Summary
Episode 6 includes some big reveals about what’s really going on with the Underworld, setting the scene for the final two episodes.
Episode 6 is the obligatory Big Reveal™ episode of Kaos, in which we learn what’s really going on in the Underworld with the Frame and Hades’s sinister room full of petrified souls. In truth, it isn’t the most surprising development in the world based on everything we’ve seen, but it is handled well, and it leads to some striking character turns that promise a lot of drama to come in the final two episodes.
We don’t have the luxury of Episode 5’s framing device here, which is a shame, but the episode nonetheless does a decent job of hopping between different perspectives and juggling various developing subplots at once.
Here’s what went down.
Caeneus’s Backstory
While Orpheus makes history by rambling through a wilderness in search of water, Riddy hangs out with Caeneus. While this might not be ideal for her husband, it’s useful for the audience since it’s a good excuse to properly fill in the latter’s Amazonian backstory.
As previously established, males in Amazonian culture are forced to dip out when they come of age under threat of execution. Caeneus was born as a female named Caenis and had kept his desire to transition to himself – he only shared the secret with his friend, Leos, who was born a boy but wants to be an Amazon. He had found himself excommunicated, and his tragic death when he sneaks back onto the grounds and is shot by an arrow is what prompts Caeneus’s mother to send him to Krete for his protection.
This, needless to say, doesn’t mesh with what Hippolyta told Caeneus about his mother giving him up to die. She is attentive enough to have figured out Caeneus’s secret on her own, she treats him with real tenderness and warmth, and she goes out of her way to protect him. There’s more to be revealed here.
Either way, Riddy likes the story so much that the two of them end up sleeping together. Poor Orpheus.
Zeus Is Still Worried About the Prophecy
Zeus’s midlife crisis continues in Kaos Episode 6, and he has developed a new plan for averting his apparently predetermined fate – killing the Fates themselves.
Prometheus isn’t keen on this idea for obvious reasons, so instead he leads Zeus down a different path by highlighting that prophecies are, essentially, whatever you make of them. After all, he already became immortal entirely of his own volition, with no predetermination necessary.
Prometheus tactically cites Minos as a prime example of this. His prophecy stated that his firstborn would kill him, and yet there he is with a cushy government position while the kid endlessly roams a labyrinth from which he’ll never escape. This gives Zeus an idea. If he can just get Minos to kill Glaucus, thus defying his prophecy, then that will prove that Zeus has no need to worry about his own.
Riddy and Caeneus Figure Out The Prophecy
Speaking of prophecies, Riddy and Caeneus finally figure out theirs, which they happen to share. As a refresher, it’s this:
“A line appears, the order wanes, the family falls, and kaos reigns.”
The key is understanding that The Frame is a con. Now that they have discovered that all of the souls end up in the Nothing, frozen in time, it’s obvious that the Gods have been lying about Renewal. And this is pretty crucial since pious people live their entire lives in service of the Gods to ensure a favorable Renewal. If it comes out that there is no life after death, then the people will know they’ve been lied to and turn against their creators.
The family will fall – the family of the Gods. Prometheus rather smugly turns to the camera and intones, “Bingo.” This is the clincher.
Janet McTeer and Jeff Goldblum in Kaos | Image via Netflix
Brotherly Love
Hades and Persephone give us the Godly version of this immediately after. It was Zeus who ordered the creation of the Frame to harvest all the souls into the Nothing. This is the source of the Meander and thus the source of the Gods’ immortality and power.
But this wasn’t intended to be a long-term thing, and now the Frame is on the blink. Pretty soon it’s going to stop working and cause all kinds of chaos, which Hades believes will bring about Zeus’s prophecy. He proposes that the Gods allow a safe, baseline level of Renewal to perpetuate the idea that there is life after death. But Zeus isn’t having it.
Hades tries to stand up for himself, but comparing Zeus to their father only incenses him further, and he torches Hades with lightning, keeping him alive as a warning. He wants the Frame and the Nothing to remain as they are and sends Poseidon to talk Minos into killing Glaucus. Poseidon isn’t sure about the whole defying one’s destiny thing and seeks out the Fates. Lachey implies that the plan is possible, theoretically, but her lack of clarity isn’t exactly reassuring.
A Romantic Reunion And A Sign Of Things To Come
Orpheus’s final test comes in the form of Clotho, one of the Fates, who presents him with a water cooler and a cup. The challenge is simple – if he slakes his thirst, he doesn’t get Riddy back. Orpheus claims he’d rather die than lose his wife and rejects the water, thus passing the final exam. He passes through a door into Asphodel and promptly runs into Adrian and Prue, who reunite him with Riddy. She’s not exactly enthused to see him.
But Medusa and Charon are a little more excited by the idea. The arrival of the man with the mark proves that Prometheus was telling the truth, and that some unprecedented things are about to happen.
The Gods are pushing for something similar. Hera accompanies Poseidon to see Minos, giving him the protection and blessing of Olympus to kill his son – and even supplying him with the weapon to do it. Something big is coming sooner rather than later, which is just as well since there are only two episodes left.
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