WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Netflix's Dark, streaming now.
Netflix's Dark certainly threw fans for a loop in its Season 2 finale as the apocalypse finally comes to the fictional German town of Winden. Prophecized since last season, the nuclear plant experiences a meltdown when the radioactive material hidden away in 2020 has been exposed, syncing up with wormholes opening across other timelines.
This results in Winden being blasted away, however, certain members of key families survive, setting them up for life-defining journeys in a third and final season. With the town now transformed into the post-apocalyptic "Dead Zone" we see in 2053, let's look at how young Jonas (Louis Hofmann) and other characters will be embarking on their mission of saving all their loved ones.
THE MARTHA COMPLEX
Just before Jonas' house is blown away, his future self, Adam (Dietrich Hollinderbäumer), kills his girlfriend Martha (Lisa Vicari) to put him on the path to becoming a tyrant. However, Jonas is rescued by a Martha from another world and they use an orb to time-travel to this dimension. This sets up the intriguing prospect of Jonas traversing the Multiverse and looking for other allies.
He might even find some familiar faces as enemies depending on which versions of Winden Martha takes him to. It'll also be interesting seeing if Adam exists there, as well as his disciples, the Travelers, and also, just how this new world perfected time-travel. This is the first time alternate realities have been brought into play in Dark so this could be the key Jonas needs to unlock the secrets of the space-time continuum to fight Adam, go back to the past and break this time loop of death in what we find out is called "the final cycle."
THE TRAVELERS' BEGINNINGS
The Travelers have been helping Adam manipulate the timestream in 1921 using the Ariadne, and upon activating it, the meltdown is triggered in 2020. We see older versions of Magnus (Moritz Jahn) and Franziska (Gina Stiebitz) with time-boxes, hinting they're going to another timeline and need their tools for a way out. However, we have no clue just how they got to this point and why they turned evil with Adam.
It's all set up when young Noah (Max Schimmelpfennig) travels back to 2020 and convinces middle-aged Jonas, aka the Stranger (Andreas Pietschmann), to teleport the would-be Travelers away to safety. We don't know what timeline they go to but it's most likely 1921, with the scarring from this trip possibly leading the Stranger to become Adam.
Either way, fans are eager to see this devolution and how Adam's church was built at the very site the plant would go up in 1953. Bartosz (Paul Lux) escapes with them too but we didn't see him as a Traveler in the future so there's also some closure needed with him, especially as he hates Jonas for stealing Martha.
KATHARINA'S SEARCH AND RESCUE
Dark hinges on tossing things into the timestream, creating paradoxes where objects, as well as people, have no point of origin. One such person who's been marooned is Katharina (Jördis Triebel), trapped in Winden's temporal cave when the apocalypse hits in 2020. She's caught searching for a tunnel to find Mikkel (her son who got sent from 2019 to 1986 and then grew to become Jonas' dad, Michael) and her husband Ulrich (who was lost in 1953 after looking for Mikkel, and has now grown into an institutionalized prisoner in 1986).
A temporal trail of lights guides her to a door but we don't know which timeline she ends up in. Fans are already eager to see if she'll reunite with Ulrich or if she'll try to bring Mikkel back home, which will sadly undo Jonas' existence. Lineage plays a big part in the show so Season 3 might delve into who her parents are and how Katharina's past has influenced her future. Ultimately, she's on a selfish mission, but it's totally understandable as she's the one who's lost the most in the show.
HANNAH AND EGON'S ENDGAME
The Stranger accosted his mother Hannah (Maja Schöne) for her selfish ways early on in the season, as she cheated on Micheal/Mikkel in 2019 with Ulrich. When she finds out Ulrich is in 1953, Hannah steals a time box and goes there, but when she realizes Ulrich is lying about loving her just so she can transport him home, she leaves him in the cell. She fails to clear his name with the cops, leaving everyone thinking he's guilty of violence against children.
Hannah later meets with the officer, Egon Tiedemann (Sebastian Hülk), and says she'll be staying in town, insinuating there's room for them to start an affair as they lock eyes passionately. Egon's wife, Doris (Luise Heyer) is already cheating on him with Noah's Traveler sister Agnes (Antje Traue) -- who's also Ulrich's grandmother -- so he's ready to cheat back.
