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* AppealToAuthority: One of Dyatlov's trademark bully tactics during the lethally unsafe test is to constantly appeal to his title and years on the job when his subordinates protest that he's breaking every safety procedure they have.
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July 1987. As the court digests the full truth of what happened, Legasov re-iterates that for as reckless as Dyatlov's actions were, he would probably never have undertaken them had he known of the flaw in the AZ-5 system. The judge reminds Legasov that this contradicts what he said in Vienna, to which Legasov admits frankly that his testimony was a lie -- and indeed, that the entire disaster was the result of secrecy and lies, bourne out of a desire to avoid the Soviet Union's nuclear technologies being seen as anything other than the best in the world, even if it comes at the cost of people's lives. He concludes his testimony by saying "That is how an RBMK reactor cire explodes. Lies."
to:
July 1987. As the court digests the full truth of what happened, Legasov re-iterates that for as reckless as Dyatlov's actions were, he would probably never have undertaken them had he known of the flaw in the AZ-5 system. The judge reminds Legasov that this contradicts what he said in Vienna, to which Legasov admits frankly that his testimony was a lie -- and indeed, that the entire disaster was the result of secrecy and lies, bourne out of a desire to avoid the Soviet Union's nuclear technologies being seen as anything other than the best in the world, even if it comes at the cost of people's lives. He concludes his testimony by saying "That is how an RBMK reactor cire core explodes. Lies."
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April 1986. It's a normal enough morning in the town of Pripyat. Vasily and Lyudmilla Ignatenko are out shopping and talking to some neighbors. Sitnikov is outside with his wife and daughter. Yuvchenko is playing with his son. And among all of this, Dyatlov is on his way to work. In Bryukhanov's office, Fomin confides in Dyatlov that their boss is in line for a big promotion which will likely lead to them in turn getting promotions -- just so long as Dyatlov successfully completes the safety test scheduled for that afternoon. An irate Bryukhanov then arrives in the office and complains that the grid controller in Kyiv has forbidden Reactor 4 from being fully reduced to the 700MW power level required for the test. Fomin reassures him that's it's not a problem, and that they can keep the reactor at half power, 1,600MW, until that night.
to:
April 1986. It's a normal enough morning in the town of Pripyat. Yuvchenko is playing with his son. Sitnikov is outside with his wife and daughter. Dr. Zinchenko is enjoying a swim. Vasily and Lyudmilla Ignatenko are out shopping and talking to some neighbors. Sitnikov is outside with his wife and daughter. Yuvchenko is playing with his son. And among all of this, Dyatlov is on his way to work. In Bryukhanov's office, Fomin confides in Dyatlov that their boss is in line for a big promotion which will likely lead to them in turn getting promotions -- just so long as Dyatlov successfully completes the safety test scheduled for that afternoon. An irate Bryukhanov then arrives in the office and complains that the grid controller in Kyiv has forbidden Reactor 4 from being fully reduced to the 700MW power level required for the test. Fomin reassures him that's it's not a problem, and that they can keep the reactor at half power, 1,600MW, until that night.
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Legasov, Shcherbina, and Khomyuk testify at the trial for the Chernobyl managers, where their testimonies are intercut with flashbacks showing the buildup to the explosion.
to:
April 1986. It's a normal enough morning in the town of Pripyat. Vasily and Lyudmilla Ignatenko are out shopping and talking to some neighbors. Sitnikov is outside with his wife and daughter. Yuvchenko is playing with his son. And among all of this, Dyatlov is on his way to work. In Bryukhanov's office, Fomin confides in Dyatlov that their boss is in line for a big promotion which will likely lead to them in turn getting promotions -- just so long as Dyatlov successfully completes the safety test scheduled for that afternoon. An irate Bryukhanov then arrives in the office and complains that the grid controller in Kyiv has forbidden Reactor 4 from being fully reduced to the 700MW power level required for the test. Fomin reassures him that's it's not a problem, and that they can keep the reactor at half power, 1,600MW, until that night.
