Beginnings and Endings

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## *Dark*

**"Beginnings and Endings"** is the first episode of Season 2 of *Dark*. It premiered on June 21, 2019, and is the 11th episode overall.

## Summary

Six months after the disappearances, the police form a task force. In 2052, [sic] Jonas learns that most of Winden perished in an apocalyptic event.

## Plot

*"And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."*
―Friedrich Nietzsche
### June 21, 1921

On June 21, 1921, two men are excavating the Winden Caves. The older one, who has a tattoo of the Emerald Tablet, is chiseling at a stone. He remarks that it is strange that something could be a beginning as well as an ending. The younger man responds, "*Sic Mundus Creatus Est*: And thus the world was created." The first man redoubles his efforts, reciting the Latin phrase.

Afterward, they exit the cave. The younger man asks if the older man still believes in "the prophecy." He is noncommittal, making a joke about the irony of fate. The younger man reminds him "Adam" has told them everything must happen as it always has. Hell on earth will end in six days, and it will be paradise. He perceives, however, that the older man has lost his faith. The older man asks if this is why Adam sent him; he has been expecting it but finds it interesting that the young man should be the one Adam sent. He tells him to ask why Adam took him in and chose to call him "Noah." The young man, Noah, takes a pickaxe and stabs the older man multiple times, killing him.

Elsewhere, the older Noah opens his notebook, removes a photograph from the page, and comes to a circled entry: "June 27, 2020: Beginning of the last cycle".

### June 21, 2053

Jonas Kahnwald and Martha Nielsen are making love in a softly lit room. He tells her, "You and I are perfect for each other. Never believe anything else." Jonas then awakens with a start in his bedroom: it was all a dream. He is fully clothed; his hair is long and disheveled. He pulls his father's suicide note out of his pocket and then goes downstairs. The house is empty and dilapidated. A calendar from June 2020 is on the wall: the first twenty-one days are X-ed off, and the date June 27 is circled. He removes a family photo from the wall and leaves the house, pulling up a face mask. He walks through the abandoned wasteland that is post-apocalyptic Winden.

He goes down into the bunker. Photos of the people of Winden are on the wall, connected by strings. He takes a cassette tape recorded by Claudia Tiedemann. She says she was one of the few survivors of the apocalypse of June 27, 2020, and hopes that if the God particle can be stabilized, it might provide a way back to the past to save them all. He picks up the medal of St. Christopher and looks at a picture of Martha.

### Six days until the apocalypse (June 21, 2020)

On June 21, Hannah Kahnwald is listening to the radio, which announces that more than six months after the disappearances of four children (Mikkel Nielsen, Erik Obendorf, Yasin Friese, and Jonas), a senior citizen (Helge Doppler), and a police officer (Ulrich Nielsen), there are still no clues as to their whereabouts. A federal police task force will assist in the investigation, headed by W. Clausen. She crosses June 21 off on the calendar: the first anniversary of her husband's death.

At the Tiedemann household, Regina Tiedemann, pale and having lost hair due to her cancer treatment, is visited by her doctor. He tells her he is worried about her lab results and suggests she be admitted to the hospital, but she insists on staying home. The doctor agrees to wait until additional test results come in but warns that she may need to resume chemotherapy. Her son Bartosz looks on as he receives a text message from Martha, who wants to see him at the bridge.

In the auditorium of Winden Comprehensive School, Clausen tells everyone that he and Charlotte Doppler will be re-investigating everything. Jürgen Obendorf rises and protests that is not enough. His son has been missing for more than six months. Clausen responds that a new person can view the case from different angles.

At the lake, Magnus Nielsen asks Franziska Doppler if her mother ever talks about the missing persons. "Not to us." They kiss. She is interrupted by a text message and tells him she has to go to take care of her younger sister Elisabeth, who has been staying with a friend. However, she goes to the railroad tracks and places an envelope in a box she has buried, which Magnus witnesses. Later, Benni takes the box, removes the envelope Franziska left, and replaces it with another envelope as Magnus watches. He follows Benni to her trailer and then goes inside, where Benni solicits him. Shocked, he leaves hurriedly.

Meanwhile, Katharina Nielsen goes to the cave.

