In the previous episode of Beacon 23, Keir entered the space station with his two other terrorist accomplices, Saldana and Finch, to take over Beacon and find the artifact. Halan left the space station, boarding Amboyna, while Keir tried to use Aster to understand the true purpose of the artifact. Even though Finch and Saldana didn’t trust Keir, he knew that Aster was the key to this mysterious artifact, and probably by communicating with the relics, Aster would end up being a messiah to save humanity. Bart, unable to recall his previous data, which had been deleted by Solomon, decided to kill himself. In the end, Bart realized that, despite being an AI, he would always be under the control of human beings, which prompted him to make a tragic decision. In the season finale of Beacon 23, the space station’s fate was in jeopardy as the bossman, Aleph, the founder of QTA, approached the station, probably to put an end to Aster and Halan’s extended stay at the station.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Halan Return To Beacon 23?
Beacon 23 Episode 8 opened with Aster looking at the artifact at the cupola. The artifact reminded her of her childhood when we saw a young Aster, aka Parsim, running around Beacon 23. While Aster was lost in her childhood thoughts, Saldana was getting frustrated at not being able to control the system. It had been clear that, as instructed by their terrorist organization, Saldana and Finch were in the station to detonate an explosive. Finch asked Saldana to charge up his implants, which required a drug, but Saldana didn’t want to continue the dosage as Finch was getting addicted to it.
Keir found Aster was communicating with the artifact, so he became desperate to learn what message the artifact was trying to give Aster. In several ways, Keir tried to get the information out of Aster, but she was smart enough to keep it a secret. Meanwhile, Halan found the attack cutters sent by QTA were hitting the space station, causing damage. So Halan eliminated all those cutters to save Beacon 23 and finally returned to the station. He could have just left, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Aster alone in such a perilous situation. Halan returned to Aster and eventually took her with him.
Did Harmony Kill Finch And Saldana?
After Halan returned to Beacon 23, Saldana approached him again, hoping that he would join her team and help them fly away from Beacon. Saldana held him at gunpoint, but Halan snatched the gun from her. Halan went to the cupola to talk to Aster, and Finch and Saldana prepared to leave the station, but Keir didn’t want to participate. Harmony informed Halan about a spaceship approaching Beacon. It was the founder of QTA, Aleph, who was coming to deal with Aster. In episode 4, Milan Aleph, the creator of Beacon 23, first appeared when the beacon keeper Sofie was taking care of the space station as well as Bart. Milan’s objective was to unite the human consciousness to create a transcendental AI that would conquer death. Milan’s ideology was against all of humanity and the circle of life, so Bart decided to eliminate evil Milan for good. But after Milan’s death, his transcendental AI version, Aleph, was activated. Later, this AI version of Milan became the mastermind behind QTA, whose main objective was to conquer the artifact.
As QTA’s ship approached Beacon, Harmony asked Aster to maintain appropriate conduct. On the other hand, we saw Saldana and Finch share a private moment until they received the instruction from their organization that they would have to detonate the space station by using themselves as suicide bombs. Before preparing to commit the final act, Saldana and Finch shared a kiss and decided to take their last breaths together, but Harmony had already been aware of their planning, so as instructed by Aleph, she airlocked the two of them inside the deck to suffocate them. Saldana and Finch begged for their lives, while Harmony also felt bad about making such a decision to kill them. Aleph asked her to take care of Keir as well, which seemed to be a hectic job for Harmony, who might be an AI under a human’s control, but she was just like Bart, against death and destruction, so she eventually unlocked the deck and asked Saldana and Finch to leave the station to save themselves.
Why Did Keir Kill Aster?
Keir was not ready to give up, as he approached Aster again to share the message she had been receiving from the artifact, but Aster would share the message with someone useful. Keir took the gun, which was in Halan’s possession. Later, Aleph appeared in front of Aster, demanding to talk to her. Aleph’s demands were the same, as he was also eager to know the mystery surrounding the artifact. Aster decided to share her connection with the artifact with Aleph in exchange for his word that he would pardon Halan. But Aleph couldn’t promise that Halan could be pardoned, as it depended on his employer. Aster knew that with Aleph and the QTA’s combined power, anything could be possible, so she emphasized her demand to keep Halan out of trouble. Aster demanded Halan’s acquittal, not only because she had a weak spot for him but also because she wanted to be with him forever. In Aster’s hallucination, we saw her in a nice dress, looking at her younger self, who was standing beside Halan. Her hallucination seemed to be her long-suppressed dream of having a family, which she wanted to have with Halan. So, she decided to leave the space station and go into the artifact to live the rest of her life there with Halan. However, even though Aster’s dreams and desires were of no evil intention, Aleph wasn’t ready to make a deal with her yet. Aleph didn’t seem to be a trustworthy and honest guy as it seemed like he could make fake promises to Aster only to know the message from the artifact. Even though Aster began to put her faith in Aleph, Keir knew that it would end up being a mistake.
Keir might not be as powerful or a genius as Aleph was, but he was fighting for a good cause. His organization aimed to prioritize the human world over artificial intelligence. Probably, just like Bart had realized Milan’s evil intentions firsthand, Keir was also aware of what Aleph could do with the artifact. Keir would have to stop Aleph from causing any further harm to humanity, so he decided to eliminate Aster, who was the key to this artifact. When Aster was about to share the message she had received from the artifact, Keir arrived at the scene and shot Aster with his gun. Aster fell to the ground, causing her head to bleed severely, and Halan began to call Harmony for help, but no one came to their rescue.
Will Aster Return In Season 2?
In the concluding scene of Beacon 23 episode 8, when Aster is seemingly dead, we return to the same sequence, in one of Aster’s hallucinations, where she wore a beautiful dress and looked at her younger self, who was with Halan. Her younger self extended her hand towards Aster, who also put her hand on it, causing a flash of light to cover them while Aster talked about the message, which remained untold.
Now, we have no idea what the message can be, but we are certain that Aster is still alive, probably in a comatose state in which she was able to hallucinate or communicate with the relics. Probably in the upcoming season, Aster would be brought back to life with the help of Harmony or Aleph, just like Milan had been revived and transformed into a transcendental AI form. If that happens to Aster, we’re not sure if she’ll still be in love with Halan or try to save him from the authorities. Till the next season arrives, there could be a lot of speculations regarding Aster’s existence and her fate in Beacon 23. Let’s see how things unfold in Beacon 23 season 2.
