Tamal Kundu
Set in the same world as the ‘National Treasure’ films starring Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, and Diane Kruger, ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ revolves around a young DREAMer named Jess (Lisette Olivera), who discovers clues that connects a Pan-American treasure to her family and embarks on the search for it with her friends. In episode 5, titled ‘Bad Romance,’ Jess finds out how Billie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) got the information about the Elvis clues. Having no longer access to Jess’ findings, Billie runs a fool’s errand. Agent Ross (Lyndon Smith) has her suspicions confirmed about Peter Sadusky’s death. Meanwhile, the group attends a black-tie event for a 200-year-old journal. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ episode 5. SPOILERS AHEAD.
National Treasure: Edge of History Episode 5 RECAP
As episode 5 begins, Billie makes the same mistake that Jess initially did and concludes that the Elvis clue is referring to Malinche. Unlike Jess, she is extremely confident about her deduction and reaches out to her contacts in the black market and learns that someone she knows might have the Malinche Codex. She visits this man and offers him Caligula’s lost mosaic in exchange for what she is seeking. Initially reluctant, the man takes her to a vault on Cayman Island and hands over a journal that looks quite old, claiming that it belongs to none other than Hernán Cortés. He even points out the entries that Malinche supposedly made there in the Nahuatl language.
However, when Billie goes to speak to Dr. Torres, the historian to whom Jess reached out in the previous episode, to decipher what Malinche wrote, he proves to her that the book is fake. He shows Billie what is supposed to be the authentic writing of Cortés and compares it to the journal, pointing out the discrepancies. Furious that she has been duped, Billie promptly leaves the professor’s office, but not before Torres declares that he has figured out she is searching for the Pan-American treasure and asserting that it doesn’t exist.
Meanwhile, Jess and Tasha (Zuri Reed) become convinced that Liam (Jake Austin Walker) is the one who leaked the information about the Elvis clue to Billie. Jess and Tasha become further suspicious when they hack into Liam’s bank account and discover that someone has deposited $50,000. This leads Jess to confront Liam, accusing him of being the traitor. Liam clearly becomes frustrated by the accusation and leaves. It isn’t until later that Jess and Tasha discover that Billie and her people bugged one of Oren’s shoes, and that’s how they found out about the Elvis clue.
Jess subsequently visits Liam and apologizes to him. She learns that the $50,000 is from Liam’s mother to pay the taxes for the house he inherited from his grandfather. Jess and Liam reconcile and agree to go to the Louisiana Governor’s ball together to take photos of Lewis’ journal. Ultimately, the entire group ends up going to the ball, and even Meena accompanies them.
As for Billie, after learning that Jess and her friends are attending the Governor’s ball, she quickly realizes that the woman in the Elvis clue is actually Sacagawea and heads to the ball as well. Elsewhere, Ross confirms with Dr. Hudson’s help that Peter Sadusky’ was poisoned with English yew.
National Treasure: Edge of History Episode 5: Why did Liam steal the journal?
At the ball, things mostly go according to the plan until Oren and Tasha goad Jess and Ethan (Jordan Rodrigues) into recreating a dance they did when they were younger. The performance seems to make both Liam and Meena jealous. Liam is gone when the dance is over, and Meena appears to be hurt. She speaks to Ethan and correctly points out that he seems to have feelings for Jess. When Ethan denies this, Meena asks him to be sure who he really wants to be with.
Meanwhile, Jess tries to call Liam, but he doesn’t pick up. She manages to trace him to the room where the journal is kept. As Jess walks into the room, Liam escapes with the journal. One of the security guards sees her, and the authorities are alerted. Tasha and Oren try to divert the attention of the guards so Jess can get away. As the episode ends, Billie comes to Jess’ rescue, convincing the younger woman to get into her car before driving away.
The circumstances around Liam make him perhaps one of the most trustable characters in the show, but his actions tend to contradict this notion. In this episode, he basically runs off with the journal, with no care about how much problem that will cause the woman he supposedly likes and her friends. He likely stole the journal because of his fear of being discovered. When he heard Jess’ footsteps, he probably thought it was one of the guards and acted on his impulses.
Read More: Is National Treasure Edge of History a Sequel or a Reboot?
