"Thanatophobia" is the third episode of the third season.
Synopsis[]
Opening title[]
A heavily armed border wall separates the nations of Bregna and Monica. Yet many Breens seek to escape the mysterious designs of Trevor Goodchild.
Act 1[]
We first see Aeon crossing the border from Monica to Bregna. She jumps down off of the wall on the Monica side and then climbs up into Bregna through a tunnel between moving cars. Aeon drives to the 7981 plant and plants spider bombs to destroy the stockpile of medical parts. However, one of the bombs malfunctions and fails to detonate.
Next we see Trevor meeting with some official from another branch of the Breen government. Trevor wants less lethal border containment measures (currently, autoguns shoot bullets at anything that crosses the border). The official is interested because the lethal measures are expensive and even they don't work very well. Trevor insists that people would have no reason to leave Bregna if they were treated better and not surrounded by a deadly wall. The official suggests giant scissors to cut people in half as they cross the border.
Trevor seems to be right: Aeon's neighbors Onan and Sibyl are planning to escape from Bregna because they feel trapped and powerless. They are making their final preparations for escape. Onan seems to despise Sibyl but she is determined to make the crossing successfully. Onan sees Aeon undressing from his window and suddenly decides to cross, pulling Sibyl out with him. Onan makes the jump but Sibyl fails and is shot in the back. Breen intelligence already knows about their plans and is watching the jump on video. Trevor takes a personal interest in her case. Sibyl has surgery to repair her back and has to work at the 7981 plant to pay off her bill.
Act 2[]
Breen investigators find the bomb that failed to detonate at the 7981 plant and show it on TV. Sibyl sees it and immediately recognizes it as another identical bomb is visible through the window of Aeon's apartment.
Sibyl contacts Onan through a hole in the border wall and tells him about Aeon. Sibyl suggests that Onan go to her and ask her how she crosses the border. Sibyl apparently gives him permission to seduce Aeon. Sibyl doesn't know that Onan is already planning to meet with Aeon, and in fact is only wearing some BDSM gear under his trench coat (the leather collar is visible when he talks with Sibyl).
Onan meets with Aeon and they seem already acquainted. Onan has apparently watched Aeon undress before and she probably does it intentionally. Aeon looks out the window and sees Sibyl having her injury examined by a doctor: Trevor. They have sex and Aeon looks on enraged with obvious jealousy. Afterward, Trevor offers Sibyl one "wish" for anything she wants (except for heads on plates). Sibyl sees Aeon adjusting Onan's straps through her window and asks Trevor to be transferred to Monica. Trevor is enraged. Sibyl goes on a tirade criticizing Trevor. Aeon is listening from across the border and is impressed. Nevertheless, Aeon has sex with Onan in full view of Sibyl, probably as payback for Sibyl's encounter with Trevor.
Sibyl sees Onan again through the hole in the wall. She doesn't like Onan's new relationship with Aeon. Onan hasn't found out yet how Aeon crosses the border.
Trevor breaks into Sibyl's apartment and leaves a present to make up after their argument. Aeon has a short conversation with Trevor across the alley and then watches Sibyl open her present. Out of jealousy, Aeon goes to Sibyl and offers to reunite her with Onan. Sibyl learns that Aeon uses C section to cross the border. Sibyl is suspicious and turns down Aeon's offer.
Act 3[]
Sibyl sees Onan again through the hole in the wall. They have sex through the hole, but Sibyl is unhappy. Sibyl calls Trevor and invites him back to her apartment. Aeon again watches them have sex and is maddened by jealously. She crosses the border and breaks into Sibyl's apartment, throwing Sibyl's spine ampules out the top-floor window. The curtains catch the box however, and the ampules drop one by one past the bottom floor window. Sibyl sees them falling and runs out after them. Trevor meets her and tells her that Aeon was the one who threw away her ampules, and Sibyl tells Trevor that Aeon is the 7981 plant saboteur. Trevor comments on Sibyl's loyalty as a true Breen.
Later, Aeon sees Sibyl sitting on the ledge at D section looking wistfully across to Monica. Aeon feels bad for her and knocks out Onan, returning him to Bregna. Onan goes back to Sibyl and asks for a second chance. Sibyl locks him in the bedroom and runs out to give herself a second chance at jumping the border. She jumps across, but the guns don't fire. Trevor has gotten the less lethal border containment implemented at D section. Sibyl is caught in a web of wires and her legs are amputated.
Trevor has just gotten the shipment of Sibyl's ampules, which are now useless.
Closing[]
Trivia[]
- Thanatophobia means "anxious fear of death".
- The clapping kid who's missing his arms (presumably from the border defenses) at the end of the episode is the same kid who flicks the bottlecap across the border.
- The machines that cut Sibyl in half are made out of the medical parts manufactured at 7981 plant.
- Aeon mentions anesthesia regarding crossing the border. This may be a pun referring to C section.
- What is Sibyl crying about to Trevor?
- The border defenses remain weak despite the upgrades.
- Trevor's interest in Sibyl may have been motivated by his desire to reform her into a model citizen and prove that the wall defenses were counter-productive.
- How much power does Trevor Goodchild (Series) have? His meeting with the official and the mention of the "club" imply that his power relies on the approval of certain political supporters. He tells Sibyl that "circumstances" and "they" will not allow the factory to be closed. He allows Aeon to bomb the factory.
- Trevor says of variation of the quote: "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." Sibyl is destroyed by her weaknesses.
- The medical stimulation used on Sybil has been proven true.
External Links[]
| Episodes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | • Pilot • | ||
| Season 2 | • Gravity • Mirror • Leisure • Tide • War • | ||
| Season 3 | • Utopia or Deuteranopia? • Isthmus Crypticus • Thanatophobia • A Last Time for Everything • The Demiurge • Reraizure • Chronophasia • Ether Drift Theory • The Purge • End Sinister • | ||