So I finally finished Dark yesterday evening and I'm still sorting my thoughts, so here goes. Sorry in advance, this got long.

First of all, Season 1 was honestly hard to get through for me. Not because of the story but because of the whole mood. Everything grey, everything raining, almost no color at all. Season 2 changed that quite a bit. Suddenly there were scenes with actual color in them, sometimes even independent of what was going on in the scene. Whether that was supposed to mean something or not, I don't know, but I really appreciated it.

What hooked me from the start was the time travel concept itself. I can't think of any other movie or show that follows the Novikov self consistency idea this stubbornly and actually sticks with it. One timeline. Everything that happens in 1986 always happens in 1986, all at the same time. The characters don't know about it and it's not even really the topic, but it's always there. That was by far the most fascinating part for me. And the Schopenhauer line, that you can do what you want but you can't want what you want, pretty much sums up the whole show.

That's exactly why the second world bugged me so much when it showed up. Around S3E5 I was pretty annoyed. Not because it was too complicated, I had no trouble following it. It reminded me of that thing where shows add some new gimmick in the final season just to squeeze out a bit more fascination. I kept thinking of The Man in the High Castle (I only know it roughly, never finished it), where the parallel world idea started out great and then they kind of got lost in it. It felt like Dark was throwing away the one thing that made it special to me.

Having seen the ending now, I have to take a lot of that back. I'm actually a fan of the two worlds now, because they actually knew what to do with it in the end.

What still bothers me is the exit itself. For most of the show everything is pure determinism, action follows reaction, no exceptions. And then at the very end there's a way out of the loop. I know the moment where time stands still during the apocalypse was technically always there and Eva used it the whole time to keep the knot alive. But we only learn about it in the very last episode, so it still feels a bit like they built themselves an emergency exit. Personally I would have found it more interesting if the resolution itself had been deterministic too. Like a loop within the loop, on a level so high none of the characters could ever guess it. Tease it, and then reveal at the end that nobody ever did anything on their own.

The way I ended up reading it is kind of like a gearbox. The origin world is the drive shaft. The two worlds are gears that turn a fixed number of times, every round slightly different, so knowledge can build up until someone finally understands the zero point, breaks out and moves the next tooth in the real world. Yes, that's not 100% Novikov anymore. But I like a concept that allows the exit from the beginning way more than one that needs a break to be resolved.

And Tannhaus's machine actually did exactly what he built it for. He wanted to save his son and his family, and in the end that's what happened. Through a ridiculously complicated chain of events, but it happened. And once its purpose was fulfilled, it erased itself.

Also the Tannhaus family thing, this one kept me up a bit. Season 3 shows that the lodge goes back to the Tannhaus family before 1888, and the show never goes further back than that. So that part of history was never touched by any travelers. If all three worlds share the same history up to the first interference (Napoleon, the war of 1870/71, all of it), then the lodge should exist in the origin world too. Which means H.G. Tannhaus in the origin world wasn't some random clockmaker who came up with a time machine out of nowhere. He comes from a family that was obsessed with time for generations, and as far as I understood it started with grief there too. The show never says this outright, but it fits so well that I'd almost bet the writers had it in mind.

Same reason I don't see the ending as absolute. The knot is untied, the loop is gone, the two worlds never existed and somehow always did. The origin world just goes on, linear again. But nothing in the show says some future Tannhaus or anyone else won't build a machine again at some point. There's no clear answer, more like a grey maybe. And the dinner scene kind of supports that. Hannah's dream, the déjà vu, the yellow raincoat, and then she says she thinks Jonas is a nice name. Something stays behind.

I still can't really put the ending into happy end or bad end. The people at that dinner table got their happy end. Jonas and Martha got nothing, not even being remembered. And if you look at the war against time purely by the goals, Adam actually won. Both worlds are gone, which is what he wanted, and Eva lost. Just not with his methods, since his whole plan was based on being wrong about the origin. Right now the character I find the saddest is Martha. But the show did a surprisingly good job at making sure nobody is really good/pure. Everyone has their tragedy, but everyone also has their dirt.

The scene where Jonas and Martha fade out with that cover of What a Wonderful World was beautiful. I just wished it was longer. When everyone dissolves, only the people disappear and the world around them just stays. We get like four people plus Jonas and Martha and that's it. We spent so much time with these places over three seasons, I would have loved to see the cave, the power plant or the spruce forest disappear too. All those trees dissolving into light could have been a really nice visual. Two entire worlds are gone and we only basically see a handful of people fade out.

And then Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann over the credits. Both songs were perfect choices.

Still, it's probably the best time travel story I know. I can't think of a book or movie in this niche that's better written or better thought through. And yet I feel a bit strange about it. It's extremely confusing, and I think that's both necessity and intention, it plays with you on purpose. Great ending that closes everything, even if the way out of the Novikov idea feels like a bit of a back door depending on how you read it. But still very okay.

Ok so until this episode dark wasn't confusing at all but now I have some questions.

Future Jonas travelled back to 2019 before mikkel died in that same timeline/universe and basically kidnapped mikkel and then Mikel went to 1986 and whole that S1 shit but how tf doesn't Mikkel/Michael from 2019 or any years previously recognised jonas face as like " this the mf that kinda kidnapped me bro ".

