Chapter 18

**"Chapter 18"** is the tenth episode of the second season of *Legion*, and the eighteenth episode overall.

## Plot

The episode opens with a very familiar looking show of David Haller sitting on a throne, holding a clear crystal ball, with a seemingly pregnant Lenny at his feet. He is surrounded by skeletons, among them appears to be that of the Minotaur. This shot hearkens back to the likes of Jareth from the movie Labyrinth, or Tetsuo from Akira.

Previously, we're shown the conversation that Syd had with Clarke, before she para-dropped in to get to David. She's talking with Clarke trying to convince herself overall that David is a good person, despite his recent more aggressive traits. Since Amy was 'killed', she has seen him become more and more unhinged and a loose cannon. She tells Clark that she's going after him to try to save and bring him back. She also makes note that she hopes that she's right in that his intentions are just.

Syd wakes, in the present and was sleeping next to David in the desert, still trying to find Farouk's body. In an odd surreal bit of imagery, Syd finds a huge bath drain stopper removed from a deep hole in the ground. She is soon thereafter snared and dragged down into the hole. David wakes shortly there after and finds the hole as well. Syd is dragged down into bowels of the hole, and eventually arrives at the feet of Melanie.

Melanie who is undergoing her own bout of psychological beating is convincing herself and Syd that men themselves are to blame for much of the problems, and are a great hindrance of women. Syd is worried about her, but she shows Syd images and out of context scenes of David and tells her that he doesn't love her as she loves him. That he is just using her as a means to an end for his own destructive goals.

At this point we recall that Melanie is indeed under the control of Farouk. Remember that she knocked out Clarke prior to this. What she is relating to Syd is through his plan to separate Syd and David. She tells Syd that David is quite insane and that his true self is full of hatred, and destruction.

David who's been on edge since Amy, now has even more reason to let his aggressiveness out. Searching for her he comes across a mansion, storms in and finds Oliver. Oliver who is also under Farouk's control, greets David, but is summarily roughed up by the angered Mr. Haller. Eventually he drags "Oliver", who is harboring Farouk currently, into his mind and begins torturing him. As this is happening Melanie is showing David's sadistic pleasure in doing this to "Oliver", to Syd. This begins to scare Syd as she seems David taking much pleasure in it.

Meanwhile, Lenny, who's currently helping David eventually comes to the same hole in the ground that Syd was dragged into. Now currently, the hole is surrounded by a ring of monks, all with identical boxes on their heads. Recall that Lenny was transporting the weapon to an undisclosed location. She joins the monks, opens the box, and withdraws what looks likes the the world's largest paintball gun.

Syd tells Melanie that she's been different lately, and is distraught to feel that she is right. She then shows Syd images of her and Future Syd. She spends much time turning Syd to her point of view in that David is crazy, and needs to be stopped.

Cary, Kerry, and some Division three troops are tracking Lenny and the weapon. Remember from the previous episode that technically both are trying to help David, but Cary and Kerry don't know this. The discover the burnt out car that Lenny abandoned, and continue on. They too arrive at the hole in the ground. Emerging from the hole are the 'monks' that Lenny ran into before. This time they are hostile and begin attacking the group with a sonic emission that KO's the group of D3 troops, but Kerry seems to be able to resist. In a bit of Matrix like combat, she swings into action and dispatches nearly the entire group of monks. As she kills the last one, many many more begin to pile out of the hole in the ground...

David, having broken "Oliver", finally gets him to reveal that Syd was taken by Farouk. Reinforcements arrive in the form of Clark, the Vermillions, and a squad of D3. They carry with them a large tuning fork. Melanie, who seems to have control over the Minotaur, orders it to seek out David and his friends (Cary and Kerry) and kill them. Meanwhile we're shown that she opens an egg like capsule that houses Farouk's body... She places a kiss on it's lips and immediately drops to the floor, awakening Farouk to this plane of existence. Given the dramatic music and lightening, this is actually taking place in our reality.

Back at the hole in the ground, Kerry is doing what she can, but Cary is ensnared and dragged down into the hole. Lenny though, wielding her sniper paintball gun, assists Kerry. Both of these characters have a deep animosity towards each other. Kerry is led underground by one of the monks, and they encounter the awaiting Minotaur. He makes quick work of the monk and Cary turns to run. Two Vermillion, who were searching for Kerry and Cary, arrive and engage the Minotaur.

Cary eventually runs into the same Mansion that David and "Oliver" are in. He finds "Oliver" on the floor and David sitting above him. He tells David that his plan so far is going well, but David is still angered over the loss of Syd. David tells Cary that he's been sitting there going over and over how he's going to kill Farouk. Not about stopping him or saving the world. But he seems obsessed with just finding and killing Farouk, and that it feels good. More evidence that David is succumbing to a more violent out of control mentality.

Kerry goes after Cary and in a bit of horrible looking CGI, reaches the bottom of the hole, and finds the two Vermillion, heavily damaged and torn up, after encountering the Minotaur. She finds Syd, who tells her that she must stop David. The minotaur attacks Kerry, and Syd teams up with her to help.

Clarke and team D3 set up their tuning fork, presumably to resonate at a frequency to block the powers of all telepaths, turning them into ordinary people. In the midst of their work Farouk in his true body completely knocks out the entire squad including Clark. The team of 5 Vermillions are left to defend themselves. They read the situation as zero percent chance of victory against The Shadow King and retreat.

Farouk reveals that this large tuning fork is called "The Choke" and is what will either grant the abilities back to David and the group or remove the powers of Farouk, depending on the frequency. Farouk sees this and telekinetically chucks it away.

## Cast and characters

### Main Cast

* Dan Stevens as David Haller
* Rachel Keller as Sydney Barrett
* Aubrey Plaza as Lenny Busker
* Bill Irwin as Cary Loudermilk
* Navid Negahban as Amahl Farouk
* Jemaine Clement as Oliver Bird
* Jeremie Harris as Ptonomy Wallace (credit only)
* Amber Midthunder as Kerry Loudermilk
* Hamish Linklater as Clark Debussy
* Jean Smart as Melanie Bird

### Co-Starring

* Jelly Howie as Vermillion #1
* Brittney Parker Rose as Vermillion #2
* Lexa Gluck as Vermillion #3

## Trivia

* This episode was originally going to be the season finale until Noah Hawley added an extra episode.
* This is the first episode where David is referred to as "Legion", his codename in the comics.
* David's look at the beginning of the episode was inspired by that of his comic counterpart in *X-Men: Legacy Vol 2*.

## References

1. ↑ ‘Legion’ Season 2 Gets an Extra Episode