Written by John Edward Betancourt
Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Finale of ‘Citadel’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
It is definitely safe to say that two big questions regarding the Prime Video series, Citadel, have been haunting us since the premiere of this dynamic and fun series. Specifically, would poor Mason Kane ever retrieve his memories, since they are essential to understanding the person, we are, and… who was the mole that brought down Citadel? But alas, those answers have been rightfully elusive. For Citadel is in tatters and there are few clues available to expose who might have hated it enough to bring it down and of course… Mason lost the vial that contained his memory engrams. All of which made it appear, that the season finale of this series was going to focus less upon our questions and more about the way forward for Mason and Nadia than anything else and defy convention and leave those answers to another season or never answer them altogether. Concepts that were reinforced in ‘Secrets in Night Need Early Rains’ by way of Archer’s demands of what remained of Citadel. Since she did expect our surviving trio to retrieve what she needed from that submarine and well… that led to a harrowing sequence that made it seem as though, Mason 2.0 was going to be fine in the end, since he was able to remember at least his training and he used that to stop Davik from foiling the plan to create his own nuclear hellscape born of vendetta, and because of how he handled the situation with his daughter. Because Mason was there when she needed him the most, and he finally came to understand just how deep his bond with Nadia was, and with his first family reunited and with Manticore rattled because they didn’t completely get what they wanted, thanks to Mason’s quick thinking from long ago… everyone returned to what remained of Citadel HQ to recoup, regroup (with Mason’s second family no less) and breathe… and remember. For Carter managed to save a backup of Mason’s memories and with his blessing… the first question was answered. But alas, that came at quite the harrowing price. Because this also revealed the identity of the mole and how exactly Citadel was brought to its knees, and that was an answer that no one will be happy about in the slightest.
Simply because… it turned out that a broken man betrayed Citadel. One that spent his whole life suffering through trauma and loss. For his father was killed when he was young, and his mother was never there for him, and that prompted him to try and reinvent himself by joining Citadel. To see if he could finally belong somewhere and feel needed, and he did, and he even found love. A love so strong and so pure, that to be denied it… drove the man to madness. And that was why Mason Kane asked his mother, Dahlia Archer, for help in finding it once more. Since he needed its healing powers, and sadly… that request, born out of pain, brought down the walls of Citadel and left a restored Mason Kane, in the darkest place he has ever been.
For he lost everything, and his world is even more scrambled now with two families and one cannot help but feel a touch of pity for him. For one cannot help but wonder what would have happened if Mason had received a little love and a little help, and we feel it because… his decision wasn’t made out of revenge or malice. Just a need to feel love again, and that’s different and unique and tragic and now that he knows the truth… how he reconciles that will be fascinating to watch in season two. But in the here and the now, we can celebrate one epic finale, one that celebrated the wonder of spy stories while offering up a few new twists to the genre since trauma, and PTSD, and emotional need rarely drive this type of story and, in the end, this does leave us hungry for more. Thankfully… we can handle that problem in part, by enjoying this season once again. Since all of season one is streaming on Prime Video. Which might allow for us to see if there were actual clues that hinted at Mason’s guilt, that we might have missed. But more so, because it will put us back in this wonderful universe and entertain us to no end and tide us over… until the next chapter in this saga arrives. Since Citadel: Diana is on its way, as is that all-important second season, and truly, it will be fascinating to see where this story is headed next and what new heights this universe will achieve as it continues to grow and thrill us with epic action, and twists and turns, and everything else we love about the spy genre. Until next time.
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