-[indistinct whispering] -[theme music playing]
[grunts]
-[screaming] -[gasps]
[grunting]
[gasps]
[exhales]
[breathes heavily]
[Kovacs Prime] Target 62 meters.
Target acquired. Sending coordinates.
[weapon clicks]
-I'm going in. -[Carrera] Negative. Wait for backup.
I'm switching to ONI. I still have eyes.
Stay where you are, soldier.
No. We won't break her in virtual.
If we want the weapon, we need to take it in the real.
Not with Harlan breathing down my neck.
-The mission parameters-- -Are wrong.
Falconer has to give it up willingly. I can get close to her.
That was his mistake.
And you put me in this sleeve for a reason.
I'm going to use it.
Tak!
I've been waiting for you.
-Where have you been? -That's close enough.
Quell, it's me.
I looked everywhere. And I knew if you could, this is where you'd return.
My memories, they were lost.
He brought me here to remember.
Who did?
Takeshi Kovacs.
He wears a new face now.
That man is an impostor.
I'm Takeshi Kovacs.
You know it in your bones, you can feel it.
You knew it before you turned around.
Rip her stack, do you hear me?
Look at me, Quell. What do you see?
It's you.
The Wedge has you surrounded. Finish this now or they will.
We can't stay here.
Move, asshole.
The one who brought me here, he must have been after the weapon.
[Kovacs Prime] What weapon?
-Hold your fire. -But, sir.
[Carrera] Stand down, that's an order.
There's a cache.
What I have hidden there could restore our humanity.
Bring the Harlans and the Protectorate to their knees.
Ask her to take you there.
Show me.
It's too dangerous. The other you, he's still out there.
We could lead him to it.
He's not a problem anymore.
-You don't know that. -I took care of it.
He'll never hurt you again.
[Carrera] Take the lead, but remember she's dangerous.
I give the command, you end her. Copy?
I understand.
This is hard to have been manipulated,
but he may have had backup.
We should secure the cache before anyone else comes looking.
Target moving. Maintain cover.
[exhales softly]
[grunts softly]
Quell?
Oh, shit!
Quell?
[device ringing]
Come on, Kovacs, pick up.
[footsteps approaching]
What the fuck?
[Kovacs Prime] What is this place?
I woke up here after the explosion.
[Kovacs Prime] Is this where you hid the weapon?
[Quell] It's where she hid me.
[Kovacs Prime] She?
Reileen.
Before she killed me, she copied my DHF, saved my DNA and force grew a clone.
-Why would she do that? -I can show you.
[clicking]
She's using your sister to get under your skin.
My memory's still coming back.
But this chamber is equipped with holo surveillance.
-Rei. -[Carrera] Steady, son.
You can't trust anything she shows you.
[soft whirring]
Tak?
[gasps]
[Rei] Tak's not coming.
He's dead.
They all are.
No!
[Rei] Stronghold is ash.
There's no more Uprising. The Protectorate crushed it.
We're all that's left.
-This is your fault. -[Holo Quell] No.
It was supposed to be him on that shuttle.
His DHF getting backed up, not yours.
You gave us up.
[Rei] I wasn't going to let him die for your bullshit cause.
-[Holo Quell] Tak made his own choice! -[Rei] And I've made mine.
I'm going to live long enough to see every one of your nightmares come to pass.
This is your tomb, Quell.
Only you'll wish you were dead.
[Holo Quell] No, Rei!
No!
[shouting] No! Let me out!
Let me out!
[screams, groans]
She left me there trapped.
You were awake the whole time?
Only my mind was awake.
[Carrera] This is the great Quellcrist Falconer,
playing on pity like we didn't burn that out of you.
[Quell] I never knew which was worse,
losing myself in the dark
or the pain that came with the light.
[breathing heavily, grunting]
Miss me?
What you're feeling is your sleeve warming back up.
Anything becomes a stress position if you hold it long enough.
You've been holding this one for almost a century.
What do you want, Rei?
[Rei] Answers.
I've gone over it again and again,
trying to figure out when.
When what?
When I lost him, why he left.
[Holo Quell] Tak didn't leave you. You betrayed him.
[Rei] No.
We were family.
The moment we found each other, he turned on his unit.
I was more important than anything until you.
What makes you so goddamn special?
It must be torture
to have lived so long and understand so little.
[Rei] You don't need to school me in torture. I've made it my business.
Pleasure, pain...
people will pay anything for it.
But you...
You can have it for free.
[Quell] Whatever appetite Reileen harbored for cruelty,
immortality made it worse.
[Carrera] Your sister did her duty to the Protectorate.
-Like me, like you. -[tech] Excuse me, sir?
-What? -The Governor's been trying to reach you.
I don't have the time to stroke that bitch's ego.
