Memory of Tomorrow

"Memory of Tomorrow" is the thirteenth episode and second season of 12 Monkeys. It is also the twenty-sixth episode overall. The episode was written by Terry Matalas and directed by David Grossman. It first aired at 9:00 p.m. on July 18, 2016 on Syfy.

Synopsis
Cole and Railly try to find peace living in the past. When a mysterious woman with apocalyptic visions of the future, tells Cole it's not over, he must do the unthinkable to save the world.

Plot
It’s Christmas day in the year 1959. After failing to stop the paradox that destroys time and getting stuck in 1957, Cassie and Cole have been building a new life together in this time/place that disease and the 12 Monkeys can’t get them. Among the gifts the couple exchange on Christmas morning is a letter Cassie gives Cole, informing him that he’s going to be a father.

Soon after, on a trip into town for groceries, something very weird happens. Time freezes and everything stops except for Cole. He heads outside to investigate where he finds he’s not the only one unaffected by this time paralysis. There’s this lady standing in the street, blood dripping down her arm. She looks right at Cole and says, ”It’s not over James.” Uh oh. Maybe our lovers aren’t as safe as they thought. But just like that, mystery woman vanishes.

Cole decides to let it slide and not tell Cassie what he saw. She’s all happy in baby-land, why ruin that? But, a few days later it happens again, this time in front of a psychiatric hospital. When time restarts again, he goes inside to see if maybe the mystery woman is there. Lo and behold, he finds her and learns that her name is Lillian (played by Madeleine Stowe, everybody!). Lillian is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic (Primary?) who warns that they aren’t safe. Time is collapsing all around them! To prove it to him she sends Cole out into the forest.

In the forest Cole finds a red tree! Surrounded by the little time anomalies! Uh oh. Cole takes some of the red leaves back to Lillian who tells him he can go back and save them all. But how will he do that when he doesn’t have a time machine? Lillian tells him that he can use the leaves to send his consciousness back in time to any place he’s ever been but advises him to find himself in 1957 to stop the paradox and save time. If he does though, the last two years will be erased. She also tells him that when he makes it back to 2044, he should not go to Titan to save Ramse.

If he does, he’s still just playing right into the Witness’ hands. Our hero has a lot to think about. Cole heads home and gets ready to say goodbye to this life that he and Cassie have built. As much as he’d love to keep things as they are, he has a world to save. So he drinks the red leaf potion and just like that his consciousness floats through time. It takes him a little while to find the right place but eventually he does it! He makes it to 1957, stops the paradox and saves time.

Cassie and Cole soon after splinter back to 2044 where they are reunited with Katrina who has been alone in the facility for almost a year. This version of time has turned her into kind of a bad ass. The three swap stories and reunite. It’s good to see familiar faces again.

However, they still have friends out there who are going to die. Even though Lillian warned him to stay away from Titan, Cole can’t let that happen, so he, Cassie and Katarina splinter themselves to go rescue their friends, but they stumble upon find Jennifer and the Daughters first. If you’ll remember, The Daughters are not feeling this mission anymore, but our heroes can’t save their friends without their help. So, Jennifer tries her best to rouse them with a big speech but illimitable it’s one line from Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure that get’s the ladies going, ”Be excellent to each other.”

Ramse and his gang have made it to Titan. We know what happens next. If Cole et al don’t make it in time, Ramse is done for. Luckily, the cavalry arrives in the knick of time and all the good guys are able to take down the bad guys no problem. They question a few of the surviving baddies to find out where The Witness is, but the only response they get is that The Witness is safe. But where?!

Our gang splits up to explore Titan. Cassie and Cole are searching together when Cassie says something that makes all the memories of their life together in 1959 come rushing back. She loves him and remembers everything! Before the two can get all emotional about it Katarina figures out the reason Hannah couldn’t find Titan before was because it wasn’t there yet. Turns out, the whole place is one giant time machine and it’s about to splinter! Time. To. GO!

Everyone is split up but trying to make it to the exits. Katrina and Hannah make it out just fine. Ramse is rescued by a dude dressed like one of the bad guys who says to follow him if Ramse wants to find The Witness. Deacon sacrifices himself to save Jennifer, trying to make amends for killing her older self. While escaping though, Jennifer accidentally gets splintered to god knows where/when. Cassie and Cole are just about to make it out of Titan when a gang of bad guys jumps them at the last second. The two tussle and fight but ultimately Cole is shoved out of Titan while Cassie is dragged back in. Suddenly, Titan splinters and Cassie and Cole have been separated again.

Titan is gone and our gang is all over the place. Ramse is taken by the dude who saved him to Olivia who says she is going to take him to his son. Meanwhile, Jennifer’s splinter has apparently taken her to France in the year 1917. Cole and Katarina return to the facility and figure out that Cassie has been taken to the future! Cole demands that Katarina splinter him there and after sharing her reservations about doing so, begrudgingly agrees.

