History Recap / MrRobotS04E13

-> ''"Krista never quite figured it out, did she? She never realized she wasn't talking to'' ''[[spoiler: the real Elliot]]''. She didn't realize she always was talking to'' you.''"''
--> '''Elliot's "Family" [in the form of Krista]'''

%%* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind

* EarnYourHappyEnding

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Come on. This only works if you let go too.]]"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[RealitySubtext Come on. This only works if you let go too.]]"'']]

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler:When addressing Mastermind!Elliot as themselves does not work, the family (Mr. Robot, his wife, and Child!Elliot) take the form of Krista Gordon, his therapist, to break the truth to him.]]
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Grace Gummer, Portia Doubleday, and Martin Wallström [[TheCameo cameo]] briefly as Dom, Angela and Tyrell (respectively) in Elliot's time loop mind prison. Gloria Reuben reprises her role as Krista Gordon in the mind prison, while Carly Chaikin appears at the very end of the episode as Darlene in the real world.]]

* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:Not!Krista looks directly into the camera and mentions that she can see the audience just like Mastermind!Elliot and Mr. Robot have. She also lampshades the fact that the audience really wants to know the truth as well.]]
** [[spoiler: Mastermind!Elliot tells the audience directly that letting Real!Elliot take control of his own mind again requires us to let go control of Elliot as well.]]

* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: [[spoiler: We hear Darlene's disembodied voice asking Elliot to PleaseWakeUp at one point. Turns out she's doing this while maintaining an UnbrokenVigil in the real world, where Elliot is unconscious in the hospital.]]

* EyeRecall: Inverted for the second-to-last shot in which [[spoiler: the real Elliot regains control of his mind and the memories of what Mastermind!Elliot did over the (at least) 9 months that he was dormant flood back into him.]]

* IronicEcho: Elliot calls back to his Season 1 monologue, calling himself "a guy trying to play God without permission" [[spoiler: in reference to him supplanting the real Elliot Alderson]].
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:Mastermind!Elliot trapped Real!Elliot in a [[GroundhogDayLoop perfect time loop]] in which he is the CEO of [=AllSafe=], he wins the F Corp contract bid, his father Edward is still alive and running the Mr. Robot store, and he is set to marry Angela the next day. Mastermind!Elliot did this to keep Real!Elliot pacified while he used his prolific coding skills to dismantle the cruel, capitalist nature of society that surrounds him.]]
* POVCam: Used for [[spoiler: the final shot, in which Darlene welcomes Real!Elliot back to the real world. As the audience of the show itself is one of Elliot's alters, we're meant to interpret this [=POV=] shot as us watching Elliot's life alongside Mastermind!Elliot and Mr. Robot in the theatre room in his mind.]]

** Everything that occurred in the series, from the formation of fsociety through the 5/9 hack & reversal to the Dark Army wealth redistribution, really did happen. It's just that the perspective we've been perceiving everything through was [[UnreliableNarrator skewed the whole time]]: [[spoiler: the Elliot we've been following for the length of the show is actually its own split personality called The Mastermind, with the real Elliot buried in a GroundhogDayLoop of a LotusEaterMachine, as mentioned above.]] Whiterose's machine [[spoiler: did not in fact activate; the machine was successfully deactivated by Elliot through the eXit program, but it ended up exploding as part of its shutdown; this explosion knocked Mastermind!Elliot loose from his control of Elliot's mind and dropped him into Real!Elliot's LotusEaterMachine.]]
** It's confirmed that Mr. Robot aka Edward was the first personality created when Elliot was a child, to replace the real Edward that abused him and tried to shoehorn himself into Elliot's life as a good dad right before he died of cancer. [[spoiler: Elliot then conjured his mother and himself as a child, punisher and concealer of abuse, respectively. Elliot most likely created his mother's personality the way he did just to shift the hate he felt for his dad's abuse to her, as he still wanted to idolize his father.]] A month before the series proper, [[spoiler:The Mastermind personality, created by Elliot to deal with his anger at the world, took over his mind and pushed Real!Elliot into the mind prison and removed the concept of Darlene from it so that Real!Elliot couldn't see the exit. One can assume that the drawings of fsociety found on Real!Elliot's computer and his belief that they were fictional characters he made up were his mind's way of coping with the discrepancies in his memories left behind when Mastermind!Elliot took over.]]
** The reveal of [[spoiler:The Mastermind]] also adds additional context to Mr. Robot: [[spoiler: while he's continuously said that he will always protect Elliot, we weren't fully aware that he was referring to Real!Elliot.]]
** It's finally revealed why Elliot can see the show's audience and talk to them: [[spoiler: the audience itself is one of Elliot's alters, described by Not!Krysta as "the voyeurs who think they aren’t a part of this despite being here for all of it" (which also explains [[DevelopersForesight why we can't respond to him.]]) When Mastermind!Elliot relinquishes control of Elliot's mind, he tells the audience that they have to relinquish control as well.]]
** [[spoiler:Darlene]] reveals that [[spoiler:she knew Real!Elliot had been replaced by Mastermind!Elliot for the length of the series, but went along with it anyway because it meant she got to spend time with the brother that she loved so much.]]
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler: The streaming images that come out of the projector light, followed by the extreme close-up on Real!Elliot's eye, is a direct homage to the "stargate" sequence of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.]]
** The surreal sequence on Coney Island with [[spoiler: a bunch of bystanders in a crowd all wearing Mr. Robot's face]] seems to be a pretty clear homage to a similar scene in ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich''.