-She's here, sir. -You owe me an update, Carrera.
[beeps]
Or did you forget?
You report to me now.
I gave you an update.
The Last Envoy is dead.
We have Falconer surrounded.
Where?
-I don't see her. -[Carrera] She's underground.
We're waiting for her to resurface. All exits are covered.
My directive was clear: shoot her on site and bring me her stack.
Let me work. When we take Falconer, you'll be the first to know.
That I can guarantee.
This bitch is not going anywhere.
Back to work, soldier.
-[Quell] This is the last time I saw her. -[gasps]
-You look tired, Rei. -[Rei] You look like hell.
Maybe it's time to put you out of your misery.
[Holo Quell] You won't kill me.
You're lonely.
I'm the only thing you have left that's real.
You know what's real?
Tak.
He's alive?
[Rei] On ice doing time,
but I have a way to get him out.
Thought you'd want to know.
Can't have you getting in the way again. I'm spinning you down for good.
[grunts]
[Rei] These roots will grow up around you.
You're hiding me in the first place they'll look.
[Rei] You taught us well.
Tak thinks he knows every inch of this place.
He'll walk right over you...
and then he'll just keep on walking.
[Holo Quell] He'll never stop searching.
[Rei] That's his cross to bear.
Goodbye, Quell.
[grunts]
Rei!
[shouts] No!
-[grunts] -[Quell] I was the one being buried...
but it felt like she was on her way to her own funeral.
You said you'd show me the weapon.
Instead you've shown me this. Why?
[Quell] You ask where I've been.
Come.
The weapon is nearby.
[Trepp] Don't move. Don't open your left hand.
Don't look down.
Don't move.
Don't open your left hand.
Don't look down.
What the fuck?
-[grunts] -[Trepp] What did I just say?
[Kovacs] Where's Quell?
-It doesn't matter right now. -Did he find her?
You need to focus, Kovacs.
I'm going to throw this rope down.
You need to grab hold.
-I need more! -I can't lower it.
[grunting]
-[groans, screams] -Kovacs!
You can do this.
Grab the rope.
Fuck.
[groans. screams]
[grunts]
Easy. I got you.
[grunts]
Hang on. Almost there.
[both groan]
[Trepp breathing heavily]
Enable emergency medical scan.
[AI interface] Fourth and fifth ribs fractured, evidence of concussion,
dislocation of left shoulder.
You're lucky as shit.
You passed out. How the hell did you hang on?
The sleeve has subconscious survival reflexes.
It's one of the perks. [panting]
-Where's Quell? -Gee!
"Thanks, Trepp, for the rescue. I owe you one."
You were supposed to stay with her.
[Kovacs screams]
Hey, your little lover girl put me in a sleeper hold and took off.
-I saw her with one of the Wedge. -[Kovacs coughs]
One I've never seen before.
And they looked pretty cozy.
Carrera, he copied my old DHF and shoved it into a clone of my birth sleeve.
I ran into him out here on the path before he threw me off the cliff.
So you did this to yourself.
I'm a complicated person.
-If he's with Quell, we have to find her. -It's not just him.
The whole team's out here.
We need backup. Did you get the signal out to Kemp?
[sighs] I tried.
The charge is busted. There's no way to tell.
Fuck the cavalry. We have to take them down ourselves.
How? You're not exactly in fighting shape.
And we have no weapons.
We are the weapons.
What the hell does that even mean?
Thanks.
-How deep did you bury this thing? -Deeper than Tommy Shae's well.
[chuckles] How do you know Tommy Shae?
You told me about him.
Remember?
As a kid, you would hide in the dry well in his property...
waiting for your father's anger to pass.
I'd stay down there for hours.
You were always so good at biding your time.
Better even than me.
It hurts to think of you like that.
It doesn't matter, I lived.
Of course it matters.
The way you suffered allowed you to see the suffering around you.
It's what brought you to me.
[Trepp] The Wedge are posted up near the cavern.
We're close.
You'll need to hack their bodycams and loop the feed.
I can do it, but it's only a matter of time before somebody notices.
We'll need to work fast then.
Relax, Carrera.
Keep clenching and you'll pop something.
There is no greater danger than underestimating your enemy, Governor.
Trust me, I know.
[both grunting]
[Trepp screams]
Now we're even.
You sure it's here?
The best place to hide something from someone is the first place they look.
If it's obvious, no one looks close.
When you come into this place, what's the first thing you see?
The Songspire.
This tree dates back to the time of the Elders.
It's borne witness.
It holds many secrets.
[soft ethereal chiming]
[gasps]
Tell me.
What bothers you more,
that a Harlan's giving you commands or that you're obeying them?
I prefer my superiors to earn their title, not be born to it.
Power isn't something you earn, it's something you take.
Until you understand that, you'll never see the bigger picture.
