Warning: Spoilers for Manifest season 4, part 1
At last, Manifest has explained what the Callings are and where they come from. Instead of holding back the answers to its central mystery until the very end of the series, the show answered several of its biggest questions within the first half of the final season. Now, the passengers have an excellent starting point for beating the Death Date on June 2, 2024.
For three seasons, the passengers have been forced to forge ahead with only a limited understanding of the Callings and what they really mean. Characters like Ben, Saanvi, and Michaela have been following them without truly knowing what they are or why they keep getting them. Since season 1, they’ve based most of their actions on the assumption that the Callings are inherently good. While people like Adrian believe otherwise, the bulk of the show’s principal characters have accepted that the Callings are meant to help people. Thanks to game-changing discoveries made by Cal, Olive, and Saanvi, the truth finally appears to be out. Here’s a full breakdown of Manifest season 4, part 1’s Callings reveal.
The Callings Were Sent By A Divine Consciousness
Saanvi and the Eureka team theorized in season 3 that divine intervention might be at the heart of what’s really going on in Manifest. Finding traces of sapphire, which is referred to as “the signature” of God, on every object connected to Flight 828’s disappearance created the impression that a higher power made the plane vanish. After season 4, that’s all but confirmed to be the case in the show. Based on what they’ve uncovered, “the glow” seen by Cal in season 1 was a divine consciousness and the very entity responsible for the Callings. In Olive’s words, the passengers have a “direct link” to the higher power in question. That explains all of the show’s Biblical connections, including the driftwood from Noah’s Ark.
The Passengers Were Inside The Divine Consciousness
Cal remembering where he went in the season 3 finale shed light on Flight 828’s whereabouts after its disappearance. Apparently, he was back on board the plane and in the company of Captain Daly and Fiona, who disappeared themselves in a season 1 episode. It would seem that this is where the Flight 828 passengers were between 2013 and 2018. As Cal told Olive, the plane was literally “inside” the divine consciousness. Even though the plane returned, a duplicate of it still exists within this higher power which is where Daly and Fiona are now. Presumably, they’ve been there since 2018 when Daly flew the two into a dark lightning storm. For a reason that hasn’t been clearly explained yet, Daly briefly left in the season 3 finale when Cal escaped the divine consciousness, which would explain why he was spotted at Eureka at the moment of Cal’s shocking return.
The Callings Are From The Past
Before Cal and Olive’s big revelation about the divine consciousness, Saanvi arrived at a similarly huge conclusion about Manifest's Callings. Found on the plane’s black box were recordings of all the Callings the passengers received in the show’s first three seasons. The Callings happening on the plane years before they actually occurred told Saanvi that these messages were in fact memories. In other words, the passengers got all of their Callings long before the plane ever returned. Since they came back in 2018, they’ve been gradually remembering each Calling, but only at the appropriate times. Cal and Olive’s big breakthrough added on to that, as it proved that the passengers were given the Callings during their time in the divine consciousness.
Other People Can Get Callings
At least one person who hasn't disappeared can get Callings in Manifest. Eden wasn’t born (or even conceived) until after Flight 828’s return, yet she somehow gets the Callings, which proves that the existing within the divine consciousness isn’t the only way to get them. Exactly how Eden has the same link to God that the passengers have wasn’t made clear, but regardless of the explanation, she serves as a second source of information from Manifest’s divine consciousness.
The Passengers Can Create Their Own Callings
Sapphire was revealed to be even more important to Manifest’s overarching story than it was ever expected to be. Not only is it God’s signature, but they contain some degree of divine essence that can be harnessed by humans. It was established that long ago there were eight Omega Sapphires, which contain an immense amount of power. And through the Omega Sapphires, the Flight 828 passengers have the means to create their own Callings. Their potential was hinted at when Olive mentioned that the Oracle of Delphi obtained “untold powers” from the Omega Sapphire in her possession.
Olive and TJ’s suspicions about their capabilities were confirmed when Angelina stole the last remaining Omega Sapphire from Eagan. With it, she was able to generate fake Callings that fooled Ben and Michaela into thinking they were seeing Grace and Evie respectively. She lost the Omega Sapphire, but a piece of it got burned into her hand, meaning that she might still have the power to make fake Callings in Manifest season 4, part 2. If that’s true, no Calling in the show can be taken at face value until Angelina is defeated.
The Purpose Of The Callings Explained
The reason for the Callings is a mystery that has plagued the passengers for years. And while it always appeared that doing good works and stopping the Death Date was the point of having the Callings, that never sounded like the complete answer, and now, that debacle has finally been cleared up. As it turns out, the purpose of the Callings wasn’t just to help people in need or to save themselves from dying; the Callings were about everyone. A volcanic apocalypse is seemingly on the horizon and won’t be stopped unless the passengers come up with a proper plan to combat it.
This reveal makes sense of the dilemma that defines the entire series. There wouldn’t be any logic behind the divine consciousness dooming the passengers and giving them Callings just so that they can reverse their own fates. Making their plight about saving the world justifies the extreme lengths God has gone to in order to put the passengers on their current paths in Manifest.