Episode Recap: Thief

Far be it from us to tell anyone how to raise their children. But you guys, Cassie and Cole are snoopy parents. Once they find Athan’s house and begin searching for clues as to where or when he is, they learn by READING HIS JOURNALS that he's been moving randomly through time. For…a long time. He's been to ancient Rome, gone through a few world wars, and had himself QUITE an education. And he's journaled all of it. As told from the perspective of reading his journals (again, don’t read anyone’s diary team…), here’s what The Witness was up to:

When his splinter suit stopped working in 1891, The Witness needed to get a piece made for it. And while waiting in a shop for a sort of bumbly and sort of thieve-y jewelsmith to make that happen, he was robbed by a woman in a Witness Mask. And this turns out to be the origin of that. The thief turns out to be a doctor named Eliza, who robs the rich to help the poor. Once Athan retrieves the piece for his splinter suit and gives it back to the jeweler, he realizes that while he’s here, he should probably get to know her better. When Athan returns to Eliza's hospital, he finds that she's fallen sick with a staph infection. He takes her back to his home and though she would have normally died, he gives her a few antibiotics from his stash and she's okay. So, as expected- they fall in love. And it’s glorious.

The whole thing makes Athan kind of a better person. With love like this, he has a hard time believing that he'll turn into The Witness – a killer of billions. In his journal and to Eliza, he confesses that he only met his father (Cole) as an adult one time (Athan travelled to the early 2040's to meet him). They shared a can of beans and Athan decided his father was a brutal killer and a loser. And then, while leaving Athan's home one night, Eliza is jumped by all the criminals she'd robbed in the past. They slit her throat and Athan is too late to stop them.  So Athan does what he does best - he fixes the suit and then goes back in time to save her. Eliza is shocked, of course, to learn he's a time traveler.

A beautiful scene between Athan and Eliza – and another artifact is discovered. It was Eliza that gave Athan the watch that Cassie carries. She believes that no matter what happens, time isn’t to be trifled with. Athan is crazy in love and just as he's about to smash the splinter suit to stay in London in the 1800s forever… Eliza dies again. He goes back in and tries to save her 607 times. But every time, she dies. Of a deep vein thrombosis. Turns out Athan even tried to get help from his mother: Cassie Railly, by visting her in the late 2000's, for advice.

Athan paid a visit to his mother on the day she lost her first patient. He asked for her medical advice and it still didn't help, instead she made him realize that time always wins. Was Cassie the one responsible for making him finally accept his fate as The Witness and return to Titan?

Meanwhile, back in 2046, Jennifer Goines has been using her time locked up to make some pretty impressive drawings and discoveries.  Jones needs her help, but Jennifer just says cryptically that they’ve reached the end of the story. Visited by the visions of two of her previous selves, Jennifer is told to listen to the voices in her head of the other Primaries, who are trying to tell her something: all she can figure out is that she has to "save the dying man" and get to a mausoleum, but that’s all. After Jennifer bangs her head on the floor, Deacon and Jones decide that she's worthless. But Deacon can't bear to kill her again (remember that?) - so they decide to send her away to the place where she wants most – home. Before she goes, Jones takes a moment to tell Jennifer Goines that because she returned Hannah to her, she will always be grateful. Jennifer, broken, beaten and battered, goes to the splinter machine, and just before she goes - winks. Smiles. The wily minx.

Finally, as The Witness prepares to bury Eliza, the love of his life, and head off to Titan, he turns around to find his parents, Cassie and Cole, showing up for one last time to try and stop their son.