Beacon 23 episode 6 has just been released and introduced us to a whole new set of characters and another origin story of the space station from back when Bartholomew was not even nicknamed Bart. The latest episode of Beacon 23 revealed the first beacon keeper, Avalon, who was the first human counterpart of Bart. Surprisingly, we also get a background story of Aster Clayx, who was brought up in this space station, having a connection with the space silicates, which turned out to be some alien beings roaming around in space. Let’s discuss this connection between Aster and the silicates to determine why these space minerals were significant in Aster’s life.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happened To Avalon?
Beacon 23 episode 6 opened with a new character named Keir, a bomber from an organization called Column, setting an explosive in Beacon. Keir had entered the space station under the guise of a mechanic from the ISA, but Bart knew Keir was about to explode Beacon. Bart was already aware of another space station, Beacon 24, have been destroyed due to an explosion that had also claimed the bomber’s life, but he decided to reveal the tragic news later. Keir successfully set the timer of the explosive and lied to Bart, saying that it was meant to prevent the explosion, while Bart surprised him, revealing that he already knew it was a bomb, but he demanded an explanation why Keir wanted to destroy the station. Getting caught, Keir said that it was nothing personal, as there was some politics involved. However, Bart was cunning enough to keep Keir engaged in conversation by bringing up the “artifact,” which everyone was looking for. The previous episode had already shown us the space silicates coming out of Beacon and creating a massive circle around a light, an artifact or relic only visible to human eyes.
Noticing Keir was intrigued to hear more about the relic, Bart wanted to share his origin story with his first beacon keeper, Dr. Ree Avalon, a human with extraordinary abilities and one of the most respected personalities in space science in the world of Beacon 23. Avalon was a pioneer, a human born on earth who grew up in a lighthouse, which gave her a sense of purpose and responsibility in her life. She was neither very soft like Sofie nor cruel and selfish like Solomon. Under Avalon’s supervision, the first dark matter detection system was launched in Beacon, which created history. But Avalon was unfortunately the first human affected by the artifact, which devastated Bart. One day, Avalon found this unusual lightning in space, prompting her to rush towards the cupola and observe it clearly, but when she wanted her AI Bartholomew, whom she nicknamed Bart for the first time, to record this happening, Bart couldn’t see it because it was only visible to human eyes.
The artifact caused by these space silicates was not just some rocks flying in space; it was a communication language of these alien beings (space silicates) to establish contact with humans. These silicates had a profound power to manipulate human minds, causing them to hallucinate. The same thing happened to Avalon, who began to hallucinate that she was in a lighthouse amid a vast ocean. Avalon abruptly decided to confront these silicates, not knowing if it would be harmful. Bart tried to stop her again and again, warning her that he would report it to the ISA, but Avalon was stubborn and determined. Donning her space costume, Avalon went out into space, trying to reach the artifact, but unfortunately, due to a low oxygen supply, she lost her life. Bart desperately tried to find her, but even after scanning the entire vicinity, Avalon was nowhere to be found.
Avalon’s tragic story didn’t intrigue Keir much, so he demanded to know more about the relics, their origin, and how they function, but Bart was in a storytelling mood, so he wouldn’t just come to the point so easily. Meanwhile, Bart also let Keir know that his fellow bomber, who had detonated a bomb in Beacon 24, had died, which devastated Keir because probably the fellow bomber, who was a woman, was Keir’s close friend or a lover. However, to keep Keir engaged with the entire story, Bart offered him some food and beer and promised that the next part of the story would tell him everything about the relic.
Who Were Aster’s Parents?
The next part of the story followed Aster’s childhood and her connection with the artifact. Years after Avalon was gone, the rules and regulations about the beacon keepers varied. Couples were allowed to supervise the station, but for that, they would have to prove their infertility to ISA. However, one of those couples who became beacon keepers was Farut and Grisha, who became pregnant unexpectedly. Bart told them it would be best for them to terminate their child, as it was against the rules of the ISA, which might get the couple arrested and their child taken away, but Farut and Grisha mutually decided to keep the baby and live in a lie for the next five years they would have to stay in Beacon. Grisha gave birth to her daughter, Parsim, who became Bart’s playbuddy. However, the problem arose when Grisha and Farut spotted the artifact in space. They had no idea what it was, but the artifact was having major effects on little Parsim’s mind. Parsim was drawn to the artifact and even learned the language of those relics. Not only that, but the artifact was also making her hallucinate and changing her behavioral pattern. Parsim was getting erratic and violent with time, disrespecting her parents and even hurting them. However, while Grisha was concerned about her daughter’s safety and continuously asked her partner to leave the space station, Farut was getting more and more intrigued with the idea of unraveling the mystery of the artifact, just like Avalon.
Farut was determined to get to the root of the artifact, causing a huge argument between him and Grisha, so one day Grisha took the final decision to destroy the artifact for the sake of her daughter. Grisha contacted a local spacecraft and directed it to the artifact, causing its disruption. Grisha had her reasons, which made sense to her, but Farut wasn’t happy with the decision. Any day, ISA could find out the couple was hiding their child; Grisha and Farut were terrified, so they decided to leave the station and end up in any colony with new identities to evade the capture of ISA. Farut and Grisha took up new identities and gave their daughter a new name as well. Parsim was named Aster Calyx, who later joined the QTA and ended up in Beacon 23 after Halan saved her life. The necklace with the locket that we found in Aster’s possession was given to her by Bart as a farewell gift. Now it was clear that Aster wasn’t trying to benefit from the artifact, but she joined the QTA to unravel the mystery of the artifact. Probably Aster didn’t have any memory of her childhood; that’s why she couldn’t even remember Bart, but when in the last episode of Beacon 23, we saw Aster looking at the artifact, she could remember her childhood days a little bit.
What Happened To Keir?
Keir couldn’t bring himself to believe that someone would destroy the artifact, to which Bart kind of mocked him, saying that Keir was also trying to destroy the space station without having any purpose. Keir didn’t explain it quite elaborately, but it was certain that their organization was anti-artificial intelligence, as they were trying to unite humans to destroy the AI running the whole world. Keir wasn’t quite satisfied with the story Bart had told him, so he thought it was his time to leave. But Bart informed him that there was no need to escape as he had already reported this to ISA, who were approaching the station to arrest Keir. Keir was flabbergasted and made up his mind that he should blow up the space station right now, even though it would claim his life. He was almost ready to press the button and meet his deceased lover in the afterlife, but Bart told him there was no point in pressing the button, as while Keir was setting the bomb, Bart had managed to disarm it. Knowing that Keir was too weak and too much of a nitwit to fight this battle with an AI, he accepted his defeat. Still, taking one last chance as Keir approached the dock, the gates were opened, and the ISA team entered Beacon to arrest him. The episode concluded with a shocked and terrified Keir looking at someone coming into Beacon, even though we have no idea if it was ISA or anything else. In the subsequent episodes, the rest of the mystery will be unraveled.