The year is 2163 and Cassie is ushered into a room filled with The Witness’ men. Cassie is shocked when she sees a familiar face: the tall man. Could he be The Witness? Nope, the truth is even worse. The Tall Man tells Cassie that the witness is her and Cole’s unborn baby.

1959
Cole and Railly are living together happily in the house of cedar and pine. They exchange Christmas gifts and Railly tells Cole she is pregnant. Later Cole sees time itself freeze for a brief period, immobilizing everyone but himself and an apparition of a woman who warns him "it's not over." When this temporal anomaly repeats, Cole finds himself at the gate of an insane asylum. Inside the asylum, he finds the woman, Lillian, who tells him that Ramse failed to stop the Witness and time is still collapsing. She tells him to go to the Pine Barrens and bring back what he finds there.

In the Pine Barrens, he sees a Red Forest tree and red temporal storms. He brings a red leaf back to Lillian, who tells him he that if he ingests the leaf, he can project his mind back to any point in his past and take control of his own body at that time. She tells him to use this power to return to 1957 and prevent the final paradox. When he hesitates, realizing this means his relationship with Railly will be erased, she says "Death can be undone, love cannot." She also warns him not to go to Titan in 2045 to save Ramse.

Later that night, Railly confronts Cole, having mistaken his preoccupation and worry about the paradox for hesitation about their child. He reaffirms his commitment to her and their unborn baby. While Railly is sleeping, he writes a message on the house wall: "1957-1959 This was home." Drinking tea brewed from the Red Forest leaf, he finds himself in a place apparently outside time. He returns to various moments in his past, including just before his first meeting with Railly and a conversation with Ramse. He briefly sees the Witness in the place outside time, and then returns to 1957.

1957
Cole, having taken control of his earlier self's body, confronts Charlie just before the latter is about to paradox Melinda. Cole says goodbye to Railly, then shoots Charlie dead.

2045
When Charlie is killed, Cole and Railly are automatically splintered from 1957 to 2045. Jones has been revived, since Cole's changing the timeline prevented the temporal storms from killing her. She briefly recounts the year she spent alone since everyone else left for Titan, during which she fought off scavengers and acquired a dog. She then uses the time machine to transport all of them to Titan to save Ramse, setting the machine to automatically splinter them back after a set period.

Once near Titan, they ask Jennifer to convince her Daughters to help them attack Titan. She gives a rousing speech full of movie references, which fails to move them. She then calls them cowards and says she will go to Titan without them. This causes them to follow her.

Arriving at Titan, they attack the Witness's followers before the latter can massacre Ramse's group, killing most of them. Ramse tortures the remaining ones for information on the Witness's whereabouts, but all they say is "the Witness is safe." Ramse begins to slaughter them but Cole stops him.

Jones recognizes Titan's towers as the work of her ex-husband Elliot. She realizes the entire city is a giant time machine and that it is preparing to splinter. Most of the party flees, but Ramse is determined to find the Witness and goes deeper into the facility.

After apologizing to Jennifer for killing her future self, Deacon is set upon by Army acolytes and apparently stabbed to death. A mysterious man impersonating an Army member tells Ramse to follow him. While trying to escape, Jennifer shoots one of Titan's splintering beams, which malfunctions and splinters her away.

To Cole's surprise and joy, Railly remembers their life together in 1959, despite the fact that that timeline was erased when Cole stopped the final paradox. He turns to follow Ramse but she pleads with him to leave him and escape with her. Just as they are about to do so, Railly is captured by Army members and is splintered away along with Titan, leaving Cole behind.

Whitley, Adler, Hannah, and the Daughters are left at the edge of the crater where Titan used to be, while Cole and Jones are automatically splintered back to the temporal facility; however, Railly is not. A furious Cole orders Jones to find what period Railly was taken to.

The mysterious man brings Ramse to Olivia, who has visibly aged compared to her 2016 self. The man tells Ramse that Olivia no longer works for the 12 Monkeys. She tells him that she is taking him to see his son; a flashback reveals she found Sam when he was accidentally splintered away in Meltdown.

1917
Jennifer splinters in from 2045, landing in a trench during WWI, in the middle of a battle. French soldiers find her and demand to know what she is doing. Taken by surprise, she asks in French whether she can use their telephone and toilet.

2163
Railly is brought before a vast congregation of hooded Army members. A tall, hooded figure greets her. He puts back the hood, revealing himself as the Pallid Man. She accuses him of being the Witness, but he replies that the Witness is more special than himself, Railly, or Cole--the child of two travelers, born outside of time. To her horror, he tells her that she is pregnant with the Witness: the unborn child she and Cole conceived in 1959, who was not erased despite Cole's undoing that timeline. He then leads the Army members in hailing her as "Mother."

2045
Jones determines that Titan splintered to 2163. She warns Cole that they have no idea what awaits him in that time, but he vows to go there and bring Railly back. He then splinters to 2163.