** [[spoiler: We never find out whether Whiterose's machine would have worked or what it was even supposed to do. A news report mentions Whiterose's death but does not mention the machine. It also conveniently exploded during the deactivation process, probably because it was never designed to be shut down properly.[[note]]We also never learn why the machine's intended move to the Congo specifically was so important, despite China already annexing the country back in Season 2[[/note]]]]
** [[spoiler: Though it's safe to assume that Tyrell died [[Recap/MrRobotS04E04 earlier in the season]], no one brings him up.]]
* TomatoInTheMirror : This is what happens to [[spoiler: The mastermind when he realized he is not the real Elliot.]]

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler:When addressing Mastermind!Elliot as themselves does not work, the family (Mr. Robot, his wife and Child!Elliot) take the form of Krista Gordon, his therapist, to break the truth to him.]]
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Grace Gummer, Portia Doubleday and Martin Wallström [[TheCameo cameo]] briefly as Dom, Angela and Tyrell (respectively) in Elliot's time loop mind prison. Gloria Reuben reprises her role as Krista Gordon in the mind prison, while Carly Chaikin appears at the very end of the episode as Darlene in the real world.]]

* EyeRecall: Inverted for the second-to-last shot in which [[spoiler:the real Elliot regains control of his mind and the memories of what Mastermind!Elliot did over the (at least) 9 months that he was dormant flood back into him.]]

* POVCam: Used for [[spoiler:the final shot, in which Darlene welcomes Real!Elliot back to the real world. As the audience of the show itself is one of Elliot's alters, we're meant to interpret this [=POV=] shot as us watching Elliot's life alongside Mastermind!Elliot and Mr. Robot in the theatre room in his mind.]]

** Everything that occured in the series, from the formation of fsociety through the 5/9 hack & reversal to the Dark Army wealth redistribution, really did happen. It's just that the perspective we've been perceiving everything through was [[UnreliableNarrator skewed the whole time]]: [[spoiler:the Elliot we've been following for the length of the show is actually its own split personality called The Mastermind, with the real Elliot buried in a GroundhogDayLoop of a LotusEaterMachine, as mentioned above.]] Whiterose's machine [[spoiler:did not in fact activate; the machine was successfully deactivated by Elliot through the eXit program, but it ended up exploding as part of its shutdown; this explosion knocked Mastermind!Elliot loose from his control of Elliot's mind and dropped him into Real!Elliot's LotusEaterMachine.]]
** It's confirmed that Mr. Robot aka Edward was the first personality created when Elliot was a child, to replace the real Edward that abused him and tried to shoehorn himself into Elliot's life as a good dad right before he died of cancer. [[spoiler:Elliot then conjured his mother and himself as a child, punisher and concealer of abuse, respectively. Elliot most likely created his mother personality the way he did just to shift the hate he felt for his dad's abuse to her, as he still wanted to idolize his father.]] A month before the series proper, [[spoiler:The Mastermind personality, created by Elliot to deal with his anger at the world, took over his mind and pushed Real!Elliot into the mind prison and removed the concept of Darlene from it so that Real!Elliot couldn't see the exit. One can assume that the drawings of fsociety found on Real!Elliot's computer and his belief that they were fictional characters he made up were his mind's way of coping with the discrepancies in his memories left behind when Mastermind!Elliot took over.]]
** The reveal of [[spoiler:The Mastermind]] also adds additional context to Mr. Robot: [[spoiler:while he's continuously said that he will always protect Elliot, we weren't fully aware that he was referring to Real!Elliot.]]

* TomatoInTheMirror : This is what happens to [[spoiler:The mastermind when he realized he is not the real Elliot.]]

** It's confirmed that Mr. Robot aka Edward was the first personality created when Elliot was a child, to replace the real Edward that abused him and tried to shoehorn himself into Elliot's life as a good dad right before he died of cancer. [[spoiler:Elliot then conjured his mother and himself as a child, punisher and concealer of abuse, respectively. Elliot most likely created his mother personality the way he did just to shift the hate he felt for his dad's abuse to her, as he still wanted to idolize his father.]] A month before the series proper, [[spoiler:The Mastermind personality, created by Elliot to deal with his anger at the world, took over his mind and pushed Real!Elliot into the mind prison and removed the concept of Darlene from it so that Real!Elliot couldn't see the exit.]]

* CallBack: Plenty of moments throughout the series pop up in flashes during TheReveal, hinting at the {{Foreshadowing}} that had been laid out ever since the show began.

* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:Mastermind!Elliot trapped Real!Elliot in a perfect time loop in which he is the CEO of [=AllSafe=], he wins the F Corp contract bid, his father Edward is still alive and running the Mr. Robot store, and he is set to marry Angela the next day. Mastermind!Elliot did this to keep Real!Elliot pacified while he used his prolific coding skills to dismantle the cruel, capitalist nature of society that surrounds him.]]

** Everything that occured in the series, from the formation of fsociety through the 5/9 hack/reversal to the Dark Army wealth redistribution, really did happen. It's just that the perspective we've been perceiving everything through was [[UnreliableNarrator skewed the whole time]]: [[spoiler:the Elliot we've been following for the length of the show is actually its own split personality called The Mastermind, with the real Elliot buried in a GroundhogDayLoop of a LotusEaterMachine.]] Whiterose's machine [[spoiler:did not in fact activate; the machine was successfully deactivated by Elliot through the eXit program, but it ended up exploding as part of the shutdown; this explosion knocked Mastermind!Elliot loose from his control of Elliot's mind and dropped him into the LotusEaterMachine he built specifically to occupy Real!Elliot's personality.]]
** It's confirmed that Mr. Robot aka Edward was the first personality created when Elliot was a child, to replace the real Edward that abused him and tried to shoehorn himself in as a good dad right before he died of cancer. [[spoiler:Elliot then conjured his mother and himself as a child, punisher and concealer of abuse, respectively. It can be theorized that he created his mother personality in this way just to shift the punishment and abuse from his dad, whom he idolized, to her.]] A month before the series proper, [[spoiler:The Mastermind personality, created by Elliot to deal with his anger at the world, took over his mind and pushed Real!Elliot into the LotusEaterMachine described above. Darlene does not exist in the mind prison because she anchors Real!Elliot.]]
** It's finally revealed why Elliot can see the show's audience and talk to them: [[spoiler: the audience itself is one of Elliot's alters, described by Not!Krysta as "the voyeurs who think they aren’t a part of this despite being here for all of it." When Mastermind!Elliot relinquishes control of Elliot's mind, he tells the audience that they have to relinquish control as well.]]
** [[spoiler: Darlene reveals that she knew Real!Elliot had been replaced by Mastermind!Elliot throughout the entire series, but went along with it anyway because it meant she got to spend time with the brother that she loved so much.]]

** [[spoiler: We never find out whether Whiterose's machine would have worked or what it was even supposed to do. A news report mentions Whiterose's death but does not mention the machine. It also conveniently exploded during the deactivation process, probably because it was never designed to be shut down properly.]]

* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:Mastermind!Elliot trapped Real!Elliot in a perfect time loop in which he is the CEO of [=AllSafe=], he wins the F Corp contract bid, and is set to marry Angela the next day. Mastermind!Elliot did this to keep Real!Elliot safe while he uses his skills to dismantle the cruel, capitalist nature of society that surrounds him.]]

** Everything that occured in the series, from the formation of fsociety through the 5/9 hack/reversal to the Dark Army wealth redistribution, really did happen. [[spoiler:Whiterose's machine did not in fact activate; the explosion of the deactivating machine knocked Mastermind!Elliot loose from his control of Elliot's mind and dropped him into the LotusEaterMachine he built for Real!Elliot's personality.]]
** [[spoiler: Elliot first created Edward as an alter to replace his own father with a much kinder version. He then conjured his mother and himself as a child, punisher and concealer of abuse, respectively. Years later, Mastermind!Elliott, the Elliot we've known throughout the series, was created to help Elliot deal with his anger at the world.]]

** [[spoiler: Darlene knew that Real!Elliot had been replaced by Mastermind!Elliot throughout the entire series.]]
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler: The streaming images that come out of the projector light, followed by the extreme close-up on (presumably) Real!Elliot's eye, is a direct homage to the "stargate" sequence of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.]]

** [[spoiler: We never find out whether Whiterose's machine would have worked, just that it was successfully deactivated by Elliot (though it did conveniently explode during that deactivation process.)]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[RealitySubtext Come on. This only works if you let go too."'']]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[RealitySubtext Come on. This only works if you let go too."'']]

* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Grace Gummer, Angela Moss and Martin Wallström [[TheCameo cameo]] briefly as Dom, Angela and Tyrell (respectively) in Elliot's time loop mind prison. Gloria Reuben reprises her role as Krista Gordon in the mind prison, while Carly Chaikin appears at the very end of the episode as Darlene in the real world.]]

** [[spoiler: We never find out what exactly Whiterose's machine was, just that it was successfully deactivated by Elliot (though it did conveniently explode during that deactivation process.)]]
** [[spoiler: Though it's safe to assume that Tyrell died [[Recap/MrRobotS04E04 earlier in the season]], no-one brings him up.]]

* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:Mastermind!Elliot trapped Real!Elliot in a perfect time loop in which he is the CEO of AllSafe, he wins the F Corp contract bid, and is set to marry Angela the next day. Mastermind!Elliot did this to keep Real!Elliot safe while he uses his skills to dismantle the cruel, capitalist nature of society that surrounds him.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The Elliot we've known throughout the series is the third alter, who was created to help the real Elliot deal with his anger at the world.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding