‘Citadel’ Episodes 1 And 2 Recap And Ending, Explained: Will Mason Find Nadia?

Priyanka Chopra Jonas returns to our screens with one of the most expensive series ever made. In true Russo brothers’ style, Citadel goes from deadly action sequences to giving some comic relief which was reminiscent of their times at Marvel. We have to address the comparisons to Gray Man, and while in many ways the show follows a similar exterior, there’s more to it than meets the eye, and fans might be happy to see something interesting once again. Let’s dive directly into the action and meet the agents of Citadel. 

Spoilers Ahead


What Happens In Episodes 1 And 2?

Citadel begins with a fiery opening sequence in the Italian Alps on a train that is obviously not going to reach its destination. Nadia Sinh, a spy agent, finds her way on the train to intervene with a man traveling with uranium in his briefcase. Coincidentally, there’s another agent on the train, and he might be with Nadia, too; his name is Mason Kane. Mason and Nadia are top agents, immaculately dressed for the part of a spy agency known as Citadel. Citadel is a global agency for “good” that prevents other spy agencies from creating mayhem, war, and terror across the globe. They operate as a separate entity, not belonging to any country or place. Citadel was considered to be in a different league altogether but this time they were tricked. Nadia and Mason realized that they have been on a fake mission all along. They’ve been set up by an organization called the Manticore. While Mason fights off an agent in the lush private restroom of the fancy train they’re on, Nadia finds out that Manticore has done everything in their power to take Citadel down for good. All other agents have already been killed, and now only Mason, Nadia, and the tech guy, Bernard Orlick (these names are something…), are left. Mason and Nadia are easily able to defeat the bad guys until one of them takes out a hand grenade. Nadia and Mason have no time to escape, and before they’re separated, Mason and Nadia mention a secret they’ve both been keeping from each other.

Mason wakes up in a hospital and doesn’t remember who he is. The doctor tells him that he has retrograde amnesia after the accident on the train and was found with a passport and a wedding ring. The name on the passport is Kyle Conroy, and the US consulate isn’t able to find any records of Mason, so he’s essentially non-existent in the world. Jump forward to eight years later, and “Kyle” is now living his new life with a wife and daughter. He’s been having visions of a woman, and he decides to go to therapy all those years later. The therapist advises him to do a DNA search in the database because technology has advanced greatly all these years later. In the meantime, the UK ambassador is on the hunt for a briefcase known as the Citadel X Case. It has all the important information Citadel has gathered over its active years, including nuclear codes. She is using Manticore agents to get her hands on the X case. The ambassador, also part of Manticore, was part of the downfall of Citadel all those years ago. Manticore is a syndicate established by the rich families of the world to get richer and more powerful.

Back at Kyle’s, there is a huge commotion as someone breaks into the house with guns. It is Bernard who forces the family to get into a car and then gasses them while saying everything is going to be okay. At the same time, the Silje twins of Manticore find the X case and grab it for the ambassador while she herself is giving an interview and calls the journalist a spy. The twins head to New York to get the case’s high-security lock opened. This is where Kyle comes in, or rather, Mason. Bernard gives Mason a rundown of his past after establishing that kidnapping his family and gassing them was for “their own good.” Mason (giving the impression that he’s a little dense) believes Bernard because of all the scars on his body and the visions he’s been having. Mason finds out that the woman in his dreams is Nadia, a fellow agent who used to be his partner in crime, or rather, in good. Bernard needs Mason to go on a mission, and even though he doesn’t remember anything about his past, Bernard is certain his body is capable of doing the spy work, especially if he’s guiding him. Bernard was under the impression he himself, the tech genius of Citadel, was the lone survivor (meaning he thought Nadia was dead too), but now he can begin anew with Mason.

Eight years ago, Bernard initiated a “backstop” and told Nadia to prepare herself. Nadia, who was badly wounded, hitched a ride from an Italian stranger. Said man who has a shotgun and handcuffs, had tied Nadia to the bed for his safety. She tells him they should go to a hospital, but for his sake, before attacking him, freeing herself and making her way out. Though Nadia was gravely injured, she was able to kill the man who had a grip round her neck. Immediately she hears a beeping sound, and it’s a chip in her neck that is preparing to erase all her memories (Bernard, bad move). Now she’s in the middle of an Italian town with no memories and a dead man in the room. Nadia has the sense to quickly write down something on her arm before her memories are erased. The message on her hand leads her to Valencia, Spain.

Mason, or rather Kyle, agrees to the mission because it means his wife and kid will be safe, and he and Bernard leave for New York, leaving the family with Joe (it’s Moira Kelly from One Tree Hill), Bernard’s ex-wife. All suited up, Mason looks the part and walks into the building where the case is being unlocked. Unimaginably, Mason finds it rather easy to get the case out with a few hints from Bernard, and he joins him back in the car. What they don’t realize is that they’re being followed by Davik Silje. Bernard tells Mason that they can’t go back to his wife and child just yet because now that he’s shown his face, the whole world knows he’s alive (see, quite dimwitted). Mason’s wrist is key to the case, and when he opens it, he’s able to search for active agents. Bernard also tells him that the vials inside the case can be used to reactivate the lost memories if injected into the bloodstream.

The only problem is that there’s only one of each agent. Mason spends too long contemplating whether he should trust Bernard or not before, shockingly, Bernard is shot in the chest! He falls flat on the steering wheel, and the car zooms to a halt. Mason thinks the man is dead, and as everyone flees the scene, seeing the guns in Silje and his men’s hands, Mason grabs a stranger’s car and escapes. Silje realizes who was in the car with Mason and tells the ambassador they have a new gift. The ambassador is furious at the fact that the case was stolen because she is the broker for the families at the top of Manticore. If she fails, she’s done for, but the fact that it wasn’t the CIA and Mason who stole the case has her in a daze. He should’ve been dead some eight years ago.


‘Citadel’ Episode 2: Ending Explained – What Happens To Nadia And Mason?

Mason’s vial was broken in the chaos, and now he’s left with no Bernard and no memories. The search for active agents is still on in the case, and it shows Mason Nadia in Valencia. He has a ray of hope, and so he makes his way to Valencia with the case (wasn’t the Manticore searching for him?) How did he just get on a passenger flight? He finds Nadia in Spain and gives her a very failed explanation as to who they are and why she needs to listen to him. Nadia tries to run out on him, but he’s able to get her wrist in contact with the case and show her how it opens for her. Nadia sees her face in the case computer and is still very confused as to what is happening. Before they know it, Davik and his men are swarming the place for the case.

With no memories, both spies of the Citadel are unable to fight Silje. At least Mason can try, but Nadia is completely frozen as Silje flings her around like a little Barbie. Mason manages to give her the case and tell her about the vial. Finally, she injects herself and remembers everything! The only reason she believed in Mason was because she had dreamed of him earlier. Now she remembers everything and knocks out Silje before he can hurt Mason anymore. In a quick stream of memories, we see Nadia tell somebody that Mason should never find out about something. We don’t know what that is just yet, but it’s possibly one of the great mysteries of why Citadel was compromised. When Silje informs the ambassador about Nadia being alive, she’s extremely unhappy. It was Davik’s brother Anders who had been in charge of killing everyone under Citadel, but for now, she’s settled with a gift from Silje—the great Bernard Orlick. He’s barely made it out alive after being shot, but at least we know he’s okay. The ambassador tells Bernard that she’s great at making agents turn, giving us a hint that she was key to the downfall of Citadel eight years ago. Is she the woman Nadia was talking to in her memory? How many secrets will she be able to uncover from Bernard before Nadia and Mason are able to save him? We’ll soon find out in Citadel


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Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika, or "Ru," is a fashion designer and stylist by day and a serial binge-watcher by night. She dabbles in writing when she has the chance and loves to entertain herself with reading, K-pop dancing, and the occasional hangout with friends.

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