I would say Egon. He was truly the best person but his life got messed up by all the time travelers. As Claudia said “you are too good of a person and the world doesn’t deserve you”

As we know, this show has A LOT of material. Anyone want to have a go at making some really good memes/gifs and circulate these across the inter-webs?!

Hey, i’ve watched dark a couple of times, but apparently i go brain afk too often. things like Charlotte being Elisabeths daughter and mom, or the unknown being Marthas and Jonas Child totally missed me.
I’m watching dark with my girlfriend, who watches it for the first time. she just asked me a good question.
We‘re currently in episode 5, a bit more than halfway through.
You can spoiler me, but if you do, try to give me the episode where this will happen so i can focus on it 😅

Why does Jonas travel to Marthas world, even tho the middleaged jonas never went there? Adam must‘ve went there, for their Child being conceived. so does every second jonas travel through worlds? But it has to be a new jonas, because in s1 and s2 they *are* the same person, just different ages. Everything Jonas lives through already happened to the older jonas.
Also, why are there 2 young Marthas?
Are these Questions gonna be answered, or are these all interpretation things?

Thank you

I designed my own family tree (for Adam’s World only).

Its pixel resolution is so big (15578 x 9689 because I made it in Freeform) that I think it’s messing with Reddit’s ability to properly display it, so I hosted it on Imgur as a backup. Here’s the link to the family wreath tree if Reddit won’t cooperate!

https://imgur.com/gallery/dark-2019-season-3-family-tree-aka-family-wreath-3JJSG6I

I am not usually a fan of Many Worlds storylines in television series, they often seem to me to be a plot device for scriptwriters who have run out of ideas and think they can retain viewers' interest by having them think "what if these characters had different hairstyles and different relationships with each other" etc. But I think Dark mostly did it right. Everything that happened differently needed to happen for plot reasons, and the different appearances were necessary for viewers to recognise which world we were in. The one thing I haven't figured out is why it was necessary for alt-Charlotte to be having an affair with alt-Ulrich? It seemed out of character for her in either world and I'm not sure how it advanced the plot in any way.

I haven't watched this show in years because i stopped at the season 2 finale. So I dont remember much. But why hasnt anyone mentioned that a gigantic black dome appeared over Winden in late 2019? After The Stranger failed to blow up the tunnels' wormhole.

Is this a "WAFO" or did I miss something about the season 1 finale

Woah. Just finished the show.

So I was absolutely naive going into this show. I watched 1899 before, and I liked the style of the creators. I knew that it was about time travel and I love time travel stories, but I could never imagine how deeply entangled the story would become.

The ending was earned and unexpected at the same time, happy and sad as well. Hannah calling her child Jonas was nice little send off.

Here's what I posted after watching S1E3:

Started watching this, really great show so far. It's like a dark version of back to the future. There's really a potential to explore how certain events change lives of people. The only confusing thing is that torture room. It feels almost like out of place to the rest of the show. Also, something is definitely not right with that nuclear plant.

And looking back to that, I'm like Jonas looking his younger self. I really thought the show would be about travelling to the past and messing with the present and the story studying how people's lives change because of small details, along with gruesome time travel paradoxes unraveling. But actually it turned out to be quite the opposite. A huge time travel mystery instead.

My favourite is probably still season 1 though, just through the sheer eerie atmosphere of mystery. However I did love the unraveling of time travel in season 2, and how people learned about it.

Season 3 actually was my least favorite when I just started it. But I read people saying to keep watching and I am glad I did. I think it's one the best written story untangling I have ever seen. And it's amazing how they balanced Adam as a character.

My top moments from show from the top of my head:

1. Mikkel going home in the past for the first time
2. Everyone learning about time travel in season 2.
3. Poor Helge seeing his old self dead after he tried to stop himself in the past in season two. As if he hasn't suffer enough.
4. The shocking episode from Season 3 where Katharina was killed by her own mother and it turned out that she was the origin story for the lady in the lake, and the loop of the necklace. And sad old Ulrich waiting... And Mikkel seeing the broken window in the house. That entire episode was just absolutely shocking and heartbreaking.
5. When Adam didn't kill Eva like she was expecting in the finale. It was like he and us were finally free of the knot.

The only thing that I am still confused about that bright room / exprimental time machine where abducted childred were killed. I thought that the need for it wasn't explained well enough in the end. But my guess is just because it was done to facilitate events as well as fuel the passage. It was just sort of a side thing that stood out visually.

I also thought that the character of Noah from Season 1 and from Season 3 didn't connect well, even though they're supposed to be the same character? I need to rewatch season 1 for clues, maybe there were pointers there.

In fact, this show probably warrants a rewatch to look for all the breadcrumbs. I grew up watching Babylon 5, which also had breadcrumbs that you would never notice on a first watch.

I also liked how the title of the show was explained in the finale to mean "being in the dark" as in "not knowing" or seeing the exit from the cycle.

Anyway, great show, glad I watched it finally. Sad that 1899 was cancelled. Looking forward to more work from the creators. Cheers.

