Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s spy thriller series ‘Citadel‘ brings back Richard Madden as Mason Kane, the superspy who loses his memory and is pulled back into the world of espionage after 8 years. The first season was a rollercoaster ride, where Mason discovers shocking things about himself as well as the people around him. The season ended with a major revelation, and when Mason returns to action in Season 2, he has to face the consequences of his choices, especially the ones he is going to make now. Now that he has all his memories back, he must decide whether he really wants to stay as Mason or would prefer to return to his life as Kyle. Before he can make that decision for good, an unexpected tragedy removes him from the board. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Mason’s Lack of Foresight Seals His Fate in Citadel Season 2
While Bernard and the others come together with the singular mission of stopping Braga and his nefarious plans, Mason is entirely focused on getting Abby back. She is being held captive by Braga’s people, so Mason tags along with the team long enough to get his hands on Braga. He intended to offer him up in exchange for getting his wife back. But in an impulsive moment, he ends up killing the guy. So, he and his mother, Dahlia, come up with the plan to fool the other side. However, they don’t stop to think that the other side might be doing the same to him. They don’t consider the fact that Joana agreed to the trade too easily. Bernard, however, has the foresight to know that the Abby who returned is not the same as the one who was kidnapped.
During her captivity, Abby’s history as a Citadel agent comes to light. When Joana confirms her identity through the scar on the back of Abby’s neck. This was the place where Bernard implanted the backstop chip in her brain, which took away all her memories. While the memories may be gone, the chip remains, and Joana uses it to her advantage. Since Abby is already a trained killer, she has the chip hacked and changed to fit in with the mind-control program. Once that’s done, Abby can be activated as the assassin no matter where she is in the world. With Edison in her captivity, Joana just needs to wait for the program to be fully functional. And that’s what makes her give up Abby in return for Braga.
Another great thing about sending Abby away with Mason is that the moment she activates, she will most likely be in his vicinity, and then, she can kill him, avenging Braga’s death. Meanwhile, Abby has no idea what has been done to her. She only knows that her real name was Celeste, and she, too, was an agent of Citadel. Joana also lets her know that Mason was the one who removed her memories, which leads her to distrust him going forward. With Abby safely returned, Mason decides to take her to a safe place before joining Bernard and Nadia in their mission to stop Joana from finishing what Braga started. Nadia joins them, and when they are separated from the rest of the group, Joana activates the chip, turns Abby into an assassin, who then kills Mason.
Mason’s Exit Opens the Door for More Citadel Agents
While Mason Kane had been introduced as the main character in Season 1, his character reaches its end in Season 2. By now, we know all about his history with Bernard and Nadia, his rise in Citadel, and how he brought down the whole organization with his mother, with whom he has a complicated relationship. In Season 2, he tries to move on from this, but things are not so easy. He is torn between being Mason and Kyle. He still loves Nadia and wants to be with their daughter, Asha, but too much has happened between them, and he knows that the door is most likely closed. Then there is Abby. He loved her as Kyle, but since his memories returned, his life as Kyle seems like a distant dream, and he is more Mason each day.
Still, he cares for Abby and loves their daughter, Hendrix, whom he wants to protect at all costs. This is what he focuses on, even as everything goes sideways. But he knows that it would be impossible for him to return to his life as Kyle. Moreover, Abby doesn’t see him the same way either. Still, after she has been rescued, she asks him if he is ready to leave everything related to Citadel and Nadia and go home with her and Hendrix to return to their lives, and he says yes. He most likely would have left with her, too, and perhaps there would have come a time when he would have found a way to be at peace with his identity as Mason and lean into his life as Kyle. But that still wouldn’t have stopped the ghosts of the past from haunting him.
Moreover, he is yet to answer for his betrayal of Citadel, and for getting thousands of innocent people killed. At the end of the day, things were too messed up for Mason to receive a happy ending. Even if Abby weren’t turned into a mind-controlled assassin and he left with her, the cracks in their relationship had become too big to be repaired. They would have split up eventually, especially since Mason is still clearly in love with Nadia. Given all this, it makes sense that his story ends the way it did. Moreover, with his arc coming to a decisive end and Nadia choosing to walk away from Citadel, lest she end up like Mason, the show can finally move forward and explore the stories of other Citadel agents whose lives were changed in the aftermath of Mason’s betrayal.
Read More: Citadel Season 2 Ending Explained: Does Nadia Leave Citadel?
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