Maddie Kim

Madison “Maddie” Kim is a main character in the AMC+ animated sci-fi drama, Pantheon. She is portrayed by Katie Chang.

Maddie is a shy high school freshman who lives in Sacramento California and is being bullied at school while simultaneously struggling with her father's recent death until learning that his consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud, allowing him to make contact with her.

Character[]

Maddie represents both the best of humanity while also representing the every woman, feeling trapped in her awkward body and troubled life in her new school. She seeks escape from the real world and does so through her draw to the interior world of technology, sparking conflict with her mother, who pushes Maddie to unplug and engage with the real world – specifically with her grief over losing her father. Maddie's affinity for technology is tied, however, to her memory and her love for her father, who taught her how to code.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Maddie was born to David Kim, a computer engineer, and his wife Ellen Kim, a history professor. Growing up, Maddie was closer to her father. When she was in the seventh grade, her father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. During one of David's chemotherapy sessions, he gifted Maddie her mother’s old laptop and she threw it in the trash, thinking he gave it to her because he knew he was dying.

After David’s death, Maddie became withdrawn and she had her mother moved. Ellen begins dating a man at her work named Gabe, which Maddie did not like.

Learning her Father’s True Fate[]

As Maddie is sitting through a mythology lesson on the newer generation overthrowing the older generation, she gets an email calling her ugly and asking her to kill herself. As Maddie fixes her hair and shifts her legs, most of the other girls mimic her movements. Maddie asks to go to the bathroom, but the teacher asks for her phone and she runs out of the room. As she sits outside the principal’s office, she listens to her mother explain that she is adjusting to a recent move and the anniversary of her father’s death is coming up, which the principal understands. Maddie and Ellen drive home in silence and Maddie goe up to her room to find an email from her grandmother. As she browses through pictures her grandmother sends her, Maddie responds that she misses her grandmother.As she types out her troubles, she gets an email of herself with pig ears and nose. She tells her grandmother everything is going great before crying herself to sleep. She wakes up to find a string of emojis from an unknown individual who knows about the email. After expressing how it hurt her. Maddie deduces that the person is trying to protect her.

At school, Maddie's bullies all get hurtful texts and emails about how they betrayed one another in some form, ending in Samara, the ringleader, attacking another girl, Erin, in the bathroom, an act witnessed by Maddie. She returns home to find that her contact was responsible for the hacks. When she asks why the person is helping her, the person reveals they know her mother. Ellen enters and becomes angry upon learning that she has been talking to a stranger online. When Ellen asks what the person wants with Maddie, they send a line from a poem and Ellen is panicked. She goes to her room and calls Peter Waxman to demand what he did with David. Maddie posts a message on the dark web about Logorhythms faking her father's death and is quickly answered by someone named Gage, who asks her her proof and she reluctantly sends him the chat. Ellen then walks in and tells her to drop it. Ellen says David is not alive and Maddie reveals she found the poem in Ellen's books. Ellen insists that it is not Maddie's father.

The following morning, her mother drops her off at school. During class, Maddie gets a message in emojis from someone under the screen name AngryAngel. Maddie looks at the messages until the teacher closes her laptop. During break, Maddie goes behind the bleachers to try to speak with AngryAngel again, but Samara finds her and accuses Maddie of hacking her phone. Samara stops Maddie from leaving and threatens to attack her until Ellen arrives and threatens Samara. Maddie tries to get her mother to back off and Ellen lets go. Samara runs off and Ellen reveals she has been keeping a major secret from Maddie.

Freeing her Father[]

Her mother tells her that after her father was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he volunteered for an experimental procedure to upload his mind onto a computer. Maddie expresses joy when her mother explains that her father chose to upload his mind, however her mother says she was present when David died and shows her a case of broken glass from supposed failed upload. Ellen tries to convince Maddie that the person messaging Maddie is not truly her father and they have a fight. Ellen says David is gone as Maddie cries into her mother’s arms and Ellen declares she will make Logorhythms pay. She contacts Gage and asks who he told about her father and reveals someone offered to help free him and Gage reveals he sent the logs to a contact of his and mentions the d-dos attack on Logorhythms. They both deny involvement and, as she asks about UIs, she gets a message from AngryAngel telling her to stop talking to Gage as he is being watched. AngryAngel tells Maddie to come to the mall food court at three the following day.

