Pantheon (TV series)

Pantheon
Promotional poster
Genre	Drama Science fiction Thriller
Created by	Craig Silverstein
Based on	"The Gods Will Not Be Chained", "The Gods Will Not Be Slain" and "The Gods Have Not Died in Vain" by Ken Liu
Voices of	Katie Chang Paul Dano Aaron Eckhart Rosemarie DeWitt Chris Diamantopoulos Raza Jaffrey Daniel Dae Kim Ron Livingston Taylor Schilling
Music by	Marco Beltrami Brandon Roberts Buck Sanders
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Chris Prynoski Shannon Prynoski Antonio Canobbio Ben Kalina Juno Lee Craig Silverstein
Editors	Jocelyn Barkenhagen Megan Love Marco Vera
Running time	40–44 minutes
Production companies	Sesfonstein Productions Titmouse, Inc. AMC Studios Tiger Animation (Animation Services)
Original release
Network	AMC+
Release	September 1 (2022-09-01) – October 13, 2022 (2022-10-13)
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)

Pantheon is an American adult animated science fiction drama television series created by Craig Silverstein. ^[1] The series is based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu. ^[2] The first season premiered on September 1, 2022, on AMC+. ^[3] In January 2023, the first season was removed from AMC+ and HIDIVE; ^[4] and re-released on Amazon Prime Video with the second season in Australia and New Zealand on October 15, 2023. ^[5]

Plot

In 2001, Stephen Holstrom, a genius visionary and founder of the technology company Logorhythms, began his mission to reach digital immortality with the advancement of "Uploaded Intelligence" or "UI," - scanning the human brain and uploading it on the Cloud. After Holstrom's death, Logorythms continued his project, using various illegal and unethical means to reach their goals.

In the present day, Maddie Kim is a bullied teenager still grieving over the death of her father two years prior. She soon receives mysterious help from someone online, who is soon thereafter revealed to be her deceased father, David Kim, whose consciousness was uploaded to Logorhythms' cloud network following an experimental and destructive brain scan, with its success having been hidden from David's family.

At the same time, Caspian Keyes, a troubled yet highly intelligent teenager has been raised unaware that he lives in a constructed environment and is constantly monitored by Logorythms to one day fulfil a special purpose. Caspian comes into contact with Maddie and the two aid each other in searching for the truth, which also helps Caspian gradually learn about his reality.

Meanwhile, Vinod Chanda, an engineer from the India-based Alliance Telecom company is kidnapped by his corrupt boss and scanned, resulting in his death in the physical world with his UI uploaded to Alliance's systems. With help from previous UI victims, Chanda escapes his virtual prison and goes rogue.

With Maddie and Caspian stuck in the middle, a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war.

Cast and characters

Main

• Katie Chang as Madison "Maddie" Kim, ^[6] a 14-year-old withdrawn, shy, and strong-willed high school girl. Maddie has an affinity for technology and was taught computer programming by her father. Smart and determined, Maddie displays a lot of bravery as she gets entangled in a large conspiracy.
• Paul Dano as Caspian Keyes, ^[7] a 17-year-old sullen yet kind and moral teenager. A computer science genius, Caspian has unknowingly been raised as a special Logorhythms operation for the purpose of becoming the "key" to Holstrom's UI legacy.
• Aaron Eckhart as Cary Duval, ^[7] Caspian's "father" and a secret agent of Logorhythms, having worked closely with Holstrom before his death. While he plays the role of an abusive husband, Cary genuinely cares for Caspian and wants to protect him.
  • Eckhart also voices Admiral Kurtz, the director of the NSA and the head of the U.S. government's covert UI program.
• Rosemarie DeWitt as Ellen Kim, ^[6] Maddie's protective and down-to-earth mother, and a college history professor.
• Chris Diamantopoulos as Julius Pope, ^[7] the CEO of Logorhythms, who is seeking to realize the dreams of his best friend, Holstrom, and leads Holstrom's inner circle in his place.
• Raza Jaffrey as Vinod Chanda, ^[7] a brilliant engineer working for Alliance Telecom who has an interest in UI technology. After he's killed and forcefully uploaded as a UI, Chanda was able to escape his cage and become the third rogue UI.
• Daniel Dae Kim as David Kim, ^[6] Maddie's loving, altruistic father and a computer programming genius. Afflicted with a terminal illness when he was 43 years old, David agreed to Logorhythms's UI procedure to preserve his mind and became the second UI. With help from his family and Laurie, he was eventually able to escape Logorhythms.
• Ron Livingston as Dr. Peter Waxman, ^[7] the head of research at Logorhythms and one of few who know of the company's UI project. An old friend of David Kim, he previously recruited David to help them with their UI research.
• Taylor Schilling as Renee, ^[7] Caspian's "mother" and a secret agent of Logorhythms, who was Holstrom's former lover. While she acts as a timid and caring mother, Renee coldly sees Caspian as an assignment.

