The uninvited guests whom we had seen in the previous episode of Beacon 23 were a group of bandits called “The Wreckers,” who had been hiding inside The Crest for more than seven months. The entire second episode revolves around these five individuals as their motives for docking the outpost are slowly revealed to the viewers. Additionally, at the end of episode 2, our protagonists, Aster Calyx and Halan Kai Nelson, are able to bridge their differences and initiate a friendship that may turn into a budding romance in the upcoming episodes. So, without further ado, let’s look at everything that happened in the episode and what it can lead to.
Spoiler Alert
Timur “Battle” Ondi and His Savage Crew
In the previous episode, Aster, due to a lack of trust, locked Halan inside the airlock chamber and refused to give him access to a space vessel to escape the outpost. As he tried to convince Aster to let him go, another space vessel hiding among the debris of the Crest traveled towards the outpost and tried to gain unauthorized access to the space station. Bart, the AI of Beacon 23, suggested that Aster suffocate these men and let them die, but Aster didn’t want to kill Halan along with them. Hence, she refused to take action.
In the meantime, we were introduced to these bandits, who were known as “The Wreckers.” The leader of the pack, Timur “Battle” Ondi, was an ex-soldier who had been dishonorably discharged from the army for his violent crimes. The second important member of the group was Dr. Rojan Kandeddy, Minister of Equity, Elau Colony. It was one of the settlements in the outer ring that needed regular resupply of food and necessities. However, some 30 years ago, due to a disastrous malfunction of the AX 129 Beacon Arm, the colonists failed to deliver the supplies, which led to mass death and destruction. The population of six million people faced starvation and widespread civil unrest, turning humans into animals. Probably, in the midst of such chaos, Minister Kandeddy had to leave her husband and two girls behind and escape the planet with her son. Later, she and her son might have joined Timur’s bandit group to survive the wilderness of the outer ring.
The third member was a muscular woman named Madanchi Tritujuma, or “Bigface,” who belonged to one of the mining camps in the outer camps and perhaps joined Timur’s group for some lucrative bounties. Last but not least, there was a tech guy who had a human intestine-like cable attached to his body, through which he was able to hack the system and lock Bart in his own memories. However, he failed to open the hatch, and that was when Halan came into the picture. Kandeddy’s son spotted Halan locked in the airlock chamber, and in order to escape, Halan decided to strike a deal with the bandits. Timur recognized that Halan was an ex-military man and believed he would hold up his end of the deal. In exchange for his escape, Halan promised to lead them to a safe full of Qubits (probably the currency of the intergalactic society).
Halan is a Super Soldier
Halan’s endgame was to trick these troublemakers so that he could protect Aster from any danger. Fortunately, with the help of Halan’s personal AI, Harmony, he was able to block the surveillance camera for a while so that these bandits couldn’t know what was happening at the end of the Beacon. In the meantime, Halan took Aster to the weapons chamber, where he had kept the weapons from his military era. In the end, we found out that Halan had risen up to the rank of sergeant in the military, and during his tenure, he had been fitted with several implants that made him a super soldier, giving him super speed and super strength. Though we only got a glimpse of his superpowers in Beacon 23 Episode 2, we are sure that there is more in store for us.
Aster is working for QTA
Through a background check on the bandits, Aster had surmised that Minister Kandeddy and her son weren’t the kind of people who would shake hands with someone like Timur. Therefore, Aster decided to talk to Minister Kandeddy alone so that she could convince her to give up the hunt. Through their conversation, we find out that Aster had lied to Halan in the previous episode. She wasn’t working for the ISA, and neither was she sent by them; instead, she had been a part of some private company called QTA. Now, not much was revealed about the organization in the second episode, and from the looks of it, we could speculate they are some science-obsessed company that runs various experiments in outer space and probably needs the special rocks for the same purpose.
It was later revealed that Minister Kandeddy and her group were tipped off by the same QTA, but they were asked to stay behind the debris and not approach the space station. However, out of their greed, they boarded the Beacon and wanted to steal the Qubits. Kandeddy, on the other hand, had understood that the entire fiasco couldn’t be just about Qubits, and therefore, she started searching the end of the Beacon to understand what all the fuss was about. She finally found the special rocks that Aster had been looking for in the first episode.
The Finale Battle
At the end of Beacon 23 Episode 2, a supercharged Halan killed off Bigface and the hacker guy, but before he could do more damage, Timur shot him from behind. The impact didn’t kill him, though; it made him unconscious. Meanwhile, Aster convinced Kandeddy to not let her greed become the reason for her death. Kandeddy wasn’t the kind of person who would be able to blackmail QTA by stealing their special rocks, and therefore, the best course of action for her would be to leave the space station silently. In exchange, she gave her the Qubits from the safe so that she and her son could spend the rest of the day in peace and harmony. We also found out that Aster’s home planet, Menelaus, met the same fate as Elau Colony, and therefore, she was able to understand Kandeddy’s pain and grief.
Halan, who finally woke up after a severe impact, found the minister’s son running away and quickly ran towards him. The young lad was about to shoot the super soldier when Kandeddy intervened and told him about the deal that Aster had offered. Aster had requested the minister take Halan with them so that he would be out of QTA and ISA’s reach and might be able to restart his life somewhere a thousand light years away. However, Halan had developed a soft spot for Aster, and he didn’t want to leave the woman alone, which was why she refused to go with the minister and her son. In the meantime, the minister’s son got furious that her mother shook hands with the enemies to protect her own life, just as she did on Elau. In her selfishness, she had left millions of people starving to their deaths. However, Kandeddy, being a practical woman, knew that she wouldn’t have been able to do anything, yet it was pretty difficult to make the young blood understand the same. In his rage, the son pointed the gun at his own mother and shot her down. What’s worse, he didn’t feel any guilt over pulling the trigger. In the end, he took away the fallen Qubits and left the space station.
Timur’s Death
Timur followed Aster to the end of the Beacon, where she finally tricked him through her personal AI. Finally, she stabbed the man to death with the nano-blade that she had taken from Halan’s stash of weapons. Later, Halan climbed up the ladder to locate Aster, but he came into contact with the special rocks on the staircase and that made him unconscious once again. The show so far hasn’t revealed what the connection was between Halan and these minerals or why he started acting strange in their presence. Perhaps the upcoming episode of the series will reveal more about it.
In the end, we finally see Halan coming back to his senses and expressing his fear to Aster. He didn’t want to be alone anymore and had found a companion in Aster, whom he didn’t want to leave behind. He was ready to face the consequences of his actions and therefore decided to stay back at the outpost while waiting for the QTA or ISA extraction team to arrive. We don’t know what his fate will be after the authorities arrive at the station, but it is certain that Aster will be standing beside him and trying her best to protect her new friend. This newfound friendship could also lead to a budding romance between these two individuals in the upcoming episodes. In the end, Harmony helps Bart escape his memories and get operational once again.
