Ikaros runs straight to Goran and cilix. He tells them what Pythagoras said about the peace meeting and begs for the release of his father. Goran agrees, as promised. This is the time where Cilix speaks up about his desire to claim the throne. They will kill Jason and Ariadne at the peace talks and that will be that: Cilix will take the throne and Goran will be his general. They will rule together. Goran tells him that Cilic doesn't have the support of the people in political power, but he brushes the concerns off. He who is in charge of the army has the power to lad, after all.
Ikaros goes to get his father out of prison. Daedalos tells him he will never forgive him for what he did and once more tries to send Ikaros off, but Ikaros pushes to take him home and Daedalos--at the gates of Hades--accepts. He lets his son guide him out of the Atlantian prison he willingly went into to aid Jason, Pythagoras, and the efforts to free Atlantis.
The time of the meeting is now. The soldiers checked out the area surrounding the forest and everything looks as agreed. Cilix brought a huge army presence though--and Goran--so I have to admit to being a little worried. Cilix isn't. Not at all. He saunters up to Ariadne and Jason, soldiers on stand-by. He has also hidden a regiment in the woods, though, bows in hand, and doesn't wait long with the betrayal. He says they do both want peace, but that Jason won't be there to see it. That's when Jason's men come out of the literal woodworks and shoot and stab the hiding Atlantian soldiers in the back before they can kills Jason and Ariadne. They do so quietly, though, so Cilix is left calling for an execution that never happens. When that fails, he calls on the guards he brought to finish the job but Goran tells them to stand down. It seems that he who controls the army truly does have the power, and Cilix is left to stand alone.Instantly, Cilix becomes the weasel he is and tries to talk his way out of it. When that fails as well, he runs and Jason throws a knife into his back. Goran finishes him off.
Goran says he has seen too many people die and that Atlantis needs peace. He and the army will stand down in exchange for one thing: that there are no reprisals against his men. They followed orders, that's it. Jason says that all who swear loyalty to him will be spared and the rest will be given the opportunity for exile. It's enough. Goran says he will make arrangements in Atlantis while Jason gets the consent of the Gods for him to take the throne. They will have to trust each other's word on all of it. Jason realizes it's the best deal he is going to get and agrees.
In the camp, everyone packs up. Ariadne is worried and ponderous, but Hercules misinterprets why. Ariadne has Medea on her mind, Herules has Goran. He does give her a valuable piece of advice: they made their choice and they need to put their faith in it. And so they all leave the woods together to go back to Atlantis. Once they arrive, Ariadne is shocked at the sorry state of it, of the torture and cruelty.
Guards await the small group of Ariadne, Jason, Hercules, Pythagoras, and Diocles as they enter the Palace square, and on the steps is Melas, who throws himself at Ariadne's feet. He says he is beyond forgiving for his betrayal and Ariadne forgives him anyway. His loyalty is now bought for life. All the guards here have sworn a similar oath and Goran hands them over to Jason and Ariadne. Diocles remains behind as the rest walk into the palace Ariadne never thought she would see again.
In the woods, Pasiphaê's prayer to Hekate pays off: something large and flying lands and scoops her up.
Back in the palace, Jason comes up behind Ariadne and kisses her neck. she freezes. He asks her what is wrong and she says this place no longer feels like home. They have retaken Atlantis, Jason says, but he realizes there is more troubling Ariadne. She just tells him Pasiphaê said some things to her that she is pondering about. He tells her not to believe a word from that woman's mouth and reluctantly, she agrees. Jason realizes he's loosing her.
The whatever-it-is that took Pasiphaê drops her onto the altar in Hekate's temple and after a few moments, she blinks. Dead people are not supposed to blink, damn it!
Back in the Palace, Hercules is giving in to the temptation of sweet wine, but Pythagoras can't relax. There is something he must do, and that 'something' is talk to Ikaros. Hercules takes out more wine. Pythagoras appears in Ikaros' home and tells Ikaros of what has happened. Ikaros is so happy, so relieved, but Pythagoras can't be. Then he notices Daedalos and Ikoras finally comes clean about what happened to his father. "That's why you betrayed us," Pythagoras whispers and Ikaros swirls back around.