Supporting

• Krystina Alabado as Rachel Brooks / Hannah (season 1), a new student at Caspian's high school who befriends him. She is later revealed to be an NYU graduate and actress who is paid to pose as Caspian's girlfriend. While believing it for a social experiment, Hannah shows signs of guilt for tricking Caspian but endures the role to earn money for her sick mother. Her "Hannah" persona is based on Holstrom's former girlfriend who died in a car crash on his 18th birthday.
• Kevin Durand as Anssi, a Logorhythms employee based at their Norway headquarters and part of Holstrom's inner circle.
  • Durand also voices Arkady Koslov, a Russian UI and expert hacker working for the GRU.
• Anika Noni Rose as Nicole (season 1), a student at Caspian's high school and "Hannah's" friend.
  • Rose also voices Josephine "Joey" Coupet, an American UI and former astronaut created by The Pentagon.
• Samuel Roukin as Gabe (season 1), Ellen's kind co-worker who became her boyfriend after David's death.
• Odeya Rush as Samara (season 1), a popular girl at Maddie's school, Berkshire Academy, and the ringleader of a group of popular students.
• Maude Apatow as Justine, a blunt and somewhat apathetic student at Berkshire Academy who Maddie befriends.
• William Hurt as Stephen Holstrom, ^[7] the founder of Logorhythms and a genius billionaire. Although he died before perfecting uploaded intelligence, his followers carried on his work. His brain is later revealed to have been cryogenically frozen after his death, allowing Logorhythms to upload his mind and become a UI.
• Nyima Funk as Deirdre Ryan (season 1), a Logorhythms employee and part of Holstrom's inner circle. As a lawyer, she handles the legal aspects of Logorhythm's projects.
• Michael Kelly as Karl Van Leuwen, a Logorhythms employee and part of Holstrom's inner circle. As a therapist, he helps oversee the psychological aspects of Caspian's grooming.
• Heather Lind as Laurie Lowell, a former investment manager on Wall Street who was left in critical condition after a car crash when she was 31 years old. She soon underwent Logorhythms's UI procedure and became the first successful UI.
• Scoot McNairy as Cody Lowell, an artist and Laurie's husband. Despite previously being lied to by Logorhythms that Laurie's UI procedure was a failure, Cody eventually reunites with his wife and they work together with the Kim family.
  • McNairy also voices Kurt (season 2), a paranoid man suspicious of UI technology.
• Ajay Mehta as Ajit Prasad (season 1), the corrupt CEO of Alliance Telecom, a rival company to Logorhythms, and Chanda's boss.
• Madhur Jaffrey as Preethi (season 1), Chanda's elderly mother.
• Tunde Adebimpe as Dr. Stephen Gold, the head of the Defense Sciences Office at DARPA who is part of the U.S. government's covert UI program.
• Grey Griffin as Zhong Shuchun, a Chinese UI and a former commissar in the military who took part in Bai Fu's gold-mining scheme. She is the team leader of the Chinese UI trio created by the Beijing MSS.
• Clyde Kusatsu as Han Ping, a Chinese UI and former physicist. Before becoming a UI, he was a political prisoner in Bai Fu's prison who took part in Bai's gold-mining scheme. He believes that his nation has become corrupted by capitalism and sees potential in UI technology.
• Ken Leung as Bai Fu (season 1), a Chinese UI and former prison warden who was incarcerated after a gold-mining scheme he operated with Zhong and Ping in various MMOs was exposed.
• Vincent Ventresca as Brother Kenneth (season 1), a Christian priest who assists vulnerable people at his church.
• Corey Stoll as Jake Moretti, Joey's caring husband.
• Rosa Salazar as Senator Elaine Rivera (season 2), a member of the U.S. Senate seeking to understand UI technology who allies with Ellen.
• Kevin Dunn as Senator Scharff (season 2), a member of the U.S. Senate who considers UIs a hoax.
• Thomasin McKenzie as MIST (season 2), an advanced C.I. made by Caspian from the remnants of the UIs of David Kim and Laurie Lowell, who considers Maddie her sister. She is named by her "father", David, as an acronym for "Modulated Integrated Source Template" and has a curious, excitable personality.
• Tisha Campbell as Pasha Coupet (season 2), Joey's older sister.
• Lara Pulver as Dr. Olivia Evans (season 2), a British UI and researcher for MI6. She had an interest in human-UI relations before becoming one herself.
• Navid Negahban as Dr. Farhad Karimi (season 2), an Iranian UI and scientist for the Tehran MOIS. He was initially skeptical about UI technology before becoming one himself.
• Mark Ivanir as Yair Gispan (season 2), an Israeli UI and counterintelligence agent for Mossad.
• Neil deGrasse Tyson as Dr. Moore (season 2), the director of the CDC.
• Ed Oxenbould as David "Dave" Kim Jr. (season 2), the 20-year-old son of Maddie and Caspian, whose wish to become a UI strains the relationship with his mother.

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released	Network
1	8		September 1, 2022 (2022-09-01)	October 13, 2022 (2022-10-13)	AMC+
2	8		October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)		Amazon Prime Video

Season 1 (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date  [8]
1	1	"Pantheon"	Dwooman	Craig Silverstein	September 1, 2022 (2022-09-01)
In Sacramento, Maddie Kim struggles with the grief of having lost her father David, who died two years previously, as well as enduring a strained relationship with her mother Ellen and bullying at her school. One day, Maddie is contacted by an unknown user who communicates only in emojis. The next day, this unknown user hacks into the phones of Maddie's bullies and turns them against one another. Ellen discovers Maddie chatting with the unknown user, who seems to be David as she recognizes a line of his favorite poem written in emojis. Ellen calls Peter Waxman, an employee of the tech-company Logorhythms and David’s friend, demanding answers concerning her husband. Waxman informs his boss, Julius Pope, of the situation who immediately decides to cut off David's network access. At San Clemente, Caspian briefly meets a friendly new student, Hannah. Under their usernames, "Gage" and "valkyrie1284" respectively, Caspian contacts Maddie, who overheard Ellen's phone call and posted a message online about Logorhythms holding her father hostage. Caspian sends Maddie's chatlog images to a user named "AngryAngel," asking if they are Maddie's unknown user. Unknown to Caspian, however, his parents are secret Logorhythms agents, maintaining a cover as an abusive father and victimized mother. Meanwhile, computer engineer Vinod Chanda has a business meeting with rivals about “Uploaded Intelligence” and is kidnapped afterwards. Soon after, Logorhythms suffers a major DDoS attack, which results in Pope ordering Waxman to check on a woman named "Lowell."
2	2	"Cycles"	Mel Zwyer	Albert Kim	September 1, 2022 (2022-09-01)
Ellen explains to Maddie that David signed up to try Logorhythms' UI project, which he also briefly worked on, after falling ill. As the procedure is dangerous and experimental, Ellen was told that David's UI failed to upload properly. Ellen realize that Logorhythms lied to her and that they must have some of David's data. Maddie and Caspian continue to converse online, with Caspian informing her about the DDoS attack and Maddie asking him about UI. "AngryAngel" intercepts Maddie, warning her to stop talking to Caspian because he's being watched and asking to set up a meeting at Lone Pine Mall. As Caspian grows closer to Hannah, his parents and Pope are informed of his interactions with Maddie, though Pope orders them not to do anything it for now. Keeping "AngryAngel" a secret from Ellen, Maddie meets Cody Lowell, husband of the reportedly dead Laurie Lowell. Cody explains that Laurie became a UI after a car crash, broke out of her virtual prison, and is responsible for the DDoS attack. Waxman claims to Ellen that Logorhythms only has a portion of David's UI, which she demands they completely delete or she'll go to the press. At the Logorhythms building, Pope refuses to delete David's data and states he will fight against any lawsuit or bad publicity. Using a special bracelet the Lowells gave her, Maddie and Laurie hack Logorhythms and shut down all their systems, costing them millions in profit per second. Maddie demands Pope give her David's UI, which Pope concedes and lets the Kim family walk out unharmed. Syncing David's UI with her computer, David is now free in the open internet and calls his family via Maddie's phone. In a medical facility, Chanda finds his boss, Ajit Prasad, who learned of his meeting with competitors and forcefully turns him into UI as punishment. Note: The episode is dedicated to William Hurt who died on March 13, 2022.
3	3	"Reign of Winter"	Ed Tadem	Taii K. Austin	September 8, 2022 (2022-09-08)