#### June 21, 2053

Jonas walks through the desolate landscape and comes to a wall marked "Caution, Restricted area." The nuclear power plant lies beyond the wall. Passing it by, he continues walking and enters a makeshift graveyard near the church, where the graves of Aleksander Tiedemann, Torben Wöller, Justyna Jankowski, and Martha lie; all of them are marked June 27, 2020. He comes to his father's grave and places the family photo on it.

### June 21, 2020

Martha rides her bike to the bridge where Bartosz is waiting. He tells her he has tried calling her. She tells him a lot is going on, and she has wanted to talk for a while. Bartosz realizes they are done. He tells her it is because of Jonas. She says Jonas has nothing to do with it; Bartosz has changed, and she has no idea what is happening with him. He tells her his mother is dying, and there are things he can't tell her. She responds that she has to deal with her missing brother, her missing father, and a mother who barely acknowledges her. She tells him it's better this way and leaves. Bartosz then receives a text message from an unknown sender: "This evening." Later he meets with Noah at the caves, who asks him if he is prepared. He nods.

At the power plant, Aleksander Tiedemann gives a speech for the upcoming decommissioning of the power plant, thanking the employees for their loyalty. He then goes underground in a protective suit and is told everything is ready for transport. The previous use of the pools will be blamed for any radiation. Later, concrete is poured over the barrels of nuclear waste.

Hannah pulls out the box with Aleksander's gun and passport at home alone. She takes the gun and aims it at her chin, possibly to commit suicide. Just then, she hears the door opening with a key. The Stranger enters. She asks him how he has a key, and he tells her it's his. He shows her his scar from falling off the bike she and his father gave him for his eighth birthday. He tells her they saw each other thirty-three years ago ("Sic Mundus Creatus Est"). He tells her he is Jonas, even though he is much older. They tearfully embrace. He explains that he exists infinitely. She asks where "her" Jonas is, and he replies that he is stuck in the future because he had attempted to destroy the time portal but only succeeded in closing it. He tells her he has come to put an end to everything.

### June 21, 1921

Noah states that there are no coincidences: every path in life is predetermined and happens when it is supposed to. At the St. Christopher church, still amid construction, he tells his younger self that he has taken his first step and Adam will be proud. The young Noah wants to know how to tell good from evil. The older Noah tells him to listen only to him (himself) since he is his inner voice.

### June 21, 2053

Jonas walks through the forest and comes to a group standing in front of gallows as a man is hanged. An elder female soldier signs to another female soldier, the teenage girl that knocked Jonas unconscious last November, that entering the dead zone is forbidden and that anyone who does so will be put to death. She tells everyone they are the future, "Sic Mundus Creatus Est." They tell Jonas the passage will open and lead them to paradise. "Those without faith are already dead." He tells them all his family and friends have died. The deaf female head soldier is a middle-aged Elisabeth Doppler.

### June 21, 2020

Elisabeth and her father, Peter, go to Tannhaus's clock shop. She asks about her grandparents, who died when her mother was still young. She finds a framed picture of the late H.G. Tannhaus with a young Charlotte, who raised her. In a book, Elizabeth finds an old photograph. She recognizes a man in it who gave her the watch—Noah.

At the police station, Clausen asks Charlotte whether she thinks Ulrich might have been involved in the case, having called her just before he disappeared. She dismisses the phone call as a misdial and says she deleted the voicemail. Torben Wöller arrives with statements from the parents, as requested by Clausen.

Later that night, Peter texts his discovery to Charlotte. Still at the station, Charlotte leaves Clausen and goes to meet Peter at the bunker. He shows her the photograph with Noah, which has January 8, 1921, and "Sic Mundus Creatus Est" written on the back. She adds it to the other photos on the wall of the bunker.

### June 21, 1921

Adam speaks about the futility of existence. He asks if Noah "showed" Bartosz, to which Noah nods. Noah also affirms that Bartosz did not suspect a thing. Adam remarks how Bartosz has always been naïve by nature. He then tells him that the apocalypse must happen, just as one must burn a dead forest so new trees may grow. He instructs Noah to find the missing pages of the leather notebook.

### June 21, 2020

Magnus finds Martha looking through the materials in Mikkel's room; she shows him photos and tells him she thinks Katharina is in the caves.

Bartosz approaches the cave entrance with a flashlight and waits for someone. Noah appears out of the cave darkness and asks if he is prepared. Bartosz nods, and they go into the cave together. Noah carries what seems to be a leather bag.