At school, Maddie is thinking of ways to protect herself in case things go south and sees Justine, a girl who writes papers for other students. She asks Justine to take her and the other girl agrees for a price. At the mall, she and Justine enter the food court and, as Justine is eating free samples, she sees a man kick out a chair after they make eye contact. Maddie goes over to him and he introduces himself as Cody Lowell and says his wife Laurie messaged her. Maddie looks up Laurie and finds that she died four years ago. He insists his wife and her father are not dead and Maddie gets up to leave, but Cody asks what her favorite song is, along with her father’s favorite song. She says he liked Queen and “You’re My Best Friend” plays over the speakers and everyone’s phones are Maddie stays. Cody explains that his wife was talented at reading stock and that he was offered a way to save her after a car crash. He explain that Logorhythms uploaded her and lied about it failing. Laurie then calls and Cody hands his phone to Maddie. Laurie explains that she is responsible for the d-dos attack, a failed attempt to rescue David. Laurie urges her to go with her mother so that she can attack Logorhythms from the inside as Cody hands Maddie a bracelet to help free David. When she gets home, she asks her mother to go with her to Palo Alto.

The following day, mother and daughter go to Logorhythms as Waxman transfers David’s data from Norway. The two sit in the lobby until Waxman arrives to escort them to a boardroom. Pope introduces himself and Deirdre Ryan. Waxman explains that once they wipe the data, David will be gone, but Pope and Ryan refuse to do so and claim David is their property and that Ellen's power of attorney does not include his mind. As her mother chastises them, she activates her bracelet and takes down Logorhythms servers. As Pope and Ryan say Ellen will lose in court and tarnish her family name, Pope is informed that everything is down. With Logorhythms losing money, she agrees to give them back control in exchange for her father. Ellen is surprised by her daughter's act and tries to convince Maddie that the device on the table is not her father, but Maddie insists that it is. As they cannot afford to lose money at this rapid rate, Pope reluctantly hands over David and warns her to be careful. Once the Kims leave the premises, Logorhythms gains control.

Once they reach home, Maddie runs up to her room and reveals the Lowells have bought David an encrypted server to house David and they are freeing him. Once they finish the download, she gets a call from an unknown number and her father answers, much to her joy and Ellen's horror. David tells her to open Reign of Winter and his avatar appears. David asks if she is ready to finish the adventure and father and daughter play their favorite game together for the first time in two years.

Reuniting with her Father[]

A few days later, she is playing Reign of Winter. Maddie calls for her father when she is struggling with a chimera. he arrives and helps her finish off the chimera. David says he was looking for Laurie, but cannot find her. They set out and David expresses his disbelief that Laurie helped him escape Logorhythms but has not contacted him since. David comments that Ellen has not talked to him since he was freed as Maddie explains that she has had to work more since he died and that Ellen hates virtual reality. Just then, they are attacked by another party, but David breaks the game and kicks their attackers out. Logorhythms notices the spike and records it for when the tracking program is ready. She berates her father for his actions and expresses her fears that the moderators could ban him and he could be hunted down by the NSA. She tells her father to act like he does not exist, to which he says his wife already thinks so. She exits the game and agrees to talk to her mother for him.

At school, Maddie is having lunch with Justine when she asks Maddie why she wanted her to accompany her to her meeting at the mall. Justine asks Maddie about her plans and Maddie mentions her parent's current relationship status. Justine reveals her parents were the same before their divorce, but Maddie insists they will stay together and plans to trick them into getting back together. Justine criticizes her plan as Maddie expresses her fears that her mother might marry her boyfriend.

That night, Maddie is preparing dinner and has put her father on a laptop in a chair. She calls down her mother as David expresses doubt and reveals he called Ellen at work. When Ellen walks in, she is surprised to see the set up and David apologizes. Ellen walks over to the laptop and closes it. She berates her mother for treating her father like this but Ellen insists that the person on the screen is not her husband. Ellen insists the two talk, but Maddie insists they talk as a family and David begs Ellen to listen. Ellen leaves and Maddie apologizes to her father. David is silent for a bit and asks who Gabe is. At Gabe's house, her father hacks into all of Gabe's electronics and Ellen berates him for it. When she refuses to tell Gabe what is going on, he breaks up with Ellen.