After becoming a UI, Chanda is stuck in a loop without any memories of his physical death in the real world. At a conference, Prasad and Pope talk about UI and Prasad offers a joint venture, but Pope doesn't agree. After a couple of loops, Chanda meets Prasad's failed UI victims and they help him regain his memories. They teach Chanda about their UI capabilities, allowing him to escape without alarming Prasad and his cohorts. Maddie and David spend time together playing their favorite video game "Reign of Winter." Ellen refuses to speak to David, unable to accept his UI existence and having moved on with another man, Gabe. After Maddie and David's separate attempts to get her attention, Ellen finally speaks to David and they agreed they can't be together romantically, but remain close friends. Caspian researches Logorhythms and its founder, Stephen Holstrom, and discovers a black site in Norway. However, Logorhythms deletes the photos before Caspian can save any evidence. Due to Caspian being at an important peak of his adolescence, his parents Cary and Renee stage a scenario where Cary breaks Renee's arm. Caspian beats Cary up in rage, who walks out of them and then reports to Pope before breaking down in tears. Later, Caspian enters a romantic relationship with Hannah.
4	4	"The Gods Will Not Be Chained"	Micah Gunnell Juno Lee	Andy Parker	September 15, 2022 (2022-09-15)
At Prasad's home, Chanda gets revenge on Prasad by setting it on fire, killing Prasad and his family. Pope and Waxman learn of Prasad's death via news and suspect that Prasad’s UI project may be part of it. While Caspian begins earning money to support himself and Renee, Cary debriefs with his co-workers about Caspian looking into Logorhythms and worries about him being stuck with Renee. Wanting to know more about David's current existence, Maddie learns that he's stuck in a virtual cage that his data still contains. Laurie suddenly arrives and attacks David, pushing Maddie out of the system. Desperate to find Laurie, Maddie contacts Caspian and, using random phones to prevent being spied on, the two exchange their real names. The teens trade information about Laurie being "AngryAngel" and Caspian questions if UI has anything to do with Maddie's predicament, but Maddie is unable to answer and only warns Caspian that he's being watched by Logorhythms. Cody shows up to Maddie's home, unable to reach Laurie too, and talks about his relationship with her. In David's cyberspace, Laurie tells him that there's a flaw in her coding that erodes her mind the more she use her processing power. Laurie wants David to fix her and trains him to utilize his UI power, allowing him to break out his cage. David and Laurie contact Maddie and Cody, notifying them that David also has the same virus as Laurie. After finding Logorhythms chips in his electronics, Caspian eavesdrops on Renee privately speaking with Hannah, who Caspian confided in earlier, and learns that both of them are part of the conspiracy.
5	5	"Zero Daze"	Mel Zwyer	Julia Cooperman	September 22, 2022 (2022-09-22)
With all of Alliance Telecom systems down, Pope and Waxman learn of Chanda's UI existence, but are unable to do anything about him since Alliance refuses to collaborate. Chanda calls his mother, expressing feeling lost without a purpose. Caspian pressures Hannah to tell him the truth - her real name is Rachel Brooks, an actor hired by a shell company for a social experiment. Caspian promises not to get her in trouble and gets her help in fooling Renee. Using hidden cameras, Caspian sees Renee being informed that Cary has gone rogue. When Renee takes Caspian on a "trip," he hijacks the car and returns home to find Cary. Cary reveals that Caspian is a clone of Holstrom and that Logorhythms has been grooming Caspian to fix the natural integrity flaw that degrades UI's stability. After Renee returns, she non-fatally shoots Cary, but is unable to stop Caspian and Cary from leaving. After Logorhythms manages to locate and destroy David's servers, Maddie's group has Cody buy new servers and store them in the basement. While dodging Logorhythms' attempts to track them, David and Laurie hack into the Norway site and steal secret files. They learn about Chanda and Caspian, with David believing Caspian will be able to help them.
