Shubh, or rather, Kali’s philosophy in Asur, has always been that there is a dark side to every human being. We are not going to debate that, but instead, we want to know why he believes that the bad side should gain precedence over the good side. Let us suppose that he succeeded and that there was no more talk of morality left in the world. What next? Unless Shubh was aiming for a complete obliteration of humanity after the so-called revelation, life must go on. That means that there must be a system of governance with rules, laws, and punishments. Did Shubh plan on basing this new system on the laws of Asurs? In terms of the world-building of the series, Season 2 proved to be a massive letdown because the writers ended up giving more importance to the technical execution of Shubh’s plan than the mythological philosophy behind it. What should have been more Dan Brown was reduced to Andy McDermott. Shubh kept harping on about how Asurs were misunderstood, but how exactly did that happen? Why not elaborate on that instead of sticking to surface-level talk of “there is a dark side within everyone” rubbish, which literally every other series or movie mentions in some form or another? The only explanation is that either the writers lacked a certain kind of imagination, or they were afraid to incur the wrath of the country’s right-wing politics. Whatever their concern, the story we had been waiting for for so long with bated breath frustrated and bored us instead of being an intelligent piece of work that would have stayed with us for years to come.
Spoilers Alert
What Happens In The Debate Between Anant And Shubh?
The central plot of Asur Season 2, which got lost within the depiction of the cyber world, was the fight between good and evil. Therefore, it was no wonder that Shubh wanted to debate with Anant, who was being touted as the “avatar,” or the 10th reincarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu God of creation, protection, and transformation. But, of course, Shubh is not trying to win the debate with logic and facts. In his typical style, Shubh gives Anant a choice to prove whether he is indeed a god or a hoax. He gives him time to decide whether he wants to kill people who believe in God or those who deny his existence. The boy must make a choice; otherwise, everybody loses their lives. In the time given to him, Dhananjay and Nikhil start their investigation, trying to locate the source of Shubh’s next attack and getting on their way to trace Shubh himself.
How Does Dhananjay Find The Places To Be Attacked?
When Naina and her assistant are trying to look for clues within the game, they come across some pictures of sunflowers in the comments section. Realizing that this is a hint, they decipher that there are coordinates hidden within the pictures. Once they crack the code, the team figures out that the next attack is going to be carried out in two places: one is a congregation of scientists in an auditorium, and the other is a mass religious gathering, aka the believers and the non-believers. While Dhananjay goes to the religious place with Anant, Paul takes his team to the auditorium to ensure the security of the people. But it is never that simple with Shubh.
Does Nikhil Find Shubh’s AI System?
Nikhil and Nusrat look for Nikhil’s AI system since they believe that it must be foolproof enough to work even if Shubh is no longer a part of the equation. They are looking for it in the Himalayas since that is where the body of Shubh’s professor was found, with whom he had developed the AI. But they hit a massive roadblock when they discover that the police in the area have not taken any initiative to look for Shubh. Therefore, they are forced to do their own investigation, look up the autopsy reports of the professor, and find a clue in the botched-up report. They understand that Shubh must have used a local poison, and upon looking up whether any nearby plants have that, they find their way to a village. Upon asking around for Shubh, they finally find his address. True to their suspicions, they find a fully functioning AI system and a trap left behind by Shubh, who has been expecting them.
Do Dhananjay And Nikhil Stop The Attack? Is Shubh Dead?
With the time given by Shubh coming to an end, he provides an alternative for the people. He tells them that the boy, whom they believe to be their God, has been unable to make a decision, and that means that he has sacrificed them all. Basically, he plays on people’s fear by saying that since a boy does not have the answer to all of the world’s troubles, he is not God. But the people can still save themselves if they choose to sacrifice him. This causes utter chaos since, right now, it is a matter of life and death, and people may kill in the name of faith, but they won’t die for it. They will sacrifice Anant to protect themselves, even though, moments before, they thought he was God. But we believe that there might be some wisdom in Anant after all. He has maintained a zen-like calmness throughout his part in Asur Season 2, which can’t simply be because of his upbringing. He has something in him that transcends reasonable explanation, which is why he steps forward and tells the people that he is ready to die if it makes them happy. But by killing him, they would be proving Shubh right—that walking the path of evil is the only way to survive. Anant’s words seem to have an effect, except that the threat is still looming large over the people. Paul’s team in Delhi finds that Shubh has planted a sonic bomb, and once it activates, the sound it emanates will cause people’s brains to burst open. Naina is trying to hack into the bomb, and Nikhil connects to the mainframe. But everyone is running out of time. The people can’t leave the venues without dying, and even Nikhil and Nusrat have to fight against the poisonous gas being released into the room.
Naina is trying to deactivate the bomb, but she is taking a little too much time. Paul panics when he realizes that they might not be able to get to it in time and orders Dhananjay to kill Anant. Throughout Asur Season 2, Dhananjay has taken a very clinical approach to saving people’s lives. He has been callous about it, with his only aim being the capture of Shubh. But at this moment, when he is forced to decide whether he can take Anant’s life, Dhananjay cannot bring himself to do it. Lucky for him, he has a revelation that completely changes the course of things. Naina has gotten into the system of the bomb, and Nikhil only needs to press a button to disarm it. But Dhananjay understands that Shubh must be somewhere close by to watch the destruction that he has orchestrated. He asks Nikhil to hold off on disarming the bomb, as even after its activation, they have a few seconds before it becomes fatal. Nikhil listens, and true to Dhananjay’s prediction, the moment the bomb activates, he spots Shubh and shoots at him. That is when he gives the order to disarm the bomb, saving the lives of thousands of people and probably his own humanity.
At the end of Asur Season 2, Dhananjay decides to spare the life of an unrepentant Shubh. This is his revenge since Shubh believed that death was a release from life, and giving that to him would not serve justice. A month later, we find that Paul has resigned from the ATF, and Nusrat is still struggling with her conscience after what she has done. As for Nikhil, he meets Shubh one last time in jail. Under the pretext of a handshake, Nikhil injects him with poison, killing him and taking revenge for his daughter. Shubh trusted Nikhil because he had liked him since the beginning. Nikhil was the first person outside Shubh’s family who treated him kindly when he was a child. Therefore, Shubh was unsuspecting about the handshake, and that proved to be his mistake. Shubh is dead, but his last words are that his mission stays on in the form of Kali. In the final moments of the series, we see Dhananjay looking for Vrinda but not finding her at her house. Yet, there are paintings of Asurs around, hinting that she was far more involved with Shubh than she let on, and the danger is still not over.
Final Thoughts
Asur did not end the way it started. We stuck around for three years because we were promised mind-bending interpretations of Indian mythology and philosophy. But all that went for a toss in favor of something only a coder or an engineer might find fun. There is a difference between the actions of a person pushed into a corner and that of those who constantly walk the grey areas. That should have been Shubh’s philosophy and what made him so menacing, not the power of his technology. Asur had so much potential, and it hurts our hearts how it was all wasted for fear of angering a certain section of society. In fact, we believe that this season should not have happened at all if this was to be it. The makers should have just encouraged some fan theories and told the story in their personal capacity instead of giving us this. Asur Season 2 is good, but we consider it a failure simply because this is not what it should have been. Asur Season 1 deserves a better continuation of the story, and if there is a Season 3, we hope we get it in that.