Speaking of which,
did you train your Wedge to stand that still,
or are they dead?
The feeds are looping.
Wedge, report in, do you copy?
We got them, Colonel. Permission to kill?
[Kemp] Permission granted.
[grunts]
Takeshi Kovacs, I presume.
Nice entrance.
It's very dramatic.
You got our signal?
We came as soon as we heard. Gather their weapons.
[Danica] That's Joshua Kemp.
Kill her now and get out of there. The Wedge has been ambushed.
Move a muscle and you just dug your own grave.
You have someone with Falconer?
[Carrera] Repeat, finish her now and move out.
[Kovacs Prime] There's no weapon here, is there?
I looked in your eyes and I knew.
You are Takeshi Kovacs,
but you are not my Takeshi Kovacs.
[both grunting]
You're only pretending to be one of the monsters.
[grunts]
-[gun cocks] -[Kemp clears throat]
-Am I interrupting? -[guns cocking]
-So that's you? -I told you, it's complicated.
Quellcrist Falconer, Joshua Kemp.
I've heard of you.
What the hell are you doing?
You understand my caution.
I have a lot of enemies who'd readily use your face against me.
I need to confirm who you really are.
[Danica] Who the hell is in there?
An asset I called in from off-planet. He has a history with Kovacs.
Kovacs, who is not dead,
who has now joined Kemp's rebellion along with Falconer?
Tell Captain Veutin I need a unit dispatched to Stronghold immediately.
These aren't prisoners for your second-rate soldiers to steal.
My man will handle this.
Your man is in handcuffs.
He's come through in worse situations.
I don't know what game it is you're playing, Colonel,
but whatever it is, it's over.
[beeps]
[Kovacs] Tell Kemp he's making a mistake.
You can tell him yourself... after the Ascertainment.
[Trepp scoffs]
What the hell is an Ascertainment?
It's an Envoy ritual
to prove you are who you say you are, no matter what sleeve you're wearing.
If she's who she says she is, you've got nothing to worry about.
She's been down for centuries.
-What if she fails? -Then you're all dead.
Great.
So let me guess.
You thought you were running the op and she had you the whole time?
She didn't kill me. I guess she was still too attached to this face.
[Kemp] You know how this works.
I ask the questions and you answer them...
truthfully and without hesitation.
You fought against extending the human lifespan beyond its natural bounds.
Yet here you are... after hundreds of years.
How do you justify your hypoc--
Hypocrisy implies choice.
I was brought back against my will,
but I am an Envoy.
I take what is offered.
-Haven't they heard of a lie detector? -That wouldn't work on an Envoy.
Quell taught perfect control of mind and body.
-They're testing both. -[Kemp] Quellcrist is not your real name.
You took it when you began your war against the Protectorate.
[Quell] That's no secret. You could learn that in any history book.
They don't say why you chose it.
I named myself after a common seaweed that grows on Harlan's World.
In a harsh environment, it becomes dust.
But with a drop of water, it grows back a hundredfold.
I wanted a revolution that couldn't be killed,
a rebellion that would rise again and again.
They thought I was dead, but I had only dried up.
I found my water by the lake
and all at once I was myself again.
It worked.
Ask me the question you really want answered.
Ask me about Marshall Kemp.
-What do you know about him? -He was a farmer.
He gave us food.
The Protectorate had him arrested as a collaborator.
When he refused to betray the Envoys,
they came for his daughter...
threatened her life.
But they never found her.
Why not?
I protected her.
Children should not be used as instruments of war.
That story's a family secret.
There's no way you would know it.
Unless...
It is my honor to welcome you back to The Uprising.
Sorry about the restraints.
What about me?
I follow Falconer's orders. She said nothing about you.
-[indistinct chatter] -[Kemp] I need to break up a party.
We have a lot to discuss.
[Kemp] Let me catch you up.
You can't take your eyes off of her.
She's my mission.
Mine too.
At least I'm consistent.
We're nothing alike.
I remember what it was like to be you.
CTAC's golden boy,
always itching for the next battle, the rush of the fight.
But nothing compares to the praise you get after, right?
"Good job, soldier.
Missing accomplished."
I used to eat that shit up.
Does he still call you "son"?
Don't let him goad you.
This is your chance to get free.
He's listening right now, isn't he?
It's cute how you think you can get in my head.
[Kovacs] No, he did a good job, Jaeger,
taking a broken boy out of a bad situation,
giving him a gun and praising him every time he would shoot to kill.
And if the boy thinks that's love, all the better.
After all,
the way our dad treated us, how would we know the difference?
And you think she's better?
[Kovacs] She doesn't lie to me.
She doesn't ask me to lie to myself.
The Protectorate protects.
Isn't that what you beat into us, Jaeger?
I've worked so hard to believe it.
