As a big-budgeted high-stakes small-screen espionage caper, Amazon Studios’ Citadel is as trope-filled as you could imagine. What I find funny is, more than focusing on the global conspiracies in the post-truth era; like the premise is set up to be, the series hovers round and round inside the loop of identity crises and family drama. Still, I guess there is some sort of appeal in the generic globe-trotting spectacle, which instilled the studio with enough confidence to greenlight not one but two spin-off series, with more on the way. Among these upcoming entries. Citadel: Diana, set in Italy, is going to premiere later this week, while Citadel: Honey Bunny, set in India, will release in November. To help you get in the groove, let me break down all the major events that took place in the first season of Citadel, which will be directly connected with both the upcoming spin-offs.
Spoilers Ahead
Citadel and Manticore
To put it simply, Citadel is an independent, highly influential intelligence agency like the IMF from the Mission: Impossible series, created during the 1930s by former spies and secret agents who chose not to ally themselves with any singular nation or ideal, instead driven by a humanitarian zeal. Citadel has shaped major world events from the shadows, thanks to its expansive, covert spy network, and has attained mythical status even to the who’s who in the intelligence business like the CIA or KGB. In the present timeline, the techies of Citadel have developed a cutting-edge neural interface connection technology and installed a specialized chip in the temporal lobe of its agents as a failsafe, using which the subject’s memories can be wiped clean with backstop protocol, thereby leaving no chance of an intel leak in the worst-case scenario.
The first episode opens inside a luxury passenger train moving through the Italian Alps as Citadel agents Nadia Sinh and Mason Kane prepare to apprehend their target, Gregor Yovanovich, who is planning to sell uranium ore to a few troublesome parties. However, it turns out, their mission was bait set by a rival intelligence agency, known as Manticore, and they are already on their way to execute an Order-66-like protocol—killing every single one of the thousands of Citadel spies located across the globe. Nadia and Kane manage to kill the Manticore agents flanking them, but as the train is caught up in a blast as Gregor detonates a bomb, both Kane and Nadia end up falling into the river below. Later, Mason wakes up in the hospital, completely forgetting his real identity. Mistaking his undercover alias, Kyle Conroy, as his true identity, Kane continues to live a false life for the next eight years and raises a family with wife Abby and their daughter, Hendrix. On the other hand, Nadia, who had survived the fall as well, retained her memory up to a certain point when Bernard, the genius techie of Citadel, informed her about the total annihilation of the agency and initiated the backstop protocol to protect the confidential information of Citadel, of which Nadia is aware. Before the activation of the protocol, Nadia manages to defend herself against her rescuer, who was trying to kill her. After the memory wipe, Nadia followed the directions she herself had written on her hand and went to Valencia, Spain, spending eight years as a restaurant manager, assuming her alias, Charlotte Vernon, as her true identity.
Manticore is revealed to be a spy agency created by the world’s eight wealthiest families spread across the globe, who, in order to take complete command over the geopolitical scenario, had burned down Citadel and, using their tech, manipulated various world events through the last eight years for their own benefit. At present, UK ambassador to the States, Dahlia Archer, is revealed to be a Manticore chief broker who wants to obtain the Citadel X case, which contains confidential information, including nuclear codes. Dahlia assigns a fierce chief duo of Amsterdam’s criminal syndicate, twin brothers Anders and Davik Silje, to the task. As Kane attempts to learn about his forgotten past through a DNA swab test, the only surviving member of Citadel, Bernard, learns about his presence and abducts Kane and his family, bringing them to his hideout to keep them from getting captured by Manticore. Bernard reveals Kane’s past to him, bringing him up to speed about the situation, and takes his help to steal the Citadel X case from the Silje brothers. As the duo escape, Bernard reveals a serum that can give Kane his memories back, but the conversation is cut short by the Silje brothers eliminating Bernard. Kane flees with the case but finds the serum vial to have been destroyed in the ruckus.
Troubling Past of Kane and Nadia
In flashback sequences interspersed through the main narrative, Kane’s past in Citadel and his personal life are highlighted. Kane, who originally hails from Serbia, was raised by his grandmother after his father Thomas’ death, as his mother remained absent throughout his childhood. After joining Citadel, Kane quickly rose through the ranks, partnered up with new recruit Nadia, and the duo fell in love. Nadia had brought her close friend, Celeste Graham, who had previously saved her life, into Citadel, as a tier one agent. Kane had assigned Celeste on a mission to steal Oz Key, the ultimate hacking device created by Anders Silje, asking her to earn the man’s trust by getting into a relationship with him. However, as Celeste went dark for three months, Kane became extremely wary of her intentions, especially because Celeste’s twin brother, David, was deep into gambling, and as she shared a strong bond with him, Kane suspected that she would end up selling the tech for monetary gain. However, Celeste was able to retrieve the Oz Key, but as she was returning to the HQ, the key was replaced by a replica. Without informing Nadia, Kane had asked Bernard to use the backstop protocol on Celeste in suspicion of her turning rogue, and it is revealed that Celeste is none other than Kane’s present wife, Abby Conroy.
