and Torben speed to the power plantA startled ReginaMother and daughter meet againJonas a bit crazedElisabeth eyes the tunnelElisabeth at the barrier wallAdam suits upThe Sic Mundus God ParticlePerfect for each otherMartha and Jonas confrontedTorben, Charlotte, and Clausen observe, suited upKatharina amidst the vortexThe God Particle at the plantJonas and the teensElisabeth and Charlotte through the portalApocalypse nowElisabeth and Charlotte reach outAn alternative MarthaAlt-Martha's time travel orb
## Navigation

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