When her mother arrives home, she wakes Maddie up to help her talk to David. As her parents talk, they agree to not get back together and remain friends, much to Maddie's dismay. After crying in the hallway, she returns to find her mother dancing. Ellen tells her daughter how her father supposedly won her over from Eddie Vedder, which Maddie does not believe.

Learning of Secondary Effects[]

After a nightmare, she logs onto Reign of Winter and finds David at the edge of the playable world and tells him they should move. Maddie asks David where his server is and he answers Oregon. Maddie asks what her father looks like outside of the game and he gives her a link. Maddie arrives in a replica of David’s office in a floating chibi form and sees her father as a two dimensional figure. David explain life before Maddie freed him when Laurie arrives. Laurie accuses David of doing something to her as Laurie attacks David and kicks out Maddie. In a panic, Maddie contacts Gage and gives her Justine's phone number. Gage chastises her for ghosting him and Maddie promises to explain everything if they talk. Maddie goes to Justine’s house and pleads with her to use her phone. Justine relents once she agrees to buy cookies. Maddie speaks with Gage and he chastises her before saying she was warned to stay away by Laurie but Laurie attacked her father. Gage asks for her name and threatens to hang up if she does not. Maddie gives him her name and says she lives in Sacramento and Gage gives her his real name, Caspian Keyes. Caspian says he found a proposition logical problem on the dark web, he solved it and they started talking. Caspian says he gave Laurie her chat logs because it reminded him of how he and Laurie communicated and asks why she told Maddie not to talk to him. Maddie confirms Caspian does not know the Lowells and she reveals Logorhythms is watching him and he mentions Norway and Uploaded Intelligence. Maddie says goodbye as Caspian mentions he thinks Logorhythms changed images on him and Maddie mentions Laurie said he was being watched two weeks ago and hangs up.

Later that day, her mother is looking up Laurie at Laurie's obituary and finds it strange that she cannot find pictures of her husband. The doorbell rings and she answers it. Cody barges in with something in his pocket and angrily asks what she did with his wife. Ellen pepper sprays him as Cody falls to the floor and a flashlight falls out of his pocket. Maddie introduces Cody and Ellen backs off. Ellen gets Cody eye drops and he apologizes and thanks them for not calling the police. Ellen says it is not off the table as she and Cody insist Laurie first contacted her. Cody says Laurie has been different since breaking David out and that he was responsible for something and that it was why she wanted to break him out, much to Maddie's shock. Cody tells them about his wife’s accident and how Logorhythms tricked him into letting them upload her and lying about it, as well as how she managed to contact him. He tells them how they figured out how to communicate and see each and Laurie gives Cody advice on how to make money on the stock market and he buys servers for her before eventually finding out about David.

The following day, as Cody struggles to shut off Laurie’s server, but Ellen encourages him. Just as he is about to, he and Maddie get notifications. Cody takes out haptic gear and lends a vest to Maddie. He scans her face so that she would look more like her. Maddie goes her room and puts on the gear and, upon seeing her father in three dimensions, hugs him for the first time in two years. David reveals that his and Laurie’s “cages” have combined for the time being and explains that Laurie has a flaw that causes her mind to decay over time the faster she moves. As they watch Laurie explain this to Cody, Maddie realizes her father has it as well.

Hacking Logorhythms[]

As she, her father, and the Lowells think of how to cure the flaw. David starts to glitch and Laurie realizes Logorhythms found his servers and she backs up as much of David as she can. The background falls apart as Cody leaves and warns Maddie to do the same. Maddie. Once she removes her virtual reality goggles, Ellen comforts her daughter as Cody enters her room to reveal the servers are being turned off and Laurie reveals Logorhythms bought the company that owns the building earlier that day. Everyone waits anxiously as Laurie reboots David. David is revived and does not remember the last twenty four hours. Laurie brings him up to speed as they discuss how to fix the flaw and bring David back to full speed. Cody suggests they get a floating data center like Laurie, but she insists that they set it up at the house. Cody says they would need special equipment and Maddie demands he buy it as he has the money. Cody tries to talk the Kims out of it, but they do not relent.

