Episode 7 of 1899 starts with Daniel and Maura making love. After, Maura wishes that they’d stay like this forever, discussing memories and how the mind processes the world around us. As alarm bells wail in the background and Maura disappears from this memory, Daniel hurriedly gets dressed and heads outside, where he finds clothes on the floor and that familiar sight of the mental hospital in the distance. “Wake up,” comes the whisper, as we cut to Maura inside the hospital.
Daniel, imprisoned within the confines of the room, pleaded desperately with Maura to release him, urgently warning that the shutdown had commenced, and time was fleeting before everyone faced the inevitable demise once again. Yet, Maura fled, dashing up to the deck, where a furious storm unleashed its fury, and gale-force winds howled around the vessel. This was indeed ominous, especially considering none of the passengers were skilled at navigating the ship—let alone in such turbulent conditions.
As the others scrambled to locate the captain, Mrs. Wilson lingered, her entire hand having transformed into a dark hue after touching that peculiar black substance. As she sat to regain her strength, Maura approached, offering words of solace, urging her to envision this all as a figment of her memory. Memory… of course! A flash of insight struck Maura, and she realized the captain was trapped within his own recollections. Every soul on board was desperately searching for Eyk Larsen, and currently, his whereabouts remained a mystery to all—except for us. He was aboard the Prometheus.
Meanwhile, Daniel pried open a grate embedded in the wall, discovering a concealed compartment beyond, which he could traverse. This indeed provided him with an escape route. However, the path was not straightforward. He squeezed through and stumbled into an array of distinct worlds, each seemingly disrupted by the storm's influence, yet strikingly different, as if tailored specifically for each passenger.
Daniel finally came across the young boy, emphasizing that Maura's memory remained clouded, but to aid her, they must uncover the code and his device to halt the ongoing catastrophe. He handed over a ring, and the boy's smile was tinged with melancholy. "This time, she will awaken," he murmured. Tragically, the boy was also discovered by one of the ship's officers, who utilized a tablet to scour the entire vessel for his whereabouts. As soon as he detected the boy's heat signature, the officer hurriedly commenced the shutdown sequence.
Returning to that haunting fragment of her past, Maura ventures into Daniel's intimate sanctuary and stumbles upon a photograph, a frozen moment of herself, Daniel, and a young boy—undeniably her son, Elliot. As fleeting shards of memory begin to coalesce, Daniel rushes to his quarters, urgency etched on his face. He gestures to the picture, revealing the identity of the boy as Maura's own son, Elliot, and confides that she has been implanted with spurious recollections. Her mind had purposefully erected barriers to escape the agony.
"I know you recall," Daniel whispers, his lips inches from hers as he attempts a kiss, and with each fleeting touch, memories flicker back to life. He declares that this entire realm is a mere simulation, a modern-day rendition of "Plato's cave allegory," urging her to awaken and reclaim her true memories. If she fails, her consciousness will remain imprisoned within this virtual world forever.
Daniel is steadfast in his resolve to liberate Maura before the cycle resets. There exists a code that could halt the impending shutdown, but only Maura knows its whereabouts. She has concealed it, yet her mind has erased the knowledge. Maura examines the locket, the one that arrived in the envelope, and discovers a key. But what does it unlock?
To unravel this mystery, Daniel and Maura race against time, scrambling to extend their stay in this simulation. Daniel inputs a code, hoping to anchor their existence within this fleeting realm. It transpires that this has been a recurring occurrence, explaining the ship graveyard they encountered in a previous episode. Maura has been trapped in a perpetual loop, and now, with only ten minutes remaining, they must reach Elliot and break the cycle once and for all.
Meanwhile, Ling Yi, despite her earlier leap overboard, hears her mother's voice echoing from the deck. With haste, the young girl rushes through the bridge and confronts her. As Olek joins them, a sudden and vicious wave surges, sweeping him off the boat's edge and plunging him into the depths below.
Ling Yi struggles to comprehend the unfolding chaos as Jerome and Clemence guide a severely seizing Lucien back to their cabin. But this time, the seizure was his last. It was also the end for Angel, crushed beneath the ship's buckling hull as it cracked under the storm's relentless pressure. "I'm scared," he whispers, his voice fading into silence as he passes away.
Unfortunately, this calamity also tears a gaping hole in the ship's hull, allowing water to pour in and flood the cabins. Franz and Tove desperately attempt to seal the breach, but realizing the impossibility of it from the outside, Franz makes the sacrifice, choosing to save Tove while sacrificing himself. Anker and Iben also succumb to the rising waters.
We shift our focus to Henry, who brings Elliot as instructed. His reaction to the deaths is indifferent, noting that they repeatedly fall into the same traps because they rely too heavily on emotion. According to Henry, this is their weakness. As the final curtain draws near, Henry's voice crackles over the PA system, informing Maura that despite her progress, she has failed... once again.
The shutdown sequence initiates, and the ship plunges into a whirlpool, its depths revealing a strange, bright light. It is at this moment that Eyk Larsen watches as another ship, the Kerberos, joins the maritime graveyard. The remaining passengers scramble to the deck, trying to grasp what is happening around them in this sudden and unexpected turn of events.
