Cary Duvall is a main character in the AMC+ animated drama, Pantheon. He is portrayed by Aaron Eckhart.
Cary posed as is Caspian's demanding father with rigid ways.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Cary and Renee are both early employees of Logorhythms and in the inner circle of the Stephen Holstrom cult. They zealously believe in the mission to transcend humanity and gain digital immortality, and that only Stephen's singular genius can hold the key to "cracking integrity."
Cary, along with Renee, were selected to act as the parents of Caspian, a clone of Holstrom. He and Renee took the surname Keyes for the assignment. While Cary was kind to Caspian for most of the boy’s life, he was forced to act abusive when Caspian was around eight for the sake of the mission, something he hated to do as he grew to truly care for Caspian.
Final Days as Father[]
Cary arrives home one day and acts angry that Renee is serving tofu and boc choy. Father and son greet each other coldly as Renee serves dinner. Renee says Caspian's teacher says he is ready for college level classes. Cary gives Caspian a problem to solve that an entry level coder could do. Caspian says it is a concurrent problem and Cary reveals he is right. Caspian does not get it until Cary says it is a hierarchy problem. Caspian explains that if someone used the method Cary is describing, they would be fired for causing the system to crash. Cary tries to find a weak point in Caspian's answer but Caspian rebuffs him. Renee takes some of the dishes to the sink and Cary throws the rest on the floor demanding meatloaf and mashed potatoes before storming off. Renee pretends to cry as Caspian walks off. When her son is gone, Renee stops crying and goes to the garage to find Cary in his car. She teases Cary on his improve during the staged outburst and he drives off with Renee pretending to be angry and yelling as Caspian listens to music to drown out their fighting.
A few days later, as he and Renee are updating Pope on Caspian, Deirdre Ryan and Karl Van Leuwen enter Pope's office and inform him Caspian has started looking into uploaded intelligence after making contact with Maddie. Pope informs Caspian's “parents” of the news and tells them to do nothing for the moment as he ends the call. Cary and Renee then part ways. Later that day, as Renee is washing dishes, she sees Caspian coming home with Hannah- an actress hired to play the role of Caspian’s girlfriend- and informs Cary. When the teenagers enter, they stage a fight. After Renee points out “Hannah”, Cary expresses doubts that Caspian and her could be a couple. Renee puts her hand on Cary's shoulder and he pushes her to the floor. Hannah runs off and Caspian goes after her. Cary apologizes to Renee for hitting her but she says he should have hit harder.
A few days later, he and Renee are are looking at hammers for the infection point and they have a small argument over picking a new hammer as the one they have is dirty. Renee tells Cary to take pride in his last day of work and he walks off. Cary comes back with a hammer and hands it to Renee. The following day, they prepare for the inflection point. Renee takes pain killers and she and Cary stage a fight. Renee gets ready to have her arm broken but, when Cary hesitates, she grabs the hammer and breaks her own arm. Caspian enters the room and, seeing what he thinks is an attack on his mother, he grabs his father by the shirt and punches him in the face as his mother pleads for him to stop. He throws Cary to the ground as Cary leaves and walks out on them. Before driving off, Cary swears not to support them. As he heads to the debriefing, Cary contacts Pope to tell him everything went according to plan. He rejects medical attention when mentioning Caspian punched him and says he will miss the boy. Pope congratulates Cary on a job well done and says he will see Caspian soon before hanging up. Not long after, Cary pulls over and starts crying.
Change of Heart and Revealing the Truth[]
In the desert, Cary arrives at a safe house and is greeted by Deirdre Ryan, Karl Van Leuwen, and other Logorhythms employees. Van Leuwin presents Cary with a number one dad t-shirt, and Cary heads off silently to his room. A few hours later, Cary is speaking to Van Leuwen and he says that leaving Caspian alone with Renee is bad for the plan and that Renee is unstable. Renee, who is on speaker, lashes out and Van Leuwen hangs up. Ryan expresses her belief that Cary is just as unstable as Renee along with the whole operation and suggests they should have terminated the project when Caspian was young. Cary berates them for suggesting they terminate Caspian and Van Leuwen say no one is being terminated. Cary heads to his room as Van Leuwen and Ryan look at each other with concern. Fearing for Caspian, Cary escapes the compound and hitchhikes before stealing a car.
Cary returns to his home shortly before Caspian. Cary tells Caspian he wants to apologize and Caspian demands answers. Cary reveals that Caspian's entire life is a lie. Cary reveals he worked for Holstrom and reveals Holstrom figured out how to upload minds but could not fix the flaw before dying of cancer. Cary says he and Renee are part of a digital immortality cult and that Holstrom's mind was irreplaceable. Cary reveals that Holstrom had a backup plan in case he died before curing the flaw. Caspian believes he was meant to be Holstrom's successor until Cary revealed Caspian is a clone of Holstrom and that they planned to raise him with the same experiences as Holstrom to get him to think like his template in order to crack integrity. Cary says it was an honor raising Caspian as Caspian exits the house in shock. Cary calls after him as Renee arrives, upon seeing her Cary reveals he told Caspian the truth. Renee tries to salvage the experiment, but Caspian. Ignores her. As Caspian and Cary enter the car, Renee pleads for them to stop and shoots Cary in the side. Caspian helps Cary in the car and gets in the drivers seat before driving off. In a state of shock Renee drops the gun and shouts “Stephen”, as they leave.
