Netflix's Altered Carbon Season 2 starts with a beautiful Asian woman singing sensuous songs in a pub. She turns out to be Takeshi Kovacs. He is on a run wandering on different planets, looking for Quellcrist Falconer.
This season is special because it has made both of them meet in real time, which was long overdue. Now that initial comparisons between the S1 and S2 are over, fans are coming up with new theories about the S2 twists, some of which are logical and some just lame. Today we are going to share with you 5 plausible theories and 5 that don’t make any sense.
Makes Sense: Broken Angels - Whose DHF Was That?
The last episode went off air with lots more cliffhangers than the whole season combined. Poe hands a sticky note to Miss Dig(now Annabelle) which has an encrypted code.
When they decrypt it, it turns out to be a key to a whole DHF, which they soon download. But, before the audience could see whose DHF it was, the show closed the curtains to the second season. The rumor has it that it is actually Mackie Kovacs who was copied inside Poe’s program. This also suggests the inevitable possibility of having two Kovacs running around in the third season (if it comes up) again.
Does Not Make Sense: Konrad Harlan Is Still Alive Despite His Fragmented Stack
One of the very few slow burns of this season is the mystery behind Konrad Harlan’s disappearance. It unravels in the last episode when Danica Harlan, his daughter reveals that he was inside a box in her drawer all this while. His stack is also shown to be shattered with a broken piece missing.
Many Altered Carbon fanatics believe that one of the founders and easily the most dangerous one out of them all, can not die so easily, that too without an episode of his own. They think he is still alive and will come back. It doesn’t look likely though, with the show’s convention to not bring any dead characters back.
Makes Sense: Where Is Miss Elizabeth?
Elizabeth Elliot is one of the very few beautiful memories Poe has! He doesn’t want to reboot because all his data, which includes her memories, will be lost. Throughout the season, Poe kept seeing or talking to Miss Elizabeth.
Only it was not actually her. When he saw her in the renouncer's construct, he thought she was real this time. But, she turned out to be a spy. Next time, she appeared as a reboot assistant made by Miss Dig. Where is she actually? Fans believe she is still working as a prostitute in her synthetic sleeve which apparently has shapeshifting abilities.
Does Not Make Sense: Did The Elder Really Die?
In the fight with Jaegar, Kovacs kills him, but, the elder invades his stack. Angelfire pours on him and barbeques him. Everyone assumes that the elder got killed. But, at the same time, it might be possible that it jumped at the exact time and invaded someone else's stack, for example, Quellcrist's.
On the outside, it looks logical, but, if it were so, why did Quellcrist leave its home planet and needlecast out to the universe? Kovacs Prime on the other hand, could be the next victim.
Makes Sense: Who Paid For TJ’s Sleeve?
In the last episode, TJ, Trepp’s son(looking happy, for a change) comes to her and asks if he can go play with his mates. She joyously agrees, but, also asks him to take care not to break the sleeve as it has been fully paid for.
Mackie Kovacs died due to the Angelfire and Kovacs Prime managed to get a pardon. Poe does not remember anything and Miss Dig does not have any credits to start with. Who paid for the sleeve of Trepp’s boy? Fans believe it’s the new government who paid her well, in return for the work she did by helping the Protectorate finish off the elder and save the city from the incineration.
Does Not Make Sense: Danica Is The New Governor
Danica accompanies Quell and Takeshi Kovacs in the quest to hand over her father’s stack to Jaegar. Her guards ask him to take the backup with her, but, she refuses saying she has all the backup she needs. When Jaegar finds out that they are ready to give him Konrad's stack, he keeps his end of the bargain and powers down his booster device.
As soon as Danica sees this, she shoots at him. Jaegar furiously touches her head and RDs her. In the final scenes of the S2, we find another woman as the new Governor. But, fans recall that in an earlier season, Danica had said to Kovacs that she has her backups and can easily spin back up. So, she has come back in a new clone as the new Governor.
Makes Sense: Will Yun Lee Will Play The Next Kovacs
The final episode of the second season tries to wrap a lot of subplots at once. Will Yun Lee's Kovacs or Kovacs Prime is requested by the Protectorate to stay in the Harlan's world and manage the planet's security for a while.
He was suspected of treason of course, but, he somehow convinces the authorities and gets an amnesty. He also helps Quellcrist Falconer to needlecast out to other planets sneakily. With the new responsibilities and a newly formed bond with Quell, he might come back for a bigger chunk of the role in the next season.
Does Not Make Sense: Where Is Quell Going?
A major chunk of fans do not believe that Quell is just going to other planets to rebuild her army The Uprising. They think the elder is still alive and has invaded her stack.
She is under its control now and is just following the orders helplessly. And that its mission is now more dangerous – it wants to slaughter the entire mankind, not just the Harlan’s World. Well, it should have started from its home planet then!
Makes Sense: Miss Dig Loves Poe?
Poe met Dig 301 for the very first time when he reached out to a bunch of AIs handling the archaeologs. Miss Dig came to help him later and ended up taking his job. Poe has no reasons to love her just yet, but, it seems like Miss Dig has started falling for him slowly.
At the end, Poe is shown to have rebooted. He has forgotten everything about his last life. This theory made a lot of sense when Miss Dig announced that she is taking a new moniker – Annabelle, which is also the name of Allen Edgar Poe's lady love.
Does Not Make Sense: Why Did The Angelfire Not Destroy The Whole Building?
When Mackie Kovacs is fighting with Jaegar slash elder, his sleeve does not allow him to shoot the former. This is because he was in a military spec sleeve which Jaegar had got built exclusively for his associates. It was meant to follow his orders and could never attack him. Kovacs uses Jaegar's own fingers to pull the trigger and murders him, but, the angelfire rains down on him and crisps him up.
In an earlier scene, when Angelfire was spattered from the sky, it had destroyed the whole forest, but, this time it just targeted Takeshi. Some fans think this was due to the possibility that Kovacs’ sleeve acted as a conduit and took all the fire on itself. A sensible theory could be that Kovacs deliberately channeled the Angelfire to himself to kill the invader and himself at the same time.