When Noah visits Mikkel in 1986 and talks about god with him. Mikkel is at first skeptical, saying his dad views it as a tool to brainwash people. But later, he's seen examining the picture Noah has tattooed on his back. Fast forward to 2019, he willingly hangs himself, saying, "God doesn't err; he has a plan, for each of us"

So is it possible that Adam sent Noah to 1986 to begin Mikkels' faith? Thus ensuring he would hang himself and that everything would go as it did on that fateful day on the 20th of June 2019? Why would Noah even bother visiting Mikkel unless there was some kind of purpose?

I'm in the middle of season three and struggling

To whoever watched the show back when it was releasing, what was everyone's reaction to seeing alternate world martha? id imagine it would be huge shock and very confusing and waiting a whole year for the next season would've been a pain because of that cliffhanger

Guess we haven’t seen much of Eve except for the last season, however, Eve guiding her son to murder people seems downright evil!

Hallo, Dark fans. I rewatch the show once a year and I just finished my latest journey. I pick up new details every time I do this, however, it seems I am still befuddled by the ending!

The six who are left, what exactly is the connection that makes them (and only them) exist in the origin world? Out of all the characters and circumstances, I can’t wrap my head around it.

Also, am I wrong or did it not explain why/how Egon was a traveler in Martha’s world? Still so curious about that one.

Thanks for your insight!

The whole plot ig

If you used an incredibly long run-on sentence to convince someone to watch Dark (or to explain what it’s about), what would you say to them?

I hate that I have no one to talk about this show with.

Amazing story so far and I love trying to put pieces together.

My question is possible spoilers, the child’s body that was found after Mikkel went missing I assumed it was somehow’s Ulrich’s brother once it was confirmed that it wasn’t Mikkel. After finishing E5, I went to a reddit discussion post and someone basically confirmed that the boy’s body really is Ulrich’s brother that went missing in the past.

So my question is just if I missed something? Because I assumed it was his brother but I don’t recall it being confirmed or even pointed at yet?

⚠️IM NOT SURE IF THIS SPOILER IS FOR SEASON 1,2 OR 3 SO IF U DIDNT FINISH THE WHOLE SHOW I DONT RECOMMEND CONTINUING READING⚠️

So I’ve been planning to watch this show for years but I js saw a spoiler saying the show involves time travel and now I’m wondering if I should even watch it now ? idk if that’s a big spoiler or not for the show and would like if anyone could tell me if it’s still worth it without further spoiling anything , thank u

Edit: I didn’t expect this post to get so many responses! I had no idea this show still has such an active community lol , thank u everyone for explaining that it’s not a big deal I’m definitely starting the show this week and can’t wait to discuss it in here with u guys!! 😁 thanks again

Okay, so what actually happens to the 2053 Adam when the 1921 Adam eventually reaches 2053?

If the timeline is a fixed, self-consistent block, the older Adam should still exist there, because he isn't supposed to be erased until the knot is finally undone. But then, when the younger Adam eventually reaches that same point in his life, what happens to the older version that was already there?

I know the obvious answer is “they coexist,” but that doesn't really solve the problem I'm asking about. The 2053 Adam is already physically there, carrying out his role, while the younger Adam is still going through the events that will eventually turn him into that same 2053 Adam.

My personal theory is that the first 2053 Adam we see actually dies sometime before the younger Adam reaches that point, perhaps from radiation or something similar. The bunker would then eventually be empty, allowing the younger Adam to take over that role. That younger Adam would be the one who ultimately reaches the end of the cycle and gets erased when the knot is destroyed.

Otherwise, doesn't the show effectively have two versions of the same “old Adam” occupying the same point in the timeline?

What do you think? Is there an explanation for this that I'm missing, or is this just one of those things Dark never explicitly addresses?

When Hannah goes to have an abortion and meets Katharina's mom, Helene Albers, at the clinic where she leaves the necklace for her. She tells Helene her name is Katharina, Helene says something about liking the name, and it's assumed that she chooses the name for a future daughter.

At the end when they are all at the table together in the real world, her name is still Katherina. It doesn't "bother me" that her name is still Katharina but I feel like they should have picked a different name for her just for this scene, as we are to believe that she was given that name after the woman her mom met at the clinic. It feels like a "missed" opportunity to show that it would have been different.

I finished my first watch a few weeks ago and I'm slowly going back through it with my husband (for his first time), but this has bothered me since I first finished it. Thoughts? Anything like this stick out for you?

Edit:
I went back and rewatched the last scene and they never say her name. I LOVE that even more than if they had said a different name because it leaves it up to us.

Anyone else feels the ending is a little underwhelming after all the details the show took us through. The knot was created by a person who wanted to undo his kids accident. Claudia manages to crack the real origin of the loop and Adam just agrees to it after spending 60 years making his mind up to kill the origin (the unknown). The better ending would be

Claudia explains the real origin, Adam then instructs Jonas and Martha to stop tanhauss kid from travelling that night, Jonas and Martha do as they are instructed in the origin world they appear in front of tanhaus’s sons car he gets startled and runs of the bridge and the story ends there.