[Kyra] What if they're not torturing him?
-[Tom] What do you mean? - Maybe they don't want to kill him.
Maybe they want him.
[Tom] Maybe like join SCORPIA?
You think if you're clever enough, if you think outside the box,
that you won't have to kill, that it's going to go away.
[Alex] We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
[Syl] You will get to it.
It's where the road leads.
[Alex] You lied to me. You made me part of a murder.
I told you I didn't want this and you killed Max just to prove a point.
He was going to betray us.
And you and I have both been betrayed too many times.
[Mrs Jones] Tac One, Jones. Take the shot.
[gunshot]
[Julia] That target on your wall...
...I think it's time we gave it a name.
[pensive music playing]
I'm just waiting on an urgent call.
Family.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Thanks.
Yeah, I'll check it out later. Thank you.
Yeah. Okay, bye.
[ominous music playing]
[Alex] Jack.
[theme music playing]
- Alex-- - Stay where you are.
Put the flowers on the grave.
[pensive music playing]
Don't look at me.
We don't have much time.
I thought you were still in Malta. I've been so worried.
I know. I'm sorry.
When I went looking for SCORPIA,
I thought if I could just finish them...
I'd be free.
The more I found out, the more it seems like
everything I've been told has been lies.
Lies about my family, my past, who I am, everything.
- Alex-- - I'm so sick of it, Jack.
I'm sick of being lied to and manipulated to do what everyone else wants.
So come home and let's fix it.
I have to do something first.
What kind of something?
Something bad.
But I know if I do it...
it will put an end to all of this.
Alex, I don't understand.
What are you gonna do?
What he would've done.
[Jack] Your dad?
Tell me what this is about.
My dad was murdered.
And I know who did it.
And they're still out there.
- Alex. - I have to go. I'm putting you in danger.
- No! - Don't tell anyone about this.
- Please let me help you. - Don't try and find me.
Please, Alex, let me help you!
[Mrs Jones] Smithers has been trying to open a channel with SCORPIA,
but they're no longer responding.
I don't think they want to negotiate at all.
That's the point. It's deliberate.
SCORPIA want us to fail.
They issue demands, we fail to meet them.
They trigger Invisible Sword, a whole British city dies.
Our government collapses, our economy, for failing to stop it.
Then two minutes later,
they call the president of the United States to say:
"This is what we've just done to Britain. We'll do the same to you.
Only, these are our real demands."
Everyone.
They'll hold the whole world to ransom.
No one dares refuse because they've seen what happens to us.
And this is when Kellner decides to shut us down.
Well, I've been working on that.
I've asked the CIA to help.
Jo Byrne?
If our government won't help, perhaps the Americans will.
Jo was there for the Damian Cray case.
She knows SCORPIA, understands their operational behaviour.
If she comes through,
we'll have some operational resources on the ground,
without having to run them by Kellner.
But we still have to find the city
where Invisible Sword will strike.
[suspenseful music playing]
[lock beeping then clicking]
I got the building plans.
What?
I think you know what.
You saw your friend. Jack Starbright.
You were following me?
Look, Jack's looked out for me since I was a kid.
If I just vanish, she's gonna start asking questions, okay?
I needed her to know I'm all right.
It was a mistake. What if she talked to someone?
She won't.
I told her not to, and she'll do what I say.
- You're certain about this? - Yes.
We trust each other.
You should try it some time.
This is the layout.
Cableways.
Load-bearing structures.
We need first-hand recon.
You mean, actually go there?
Now?
Alex, you having doubts about this mission?
Changing your mind?
Fine.
Let's go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[camera shutter clicking]
[beeps]
[Alex] Door's triggered from the lobby desk. So's the lift.
Good morning, Mr Koslov.
Good morning, Danny.
[Alex] Facial recognition scan.
Then a metal detector.
[Yassen] Standard for secure government accommodation.
[pensive music playing]
You think the porter's just a porter?
Do you?
Agent.
Or at least, specially trained.
There'll be a gun under the desk.
A panic button at the porter station,
instant connection to Scotland Yard and an armed response unit.
The roof is monitored and alarmed, and so is access below ground.
You've done a lot of homework.
Know your enemy.
You get a name?
Yes. Mr Koslov.
Hang on. Look.
- What time is it? - Two p.m. exactly.
Eight-hour routine shift.