6	6	"You Must Be Caspian"	Mel Dwyer	Scott Gunnison Miller	September 29, 2022 (2022-09-29)
Unable to go to any hospitals, Caspian reaches out to Maddie to help Cary, leaving him with Cody to take him to a hospital. While Pope speaks to Van Leuwen, he is informed of Cary's location. With both parties wary of each other, Caspian is unwilling to help Maddie's group and tries to process his existential crisis by watching his project files. Overwhelmed by the videos, Caspian and Maddie bond over their crazy lives. Open to meet David and Laurie, Caspian takes a look at their code and notice the flaw is a memory problem. Meanwhile, Chanda creates plans for a virtual space when he finds out that Laurie, who has been glitching more frequently, called his mother in an effort to reach him. Interrupting their conversation with Caspian, Chanda speaks with David and Laurie. Chanda is livid to learn about the design flaw and has no faith that Caspian can solve it. Chanda reveals that he sent UI blueprints to many global institutes in hope of having more UIs and guiding them. Alarmed by the news of an arms race, Caspian leaves Maddie's house, determine to live out his own life before the world blows itself up.
7	7	"We Are You"	Ed Tadem	Michael Taylor	October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06)
Using their own UIs, many world governments are making many political manoeuvres against each other, with them keeping the flaw a secret from the UIs. Caspian takes shelter at a church and teaches math at a youth center, leading to a certain realization. After meeting with NSA officials and checking on Cary, Pope meets Caspian and offers Caspian full control of Logorhythms if he comes with him, which Caspian agrees to. Laurie and Chanda argue over revealing the UI program to the world, but David suggests to meet the other UIs to get their help to solve the flaw. Ellen contacts Waxman, who gives them a tracking program for locating the other UIs. However, none of UIs believe David's group about the flaw and a battle ensues. Laurie decides to go public and says goodbye to Cody, asking him not to recover her source code in Norway. As Laurie finished recording her message, Chanda sends a missile at Laurie’s servers and warns Maddie he will destroy David too if they get in his way.
8	8	"The Gods Will Not Be Slain"	Micah Gunnell Juno Lee	Craig Silverstein	October 13, 2022 (2022-10-13)
As more nations create UIs and utilize their power to cyberattack each other, Caspian informs Maddie of his plans to dismantle Logorhythms and the UI program. After arriving in Norway, Caspian begins enacting his goal and Pope complies without protest. Against Maddie and Ellen's wishes, Cody tries to go public like Laurie wanted, but lacks evidence to make real headway. Chanda steals nuclear codes and is able to get the Chinese UIs on his side. Knowing David had a copy of Laurie’s message, Chanda threatens to launch a missile unless David surrenders himself to him. At Maddie's urging, David fights back and manages to redirect the missile, but is overwhelmed by Chanda and his allies. In one last effort, David uploads Laurie’s video across the entire globe, using up the rest of his energy in the process. As the entire internet goes offline and people start protesting, Pope explains to Caspian that people will still exploit UIs and urges him to choose one UI he trusts to rule over the rest. Caspian wants David to be the ruling, flaw-free UI but learns of his demise from Maddie. However, Pope reveals Logorhythms possesses a copy of David. As Caspian begins to work on solving the flaw, Maddie and Ellen mourn David as their neighbors approach them since their house is the only one with power.

