The Descent Into Darkness

**The Descent Into Darkness** is the twelfth episode in the second season of the Final Space series. It aired on September 16, 2019 on Adult Swim and September 23, 2019 on TBS.

## Plot

The search for the stolen dimensional keys leads the crew to a planet being sucked into the Dark Zone; H.U.E. and A.V.A. get closer.

## Summary

The Crimson Light is on it’s way to Rugaro, where the last Dimensional Key can be found. A.V.A. detects that The Happy Place is there too, with the four stolen keys on board. And time is running out; the planet is being sucked into a black hole called the Dark Zone.

On the Happy Place, Sheryl leaves the four keys with Todd while she goes after the fifth one. She knows Gary will come for the keys, so they can capture him for Todd. On the Crimson Light, Nightfall reminds Gary his mom won’t give up the keys without a fight. Ash points out that, with Fox still injured, they are spread too thin to take on both Todd and Sheryl. Fortunately, Gary knows exactly who can help. The Resistance. Tribore has by now build up an impressive fleet, and has just saved a planet from the plague of mouth eyes. When Gary calls, Tribore instantly agrees to help.

Ash doesn’t want to go after the keys. She’d rather watch her brother. Then Fox regains consciousness and instructs Ash to go with Little Cato. A.V.A. meanwhile has a private conversation with H.U.E.. She wants to experience for once what it is like to have a body, and actually feels jealous of H.U.E. On her request, H.U.E. lets her download herself into his body. They decide to keep their little experiment a secret however. Before they head out, Gary apologizes to Nightfall that he couldn’t be more like her Gary. And thanks her, for not running away when she found out. When the Crimson Light arrives at Rugaro, the team splits up. Gary, Nightfall and H.U.E. (+ A.V.A.) will go after Sheryl, While Little Cato, Ash, KVN and Mooncake will go after Todd.

On the way to the planet, H.U.E. explains to Gary how the Dark Zone works. Once they’ve landed, they head for a green beam shooting up into the sky. When they get to the source, they see how the planets natives, the Beforians, are planning to send the key into the cosmos before the planet is destroyed. Their leader doesn’t get the chance though; Sheryl shows up and kills him in cold blood. She takes the key, which starts a chain reaction that kills all the other Beforians, and they disintegrate. Gary confronts his mother. She denies him the key, naturally. She explains that she needs the key to save John. Years ago, the grief over her lost husband made her an alcoholic. Then the titan Oreskis appeared to her, and offered her to get John back if she found the Dimensional Keys for him. He also told her Bolo was evil, and had to remain imprisoned. This naturally confuses Gary. Sheryl knocks Gary down and draws a sword. Nightfall grabs her staff and fights Sheryl, who is clearly more skilled than her. She injures Nightfall. Gary takes over the fight, and is easily beaten, but in the struggle he manages to take the key from Sheryl. Sheryl jumps on Gary, causing him to lose the key, which falls off a cliff, onto a rock floating in lava. Gary orders H.U.E. to retrieve the key. A.V.A. helps out by giving H.U.E. an upgrade, which enables him to fly. Nightfall draws a gun and disarms Sheryl. The two women continue their fight. Sheryl wins again and takes Nightfall hostage, and orders Gary to surrender himself and the key. Nightfall is able to break free, and Gary seizes this chance to impale Sheryl in the shoulder with Nightfall’s staff.

Meanwhile, at the Happy Place, just as Little Cato and Ash discuss how to get onto the ship unnoticed, KVN orders Mooncake to blast a hole in the hull. This alerts the Fluffles and Todd to the danger. While Todd commands his men from the bridge, Little Cato and Ash take on the Fluffles. Ash uses her powers and mows them down. Then Tribore and the Resistance arrive to join the fight. Todd activates the Happy Place’s cannon and tries to shoot down Tribore’s ship, but Tribore lightfolds to dodge the shot. His ship crashes into the Happy Place and the resistance soldiers storm the ship. With the Fluffles distracted, Little Cato orders KVN to scan for the keys. It takes him a while due to his new insanity, but eventually he finds them. The keys are protected by an energy field, which is too much for any living creature to handle. Since KVN, as a robot, is not a living thing, he gets volunteered to get the keys. He does, but the energy sends him out of control. Little Cato and Ash are not sure if they should save him though; Gary would be grateful if they didn’t. Mooncake is willing to help however, and creates a vacuum with his mouth to suck KVN towards himself.

Tribore confronts Todd on the bridge, easily defeats him, and launches him into space inside one of the Happy Place pods. On Rugaro, with Sheryl temporarily incapacitated, Gary finally tears into her about what a horrible mother she always was. His words actually seem to get through to her, and she sheds some tears. Gary frees Sheryl, but only so they can take her back to the Crimson Light. She is still his mother after all. The planet begins to break up, and the key goes straight for a lava-fall. H.U.E. and A.V.A. save the key just in time, while Little Cato tells Gary they got the other four keys.

The Happy Place is destroyed as the Team Squad escapes on Tribore’s ship, and Rugaro disappears into the Dark Zone behind Gary, Nightfall, H.U.E. and Sheryl. Back on the Crimson Light, A.V.A. decides to spend the night with/in H.U.E. Sheryl is thrown into the brig. She’s still harboring hatred towards her son. Gary assigns KVN to her as her insanity avoidance companion. Just to annoy her further. Fox has recovered, and the Team Squad has all the keys. It is time to free Bolo…even though he may not be on their side.

## Cast

* Olan Rogers as Gary, Mooncake and Tribore
* Ashly Burch as Ash Graven
* Steven Yeun as Little Cato and Grateful Alien
* Tika Sumpter as Nightfall
* Fred Armisen as KVN and Key Guardian
* Tom Kenny as H.U.E. and Thud
* Jane Lynch as A.V.A.
* Ron Funches as Fox
* Alan Tudyk as Todd H. Watson
* Claudia Black as Sheryl
* Christopher Judge as Oreskis

## Final Thoughts

For behind the scenes about this episode, see https://www.adultswim.com/videos/final-space/final-thoughts-s-2-e-12.

## Trivia

* It was watched by 625.000 viewers on Adult Swim.