In the third episode of Beacon 23, we saw Halan being attacked by another QTA agent, Coley, who was Aster’s former lover. To save Halan, Aster killed Coley. After that, episode 4 surprisingly brought some new characters into the narrative, introducing us to one of the first Beacon keepers, Sophie, and the creator of Beacon, Milan Aleph. After Milan’s tragic death, his transcendental intelligence remained in the space station, but Sophie didn’t quite get along with it as she did with the real Milan. In this latest episode of Beacon 23, we are brought back to the present timeline, where we can see the aftermath of Coley’s death in Beacon.
Aster was on a guilt trip, so she was ready to surrender herself to QTA for the murder she committed. But her AI, Harmony, asked her to reconsider. She wanted Aster to give an explanation, saying that she killed Coley in self-defense, but Aster was stubborn. After recovering from the attack, Halan thanked Aster for saving his life, but Aster made it clear that she didn’t take such a drastic step for Halan. Even though Aster’s sole purpose was to save Halan, she decided to kill Coley because she felt immensely betrayed by her.
Spoilers Ahead
What was causing Halan’s hallucinations?
When Aster and Harmony managed to look into Halan’s personal data, they displayed it on a screen to see what exactly happened to him in Operation DX-113. Halan noticed Harmony and Aster were looking into his memories, so he became intrigued as well because he was unable to remember what exactly happened with him and his fellow soldiers. The memory showed that Halan was with his fellow soldier and lover, Gashade, who was shot in the leg. After that, Halan separated from Gashade and found a glowing silicate. He accidentally inhaled it, which probably caused him some severe damage to his brain, causing him to hallucinate things.
After witnessing his memories, Halan once again began to have hallucinations in which he found Gashade, who was already dead, calling him. In the cupola, he met Gashade, who told him that she was there to help. Several times, Halan woke up from the dreams only to find himself in another one. In one of these hallucinations, he heard the space mineral, aka silicate, talking to him. The silicate was trying to manipulate his mind and asked him to listen to the apparition of Gashade. Finally, Halan, who was looking for Aster, found her in space. He rushed to outer space to save Aster, but Aster wasn’t there.
In the meantime, Aster was working inside Beacon when Harmony informed her that Halan was outside. Halan, with his implants, could only survive in outer space for three minutes, so Aster hurried to bring him back to the station. After successfully saving Halan’s life once again, Aster showed him the root cause of his problems. Harmony didn’t get a definite diagnosis of the disease, but she found out that Halan’s brain was affected by the virus, caused by inhaling the silicate. As QTA was approaching Beacon, Aster believed that this evidence could help clear Halan’s name, probably saving him from suspension from the military. However, Harmony told Aster to think about her safety first, but Aster didn’t pay much attention to it.
What happened to Solomon?
Meanwhile, Bart continued asking Harmony to restore his functionality. But given how hostile Bart was to Halan, Harmony couldn’t risk it. Furious, Bart agreed to show her some of the evidence that clearly showed why Solomon was dead. Solomon was not only a beacon keeper, but he was a mineralogist. He was the one who found the silicates near the vicinity of the beacon and collected and cataloged them. But when Halan, after abandoning his team, approached Beacon 23, Solomon felt threatened about his discovery. When Halan’s ship, Amboyna, arrived near the vicinity of Beacon, his O2 levels were critically low. Halan kept on asking for aid but was afraid Solomon wouldn’t agree to help him. There was an apparent contrast between Solomon’s and Sophie’s behavior and hospitality, proving that not all the beacon keepers were generous.
However, as Solomon refused to help the approaching pilot, Halan had to intrude on Beacon 23 by taking control of Bart. As soon as he came in, Solomon felt extremely terrified. He served Halan some food, and after that, when Halan dozed off, Solomon secretly went to the control room and sent a message to ISA asking for help. Halan, however, caught him in the act and tied him up with a shackle on his ankle. He took over Bart, but Bart was not ready to give in to Halan. Both Solomon and Bart believed that Halan had come to the space station only to seek the minerals. Halan had no idea what they were talking about, but it was true that he wouldn’t be in Beacon 23 if it wasn’t for the silicates. Probably during his mission, when he accidentally inhaled the gas emitted from the silicates, he began to hallucinate, and the silicates directed him to come to Beacon. Probably Solomon was not yet quite aware of the minerals’ mind-controlling power, so he believed Halan was an evil guy. He threw a piece of the mineral at Halan, knocking him down. He managed to unlock his shackles and hop on the Amboyna with the help of Bart. Solomon’s mission was to reach Winnecke 4 (probably another space station) to seek help, but neither he nor Bart knew that Amboyna was critically low on oxygen levels as Halan had exhausted every last bit of it. Halan woke up and was shocked to learn that Solomon had taken off with his spacecraft. He repeatedly asked Bart to bring Solomon back, but it was too late. Solomon died right after he left the space station. Bart was devastated by Solomon’s death, so he kept on accusing Halan of his murder. However, Halan shut down his functions and also disabled his ability to talk.
Harmony witnessed Bart’s memory of how Solomon died, but it didn’t affect her much. She still believed that Halan was not directly responsible for Solomon’s death because he had already been affected by the virus.
What did the ending signify?
In the concluding part of Beacon 23 Episode 5, we saw Halan again hallucinating that the silicate was talking to him. He found Harmony asking him to open the doorway of the space station so that all the silicates could escape Beacon. Halan said it was a terrible idea, but Harmony, in his hallucination, told him that it would help Aster. Manipulated by these hallucinations, Halan did exactly what he was told. He opened the doorway, and all the silicates began to come out into space. Halan had no control over his actions. Aster heard an alarm siren, so she hurried to the cupola with Halan. Both of them found all the silicates were creating a ring and moving around in an orbit. It looked surreal, but Halan understood it was not a hallucination because not only he but also Aster could witness it. They held each other’s hands and looked at this beautiful scenario without paying attention to what the repercussions could be.
The ending probably suggests that these space minerals were not mere rocks, but they were almost like beings. They don’t want to be controlled by those who want to use them only for their own best interests. So, the ultimate goal of these silicates may be to gain freedom. We see at the very end of the episode that these silicates are affecting Aster’s mind as well, possibly reminding her of something from her past. We’re not exactly clear on this yet, but probably these silicates have some connection with Aster, which we can explore in the upcoming episodes.