Torben emerges from Benni's trailer, checking that nobody has seen him. He thanks her for the coffee and gives her an envelope. He tells her to call their mother, and they hug. She hands him the keys to a truck opposite, which he drives away.

### June 21, 2053

Jonas walks through the derelict power plant. With his orb light and Geiger counter, he follows its signal as it intensifies and sees the God particle.

## Cast

* Max Schimmelpfennig as young Noah
* Roman Knizka as "Man in Cave" (1921)
* Mark Waschke as the older Noah
* Lisa Vicari as Martha Nielsen
* Louis Hofmann as the teenage Jonas Kahnwald
* Maja Schöne as Hannah Kahnwald
* Paul Lux as Bartosz Tiedemann
* Peter Benedict as Aleksander Tiedemann
* Deborah Kaufmann as Regina Tiedemann
* Karoline Eichorn as Charlotte Doppler
* Sylvester Groth as Inspector Clausen
* Gina Alice Stiebitz as Franziska Doppler
* Moritz Jahn as Magnus Nielsen
* Nele Trebs as teenage Katharina Nielsen
* Andreas Pietschmann as the adult Jonas Kahnwald (The Stranger)
* Lisa Kreuzer as Claudia Tiedemann
* Lea van Acken as "Girl from the Future"
* Sandra Borgmann as the adult Elisabeth Doppler (2053)
* Carlotta von Falkenhayn as the childhood Elisabeth Doppler (2020)
* Stephan Kampwirth as Peter Doppler
* Dietrich Hollinderbäumer as Adam
* Carina Wiese as "Unknown Woman 1921"
* Leopold Hornung as Torben Wöller
* Nieke Schymura as Justyna Jankowski
* Tom Jahn as Jürgen Obendorf
* Anton Rubtsov as Bernadette Wöller
* Andreas Schröders as "Power Plant Worker #1"
* Frédéric Vonhof as "future scientist"
* Jördis Triebel as adult Katharina Nielsen
* Will Beinbrink as the voice of the Stranger
* Christian Kuchenbuch as Regina's doctor
* Tamar Pelzig as the voice of Franziska and Doris
* Frederik Klaus as "Police Officer" (uncredited)

Bernadette\_Wöller

## Deaths

* Bartosz Tiedemann (from Adam's world) - Stabbed by Hanno Tauber (from Adam's world) - June 21, 1921 (in Adam's world)

## Quotes

* *"He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his finger-tips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore" -Clausen quoting Freud*
* Disappointments are the result of wrong expectations. "You must have hope!" my mother always said "but no expectations. A miracle could happen to you but no disappointment" - Clausen to Charlotte

## Trivia

### Mysteries

* Who is the man outside the cave that Noah kills? Why has he been expecting his death?
* What is "paradise"? Why does its beginning coincide with the day of the apocalypse?
* Who is Adam? Why did he "take in" Noah?
* Why is June 27, 2020, the day of the apocalypse, the beginning of the "last cycle"? What is the "last cycle"?
* What is the photograph that Noah removes from the notebook?
* Jonas's dream: Is it a memory? When did he and Martha have sex?
* Jonas has Still his father’s suicide Letter, which is quite aged. Jonas took the new one from Ines on 12 November 2019 and then travelled to 12 November 2052 thanks to the Stranger. So he is in the future from nearly 8 months. How come that Letter is so aged?
* What represent the pendant which Jonas look twice while contemplating Martha’s picture? Who gave it to Jonas?
* Who circled the date June 27, 2020, on the calendar? Hannah only marks it up to the 21.
* What is Franziska's business with Benni?
* Why is the middle-aged Elisabeth so militant about people not entering the "dead zone" (the ruined nuclear power plant)? If it is the God particle, what concerns her about it?
* How did Elisabeth survive the apocalypse while many others did not?
* Who were Charlotte's parents?
* Why does H.G. Tannhaus have a photograph of Adam's "Sic Mundus Creatus Est" group?
* Who is Adam's group? What do they do? What do they want?
* What is the cause of Adam's disfigurement?
* Who gave to Adam all the familty pictures on the wall, which cover up to 2019?
* In 2019 (up to Nov. 12) we have seen that Peter and Tronte have a Triquetra Book with missing pages. The same Triquetra's book was in the hands of Noah and it is still in the Noah's hands. How Many Triquetra's book are present?
* How Adam know Bartosz 2019, calling him as naive person?
* Why does Adam desire for the apocalypse to happen? Why does he want the missing pages of the book?
* Who are "they" who are waiting for Adam?
* Where is Adam's lair?
* When is Adam's lair?
* Why did the Stranger look at the floor in the Kahnwald house while speaking with Hannah?
* Why Has the Stranger so many scars on the back?
* Does Clausen have an ulterior motive or is he simply a dedicated investigator?
* How Noah can travel from 1921 to 2020? The caves are not yet open and in any these were limited to 33 years back up to 1953. Is a time machine inside Noah's bag which allows time travel?
* Where is Noah taking Bartosz? What is in his briefcase?
* Where did the God particle come from?
* Why still in the abandoned Nuclear Plant Jonas finds working machine, papers, block notes, calculation etc?
* Clausen is reading a letter at the Police Station. Which is the content?