A few days later, Caspian is driving through a rural desert town with Cary diving in and out of consciousness, he comes across a hospital, but Cary rejects it as Logorhythms with find them if he is admitted. Cary insists they have to remain hidden as Caspian says he has a possible contact. Cary reveals his true last name to Caspian and that he was forced to act like a jerk to project Caspian on the right path. However, Cary say what it was doing to Caspian and had second thoughts. Caspian asks more questions but Cary passes out before he can say more. The following day, Caspian heads to Sacramento Raceways after contacting Maddie. Cary is unconscious during the meeting and Caspian only agrees to go with Maddie and her mother when Cody Lowell offers to drop him off at a far away hospital under an alias. In the desert, Cody goes off-road and pulls under a bridge. He parks and wipes off his fingerprints. As he walks off, ready to leave Cary to die, he has a chance of heart. Cary begs Cody to just leave him to die, but Cody insists on saving him. Cody drops him off at a hospital in Palo Alto and he tells police he was shot by a mugger.
Reunions[]
A few days later, Cary wakes up to a nurse telling him his family is visiting. He looks over and sees Renee, Pope, Ryan, and Van Leuwen. He and Renee pretend to act lovingly and the nurse leaves. Renee tells Cary he is out of the inner circle and Pope berates him for revealing the truth to Caspian. Cary says Caspian learned Rachel was an actor and revealing the truth was the only way to salvage the plan and that when they find Caspian, he will be the only one the boy will trust. Pope stops Renee from punching Cary and pulls her aside. He is brought to Norway to recover and keep him silent.
When Caspian is brought to Norway, Pope takes the boy to the lab he was made in and, after Caspian becomes upset on seeing Van Leuwen and Ryan , she makes herself known, saying he is safe. Upon seeing her, Caspian picks up a try to defend himself, only backing down when Cary appears. As Pope tries to deescalate the situation, Caspian berates everyone there for trying to groom him to accomplish their own goals. Pope reveals they want to perfect upload so that humanity can have the resources it needs to flourish as it is overpopulated. Caspian fires his fake parents and announce his plans to break up the company. Ryan protests, but Pope gives in.
Staying on Svalbard[]
In the months after the internet is shut down, Cary stays on Svalbard to keep an eye on Caspian. One day, he is in a bar and overhears Pope asking Renee to bring Maddie to the black site. A few days later, posing as a fish monger, he tries to warn Caspian about Pope, but his warnings fall on deaf ears.
After congress is alerted of the black site, FBI agents are dispatched to Svalbard and he holds a pilot at gun point- forcing him to take Maddie, Caspian, and himself to a private plane. As the teenagers and pilot board, Cary stays behind, saying Caspian does not need him and that he is better then Hostrom. He offers Caspian his gun, but he does not take it. As the engines start up, Caspian tells him to take care.
Appearance[]
Cary is a man in his forties with short cropped light brown hair and eyes. He has a slightly overweight build and wears glasses. In the months following the global internet shutdown, he has grown a beard.
Personality[]
While forced to act like an abusive father and husband, Cary is genuinely a caring and friendly man. He despised acting the part and deeply regretted his actions. He is also loyal and courageous, as he stayed behind on Svalbard to keep an eye on Caspian and saved Caspian and Maddie when the FBI arrived at the black site.
Relationships[]
Renee[]
Working together, Cary and Renee were never close. Over time, Cary saw how unstable she was and grew concerned for Caspian's safety. After revealing he told Caspian the truth, Renee shoots Cary to stop him from leaving with Caspian, something that causes him to have nightmares. Upon finding her in his hospital room with other members of the inner circle, they act lovingly when the nurse is present, but drop it once the nurse leaves. Upon calling her unstable again, she tries to hit him, but is stopped by Pope.
Caspian Keyes[]
While assigned to act as an abusive father, Cary grew to care for Caspian. After “walking out” on his “family”, Cary expressed his sadness at leaving Caspian to Pope and cried as he drove to the debriefing. During the defrauding, he was shocked to learn that Logorhythms considered and still considers the possibility of terminating Caspian if they feel the project is a failure, causing him to run back to San Clemente. Upon reuniting with Caspian, he tells the boy the truth and Project Caspian.
After being shot, he begs Caspian to avoid hospitals as Logorhythms could find them no matter where they were, showing he cares more for Caspian’s wellbeing than his own. Even after Cody Lowell has second thoughts about leaving him to die, Cary begs him to leave him for Caspian's safety. After reuniting with Caspian in Svalbard, he tells Caspian he can believe him. When Caspian fires him and Renee, he stays on Svalbard to keep an eye on Caspian, even warning him to watch out for Pope. When the FBI raids the black site, Cary holds a pilot at gun point and forces him fly Caspian and Maddie to Washington, D.C. as he stays behind. Cary tells Caspian he never needs him and that he is better than his template.
Stephen Holstrom[]
When Cary was in his twenties, he wholeheartedly believed in the potential of Uploaded Intelligence. When Project Caspian was formed, he was entrusted, along with Renee, to raise Holstrom's clone to think like his template by experiencing as many of the same life experiences as Holstein had with Cary acting as the abusive father. At first he willingly carried out his task, however as Caspian neared eighteen, Cary started to lose his beliefs in the cause and came to see Holstrom was not the man he thought he was. Upon helping Caspian and Maddie escape the black site during an FBI raid, he tells Caspian he is better than Holstrom, showing that he has fully become disillusioned with the concept of Uploaded Intelligence.
Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- Pantheon
- Cycles
- Reign of Winter
- The Gods Will Not Be Chained
- Zero Daze
- You Must Be Caspian
- We Are You
- The Gods Will Not Be Slain
Season 2[]
Gallery[]