Citadel – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Secrets In Night Need Early Rains

Episode 6 of Citadel begins in Serbia, 30 years before the present day. We see a room filled with injured people, with doctors and nurses tending to them. A small boy sits on the side by himself.

Six months later in Oregon, the boy lives with his grandmother. He tells his grandmother that he misses his father. When he asks if his mother is coming back soon, his grandmother says she’s travelling.

We once again hear Mason talk about how he had no identity but Citadel gave him one. He didn’t know who he really was until he met Nadia.

What does Dahlia want?

At present day in Morocco, Nadia, Mason and Carter are being driven to a site where they will hear about their mission. They ask Dahlia for proof that Nadia’s daughter is alive, and someone shows them a video of the young girl.

At the site, Dahlia says that they will fly over the Pacific, hack the submarine, jump in and get the missiles. Nadia wants to take the lead but Carter reveals that Mason was on a red cell mission when he installed his own bio-lock on the nuclear submarine — against orders. He has to be there.

We flashback to the red cell mission eight years ago where Mason is told to go to a Russian nuclear submarine and install access for Citadel, in case the Russians decide to use it. Mason, who is frustrated with Nadia’s absence, demands Grace tell him where she is if he is to go on this mission.

What happens on the submarine?

A brief flash to the present sees Nadia and Carter instruct Mason on how to override the security in the submarine.

Back in the past, Mason is dropped onto the submarine from a jet. He manages to have his biometrics put in the system but then switches his communication off, and puts another device in the machine. He switches his comms back on and pretends nothing happened.

At present, Carter locates the submarine. Mason asks Nadia why she didn’t tell him about Asha but she tells him this isn’t the right time. Mason and Davik dive off the plane and land on the sub, with Mason having some trouble getting there.

The machine accepts Mason’s biometric and Davik decides he doesn’t need Mason anymore. He pushes Mason’s parachute, which pulls him away with the wind, and then cuts the cord. Nadia realises something’s wrong and decides to go down herself. She shoots Dahlia’s other men when they try to stop her.

Davik gets inside the submarine and calls Dahlia. He knows she killed his brother and has now used the missiles to target Manticore families instead. He tells Dahlia he wants a seat at the table.

Carter manages to wake an unconscious Mason up. Dahlia retorts to Davik’s threat by telling him that she controls the submarine’s mechanisms and can drown him before the missiles do any damage. She cuts the call. Mason shows up, pointing a gun at Davik. Davik moves towards him but Nadia intercepts and knocks him out.

Carter tells Nadia that the only way to cancel the launch now is to get the nuclear cores. She grabs a temperature regulator that raises her temperature to the same as that inside the launch room. Any change in temperature will be detected and lock down the warheads. She enters the room and has four minutes to remove the cores from all five missiles.

Meanwhile, Davik wakes up and knocks the gun out of Mason’s hand.

Nadia has one more core to go but is close to blacking out due to her raised temperature.

Mason gets beat up by Davik. Carter reminds him that he doesn’t need his memories for his skills, those never left.

Nadia manages to get the last core out. Thinking about his family, Mason’s fighting skills spark into action and he manages to take Davik out. He helps Nadia out of the launch room and gives her an injection that brings her body temperature back to normal. Just as Russian bombers are approaching, Mason and Nadia make it back to the plane.

Do they manage to save Asha?

In the past, Mason comes back to Citadel headquarters. He tells Grace he used a secondary protocol to make sure he’s the only one who can control the missiles. He will give Grace access in return for Nadia’s location. Grace tells him he needs to get help.

On the way to Valencia, Nadia and Carter discuss where the exchange of the cores will take place. Mason and Nadia head to meet Christoph (the woman from Manticore who once met Dahlia). Carter climbs into a sniper position behind them. Christoph and two men arrive. Above them, a man arrives on the overpass with Asha, holding the girl at the edge.

They hand over the cores but Christoph’s man says they’re encrypted. While they’re arguing about how to decrypt them, Nadia tells Carter to take his shot. He shoots the man holding Asha. The girl falls but Mason reaches in time to catch her while Nadia takes on the others. Christoph runs away without the bag of cores. Nadia tearfully reunites with her daughter.

Back to eight years ago, Bernard and Mason walk together, talking about Bernard’s daughter. He then shows pictures of Nadia and Asha to Mason. He also gives him a round trip ticket to Spain but Mason isn’t inclined to go seeing as Nadia clearly thought he wasn’t a good father. Bernard tells him to go prove her wrong.

At present, Asha asks Nadia about her grandfather. Nadia says he’s tough and will find his way back.

A woman goes up to Dahlia and tells her that Christoph didn’t answer her call. Dahlia seems to expect repercussions. She leaves the house and it blows up as she drives away.

Which agent betrayed Citadel?

At the Citadel headquarters, the three agents find the whole place in ruins. Hendrix and Abby are there too and Mason reunites with them. Carter and Nadia are shocked to see Abby.

In other news, Carter figures out how to bring Mason’s memories back. Abby is hesitant but Mason decides he wants to do it. Carter gives him the injection and all his memories come rushing back, landing Mason in shock.

In the past, Bernard asks Mason how he knew where Nadia was. After all, he was the one who told Bernard where to look.

We then see Mason meet with Dahlia. From their conversation, we realise that Dahlia is none other than Mason’s mother! Mason’s here to ask a favour, he wants to find Nadia. Dahlia agrees to find her. She then talks about what it’s like to lose people you love.

She describes the explosion in Serbia, how she saw her husband burn and was later treated with skin grafting. She became a different person and so didn’t return to her home or her son.

She reveals Citadel was behind the bombing, hitting a UN facility of innocents by mistake instead of a terror cell. She encourages Mason to hand over Citadel’s secrets and take them to court officially. We then see Dahlia transfer a list of agent names to someone to have them all killed.

As the episode closes out, Abby asks Kyle if he remembers. He says he doesn’t know but Nadia watches the couple as they hug.

The Episode Review

The season finale of Citadel is like most of the other episodes, a sleek affair without much depth or intrigue. The story goes and the big twist is that Mason is Dahlia’s son and was the Citadel traitor all along. It’s a good twist but everything hinges on how they take things forward.

There’s a lot of potential for exploring greyness in this idea, but seeing as the rest of the show dealt with such issues in a superficial manner, I do not have high expectations.

The Serbia incident is, in fact, the first subject to come up that truly expresses the complexity that Citadel has only been talking about so far. The rest of the episode has a strictly mediocre storyline even if its supported by polished performances from the cast.

The entire nuclear submarine plot line doesn’t kindle much excitement. But with Abby joining the troupe, things are bound to get interesting. It’s just a disappointment that the most exciting thing about the finale was all the potential it leaves for the following season.