Bernard’s protégé, Agent Carter Spence, who had served Citadel along with Kane for quite a while, questions Kane about this uncharacteristic behavior, and it turns out, Kane had become aware that Nadia had taken the original Oz Key from Celeste and, without her knowing, replaced it with a replica. Being raised without parents, Kane has suffered from attachment issues, and he is not willing to give up the love of his life even if it seems likely she is a turncoat, which is why he made a scapegoat out of Celeste. However, Nadia eventually learns about Kane’s decision to backstop Celeste, and confronting him, reveals that she stole it because she deemed it to be too dangerous in the hands of any organization, even that of Citadel’s. Kane had proposed to Nadia previously, but in the aftermath of this event, Nadia breaks off their engagement. Afterwards, Nadia goes dark for a significantly long period, and it is hinted that she compromised Citadel during this time by meeting with a global terrorist, Rahi Gambhir.
Nadia’s Truth
At present, Bernard is revealed to have survived as he is brought to Dahlia, who tortures him to obtain the access code of a Russian submarine carrying nuclear warheads, and later on, Bernard manages to convince Anders to let him escape by mentioning he will lead him to Brell (Celeste’s alias), who is alive, contrary to Anders’ knowledge of her passing. However, Dahlia shoots Anders to death, and this time starts threatening Bernard with the lives of his and Kane’s family, whose location at Bernard’s hideout has been revealed to her. Bernard provides the access code, but Dahlia decides to order her men to eliminate the families anyway, as payback against Citadel, as it is hinted that she was wronged by the organization. Bernard’s ex-wife, Joe, learns about the oncoming attack just in time to lead their daughter, Val, and Kane’s family to safety.
Using the X case, Kane is able to locate Nadia in Valencia and injects Nadia with her specified serum to bring her memory back as the duo fend off an assault by Davik Silje. Kane had been experiencing fleeting memories involving Nadia, and he questions whether they had a history together, a question she simply shrugs off. In secret, Nadia communicates with someone unknown, and it is hinted that she is holding something back from Kane. The duo learn Carter Spence is being held as a captive in a Manticore black site in Morocco, and as they manage to free him, Carter outrightly brands her as a traitor who sold out Citadel, given her past communication with Rahi Gambhir. However, as Nadia reveals while escaping from Manticore agents with Kane and Carter, Rahi is her father, and she visited him to entrust him with the safety of her and Kane’s daughter, Asha. Given Kane’s unreliable disposition in the past, she didn’t want to reveal their daughter’s presence to him, which is why she went dark for a certain period.
Kane’s Truth
On the other hand, Dahlia rounds up Kane, Nadia, and Carter and threatens Kane with his daughter’s life as she commands Kane to assist in a mission to obtain the core of Russian nuclear warheads from the submarine, as direct access to the warheads is protected by Kane’s biometrics. Dahlia needs the cores for the Zani family, who are one of Manticore’s founders. Kane agrees to take part in the mission and infiltrates the submarine after performing a halo jump with Davik, who is sent by Dahlia to keep a watch on him. However, Davik is aware that Dahlia had killed his brother, and incapacitating Kane, he tries to betray Manticore by targeting the warheads at the agency’s main bases. Nadia drops down as she assists Kane to take care of Davik, and the duo successfully retrieves the cores. Cristoph Zani holds Asha hostage and demands Kane unlock the nuclear core’s biometric security, which he isn’t able to do due to memory loss. As Cristoph tries to kill Asha, the trio of Kane, Nadia, and Carter manage to kill all the Manticore agents present, along with Cristoph and her henchmen, and rescue Asha. In fear of repercussions, Dahlia flees after faking her death.
After all is said and done, Nadia, Asha, Kane, and Carter go to the dilapidated Citadel HQ, where Kane is reunited with his present family, and even though Nadia is surprised to see a mindwiped Celeste as Kane’s wife, she doesn’t reveal anything to either of them. Carter brings out a backup serum vial for Kane, which he injects into him to bring his memories back. As memories flood in Kane’s mind, he is overwhelmed as he learns that it was he who gave up the Citadel agents’ location to Dahlia, his mother—resulting in the agency’s total destruction. As it turns out, Kane’s father, along with a number of innocent people, were killed by Citadel, as they mistakenly launched missiles at their location while targeting a Serbian terror cell. Citadel did their desperate best to cover up their crime, like they always do, but Dahlia, a survivor of the heinous tragedy, was able to learn about the ugly truth and reveal it to her son, who ultimately decided to betray the organization, a decision that resulted in the deaths of thousands. The first season ends with a flabbergasted Kane accepting his new reality, as he refuses to share the truth with anyone.
What Can Be Expected From Citadel: Diana?
As revealed in the trailers, Citadel: Diana will follow Diana Cavalieri, who is on a quest for revenge after losing her family – presumably at the hands of the Zani family, one of the founders of Manticore and chief arms suppliers of the organization. Diana was recruited as a Citadel agent at some point, and she was assigned with the task of infiltrating Zani family – which also gave her a chance to exact vengeance at the same time. Fans can surely hope for a cameo or two by the original Citadel cast, as the spy-universe expansion needs crossovers to acknowledge the interconnected world building.Â