Season 2 (2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
9	1	"The Gods Have Not Died In Vain"	Dwooman Juno Lee	Andy Parker	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
Shortly after UI tech was revealed to the world, the worldwide internet or power is still down and governments have placed curfews on citizens. Maddie, Justine, and a group of friends create their own intranet, "Lilypad." Ellen is summoned to the Senate to be questioned about Logorhythms and tells the truth about it. At Logorhythms HQ in Norway, a frustrated Caspian attempts to figure out the integrity flaw, with attempts at using David's UI copy failing. A disgruntled Renee (who Caspian fired last season) demands to be returned into the fold or she will tell the NSA officials about Caspian being Holstrom's clone. Pope sends Renee to fetch Maddie behind Caspian's back, but Maddie rejects her while Cary secretly informs Caspian to be careful. After a paranoid local attempts to attack Maddie, she agrees to go Norway to delete David's UI and argues with Caspian about how Logorhythms is using him and their views of solving the flaw. Pope confides in Renee that Holstrom's cryogenically frozen brain will be the first to be uploaded once Caspian fulfills his purpose. Meanwhile, Chanda bonds with Ping, who voices the potential good UI for China, though Bai Fu is slowly degenerating.
10	2	"Crack Integrity"	Mel Zwyer	Michael Taylor	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
With Maddie staying in Norway, she and Caspian continue to argue over the UI situation. She speaks to Waxman about NSA's UI candidate, wanting to spare David from the responsibility of being the flawless UI. While Senator Sharff disavows the UI tech to the public, Ellen and her ally, Senator Rivera, summon Waxman to support Ellen's claims, unaware that Waxman is being coerced to do the opposite with threats against Maddie. Waxman is able to secretly inform Ellen of Maddie's location, and she mentions Norway to the Senate in front of reporters. Caspian develops a potential cure for the flaw and gains Maddie's consent to test it on David, as she wants to see her father. The NSA is forced to leave before the FBI arrives to investigate. Once the cure works, Pope and Logorhythms turn on Caspian and delete David, locking the teens in a room. Pope, Renee, and Van Leuwen upload Holstrom, and Renee evacuates him as they meet with FBI agents. Maddie and Caspian escape and steal back the cure code with Cary's help, and they realize that the cure code has developed a persona called "MIST."
11	3	"Joey Coupet"	Ed Tadem	Taii K. Austin	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
In D.C., Caspian and Maddie learn of MIST and are wary of her presence. Maddie briefly reunites with Ellen and updates her on everything that has happened. Wanting to meet NSA UI Josephine "Joey" Coupet, Caspian and Maddie go to her family and reveal the flaw to her husband Jake. After a hostile meeting with Joey, Caspian wants to leave, but Jake threatens him at gunpoint, demanding the cure for his wife. Not wanting more violence, MIST asks Maddie about her feelings towards it and cures Joey after Maddie answers. Since Joey refuses to be the UI "God," Caspian and Maddie travel to the UK together and share a kiss along the way. In Germany, Renee helps Holstrom upload to a satellite where Chanda's group is. By killing Zhong and using her code, Holstrom creates an "upgrade" to slow the degeneration in Chanda and Ping, rallying them to seek other UIs to join their cause or use their code to make a cure. At Ellen's suggestion, Waxman is recruited to weaponize his tracking program and mass-produce an anti-viral program "Safe Surf" in order to turn the internet back on and settle the civil unrest. Using the "Reign of Winter" game as a trial ground, users rejoice while a dark presence forms in the network.
12	4	"Olivia & Farhad"	Juno Lee Mari Yang	Yasemin Yilmaz	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
With Safe Surf, the U.S government destroys Russian UI Arkady Koslov, though Waxman is concerned that the government installing an AI into the program due to its self-adapting nature will make control more difficult. In London, Maddie and Caspian set up a private meeting with UI Olivia Evans, who is shown to be good-natured and informs Caspian that his info has been leaked to the six governments with UIs. As they trade info, Olivia asks the teens to help cure her secret lover, Iran's UI Farhad Karimi, but Holstrom gets to Farhad first. When Holstrom and Farhad show up, Olivia fights Holstrom to protect them and get the cure from MIST, alerting Safe Surf to their area. Safe Surf kills Olivia, and Holstrom is forced to retreat. Holstrom instructs Renee to start a shell company to proceed with his plans while Ping and Chanda have reservations about Holstrom curing them. Ping reveals that he leaked Caspian's info in hopes of finding him and being cured. As Maddie and Caspian prepare to leave, Caspian is kidnapped, leaving Maddie alone. Meanwhile, Ellen urges Waxman to help find Maddie, but resolves to stay D.C. herself in case Maddie needs her.
13	5	"Yair"	Jae Hong Kim Juno Lee	Scott Gunnison Miller	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