Over the next few, days, servers, cooling systems, and a decile generator arrive at the house and they set it up, drawing attention from the neighbors. Once everything is set up, they log into the server and discuss how Logorhythms found them. They deduce that they are using a tracking system to find them and Ellen and Cody express concern that it is too dangerous to attack again. As they think off where Logorhythms would keep the data on uploads, she mentions the black site in Norway, confusing the adults. She mentions Caspian to Laurie , but Laurie does not recognize the name. They find the black site in Svalbard and Ellen mentions Pope flew in from overseas and had a specific phone with him. David finds Pope in Norway and they hack his phone. After a few seconds, they drain Pope's phone and Pope has his phone returned to his office to recharge. Once it is charging, they find it in close to a laptop and David uses the phone's vibration function to walk it to the computer. David uses untrasonic tones in the air to type on the keyboard and gets Laurie access. They then sort through the files for anything on the flaw. In their search, they discover Chonda. Knowing Pope is letting them hack Logorhythms to track her father, he gives them a fake location.

Once they sort through the files, she tells her mother and Cody. Laurie and David learn the flaw is naturally occurring and no cure currently exists. They also find find files on Caspian and share them with her. They express their belief that Caspian might be the only person who could cure the flaw. She is surprised to learn that Stephen Holstrom was cloned and her father insists Caspian is their last hope to be cured.

Meeting Caspian in Person[]

The next day, the Kims and the Lowells are searching for Caspian but find that he skipped school and his fake girlfriend's social media has been seemingly abandoned. David feels that by contacting Caspian, they could alter his destiny and stop him from cracking integrity. As Laurie searches the files, she starts to glitch and Cody fears the flaw will take its toll on her soon. She insists she could call him as Ellen believes she finds it strange how Maddie possibly found the one person who could fix the flow. David states that he was the only one who solved Laurie’s equation and Maddie mentions he saw similarities between how David and Laurie communicated through emojis. Maddie and Laurie state they should seek out Chonda, but Cody and Ellen are against it. As David and Laurie tell the others about their alternative for the cure involving merging code to create a new entity and form a new mind, Justine calls to tell her Caspian has been calling. She patches Maddie in and listens in. Caspian tells her he is coming to Sacramento and she puts him on speaker. Caspian says his “father” was shot and they cannot go to a hospital as Logorhythms will find them. Ellen tells Caspian to meet them in the parking lot of the Sacramento Raceway at one the following afternoon and hangs up.

Caspian reaches Sacramento Raceways and meets up with Cody and the Kims. They get out of their cars and Maddie notices blood on Caspian’s shirt . Upon seeing Cary, Ellen insists they need to take him to a hospital, but everyone questions how not to lead Logorhythms back to them by doing so. Cody insists he can use a fake name to check in Cary and tells Caspian to head back with the Kims. Caspian is reluctant until Maddie reveals they know the threat Logorhythms is and know what Caspian is. Caspian then agrees to leave Cary with Cody and goes with the Kims. As Ellen drives, she and Caspian sit in the back seats. When asks who shot him “father”, Caspian says Cary is not his father and his shooter was not his wife. Caspian says he does not know where his mother is asks if her husband has reached a hospital. She clarifies how everyone is connected and explains that Laurie and her father are the first and second people to be uploaded respectively. Caspian asks how they know about him and, upon return to her house, Maddie takes him to her room and shows him his files from Logorhythms. She asks if he could talk with her father, but Caspian insists he cannot help and he is going through something. Maddie storms out of her room and runs outside. David tells her Caspian will help her as soon as he comes to terms with his revelation. Justine arrives and Maddie hangs up. Justine states she wants to know what is going on but respects her privacy and that she will be there for her.

After Caspian run out of the house in a state of shock, she sits next to him. He asks if she believes in the simulation theory and she expresses how the world felt fake after her father died and how her life before that felt fake soon after. Caspian reveals he always had a feeling it was fake and that he now has no idea what he is. Maddie says her father is digital and laughs when Caspian says his real mother was a robot, he joins in soon after.