I used to dream of Reileen,
the family she'd have,
the person she'd be.
But even before I knew they sold her to the Yakuza,
part of me already knew.
You know too.
And so does he.
The only thing the Protectorate protects is itself.
Rei's proof enough of that.
He's twisting the truth. That's not how it happened.
I don't care who she became, I would never have hurt her.
You weren't there, you didn't see what I saw.
Spin it any way you want. There's no justification for what you did.
What kind of man kills his own sister?
The same one who killed his father.
I think she knew that.
Maybe we are different after all.
I was never afraid of the truth.
[Carrera] Enough of this sentimental shit.
-Listen to me, soldier-- -[device beeps]
Tell me.
We fought.
That much you know.
But she wasn't aiming to kill.
There were a million things she could have done.
Fought back, bargained.
She could've taken the gun.
[Rei] Go on. Do it.
I'll never stop.
[Kovacs] That's when I knew.
[gunfire]
She wanted you to do it?
I believe so.
Still, I pulled the trigger.
But her fate was sealed long before.
The moment I let Jaeger draft me into CTAC
and trusted him to take care of her.
That was our mistake.
We set all of it into motion.
From then on,
Rei was just riding on borrowed time.
[sniffles]
[Danica] What happened to your man?
I lost him.
Get Veutin's unit up on the monitors.
Commander Kemp.
-I wanted to ask you about something. -Go ahead.
Do you recognize this man?
No. Should I?
Anil Imani, he's my brother. He disappeared doing a job for you.
[sighs]
I'm sorry. It's a big war.
I don't know every soldier by name.
He could still be out there.
I'll circulate his image among my lieutenants,
see if we can get answers for you.
So many families have suffered from the Protectorate's atrocities.
What are you doing?
It's, uh... It's my coils.
They get a bit touchy when they're depleted.
Do you mind if I borrow your charger from your transmitter?
Sure.
Have at it.
-Did you reach base? -They told us to wait.
There's a Protectorate satellite passing overheard.
If we leave now, it'll pick up our movements.
-How long before it passes? -A couple of hours?
If you take no risks, you win no victories.
If we leave now, at least we stand a chance.
This cave is a defensible position, especially with your weapon.
My weapon?
You used something on those Meths. Are you gonna hold out on me?
Gather everyone, gear up.
We move on my command.
Of course. It's your call.
We need to talk.
I'm sorry about before...
when I put my hands on you.
I was finally coming back to myself and I couldn't let you stop me.
Thanks.
But it's not that.
It's Kemp.
I checked the signal log on our beacon.
The coordinates Kovacs was trying to send never went through.
Kemp never got our message, so how did he find us?
And when I asked him about Anil, he claimed he'd never met him.
So why does he have his fucking stack strung around his neck?
It's time to even the odds.
You sure you don't want to wait out the satellite?
How long?
Uh, a few more hours I'd say.
How long have you been a traitor?
-The hell are you talking about? -[Quell] You know how this works.
I ask the questions, you answer them.
The truth is your only protection.
Who do you work for?
All warfare is based on deception.
That's your saying, isn't it?
I was wrong. She's not the real Falconer.
Execute her, now!
You're no revolutionary.
I'm no revolutionary because there is no revolution.
What did your people die for?
The peons fighting think this is all real. It's just bloodthirsty play-acting.
The story's already been written.
You promised you'd spare me if I told you the truth.
I didn't promise you shit!
The emblem on this is my family's crest.
This is my brother's DHF.
Your brother got himself killed just like your--
[Quell] Don't. We need him alive.
-He's our proof the war is a lie. -[Kemp] You're too late.
There was never a satellite. It was always the Protectorate coming.
Secure him, gather whatever weapons you can carry.
If we cut through the clearing, we can take the back pass.
-What about him? -His choice.
You think we can trust him?
He's still you.
-[Kovacs] This way. -Wait.
Oh, shit.
[woman] Target engaged.
Is that who I think it is?
[Kemp] Don't shoot. Don't shoot. I'm on your side!
Stop right there.
Kemp was your man.
That's how he knew where to find my team. You told them where they were.
[gasps]
Kovacs.
Something's happening.
Call Danica Harlan. She'll tell you I work for her.
Veutin, shut him up.
The war, the ceasefire,
you've been running it all from the inside.
This is treason.
-Protectorate will remove you. -[Danica] How?
The planet's dark.
Arrest him.
[groans]
This will never stand.
You have no grounds to arrest me.
[grunts]
That's your asset wearing the Envoy's birth sleeve.
Double sleeving is a capital crime.
I've got all the ammunition I need.
[groans]
[Kovacs Prime] Cover!
[groans] I can't hold it!
[loud rumbling]
-[screams] -[screams]
[screaming]
[outro music playing]