Standard for security services.
Okay, shift change.
We can use that.
If it's eight hours per shift, the next one's at 10:00 tonight.
That's our chance.
We come in at the end of the shift when he's tired,
use the changeover as a window.
Mm.
[knocking on door]
[pounding on door]
Tom!
Jack, let us in.
Kyra, she's in!
[Alex] I'm gonna walk in the front door,
through the metal detector, into the lift, and up.
It's that simple.
When did you find out?
About Mrs Jones, that she gave the order?
I found out...
shortly after the operation.
Shortly after your father died.
How did you feel?
Does it matter?
Of course, it matters. You said he was your friend.
You must have wanted revenge.
Alex, be careful.
Don't let it become personal.
It is personal. I lost my family.
What even happened to my mum? Was there even a plane crash?
There was.
A chartered flight, um...
Genuine accident, according to records.
She was alone.
The Department seized on it as
a useful cover story for your father's death.
They lied to you.
It happens.
You need to move past it.
If this isn't personal, why do you do it?
- What, killing? - Mm.
Because it's my job. I work for SCORPIA.
And I'm good at it.
You could be too.
But you need to take emotion out of the equation.
She killed him, Yassen.
That's where it all started, and it won't stop...
until I make it.
[Jack] Tell me what he said.
[Tom] He-- He told me to...
get away.
To leave him alone.
That I was in danger.
You have to tell her.
Tell me what?
He was with Yassen, the killer.
Was Alex a hostage?
They went into this house.
We were watching, we were outside.
And then afterwards...
[gunshot]
...someone got killed.
An old man. He was shot.
[Jack] You think Alex killed him?
It makes no sense.
I mean, Alex is Alex.
But he's not himself.
They did get in his head.
They told him who killed his dad.
I saw him today.
He's okay? Where is he?
I don't know, but I don't think he's okay.
He was talking about doing something terrible.
I don't think Alex killed anybody.
If he had, I'd know.
But I think maybe that's what he's gonna do.
I think that's why he's here.
- Kyra, where are you going? - That's it, I'm out. Okay?
I promised to get us back, and I did. I'm done.
You're just gonna cut and run?
It's over. Alex has chose SCORPIA.
It's not over!
Alex is still Alex.
We just need to get him out, remind him.
We don't give up on each other.
Do you think Alex would give up on you?
How?
[suspenseful music playing]
[Blunt] Thank you, Jo. I appreciate it.
Yeah. We'll be in touch.
Jo Byrne's gonna lend a hand.
How'd you get her to agree?
Self-interest. I persuaded her that any attack on the U.K.
is just a precursor to an attack on the U.S.A.
What's this?
The past.
The past?
I've been looking at how we brought down SCORPIA 17 years ago.
Really was an astonishing operation.
Dozens of agents.
Coordinates across three continents.
Forty-seven key figures, dead or arrested.
The entire SCORPIA hierarchy decimated overnight.
You waged a private war against SCORPIA.
Made it your mission.
Is this a motivational speech?
If Invisible Sword is triggered and all these people die,
what happens to Alan Blunt?
You'd be hung out.
Possibly imprisoned. Possibly worse.
What happens to The Department?
It'd be dismantled.
What if the actual target is us?
No.
SCORPIA don't make things personal.
Well, maybe not before.
But things change.
Seventeen years ago, you hunted them down,
and you were good at it.
The SCORPIA logo was deliberate.
Pritchard's death was deliberate.
The football team, deliberate.
SCORPIA are no longer hiding in the shadows.
They have us in the firing line while they bring the country down.
This isn't Damian Cray.
This isn't Point Blanc.
I think someone new is in charge,
and I think they remember what we did.
You think this is about John.
Alex Rider's father.
What happens after...
you know, I kill her?
Extraction, regroup, debrief.
And then?
That's it?
I go home?
Home?
Alex, you're a weapon.
You're SCORPIA's weapon.
Just like your father was, just like I am.
But...
you can't kill someone and go home.
You can only go forward.
Forward to what?
To the next target.
And then?
Is that all there is?
Well, it's--
That's all you need.
You don't have to make choices.
You don't have to think.
You just have to act.
What if I don't want that?
It's not a question of what you want.
It's a question of who you are.
[machine beeping]
Now you have a pistol that goes through metal detectors.