As Caspian is working on the cure, Chonda arrives and overclocks so that the UIs can speak privately. Soon, Chonda demands Caspian tell him how long it will take to fix the flaw. Caspian does not answer and says David and Laurie showed him his files. Chonda tries to leave to warn others but is stopped from leaving When asked what he means by others, Chonda reveals he sent blueprints to upload people to the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Iran, and China. He selected these governments because he knew they would upload their best operatives and keep it secret. Chonda intends to change the UI's minds where they could see that they are more than human upon meeting him. David chastises Chonda for this as an unknown amount of people could die because of this along with the UIs.

Caspian takes off his gear and leaves the house with her following, trying to get him to stay. Caspian expresses his frustration as she tries to say he is there for a reason. Caspian ignores her and drives off, giving it a month before everything falls apart.

Threat of Exposure[]

Two weeks later, she and her mother are panic buying in preparation for the damage the UIs could cause. David calls his family to inform them Laurie is planning to go public about Uploaded Intelligence, shocking Maddie. Her father tells his family about Chonda's anger at Laurie’s plans and they have twenty four hours before she goes public. Maddie states she agrees with Chonda despite not trusting him. Ellen asks if David has a plan and he has them enlist the help of Peter Waxman. She goes to Cody's apartment to find him packing and she tells him Laurie is planning to reveal UIs to the public.

Later, Waxman comes over and hands over the track data and the Kims invite him in to speak with David, but David declines. Laurie returns and Chonda arrives, David reveals he invited them both to give him a speed advantage. Chonda rebuilds the program and they realize the Chinese UIs are attacking Logorhythms. Maddie and Ellen tell Waxman about the attack and he agrees not to tell his company.

When the attack is thwarted, she invites Cody over to let him talk to Laurie. He puts on her gear, as he destroys his, and logs onto his wife’s server. When he Maddie asks how he plans to stop Laurie, he tells her he cannot change his wife’s mind and is only there to say goodbye to Laurie. Maddie leaves and Cody speaks with Laurie. As Maddie walks, she gets a call from Chonda. Chonda reveals he sees Laurie and David as threats and says her father will suffer the same fate as Laurie if he interferes with his plans. Maddie runs back home but Chonda reveals she will never make it in time and launches a mission at the cargo ship housing Laurie's server just as she finishes her recording.

Threat of Attack[]

A week after Laurie’s death, Maddie is in her room watching news footage on the UI attacks when she gets a call from Caspian. He apologizes for leaving and reveals he sent her thirty million dollars in bitcoin. He reveals he is going to Norway with Pope and plans to shut down the UI program and to release Logorhythms files on him if she does not hear back from him in a week. She berates him for giving up on finding a cure for the flaw while Caspian insists it is the only thing keeping them safe. When asked why Caspian is trusting her with the money, he says it is because Maddie is the only person he trusts at the moment. Maddie quotes Holstrom and compares Caspian to him before hanging up. Her mother gets her for a ceremonial burial for Laurie Lowell.

In the backyard of the Kim House, the Kims join Cody as he holds a pair of his wife’s earrings. He states that they are not her talks about Laurie’s first funeral. As Ellen says he must honor his grief, Cody states he would rather honor Laurie’s dying wish to reveal UIs to the world. As she expresses her doubt that people would react positively to learning of UIs, Cody berates her for supposedly siding with Chonda. Ellen insists no one will believe them as Cody points out the server in their basement. When Maddie points out that her father wants to remain secret for his own safety, Cody mocks her and he and Ellen get in a scuffle. Ellen knees Cody in the groin and, after getting up, he insists he is going public.

When Cody forms a small protest in Palo Alto, she plays chess with her father and doubts anyone important will believe him and Ellen goes to join Cody. As they play, the two discuss a conspiracy theory he taught her. She realizes her father knows how long he has, just over two years if he stays as he is or a decade to a decade and a half if he goes back to emojis. When Maddie asks if she is the only thing keeping her father around, they get a call from Chonda. Chonda reveals he will have the Indian Navy launch a nuclear warhead which he hacked to target Sacramento. Chonda reveals David backed up Laurie’s message and gives him ten minutes to come to him or he attacks Sacramento. David reveals he snuck into Laurie’s server when Cody used his and says Laurie wrote a hack to broadcast her message on every device on the planet. David says he copied to as he agrees with her to some extent. When Maddie insists he fight, David insists her safety is his primary priority and he must give in to Chonda's demands. However, Maddie believes if he does not fight, Chonda will try something like this again.

