The Human Enigma

**The Human Enigma** is the first episode in Season 1 of the Amazon Prime Video series *Citadel*. The episode aired on April 28, 2023 alongside the second episode of the series.

## Synopsis

*In the series premiere, Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh - top agents of the independent spy organization Citadel - collide with a nefarious, new syndicate - Manticore - leading to catastrophe. Eight years later, Mason Kane is living a quiet life as "Kyle Conroy" with no memory of his past. Until one day an old colleague enlists his help to stop a now powerful Manticore from creating a new world order.*

## Plot Summary

A woman dressed in red walks through a train cabin in the Italian Alps and sits down. She eyes a man in the cabin and marks him as her target, matching him to the ID card she has in her hand that says the name "Gregor Yovanovich". The woman, Nadia, calls Bernard to alert him she has Gregor in sight. He tells Nadia he has a bag with highly enriched uranium that he intends to sell to nefarious bidders. Bernard advises Nadia on the weapons she has in her purse and she hangs up.

A man approaches Nadia and asks her in Italian if anyone is sitting next to her. She recognizes him as Mason and assures him she can handle this case on her own. He tells her Grace said they needed the best on this and that they are a team. The target moves and Nadia grabs Mason and kisses him to keep cover. Gregor's backup follows Nadia and Mason follows him. They start to fight.

Nadia makes it to the dining car and puts on red lipstick before approaching Gregor. She passes him his ID card and asks him if he lost it. She asks to join him and introduces herself as Charlotte. She points a gun at him and he guesses she is from Citadel, assuming originally that Citadel was just a myth. He calls her Nadia and tells her that his people fed her people false information so that he could hand deliver her a message. Meanwhile, Mason wins the fight in the bathroom and leaves to go find Nadia.

Gregor hands Nadia a computer screen to show her a video of the destruction of Citadel offices and personnel across the world. He shows her a mark on his wrist. She points her gun at him but Gregor's back up from all over the dining car point guns at her. He tells her the look in her eyes was worth the wait. Mason walks into the dining car and starts shooting. Nadia manages to shoot Gregor and some of his men. Mason and Nadia kill everyone and she tells Mason they were set up and that they're burning Citadel to the ground. She admits she lied to him and Mason admits he lied back. Bernard tries to connect on the audio but can't. Gregor, almost dead, tells them that Manticore will always win. He detonates a bomb on board and the train railcar derails and lands in the river.

Mason wakes up in a hospital bed in Bellagio, Italy. He realizes he is bound to the bed and can't get up so he screams for help. A doctor asks Mason about what he remembers but he can't seem to remember anything at all. The doctor tells him he's suffering from retrograde amnesia. He tells him his name is Kyle Conroy and passes him his passport and wedding ring, informing him there is no record of him in the U.S.

Eight years later, in Eugene Oregon, a little girl runs out to get her dad because the pancakes are ready. Mason, fully believing he is Kyle Conroy, walks in. Later, Mason goes to therapy and admits he must've been a horrible person if no one came to look for him after the accident. He admits he feels like he's keeping secrets from himself. He admits he's been having visions of a woman from the train and he needs to find out who she is so he can find out who he is. The therapist recommends he swabs his DNA to find any relatives because the technology is more advanced now and something might turn up.

In Virginia, an older woman trims her rose bushes and speaks to a man, Harold, about the fall of Citadel. She mentions an X Case from Citadel that has information about agents, nuclear codes, and more. Harold insists he doesn't work for Manticore anymore but the woman, Dahlia, says she’s calling in a favor and even threatens his family for the information. A phone buzzes and a man, Davik, surrounded by bloody bodies, picks up the phone. It's Dahlia on the line and she tells him she has a job for him - to retrieve the Citadel X Case from Miami. He tells her he's on it.

In Chicago, Bernard passes out cards to three men who are bound and gagged, telling them they’re playing a game. He pretends to play and then shoots two of the men. He asks the remaining man why his Manticore pal, Dahlia Archer, had a meeting with Secretary McCulogh at her home. He cracks and tells him she wants the location of Citadel’s X Case to get nuclear codes. Bernard gets a notification on his phone regarding "Tier-One" agent Mason Kane. He shoots the third man.

Mason flirts with his wife but gets a sudden flashback of Nadia. He comforts his daughter who has a bad dream. When everyone is asleep, he goes into the shed and pulls out the belongings that were found with him after the accident. He gets a call from his wife Abby that someone is in the house. He runs inside and gets struck down by Bernard. He instructs all of them to get into the car at gunpoint. They listen to what he says and get in the backseat. Gas releases that makes them fall asleep.

In Miami, at a CIA blacksite, Anders and his brother successfully break in and retrieve the Citadel X Case.

Dahlia, an ambassador, gets interviewed about nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom’s political state. She subtly threatens the reporter for spreading misinformation campaigns and the interview abruptly ends. Dahlia gets informed that the X Case has been retrieved but that there are many security codes so they’ve gone to New York to decode it.

Bernard apologizes for the theatrics as he explains to Mason why he brought him and his family there. He explains that his search on "23 and Me" put him in danger and that they are in fact old friends. He tells him his name is Mason and asks him if he's ready to find out who he is. He shows him an old video of himself and explains that he is a spy and that there is no Kyle Conroy. He explains what Citadel is and how he was a part of it. Citadel is an organization that protects the safety of all people and represents the good. Bernard explains that he is the last one and that Manticore is the enemy. He asks Mason for his help to come to New York to get the X Case back. Bernard promises to tell Mason who he is if he helps him. He shows him his ex-partner, Nadia, and says he believes she is dead.

In a flashback to 8 years earlier, Nadia is shown to be alive, having survived the train crash.

## Cast & Characters

### Starring

* Richard Madden as Mason Kane
* Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Nadia Sinh
* Ashleigh Cummings as Abby Conroy
* Roland Møller as Anders Silje and Davik Silje
* Osy Ikhile as Carter Spence
* Caoilinn Springall as Hendrix Conroy
With
* Lesley Manville as Dahlia Archer
And
* Stanley Tucci as Bernard Orlick

### Co-Starring

* Lev Gorn as Gregor Yovanovich
* Gianfranco Terrin as *Italian Doctor*
* Spencer Mulligan as *Gregor's Handler*
* Timothy Busfield as Therapist Simmons
* Peter Gerety as Secretary McCulough
* Ilan Muallem as *Manticore Agent #1*
* Andy Watts as *Manticore Agent #2*
* Gary Weeks as *Manticore Agent #3*
* Erin Boswell as Marjorie (BBC Reporter)
* Kineta Kunutu as Billie
* Sara Martins as Sandra

## Quotes

> I thought your old habit was just leaving
>
> Mason to Nadia

## Locations

* Italian Alps
* Bellagio, Italy
* Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A
* Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A
* Miami, Florida, U.S.A
* Virginia, U.S.A.

## Trivia

Manticore was founded by eight of the most powerful families from countries around the world. These families are from the following locations and work in fields such as production, manufacturing, and technology.

1. Germany – Production
2. France – Telecom
3. China – Manufacturing
4. U.S.A. – Food Production
5. South Korea – Technology
6. Brazil – Oil
7. Mexico – Pharmaceuticals
8. Italy – Arms Sales – Zani Family