The doctors had told Kyle Conroy, a.k.a. Mason Kane, in “Citadel” Episode 1 that he was suffering from retrograde amnesia, which is why he couldn’t remember anything. Bernard Orlick found Mason and told him that he worked with the most prestigious spy agency in the world named Citadel, which wasn’t run by any specific nation but worked for the people in general. Bernard gave Mason a quick history lesson about how Citadel was formed and what the reason behind the formation of such a spy agency was when all the nations already had their respective spy networks.
The two brothers, Davik and Anders Silje had Citadel’s X case in their possession, which contained top-secret information that every nation wanted their hands on. It contained codes for each and every nuclear weapon present in the world. Mason was told that he had a partner named Nadia Sinh and that together they were considered a formidable team. Orlick believed that Nadia was dead, but towards the end of the first episode, we saw that she was still breathing and alive. Orlick wanted Mason to go on a mission with him and get back the X-Case, as he knew that if it fell into the hands of the wrong people, the entire world would be destroyed.
Spoilers Alert
Does Mason Get His Memories Back?
Mason Kane was in a safe house in Wyoming with his entire family, and he was still making peace with the fact that he was a spy. Abby, his wife, didn’t believe him and told him that Bernard was forging the narrative and had some ulterior motive that he wasn’t telling them about. But Mason told Abby that he didn’t think that Bernard was lying, as he had seen the video evidence and he himself had been getting dreams where he used to see the face of an unknown woman, which he later came to know was Nadia. Bernard also told Mason that the name Kyle Conroy was just an alias created by him which is why no information was available about him on any database. In episode 2, Mason decided to go on a mission with Bernard to get the Citadel’s X case, which was in the possession of the Silje brothers.
From Wyoming, Bernard and Mason traveled to New York City, where there was a secret Manticore lab in which Andres Silje was trying to break the lock of the case. The X case had a seven-tier security setup, and Andres had already opened five of them, which is why Bernard and Mason were under extreme pressure to deliver at all costs. Mason managed to procure the case and escaped from the scene with Bernard.
Davik Silje informed Dahlia Archer about what had happened, and she couldn’t believe that they let Citadel steal such a prized possession. Dahlia knew the kind of people she was dealing with, and that’s why she told Davik that if he didn’t find the case, then Manticore would slaughter her. Another revelation that stunned Dahlia was that Mason Kane was still alive and that he was the one who had led the mission. Dahlia, for the past eight years, had believed that Mason and Nadia had died in the train blast, but her assumptions were proven wrong, and she knew that in addition to finding the case, she would now have to hunt down Citadel’s top spy.
Bernard knew that to harness his full potential Mason needed his memories back. But before Mason could inject the vial, the Silje brothers were able to get to them, and Mason had to escape, leaving behind a gravely injured Bernard in the van itself. Mason was devastated to find out that the vial had been broken and that the liquid that was supposed to run into his bloodstream and bring back his memories had spilled. Luckily, Bernard had given him a brief idea about who he was in his past life, so he wasn’t completely in the dark. Mason knew that he had to follow his gut and find Nadia so that he could save his family and eliminate the threats that came his way.
Was Mason Able To Locate Nadia?
Bernard had conveyed to Nadia, as soon as she came out of the water eight years ago in Italy, that he had to initiate a process that he referred to as “backstop.” There was a chip planted inside each and every Citadel member in their temporal lobe, and through it, their memory could be erased. Bernard knew that after things went haywire on that train, Mason and Nadia might be caught by the law enforcement authorities or rival agencies, who would try to extract information from them. Nadia was rescued by an Italian man who had noticed that she had a bullet wound on her legs, and that is why he handcuffed her because he didn’t know what kind of person he was dealing with. The man wanted to make sure that he had things under control, but once Nadia woke up, she figured that he didn’t have noble intentions. Nadia entered into a deadly combat with the Italian guy and managed to kill him somehow. Just then, Nadia heard an automated voice through the chip that was installed inside her body, and she realized that she only had a few moments before her memories were deleted. A panic-stricken Nadia hastily searched for a pen and wrote the words “Go to Valencia” on her hands. Maybe she knew that after she lost her memories, Valencia was the only place where she could be safe. Nadia was in a miserable state, but she was not the kind of woman who was bogged down so easily. She had been in such perilous circumstances before, and she had always come out victorious. Maybe that is why she was considered a top asset by Bernard Orlick and others in the organization.
Mason was able to find Nadia with the help of Case X, where her location had popped up all of a sudden. Mason told her who she was and how they used to work together for Citadel, but Nadia was still in disbelief. That’s when Davik Silje arrived at the scene, and he attacked Nadia and Mason to retrieve X Case. But Nadia and Mason were able to overpower Davik, and together, they escaped from the scene, taking the case with them.
‘Citadel’ Episode 2 Ending Explained: Is Bernard Orlick Dead Or Alive?
According to the information Dahlia provided, there was no Citadel agent left alive after Manticore assassinated each and every one of them. That is why she got agitated when she was told by Davik that, apart from Mason, even Nadia had survived the train blast. Dahlia knew that she would have to get the X Case as soon as possible. Dahlia was well aware of the damage these two agents were capable of doing, which is why she was even more paranoid. Toward the end of Citadel Episode 2, we got to know that Bernard Orlick was still alive and in Dahlia’s captivity. Dahlia had the intention of torturing Bernard and taking out as much information as she could from him. In the upcoming episodes, we will get to know if Nadia and Mason are able to safeguard the X case or if Manticore is able to get the better of them. With Bernard in captivity, the responsibility to save the world from Manticore and maintain order lay in the hands of the two Citadel agents, who were still coping with a traumatic experience that had taken place eight years ago. The good thing was that, unlike Mason, Nadia remembered everything, and she could assess the situation in a much better manner now.
Final Words
The writers have tried to create a spy universe as detailed as they possibly could, but where Citadel lags is in an intriguing storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seats. There is nothing in the series that you haven’t seen before, and it looks like an accumulation of scenes from a lot of other films and series of the same genre. The saving grace in the first two episodes is Stanley Tucci, who plays the character of Bernard Orlick and is able to pull off his performance with a lot of conviction and an added flair. As the story progresses, we hope that the makers will abstain from indulging in gimmicky representations and will rather delve into the psychology of these characters. A lot depends on how the characters of Nadia and Mason are treated and if the narrative is able to intrigue us through their dynamics. The upcoming episodes would shed some more light on the kind of relationship Nadia and Mason shared when they were together back in the day, and if together they could work in tandem and save the world.
