The Last Trial

**The Last Trial** was an ancient Egyptian trial about three prisoners who are given a second chance. In modern times, Jace, Pete and Kory go through their own Last Trial. Later, the surviving passengers of Flight 828 go through a Last Trial that determines the fate of the whole world.

## History

According to the story, in ancient Egypt, three prisoners were given a second chance to correct the mistakes that they had made in life. The first prisoner used his chance to find love and was rewarded with a companion, the second put past grievances to rest and was rewarded with peace. However, the third prisoner chose vengeance "and a river of blood was shed." It became known as the Last Trial as it was a test and if the last man had chosen to forgive his enemies instead of taking revenge, he would've been rewarded, but he chose to take revenge. Over time, it became known as an allegory and a story about redemption.

As the Last Trial appears to be a vital part of the Death Date, both James Griffin and Zeke Landon presumably undertook it. In Griffin's case, his refusal to change and use of the Callings for his own personal gain ended up causing Griffin to die for a second time when he ran out of time. In Zeke's case, after he died saving Cal Stone's life, he was resurrected again, having beaten the Death Date with his selfless act.

A copy of the ancient story ended up on an ancient parchment that was discovered 2,000 years later and sent to Ben Stone by TJ Morrison. As Olive Stone helped grad student Levi to restore the parchment, the images depicted in the story were discovered to have connection to Flight 828, particularly the peacock feather and the goddess Maat. However, Eagan, an 828 passenger stole Ben's bag, inadvertently taking with it a final piece of the parchment and then throwing it out.

As Levi came close to finishing the restoration, Olive realized that the story paralleled resurrected criminals Pete, Kory and Jace. Although Pete and Kory had already completed their portions of the Last Trial, Jace was hell bent on revenge upon Michaela Stone. Olive contacted her father, convinced that the Callings were trying to bring Jace and Michaela together so that Jace would forgive Michaela and so beat his coming Death Date.

As Jace hunted Michaela and Cal down and his time was winding down, Olive stopped two men from taking the parchment and someone dropped off Ben's recovered bag with the missing piece of the parchment. Pete and Kory both came to Cal's rescue and survived as Jace died, Pete and Kory having seemingly passed their Last Trial while Jace failed it and as a result, beat their Death Date. However, upon restoring the missing piece of the parchment, Olive discovered too late that as the three men were resurrected together, they were also tried together meaning that Jace's failure had doomed them all. A shadowy figure then rose from Jace's body grabbed Pete and Kory and caused them to convulse before they dropped dead again, devastating Ben and Michaela that they had gotten it so wrong.

The night before the passengers' Death Date, Cal sacrifices himself to combine his Omega Sapphire with a piece of Noah's Ark. This sends out a beacon calling all of the passengers to one location. As an apocalyptic volcanic eruption begins, Flight 828 emerges from the ground, having also been restored by Cal. The passengers board the plane, deducing it to be the place of their judgement as Angelina and her followers try to stop them. From the Al-Zuras journal, Olive realizes that Ben needs to lighten his heart by forgiving Angelina for Grace's murder in order to survive the Death Date which Ben does after Angelina expresses remorse for killing Grace. Ben carries Angelina onto the plane which is able to launch when the lava hardens into a runway for them. In the air, the passengers all undergo judgment with the evil deeds of Angelina, Paul Santino and nine others causing them to burn into ash, the fate they would've suffered when the plane crashed. Adrian Shannon nearly suffers the same fate, but Eagan Tehrani selflessly offers himself in his place, causing Eagan to nearly combust before his selfless act causes him to be spared. Saanvi Bahl nearly burns up too for killing the Major, but hers also stops at the last moment, her saving of Cal balancing out the Major's murder. Once the trial is complete, the shadowy figure appears, and the passengers confront it. Deciding that their actions balance out the scales towards good, the figure allows them to live and stops the eruption, saving the world.

After the Death Date is beaten, Michaela and Amuta fly Flight 828 into the light that had been seen before the plane disappeared the first time. After getting off the plane, they begin walking and end up coming across a door, which opens. Going through, it is revealed they exited the Jetway into an airport in Queens. The passengers soon realize they have been sent back in time to April 7, 2013, the day they first disappeared and were originally supposed to land, which then also make them realize they have been given a second chance, while they all have deaged to how they originally looked on April 7, 2013. All of the passengers who died along the way are resurrected, aside from Angelina and the others who weren't able to beat the Death Date, while Cal is restored to his childhood without any memories of the five and a half years that had passed. Only the passengers that survived the Death Date remember everything they went through since they originally disappeared. Having beaten the Death Date, a new timeline has been created where the passengers arrive when they were supposed to and given a second chance at life. The passengers that survived the Death Date then begin to make use of their second chance.

## Known Participants

* Three unnamed men in ancient times
* James Griffin
* Zeke Landon
* Jace Baylor
* Pete Baylor
* Kory Jephers
* Flight 828 passengers

## Trivia

* The reason the 828 trial goes favorably is because Ben and Mick stand up to Death, lashing back at it for their anguish and all the good they did. As it wasn't fair to Doom everyone else for the few who failed.