[sombre music playing]
[Jack] That's our bus, leaves in two minutes.
Let's go!
[horn honking]
[man] Move!
[driver] Go on, take a seat.
See? If Alex can do spy shit, we can too.
Come on.
[pensive music playing]
Hiya.
Kyra's back.
And we brought show-and-tell. Recognise this person?
Should I?
[Kyra] Definitely. She's in your files.
Codename "The Widow."
Where did you get that file?
Yeah. I stole your phone last year, during the Damian Cray thing.
How I've missed you.
We never had a positive ID on The Widow.
She was presumed dead.
Very much alive, last time we saw her.
- How do you know that? - [Tom] Alex worked it out.
'Cause he's actually quite good at this stuff.
You wanna know the rest, or...?
Oh, yes, please.
Rothman has a private villa in Malta,
but she ditched that as soon as Alex tracked her down.
She also has a floating boat lab called Consanto,
and she paid some uncut diamonds to a dodgy doctor guy.
Kovacic. Luka Kovacic.
This man?
Yeah, that's the one.
He's dead now.
Industrial accident?
More likely she blew him up 'cause he knew too much.
What was he working on?
Pharmaceutical nanotechnology.
I'm guessing you guys believe us.
- Yes. - [Jack] Good.
Then listen carefully.
We know where Julia Rothman is.
We know where SCORPIA are.
We know the exact location of their current base.
GPS and everything.
But first, you need to do something for us.
[gunshot]
Hello, Alex.
What are you doing here?
Lately, it seems this is the place to find you.
What you're doing, what you're about to do,
it's for him.
You know that, don't you?
Yassen says I'm just a weapon.
It isn't personal.
But it is personal, isn't it?
You believed in Mrs Jones, you trusted her,
she betrayed you.
You thought she was your friend,
and all along, she was just playing you.
If I'd been betrayed like that,
I'd make sure there were consequences.
No matter how long it took.
But if I do this...
I can't go home.
Alex, look at me.
There's a home waiting for you.
A family waiting for you.
With SCORPIA?
Yes.
Jack doesn't understand what you've been through.
How can she?
You don't need her anymore.
Jack thinks I'm not a killer.
And Yassen thinks that's all I am.
They're both wrong.
You're so much more.
You're gonna be great.
Do this,
and you can finally be yourself.
At last, the real Alex Rider.
Without compromise, without caveat.
You'll be free to make your own choices.
Isn't that what you want?
Yeah.
And are you ready to make them pay?
Yes.
Good.
Memorise this number.
You'll be going in alone,
and there's a chance you and Yassen will become separated
before the mission's complete.
This is your emergency escape route.
Call this number from any phone,
and we'll get an extraction team to you within minutes.
They'll bring you straight to me. Do you understand?
Straight to you?
Alex...
we have something very special planned.
And when it happens, I want you to be there.
I want you with me.
[Jack] Alex did this.
He penetrated SCORPIA.
He tracked them down, found them, got on the inside.
He's been helping you.
- You owe all of this to him. Understand? - We understand.
Time is an issue here.
I can give you SCORPIA on a plate right now.
But, first, you have to promise to help Alex.
Like he's helped you, over and over.
- Why does he need help? - You have to promise.
Otherwise, you get nothing from us.
We will help.
I promise.
[pensive music playing]
The coordinates? The base?
It's called Malagosto.
It's in Malta.
Alex is here.
In London.
But he's not with you?
- Uh-uh. - Who is he with?
We think SCORPIA got inside his head.
- You think he's turned? - No.
I mean, he's confused, and angry, and he needs your help.
You have to get him back.
They told him stuff about his dad, that he was murdered.
I don't understand, like, lies or false information.
You know about this, don't you?
- We'll take it from here. - What'd they tell him? What do you know?
Thank you for the information. You can leave this to us.
What did you do?
[groans]
Check that.
Put a detail on her. I want her watched.
If Alex tries to get in touch, we need to be first to know.
You were right. It's personal.
It's revenge.
This Julia Rothman was there.
She survived somehow.
She's waited,
climbed the ladder, right to the top.
And now she has Alex.
She's told him about the bridge, about his father.
Anyone can tell a story.
And what if there's evidence?
Put out an alert.
All agencies, all departments.
Highest priority.
We need to find Alex Rider.