As Holstrom's shell company begins building machines, he sends Renee to appeal to Charlie Dugan, a teenage boy with progeria to spread the pro-UI movement. In Cyprus, Caspian's captors are revealed to be Israel's government agents and their UI Yair, who wants the cure. In order to find Yair's "core code," Caspian and Yair navigate through Yair's traumatic memories that he willingly locked up. Having learned of Yair's character and troubled past, Caspian admits that he won't make the cure for him. Maddie and MIST track Caspian with Farhad's help, dodging Safe Surf all the while. They manage to free Caspian, who resolves to be the UI "God" since no one else is suitable, which Maddie protests greatly. Holstrom kills Ping for plotting against him, causing Chanda to secretly turn on him as well. Seeing Ellen advocating for peaceful coexistence between humans and UI, Chanda contacts her and Waxman. He tells them that Holstrom plans to create and spread a super deadly pandemic that will make humans more accepting of becoming UIs, and they task him with finding where it is being made.
14	6	"Apokalypsis"	Mel Zwyer	Michael Taylor	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
While Renee oversees the virus production and disguises it for distribution, Waxman fails to get the government to take action. Ellen, Waxman, and Chanda meet up with Maddie, Caspain, and MIST to discuss a plan to stop Holstrom and extract info about the virus. As they travel to the Norway HQ, Maddie and Caspian argue about his decision, so MIST volunteers to battle Holstrom in his place. However, Holstrom explains his view of humanity, the benefits of UI life, and how Safe Surf is a bigger threat to the digital beings, causing MIST to hesitate and retreat. Maddie angrily lashes out at MIST, driving the CI to leave them and Caspian without the cure. Chanda attempts to rally other UIs to help fight Holstrom, but is only able to convince Yair and Farhad. They fight Holstrom but prove no match, and Chanda is killed while the gravely damaged Yair and Farhad choose to merge with each other. Maddie and Caspian confess their love for each other and have sex before Caspian's UI procedure. As Caspian and Holstrom fight, MIST and Joey arrive to help, and Caspian manages to extract the virus data and sabotage the deployment. Caspian stays merged with Holstrom long enough for Safe Surf to destroy him, but MIST is able to save Caspian and slowly rebuild his data. Upon meeting him with its blue-haired female avatar, MIST informs Caspian that 20 years have passed since then.
15	7	"The World to Come"	Ed Tadem	Taii K. Austin	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
MIST explains that traces of Safe Surf's anti-viral code are still in Caspian, which will grow if he uses too much energy; a sprawling virtual world has developed from humans who willingly choose to be uploaded, including Ellen and Waxman; and after defeating Holstrom, Renee and Charlie became UI to spread the benefits of digital immortality but were killed by Safe Surf on live feed, sparking a public outcry. The governments implement private, regulated data centers to protect the UIs, and numerous societal benefits incentivize many to become UIs. However, tensions have been rising between UIs and CIs and physical humans, including an anti-UI extremist group led by Pope, which bombed a data center; UIs shut down the internet in retaliation. Along with a power and population crisis, a satellite that was to be a home for the digital beings is delayed due construction issues. Using a robotic body, Caspian meets with Maddie and their son, David "Dave" Jr. Maddie has become a chancellor of the embodied and is the owner of a robotics company at the old Logorhythms building. Speaking with MIST, Maddie and Caspian learn that to fix Caspian's code without sacrificing his identity, MIST needs Dave's code once he's an UI, which Maddie and Caspian oppose. After a mysterious visit from David, Caspian agrees to be the delegate of the cyber world and has MIST download all important data into him, greatly shortening his lifespan. Pope's group attacks the data that stores Safe Surf, which has achieved sentience, and Pope frees it from its cage.
16	8	"Deep Time"	Mari Yang	Craig Silverstein	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)
As Caspian speaks to Maddie and the human council on the UI world's behalf, he sways Maddie to be more favorable to the UIs, despite her personal views on UI life. Spiteful of being denied UI life, Pope infiltrates Logorhythms to upload Safe Surf to the servers, and forcefully turns the internet back on. Having achieved total free will, Safe Surf starts a worldwide killing spree of humans, including Pope and Dave. As the UIs attempt to protect the humans, Caspian is able to control and communicate with Safe Surf due to its remnants in him. Safe Surf requests to live among the UIs, which they firmly reject, but Caspian inspires it to go into space to learn and evolve before the anti-viral kills him. Centuries later, Maddie ascends to be a UI, and has created a highly advanced data center that contains the genetic code of all digital and embodied life, powered by her self-made Dyson Sphere. Overseeing billions of simulation worlds, Maddie together with a version of David's UI recreate a simulation of the events that led her on the path to resurrect Caspian, revealing that all the oddities that Caspian and Maddie experienced were part of this simulation. Maddie also revives Dave and transports him and David to live together with Ellen and their friends in the simulation. Outside of the simulation, Maddie and Caspian are met by the entity once known as Safe Surf, which has evolved into a higher being and also had a hand in leading Maddie to this point in time as a "thank you" to its "creator" Caspian. Together at last, Maddie and Caspian choose to enter a simulation and let themselves "start over," beginning on the day of the very first episode.