### Answers

* The tunnel containing the wormhole allowing for time travel in the caves was man-made and created by Adam's "Sic Mundus Creatus Est" group, of which Noah is also a part.
* Noah does in fact age (of course) and was once a teenager. At that age, he kills a man in what appears to be cold blood.
* The destruction of 2052 seen at the end of "Alpha and Omega" was caused by the apocalypse, a catastrophe of still unknown cause and other specifics.
* Peter revealed everything to Charlotte about the events of last November, and Charlotte put forward her finding of Ulrich in a newspaper from 1953 as well. The two have been working together in investigation of time travel.
* Many people died in the apocalypse (or at least on that day), including Aleksander, Wöller, Martha, and Justyna Jankowski.
* H.G. Tannhaus is confirmed to be Charlotte's grandfather. While it was hinted at in "Double Lives" when Charlotte spoke of her grandfather's scientific obsessions, it was not confirmed until this episode.
* Benni has been holding onto the truck full of yellow barrels at the truck stop for Wöller. They are also revealed to be siblings.

### Themes and Motifs

#### Time

* The episode opens on June 21, 1921. It is exactly ninety-eight years before the first date we see in "Secrets". The rest of the episode takes place on June 21 in the years 2020 and 2053.
* The apocalypse, and the beginning of the last cycle, is June 27, 2020.
* Claudia's voice on the cassette tape says it has been three months since the catastrophe. This would place the recording in September.
* The date card reading June 21, 2020, includes the subtitle "6 days until the apocalypse". This commences the countdown that will continue throughout the season until the apocalypse.
* Hannah has been marking days off on her calendar. She has made it to the present day, June 21. It is exactly one year since Michael's suicide.
* It has been over six months, nearly seven months since the disappearances of last season.
* The barrells has stayed on the truck, colse to Benni’s roulotte, about 8 months. Woller is Still collaborating with Aleksandr and heceill bring them to the nuclear power Plant to be buried. This was the instruction that Aleksandr gave him in First episode, once that generale situation world be quiet.
* The nuclear power plant will be shutting down in six days—the day of the apocalypse. This decommission was first referenced in "Secrets".
* The Stranger references his passing meeting with Hannah over thirty-three years ago on November 8, 1986 ("Sic Mundus Creatus Est").
* Both the young Noah and the middle-aged Elisabeth say that in six days, paradise will begin. Noah says this is when "hell on Earth" will end, and Elisabeth says the passage in the caves will open and allow them to reach paradise.
* The date on the photograph of Adam's group is January 8, 1921—that would be just over six months ago, by the logic of the time travel of the show.

#### Time Travel

* Noah Travels from 21st June 1921 to 21st June 2020.

#### Colors

* The yellow suits of the Nuclear Power plant recalls Jonas's Yellow raincoat used all along Serie 1.
* We only notice now that Elisabeth has eyes heterochromia

#### Determinism

* Hanna cannot kill himself since Jonas is existing in the future and the Stranger is in front of her. She cannot change the past.
* The fact that young Noah 1921 can kill "The Man in the Cave" means that the latter has already accomplished his role and duties.