[suspenseful music playing]
[ringing]
[man] Control, Unit 4, in position.
[dialing] [ringing]
[man] Report.
Jack Starbright talked.
She disappeared for several hours,
now there's a department car outside the house.
You told me you could trust her.
I told you to leave her alone.
Well, you also told me she was all the family you had left.
She was.
She's not anymore.
We should stop following her.
- Why? - Having someone there risks exposure.
But pulling surveillance leaves us completely blind.
She doesn't know anything. It doesn't matter what she tells them.
And besides, if the department are watching her,
they're looking the wrong way.
Stop the surveillance.
All right. I'll pull them out.
Still, we have a problem.
The department now know you're in London.
They will put out an alert.
Your name, your face will be flagged.
[knocking on door]
Including on the facial-recognition system.
- Evening, Mr Mancini. - Indeed.
[Yassen] This way.
This one?
Hair.
Teeth.
Some facial contouring.
Beard, perhaps.
I can work with this.
Do you have a room for me?
Upstairs.
Come with me.
He's gonna be okay.
What if he's not?
What if he's really gone?
You love him, don't you?
[upbeat dramatic music playing]
An improvement already, wouldn't you say?
I don't know.
Well, you are a spy.
You're not chosen for your sense of the aesthetic.
Now, let me see.
Do you have a girlfriend?
No.
Why?
Because if you did,
even she wouldn't recognise you by the time we're done.
Alex, it's time.
So how are we feeling?
Like a new man, I'm thinking?
Ready.
[Blunt] Twenty-one minutes ago, U.S. Navy SEALs breached
and entered the Malagosto compound.
It's a dry hole.
Signs of recent occupation,
but whoever was there, they've moved on.
Have they found anything? A clue to the target?
- Still searching, but it's been cleared. - [Smithers] They knew we were coming.
Perhaps, but I think it's worse than that.
I think they're here already, in Britain,
preparing for the final push.
We need to find Alex. He's the point of connection.
Once we find him, maybe we can stop this thing.
[suspenseful music playing]
Helmet off, please.
What?
What's this?
Uh...
Pad Thai, chicken curry, and a drink.
And who's it for?
Koslov, 807.
Just a moment.
[ringing]
- Hello? - Good evening, Mr Koslov.
It's the front desk. Did you order a takeaway?
Sure. Pad Thai and a curry.
Thank you. It's on its way.
You wanna take it up?
You need to take it up.
Look into the camera, please.
[facial scan machine whirring]
- [keyboard clacking] - [machine whirring]
[machine beeps]
Okay.
I'm gonna leave this here.
- [metal detector buzzes] - Just a moment.
Arms out.
[wand beeping]
What the hell, man?
[porter] On the counter.
Step through the arch again, please.
Take the food.
Okay.
Eighth floor. The lift will take you straight there.
Thanks.
Can you grab the drink?
[dramatic music playing]
[female voice] Doors closing.
Going up.
Hey.
Evening.
Another long day. How you doing?
I'm good, I'm good. Not too bad.
Nice, easy day.
[porter 2] Yeah, not too bad?
Yeah, early start at the gym, and then took the kids to school.
[porter 1] Yeah, yeah.
[female voice] Eighth floor.
[indistinct speaking]
Yeah, yeah.
[upbeat dramatic music playing]
[indistinct speaking]
[pensive music playing]
U.S. SEALs have been over the whole complex.
It's some sort of training facility.
There was an office that could have been Rothman's,
but nothing on SCORPIA operations.
It's been cleansed.
No files, documents, computers, nothing.
Personnel?
No sign of Alex?
No.
This is my fault.
What is?
I was supposed to be looking out for him.
Instead, I've been stood by silently
while we pushed him straight into their arms.
He was my responsibility, mine, and I've lost him.
Go home. Get some sleep.
You're exhausted. We all are.
We've been in worse spots before. We're still here.
Alex isn't.
Go, sleep.
We'll find a way tomorrow.
[suspenseful music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
- Evening, Mrs Jones. - Evening, Richard.
[machine beeps]
Target active.
[female voice] Doors closing. Going up.
Eighth floor. Doors opening.
Lights.
Alex?
Turn around.
Slowly.
Move.
You lied to me.
From the start.
You killed him.
You killed my dad.
You.
You did it!
You!
Say something!
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Alex.
[gunshots]
[closing music playing]