He asks how he knew, when. Pythagoras tells him there could have been no one else who had betrayed the plans to infiltrate the arena prisons and Ikaros realizes they played him from that moment on. He is shocked, ashamed. He tells Pythagoras he would never have done it if there had been another way to save his father, and while Pythagoras understands it, the pain over his betrayal is very real. Other would have died instead of Daedalos. He would have died instead of Daedalos. Pythagoras says he means nothing to Ikaros, and Ikaros breaks down. He takes his hand and holds it. "You mean everything to me," he says into the minimal space between them. Pythagoras, in tears, says he can't say that after almost getting him killed to save his father. Ikaors whispers that he had no choice and Pythagoras, openly crying, says there always is a choice--he just made the wrong one. When Ikaros tries to kiss him, Pythagoras stops him and Ikaros steps back, shattered. Pythagoras says he understands why Ikaros did what he did, but he will never forgive him for it. Then he leaves. Ikaros beg him to come back, but when Daedalos wakes up and gets up, Ikaros just mutters that he had to, that he couldn't see his father die. Daedalos finally offers him the hug he so desperately needs.
Back in the palace, Hercules is staring off in the distance at a fire when Ariadne comes up to him. Hercules asks where Jason is, and Ariadne says he's sleeping. Hercules admits that Jason is a constant worry for him and Ariadne relates. she laments that she wishes she had friends like Hercules and Pythagoras. Someone to talk to. Without missing a beat, Hercules asks her if everything is alright with her. She hesitates a moment, then says she can't sleep. He thinks it's logical to be nervous, but she corrects him, saying it isn't nerves. Just as she needs, he asks her what it is then, and she crumbles a little. She fears that the memory of Jason's with his blackened heart will haunt them forever. Hercules tells her that it's all in the past and suddenly she can't keep it in anymore. She tells Hercules about what Pasiphaê told her. Hercules, too, says she shouldn't put any stock into Pasiphaê's words, but Ariadne knows Jason is hiding something when he talks about Medea. she knows their bond is special. Hercules says that whatever that bond is, Jason married her, not Medea. But Ariadne knows something has changed in Jason and things will never be the same.
Someone really needs to tell me what the flying thing sent by Hekate is (didn't I decide it was a Griffon somewhere in the past?) because it just flew by the palace, just as Goran and a bunch of guards trail the hallways. They either hear or see something because they enter the throne room with their swords drawn. It seems our overgrown stork came to delver a package fit for its size: a very much alive, and worse for wear, Pasiphaê, deposited on the throne.
Goran is shocked, but tells her the throne isn't hers anymore. She doesn't give a shit about what he thinks and her magic is stronger than ever. When he tells the guards to capture Pasiphaê, she makes an example out of one of the guards by tossing him backwards into a wall that he dies instantly. The choice is easy: swear loyalty to her or die. Goran steps forward and asks her how many more will die to sate her thirst for power. "As many as it takes," she hisses. He refuses to kneel before her ever again and she starts to choke him with her magic until he is on his knees. she gloats, but he gets back up again. For his defiance, she snaps his neck. The guards sink to their knees and swear loyalty. They can't stand up against so much power.
By morning, all the palace guards have been recruited and they will strike at Ariadne and Jason before the Gods can give their blessing in a ceremony. The guards guide Ariadne to the ceremonial hall where Jason is already waiting. They walk a whole line of guards who are about to stab them in the back and enter the temple where the priests of Poseidon, Melas, and Cassandra await. Hercules and Pythagoras are also there. The ceremony begins and Cassandra prays to Poseidon. Meanwhile the guards loyal to Pasiphaê kill all the guards they didn't recruit on the steps of the temple. Others guide Pasiphaê to it. Screams and shouts reach inside the temple and Jason and Ariadne look up, shocked. There is a whole regiment of guards behind them that I worry about. Jason reaches for his sword and at that time, the temple doors open and the guards storm in. It seems the regiment remained loyal, though, making the fight moderately fair.
Melas--shocked by the bloodshed inside a holy sanctuary--steps forward slowly, telling the men to put down their swords. No one listens. As Hercules and Pythagoras get an unarmed Ariadne to safety, Jason takes on the guards. Then Melas spots Pasiphaê and a look of sheer terror settles on his face. Pasiphaê stabs him and with his dying breath, he tells Cassandra to run. She does, to Ariadne, who is still being guarded by Hercules and Pythagoras. Then Jason sees Pasiphaê and he freaks the fuck out. Everyone runs from the temple, leaving Pasiphaê in control of it. they cut through guards to get to freedom and hide in someone's home as the guards search the city. Somewhere in the struggle, Hercules got hurt at least enough to draw blood.
Hercules swears to Jason that he killed Pasiphaê. Jason doesn't doubt it, but the fact remains that she is alive and searching the city for them. so they have to wait out the day here and then try to escape the city. Cassandra isn't doing well; Melas' death hit her hard. she impresses upon Jason that what Melas did was to protect her. He was a good man. Jason knows that, too.