### Observations

* The title of this episode is similar to the title of "Alpha and Omega": *The Beginning and the End.*
* During Jonas' dream having sex with Martha, Jonas says that they perfectly match. It is exactly the contrary to what's Jonas said to Martha in series 1 after he has assessed that she is aunt.
* The older man in the opening scene is credited only as "Man in Cave".
* ”The MAN in the cave” has a big tattoo on his breast which is similar to SIC MUNDUS CREATUS EST tattoo which Noah shows on his back when he is in the bunker 1953, ckeaning the Blood of Yasin and writing 09.11.1953.
* Still Secrets in Winden : Charlotte doesn't reveal to Clausen the message from Ulrich about Helge as Kidnapper (which could help Clausen investigation), Fransiska has secrets in the box, Kathrina is hiding her cave patrols.
* He tells the other to ask why Adam called him Noah. In the Biblical Book of Genesis, Adam was the first creation of God, whereas Noah was the man chosen to survive the deluge when the rest of humanity was destroyed, hinting at a role for Noah to play after the apocalypse. Noah suggested his intentions with the time machine chair and why at least he would consider himself "Noah" during his conversation with Helge in 1986 in "Everything Is Now".
* The photo of the Kahnwald family is torn and without Ines. For sure she is dead in 2053 but maybe also because Jonas hates her since in Episode Alpha and Omega in Serie 1, she did not do anything to stop Mikkel's disappearence and she is perceived by Jonas as one possible origin of his pain.
* A new object is introduced : the pendant with the traveler.
* Both Jonases sleep in their bedroom—the younger in 2053, the older in 2020.
* Hannah has lost her husband, son and lover.
* Hanna's tentative of suicide recalls his husband Michael/Mikkel but with different result.
* It is quite particular that Clausen hasn't a drive license. He is an investigator and a cop. Driving license should be mandatory.
* Charlotte feels the pressure of failing the missing persons investigation, like Egon in 1986 and Ulrich in 2019
* The deaf female head soldier in 2053 is Elisabeth Doppler.
* If you look closely, Agnes Nielsen is standing to Noah's right in the "Sic Mundus" photograph. This foreshadows her history with the group.
* In the picture of Sic Mundus dated 08th January 2021 you can see also the red lady who calls Adam during this episode saying that he has to go, the "Man in the cave" on the extreme left and most probably Adam sit on the chair
* Adam says to Noah that Bartosz 2019 is a naive Person. In someway he knows him.
* The book in which Elisabeth finds the photo of Noah with Agnes is *The Kybalion*, a book claiming to provide the complete teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, published originally in 1908 (the edition showed in the episode is from 1940). Like the Emerald Tablet, it is a core text of Hermeticism.
* The radioactive barrels are buried in concrete in 2020. The room where they are buried is discovered by Jonas in 2053. A massive, pulsating mess of black matter and faint blue light floats over top the spot.

### Soundtrack

* **"Partita: III. Courante"** by Roomful of Teeth
* **"Jeanie"** by Falco
Magnus talks to the prostitute in the trailer

### Goofs

* Micheal's sucide letter is still with Jonas in 2053 but it is the given to him by Ines in November 2019, before he travelled with Wormhole after touching Helge hand. This means that it is aged 8 months. In reality it seems very old. It is already the one which will be given back from Stranger to Jonas in Serie 1, inside the box with the Geiger, the Map and the light orb. It cannot be that Wormhole passage open by the Stranger it makes objects age and not people

## Gallery

*→ See **41** images from Beginnings and Endings at **Images from Beginnings and Endings**.*
Angry Young NoahsWaiting deathMarking the daysClaudia's tapesForest of corpsesThe survivorsConfiscated equipmentThe condemned FrenchmanElisabeth and SiljaTalk of paradiseBartosz contemplates his motherRegina talks to the doctorAt the schoolAnother town assemblyKatharina reaches the cavesThe ruins of WindenSigns outside the dead zoneAngryMartha2x1.jpgMartha upset with BartoszOldReactor2x1.jpgThe old reactor chamberHannah2x1.jpgSad HannahSadJonas2x1.jpgSad JonasNoah and Noah0Martha explores Mikkel's roomThe Fall of the DamnedMagnus at Benni's trailerThe truckTorben and Benni's encounterPeter and Charlotte in the bunkerElisabeth waits for her parentsA literal coverupAleksander in a different suitClausen takes a dragClausen's own wallExploring the ruinsSic Mundus Creatus Est, if cruder
## Navigation

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