In a series that explores the dark side of the Space Race, there are bound to be some sad moments.
UNMARKED SPOILERS INBOUND.
- In the first episode, Lev reveals the fate of the first animal in space, Maly. He explains how prior to Irina's involvement, the dog was loved by the scientists, including the normally stoic Mozhaysky. However, the death of Maly durung the space mission was so heartbreaking that Mozhaysky actually cried at her death.
- Irina's life is nothing but trauma and all because of the fact that she is a vampire. Firstly, she witnessed her parents literally burnt alive in front of her eyes by Zirnitran troops. Further, as the subject of the Zirnitran Space Program, she literally endures racial and ethnic abuse from nearly everybody, even receiving outright physical violence from the superstitious Vice Director Sagalevich. She keeps her gutsy image to everyone in order to protect herself from the fact that she is afraid of dying. And when she finally gets into space, she laments that she will never be able to reach the Moon and is facing the fact that if the human spaceflight becomes successful, she will be disposed for good.
- A younger Lev witnessing his elementary school teacher being taken away by the Secret Police for teaching the students that rockets are from flight and not as weapons. As much as he hopes that it would be the former, it seems that the Zirnitran government is leaning towards the latter.