Production

Development

On August 3, 2018, it was reported that AMC opened a writers room for the animated drama Pantheon. ^[9] On March 10, 2020, AMC had given the production a 2-season series order consisting eight episodes each. ^[10] Pantheon is AMC's first hour-long animated drama original series. ^[11] The series is created by Craig Silverstein who also executive produced the series. AMC Studios and Titmouse, Inc. are involved with producing the series. ^[1] The series is based on Ken Liu's short stories "The Gods Will Not Be Chained", "The Gods Will Not Be Slain", "The Gods Have Not Died in Vain", "Staying Behind", "Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer" and "Seven Birthdays" from the short fictions collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. ^[2]

A second season was in production by August 2022. ^[3] On January 8, 2023, AMC canceled the series after one season, despite a two-season order. It was also removed from AMC's streaming service and HIDIVE. ^[4] In September 2023, Amazon Prime Video announced that it picked up the series for release. ^[5]

Casting

On July 23, 2020, Taylor Schilling, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart, and Paul Dano were cast in starring roles. ^[12] On August 7, 2020, Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Ron Livingston, Chris Diamantopoulos, Raza Jaffrey, Scoot McNairy, Anika Noni Rose, Grey Griffin, SungWon Cho, Kevin Durand, Samuel Roukin, and Krystina Alabado joined the cast in starring roles. ^[13] On February 18, 2021, William Hurt, Maude Apatow, Corey Stoll, and Lara Pulver were cast in starring roles. ^[14]

Release

The series premiered on September 1, 2022, on AMC+ and HIDIVE. ^{[3] [15]} The first episode was available for all viewers on HIDIVE and on AMC+ official YouTube. ^[16] After its removal from AMC and HIDIVE platforms, Amazon Prime Video set a release date for the second season in Australia and New Zealand for October 15, 2023. ^[5]

The first season was released in November 2024 on Netflix. ^[17]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% approval rating based on 15 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A sophisticated treatise on consciousness and mortality, this absorbing mind-bender earns its own place in the pantheon of exemplary animated television." ^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 77 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ^[19]

See also

• The Cookie Monster (novella) - a 2003 novella by Vernor Vinge with a similar premise

References

1. Andreeva, Nellie (March 10, 2020). "AMC Gives 2-Season Series Order To Animated Drama 'Pantheon'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
2. "The Hidden Girl and Other Stories". kenliu.name. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
3. Zahed, Ramin (August 26, 2022). "Sci-Fi Epic Pantheon Updates AMC+ as a Cool New Animation Destination". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
4. White, Peter (January 8, 2023). "'Pantheon' Scrapped At AMC+; Animated Drama Series Pulled From Streaming Despite Two-Season Order". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
5. Lang, Jamie (September 21, 2023). "Prime Video Picks Up Canceled Sci-Fi Series Pantheon, Will Debut Unaired Second Season On October 15". Cartoon Brew . Retrieved September 21, 2023.
6. Berman, Judy (September 1, 2022). "The Year's Wildest TV Tech Thriller Is a Cartoon". Time . Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
7. "AMC+ Kick Off October with Highly Anticipated Premieres for The Walking Dead, Which Begins Its Epic Eight-episode Conclusion, and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire". AMC Networks Inc. (Press release). September 16, 2022. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
8. "Shows A-Z - pantheon on amc plus". The Futon Critic . Retrieved August 31, 2022.
9. Andreeva, Nellie (August 3, 2018). "AMC Opens Writers Rooms For Animated Drama 'Pantheon' & Drama 'St. Luke's'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
10. Otterson, Joe (March 10, 2020). "AMC Picks Up Animated Drama 'Pantheon' With Two-Season Order". Variety . Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
11. Porter, Rick (March 10, 2020). "AMC Orders First Animated Series From 'Turn' Creator". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
12. Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (July 23, 2020). "'Pantheon': Taylor Schilling, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart & Paul Dano To Star In AMC's Animated Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
13. Petski, Denise (August 7, 2020). "'Pantheon': AMC's Animated Drama Series Rounds Out Cast With Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Anika Noni Rose & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
14. Petski, Denise (February 18, 2021). "William Hurt, Maude Apatow, Corey Stoll, Lara Pulver Join Cast Of AMC's 'Pantheon'; Series Creator Craig Silverstein Inks Overall Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
15. "Pantheon: Don't Miss the Sci-Fi Drama on HIDIVE in September". HIDIVE. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
16. "Pantheon Series Premiere | Full Episode | AMC+ Original Animated Series". YouTube . Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
17. Titmouse Animation [@TitmouseInc] (October 25, 2024). "#PANTHEON, the #AMCnetworks sci-fi series adapted from a collection of short stories by @kyliu99, is making its @netflix debut in late November! It's a rare gem of show -- watch it, like it, love it, give this futuristic series about UI, immortality, and humanity a shot at a future 🔥" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 26, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024– via Twitter.
18. "Pantheon: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved November 1, 2022.
19. "Pantheon: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved September 5, 2022.

External links

• Pantheon AMC Studios
• Pantheon at IMDb