The Gods Will Not Be Slain is the eighth and final episode of the first season of the AMC+ animated sci-fi drama, Pantheon.
Synopsis[]
America enters the cloud; Caspian takes over; Chanda forms a new rebellion; Cody continues the fight; David enters the battle; Waxman gets off the fence.
Plot[]
Astronaut Joey Coupet tells her husband Jake Moretti and stepsons Brandon and Oliver that she has been selected as a candidate for a one way mission to Mars. The boys are angry that she is not going to return but Jake is supportive. However, Joey is found to have a form of arrhythmia that could cause issues with her heart the loner she is in space. Joey is cut from the project and screams in her car. After she is finished wingsuiting, Joey gets a call and is informed she has been selected to become an Uploaded Intelligence. They tell her she would be the first American uploaded and that her existence in that form must remain secret, however Joey insists her family know about this. That night, Jake and Joey talk about the possibility and Jake expresses his concern about his wife uploading and Joey says she will reject the procedure if he says so, however Jake says nothing. The next day, Joey is informed of the flaw by Peter Waxman and still agrees to go through with the procedure. Waxman oversees her upload and Joey quickly adapts.
As Maddie Kim is in her room watching news footage on the UI attacks, she gets a call from Caspian Keyes. He apologizes for leaving and reveals he sent her thirty million dollars in bitcoin. He reveals he is going to Norway with Julius 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. Maddie 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 Stephen Holstrom and compares Caspian to him before hanging up. Caspian then gets on the plan as Ellen Kim gets Maddie for a ceremonial burial for Laurie Lowell.
In the backyard of the Kim House, the Kims join Cody Lowell 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 Maddie 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.
Elsewhere, Vinod Chanda hacks into a nuclear submarine. He locates the Chinese UIs in Reign of Winter and talks with the group after saving them from scouts for the games administrators. Chonda reveals the administrators know they are in the game and says he is fighting for all UIs. Ping and Fu believe Chonda about the flaw, but Zhong is still skeptical. Chonda offers to help them if they let him seal nuclear codes.
In Svalbard, Caspian is taken to the black site by Pope and when Anssi describes the power and storage of the facility. Caspian predicts it will take half a month to wipe the servers and walks off, leaving Anssi stunned.
In Palo Alto, Cody gathered a small crowd outside of Logorhythms headquarters and is being interviewed. Ellen watches the protests and, after Maddie doubts anyone important will believe him, Ellen goes to join him. In the server, Maddie is playing chess with David Kim and discusses a conspiracy theory he taught her. Maddie 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.
In Svalbard, Pope takes Caspian to his template's office and shows him Holstrom's notes on cracking integrity. Caspian looks at the notes, but asks to see the lab he was born in.
Back in 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.
In Norway, Caspian is brought to the lab he was made in and is told he is the only clone of Hostrom. They are greeted by Karl Van Leuwen and Deirdre Ryan Caspian backs away from Ryan when she tries to shake his hand and, upon seeing Renee, he picks up a try to defend himself, only backing down when Cary Duvall 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.
David meets up with Chonda two minutes before the deadline and David asks if he would have destroyed a city to get to him. When Chonda says if things were different he would take him out for the sake of others. David attacks and Chonda makes his way to his contract consul to launch the missile.
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.
The fighting escalates and when David gets the upper hand, Chonda locks him in a hallucination of him and Maddie playing Reign of Winter just as his daughter logs in. As he is distracted, Chonda sends out false intelligence that Delhi has just been nuked and they fire a retaliatory strike , unaware that it is heading for Sacramento. Maddie tries desperately to free her father 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. Maddie 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.
The world watches Laurie's message, as well as the other UIs. As the message plays in, more protestors join Cody shortly after Ellen arrives. When David is gone, Maddie removes her virtual reality headset and rests her forehead on the server.
In Palo Alto, dozens of people have joined the protest as guards in riot gear stand at attention. Waxman is watching news coverage from his office. Cody is found by reporters and asks for an interview as a protester demands he be uploaded. Waxman then exits his office. Outside, Cody is trying to control the mob as a guard tells him to get back. Ellen grabs a microphone and reveals what she knows about uploads and who at Logorhythms knows as Waxman emerges from the building. Ellen hands him a megaphone as Waxman confirms what is being said is true.
In Norway, Pope is telling Admiral Kurts to arrest Waxman through a phone call as Caspian mocks Pope by saying the public hates his goals and expresses his belief all the UIs will be deleted. However, Pope reveals they will be saved as they have all been backed up. Pope states the protests are only because Lowell mentioned Hiroshima. As Pope mentions that the governments who have UIs will protect them and those without will get them, he reveals Holstrom wanted one UI to be flawless to rule over the others. Pope tells Caspian to select a potential UI to fill this role and, selecting David Kim, Caspian call Maddie. He tells Maddie to put him through to her father and says he can fix the flaw, but Maddie reveals her father is dead just as the power and phones go out. Pope reveals the internet is going down across the globe and Caspian tells him David is gone. Pope reveals they kept a backup and, returning to Holstrom's office, Caspian gets to work cracking integrity.
Back in Sacramento, 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 mother and daughter embrace, their neighbors come over to their house as it is the only house in the neighborhood with power.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Co-Starring[] |
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Episode Guide[]
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| Season 1 |
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"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" |
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