At the store, Maddie is buying multiple bags of ice when Justine approaches her. Maddie begs her to get out of town but Justine laughs it off and Maddie insists she help her with the ice. As they drive, Maddie tells Justine about UIs. The other girl does not believe her until she sees the server in the basement. She logs into the server and tries desperately to free her father after Chonda traps him in an illusion and succeeds in getting through to him. David gets Chonda away from the controls as the military picks up the nuke. When Chonda is pinned, the Chinese UIs join in and take out Maddie’s avatar. As Chonda questions why David sacrificed his home and family, David reveals he duplicated himself and is changing the coordinates, sending the nuke to the Pacific Ocean. A small fishing vessel whitenesses the explosion. Ping and the other Chinese UIs reach David and gang up on him. She logs back on and is quickly restrained. As David is overpowered, Maddie encourages him to send Laurie’s message. He does so and Maddie watches as her father die as the message is broadcast. When her father is gone, she removes her headset and rests her head on the server.

As Maddie buries her father’s neural grid, she gets a call from Caspian. He tells Maddie to put him through to her father and says he can fix the flaw, but she reveals her father is dead just as the power and phones go out. The power in the Kim House comes back on almost instantly due to the generator and Maddie buries her father’s neural grid. Maddie goes out front just as her mother arrives and, seeing Maddie in tears, Ellen comforts her daughter. As they embrace, their neighbors come over to their house as it is the only house in the neighborhood with power.

Appearance[]

Maddie is a teenager of Korean descent with dark brown hair reaching her chin and dark brown eyes. She often wears warm colored clothing outside of school.

In the months after the internet is turned off, Maddie hair has reached her shoulders and she started wearing darker clothes.

In her adult years, Maddie’s hair has grown out, reaching the middle of her back.

Personality[]

For most of her life, Maddie was cheerful and happy. However, after her father died, she became withdrawn. Maddie is able to stand her ground, as she did not flinch when holding Logorhythms hostage. After reuniting with her father, Maddie became more cheerful.

When Caspian struggled to come to terms with his origins, Maddie comforted and listened to him, showing a compassionate side to her.

Relationships[]

Caspian Keyes[]

Maddie X Caspian Kiss — Maddie and Caspian sharing their first kiss after accepting their feelings for each other.

Caspain can be described as both Maddie’s first true friend and one true love.

Maddie first communicated with Caspian online during her investigation of Logorhythms’ role in uploaded intelligence though the two did not consider each other friends at the time. Later on, however, after Lorie had abducted Maddie’s father, David, she reached out to Caspian by phone in order to seek his help. It was during this first communication that Maddie revealed that Logorhythms had him under surveillance, which eventually led to him uncovering his true origins as a clone of Stephen Holstrom.

Ellen Kim[]

After her father died, Maddie grew distant from her mother. She hated that her mother wanted her to spend less time with technology. After overhearing a conversation between her mother and Peter Waxman, Maddie is angered that her mother is keeping information from her. After learning her father’s mind was uploaded and they get him back, Maddie is angered she does not see him as a person anymore. However, the two grow closer as they dwell deeper in uploaded intelligence.

David Kim[]

After dying, Maddie greatly missed her father. After discovering his mind was uploading, Maddie is desperate to rescue him. The two bond after he is saved and spent as much time together as possible.

MIST[]

At first, Maddie was shocked and disturbed to learn of MIST, describing her as a tumor and wanting nothing to do with her. The two talk and Maddie apologizes to her. After the two work together to save Caspian from Mossad, the two grow closer, however they have a falling out after MIST fails to stop Holstrom and even agrees with his plan to create a pandemic. As Caspian fights Holstrom, MIST returns and Maddie apologizes to her.

For the next eighteen years, MIST helps Maddie raise her son Dave, but have another falling out when she catches MIST giving Dave advice on how to upload illegally and she bans MIST from both their contracts. Two years later, the two come face to face after MIST reveals she resurrected Caspian. Maddie is upset that MIST lied to her for two decades and berates MIST for suggesting her son upload.