This is another wildcard because Egon's been a true blue hero so far, and his daughter Claudia ends up being one of Jonas' allies in the war on Adam. Now, we're left wondering if Hannah and Egon sired any kids and what actually happened to Hannah in later years. We already know Claudia accidentally kills Egon in the '80s, but Hannah's journey is now revealed to be a total mystery.
NOAH AND AGNES' PAST
The older Noah (Mark Waschke) ends up being shot by Agnes in 1921 after he finds out Adam wants to end the world, not fix the loop. He was lied to by the villain, who promised he could save Noah's family in 2053. It's a surprising move by Agnes, however, because in 1953, older Claudia's (Lisa Kreuzer) seen working with her against Adam. Noah, who was being tricked by Adam at the time, killed Claudia and got her diary, which divulged the truth, and at that point, it appeared Agnes was still opposing Noah.
Clearly, she switched at some point, although it's worth noting that early in her affair with Doris she says she hates Noah for an unknown reason. Now, the fact she's working with Adam raises a lot of questions. It's likely we'll see more of her younger self and Noah now, as the latter also instructed the Stranger to save both of them when he was done with the young Travelers. Fans are hoping to see who their parents are, and also who was the husband Agnes took to make Tronte (Ulrich's dad) before running away to Winden.
THE MYSTERIOUS LETTERS
Winden's 2020 apocalypse happens when the cops open the radioactive canisters, thanks to Detective Clausen (Sylvester Groth). However, he reveals he was put into the town after an anonymous letter told him his brother's killer was hiding out there. This criminal is Bartosz's dad, Aleksander (Peter Benedict), who tried to hide the nuclear waste at the plant, and whom Claudia hired in the '80s. This is but the first letter fans will be tracking.
The second comes courtesy of Noah who delivered one to the Stranger before sending him off on his rescue missions. Surprisingly, it's from Martha and leaves this older Jonas in tears. We've no clue what it says but it's very urgent and spurs him into action, namely listening to the young Noah even though he knows he's Adam's disciple. It could be that this is Martha from another timeline or from another world. We did see a young version of her with Adam in 1921, so once more, it appears another Martha exists on this prime Earth.
CHARLOTTE AND ELISABETH'S TIME-BLAST
This season we find out the resistance leader in 2053 is Elisabeth (Sandra Borgmann), the deaf teenage daughter of Winden's 2020 police chief, Charlotte (Karoline Eichhorn). They end up seeing each other through a wormhole as the apocalypse happens, and are about to touch hands. It's similar to the end of Season 1 where 2019 's Jonas and 1953's young Helge (Tom Philipp) did the same, only for the former to get tossed to 2053 and the latter to 1986.
Contact across timestreams seems to be a no-no so we don't know if Elisabeth and Charlotte swapped timelines, if they went to one together, or if both got thrown separately somewhere different. Fans are hoping to see more of them together, though, as the most shocking reveal this season comes with the news Elisabeth is older Noah's wife from 2053 and Charlotte is actually their daughter, creating a biological paradox where Charlotte and Elisabeth are both mother and daughter to each other.
THE BUNKER CREW
When Winden's about to be wiped out in 2020, young Elisabeth is hiding out in a bunker on the advice of older Claudia. She's with her dad, Charlotte's husband, Peter (Stephan Kampwirth), and while we know Elisabeth grows up to be a soldier, not much is known of Peter. He isn't seen in 2053 so we assume he died, but fans are also hoping to find out who his mom is, as we only know his dad is an older Helge.
Ironically, middle-aged Claudia (Julika Jenkins) is in the bunker as well, as surviving this disaster is what will put her on the path to becoming the older Claudia -- the White Devil who studied the God Particle at the plant and gave rise to the wormhole which Elisabeth triggers in 2053 to see Charlotte, as mentioned above. Interestingly enough, she has her daughter and Bartosz's cancer-ridden mom, Regina (Deborah Kaufmann) with her, so it seems the latter will die and further inspire Claudia to change the past. To complete the picture, Young Noah also appears seeking refuge in the bunker so Season 3 will now detail how he forms his relationship with Elisabeth and becomes Adam's biggest pawn.
Created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, Dark stars Oliver Masucci, Karoline Eichhorn and Jördis Triebel. Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.