Episode Recap: Legacy

So, Team Splinter is in kind of a pickle. They found this note in the Ouroboros that said “Blackleaf 1852.” And there’s also this larger mystery about the legend that starts with “there once was a serpent that traveled in one direction.” Cole isn’t ready to tell the team that it was his MOTHER that wrote it down for him as a child. Mainly, the team realize that they’re stuck in a time loop and the Primaries throughout time seem to be giving them the answers for breaking it.

And so, the gang follow the instructions to Blackleaf, Montana, in 1852. And then they immediately start shooting in order to get new outfits. Soon enough, though, Team Splinter realizes that something is not quite right. This town has people from a lot of different times. The saloon has people with iWatches, guns from the 1940s, and Elliot Jones. He’s Katarina's husband, he’s Hannah's father, he and Jones invented time travel together and it turns out, he’s here in the past working for the Army of the 12 Monkeys.

Team Splinter causes a distraction and create a tether for Elliot that sends him back to 2046. It's a Jones family reunion. Katarina is shocked to learn that Elliot has been hiding out in the past, but even more shocked when they all put together the fact that he’s been building Titan! The Army of the 12 Monkeys had been funding his research for years and it turns out, if you're building a massive time machine, what better place than in the past? The key is bringing in materials from the future and assembling them where nobody can find it!

Back in 1852, Jennifer Goines is finally forced to confess that she's not able to hear the Primary voices any more. And as she does, they meet a Native American shaman, who's been waiting for them. He gives them a cryptic message: "Climb the steps. Ring the bell." They're not sure what it means, but Jennifer remembers hearing it among the Primary voices. Against everyone's better judgment, Jennifer drinks some of that red tea, and…boom. Olivia can see her in that weird "Primary outside of time" way. And now Olivia knows what Primaries throughout time had tried to hide from her: a weapon that can destroy Titan.

While the Army of the 12 Monkeys has been assembling Titan throughout time, the Primaries had been assembling a counter-weapon. Once more, it involves the phrase "Climb the steps. Ring the Bell." But it's impossible to unravel. Worse, now Olivia knows that Cassie and Cole are in 1852. Elliot and Katarina realize that Olivia doesn’t just want to travel through time, she wants to create a Hartle-Hawking state: a paradox so big that it punches a hole through the middle of time. Titan is the way that Olivia gets her Red Forest. And so, Katarina sends Elliot and Hannah back to stop that from happening.

The plan is formed! Team Splinter is going to sneak in to the camp and distract everyone long enough to load up on dynamite and blow up the main tower. As the team place their dynamite everywhere, they meet an unexpected guest: Deacon. Yep, Olivia's sent him back here to stop all of this. And it goes poorly. After Deacon kills Elliot, Titan splinters away. But it turns out, Elliot's legacy is left behind - Katarina and Team Splinter now have the plans for Titan. And those plans could be the key to bringing the whole thing down.

During one of their usual fights around the table, everyone finally confesses what they've been holding back: Goines confesses she can't hear voices anymore, Cole confesses that his mother wrote the story of the serpent, and Jones confesses that she's dying. This particular part of the story is left with one last clue. Elliot's assistant, whose name was Emma, learned all she knew about paradoxes, time travel and trained with both Katarina and Elliot. Turns out, though, she’s 12 Monkeys! Emma goes back to Olivia, and says she knows how to complete Titan. More amazingly, she calls Olivia by her title. Not just "The Witness" - but Mother!