Ikaros tells his father about Pasiphaê's return, and that everyone is hunting for Jason and Ariadne. "What about Pythagoras?" he asks, and a very worried Ikaros says he doesn't know what happened to him. He says he has to try to help them and he grabs his sword. Daedalos tells him he will be cut down before he even reaches a guard. He'll help him make an impact, through.
In the palace, a very vengeful Pasiphaê tells the guards that anyone helping the fugitives will be hanged in the streets. Daedalos and Ikaros couldn't care less, anyway. They are carrying a large package through the streets, dodging guards at every corner. By some miracle, the group hasn't be discovered yet, but going out is suicide. They know it. Jason comes to sit with Ariadne and she says that if this is the end, she needs to know about Medea. He comes clean: there was a moment between them in the darkness. But it's over, he is never going to see her again. And then the sounds of the soldiers come closer. They need to arm up. Their talk is cut short and the guards hack down the door.
On the city walls, Ikaros finally gets his mythological wings. While I am no aerospace engineer, I think I can say with absolute safety that there is no way in hell real life wings like that will carry you anywhere but down very swiftly. The show makes a lovely pun about the wax melting if he comes too close to the sun, though, and I have to laugh when Ikaros tells his dad that, uhhh, it's the middle of the night. It seems the wings work, because he glides out over the city like an eagle--after a bit f a rough descend.
The rest of the group has no wings, though. they just arm up and wait for the inevitable--and then Ikaros starts throwing fire powder bombs down on the soldiers and they all die instantly. Ikaros saved Jason, Hercules, Pythagoras, Ariadne, and Cassandra. It's glorious. One of the few surviving guards manages to get an arrow off, though, and rips Ikaros' wing. He crash-lands hard in a courtyard and Pythagoras rushes to see if he's alright, breaking away from the group to do so. When it seems like Ikaros didn't make it, Jason is devastated. But Ikaros opens his eyes, whispers he's sorry, and Pythagoras kisses him as he cries with relief. Yessss!!! I fully admit to yelling that out loud, by the way.
Hercules breaks them up by clearing his throat. They have a city to flee, damn it. Pythagoras and Ikaros claim another moment, then they all leave the city together.
The next morning, the familiar feeling of waking up on the forest floor is back. Cassandra is missing, through. She is praying for Melas a little way's off. Jason asks her if they will ever be rid of Pasiphaê, and she tells him it will be difficult. Pasiphaê will only be vanquished if he can find the source of ehr power and destroy it: the Golden Fleece... in Colchis (Kolkhis), where Medea is. And she is the one person destined to help him.
Jason tells Hercules and Pythagoras and they are not pleased, not even so much because of Medea, but because Colchis is the home of witches and black magic. Well, actually, Colchis was located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centred on present-day western Georgia. According to the Hellenic mythology, Colchis was a fabulously wealthy land situated on the mysterious periphery of the heroic world. Here in the sacred grove of the war god Ares, King Aeëtes hung the Golden Fleece until it was seized by Jason and the Argonauts. Colchis was also the land where the mythological Prometheus was punished by being chained to a mountain while an eagle ate at his liver for revealing to humanity the secret of fire. Amazons also were said to be of Scythian origin from Colchis. But, of course, I digress again.
Hercules tries to convince him not to go, but Jason won't be dissuaded. He goes to tell Ariadne who--naturally--is not pleased. She offers to go with him, but he won't let her. she says she is coming, that someone needs to protect him from himself. Cassandra watches the proceedings with sorrow and guilt. she has to tell the truth, that is the curse that comes with her amazing ability. But it deeply hurts her to hurt others.
We get a few more shots of Atlantis being brought to its knees under Pasiphaê rule. She has claimed the throne and her rule of the city is like an iron grip, choking the life out of it slowly but surely. Our group of heroes reaches the coast and out at sea awaits them the ship that will carry them to their destiny: Argo, carrier of the Argonauts.
During the night, while everyone sleeps, Cassandra prays for a vision of the future. She sees the Argo, plowing through the waves. Medea and Jason, kissing passionately against the bars of a cell. Ariadne, standing in the gull of an island, abandoned.
And Medea, in Colchis, knows Jason will be heading her way soon.
That's it, my lovely readers: the end of Atlantis. It was a wind ride, and I would have loved to have seen a third season. I still hold out hope for one (because you never know, right?). Until then, here is the pretty much complete account of the mythological journey of the Argonouts for you to work into fandom. It was a pleasure recapping this show for you. Thank you for reading, it will be missed.