March 1987. As he buys a pack of cigarettes, Legasov,Shcherbina, whose health is already starting to visibly deteriorate, is called into a nearby car. Its occupant turns out to be Charkov, who congratulates him on his recent speech to Vienna, and tells him that Gorbachev intends to reward him with the Soviet Union's highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union -- just so long as he maintains the narrative that the accident was purely the fault of Dyatlov, Bryukhanov, and Fomin at their upcoming trial. After Legasov returns home, he's visited by Khomyuk, who reveals that several members of the Soviet scientific community will be present at the trial, and demands that Legasov lay clear the full extent of the flaws in the RBMK design. Legasov is conflicted, sure that there will be dire consequences if he does so, but also having gotten no reassurances from Charkov in their meeting that anything would be done to fix the remaining reactors.
July 1987. The trial of Anatoly Dyatlov, Viktor Bryukhanov, and Nikolai Fomin is convened in the abandoned town of Chernobyl. Scherbina is first to give testimony, and he explains the need for the safety test that was carried out on that fateful night 15 months prior. The RBMK reactor is dependent on external power to run its cooling systems, and in the event of the power failing, it would take a minute for the backup power generators to fully kick in, potentially leading to a meltdown. To prevent this, the operators are supposed to divert power from the turbine to run the cooling systems until the backup generators can kick in, and this test has to be completed before the reactor can go on-line. Bryukhanov, Dyatlov, and Scherbina in fact never carried out the test before the reactor went on-line in 1983, but falsely claimed that they had, so that they could get state honors and cash bonuses. The three times they tried it all ended in failure, and the fourth time was on April 26, 1986.
Khomyuk then takes over the testimony, and reveals that the test was meant to take place during the afternoon of April 25, and should have been scrapped entirely when the grid controller refused to allow it to take place as planned, but that the management decided to instead hold it that night. This resulted in the day shift, who had been trained to carry out the test, being replaced by the night shift.
April 1986. Toptunov arrives for his usual night shift at Reactor 4, and is quickly called into the control room, where Akimov briefs him on the test that's meant to be taking place. However, the two men are confused by the instructions, half of which are crossed out. Akimov calls the staff in Reactor 3, who advise him to still follow the crossed-out instructions. Dyatlov then arrives and, after taking a moment to chew out turbine engineer Igor Kirschenbaum for not having read up on a test he wasn't expecting to carry out until moments beforehand, instructs Toptunov to bring the reactor down to the required 700MW.
July 1987. Khomyuk likens the situation that Toptunov was in to Yuri Gagarin having been forced to undertake his mission into space with minimal training, no prior warning, and only a list of half-crossed-out instructions to guide him. She adds that the bigger consequence of the delay was a "poison" building up in the reactor core.
Legasov is next to testify, and explains how the reactor works under normal conditions, with the reactivity balanced by various factors, chiefly the control rods and level of cooling water in the reactor. He also emphasizes the RBMK's positive void coefficient, meaning that as the cooling water boils away, it causes a positive feedback effect that further increases the reactor's power, the opposite of how most nuclear reactors are designed. In the case of Reactor 4 on that night, the balance had been disrupted in the other direction by a build-up of xenon during the hours it had been operating at half-power.
April 1986. Toptunov is bringing the power down to the required 700MW, at a slower pace than Dyatlov would like, when the power level suddenly drops to 500MW without any warning, despite Toptunov not operating the control rods at that moment. Akimov realizes that the core is being poisoned by a xenon build-up, and requests Dyatlov's permission to disable the reactor's automatic regulation systems for long enough to bring it back up to power. Dyatlov agrees, but when Akimov and Toptunov disable the automatic system, it has the opposite effect of what was intended and causes the power to completely crater, ending up at just 30MW. Dyatlov is absolutely infuriated, and despite Akimov's pleading that the safety regulations require a complete shutdown and 24-hour wait for the xenon to decay away, Dyatlov orders him and Toptunov to get the power back to 700MW by any means necessary, threatening to have them ReassignedToAntarctica if they fail.
July 1987. Dyatlov suddenly interrupts Legasov's testimony to claim that he wasn't in the control room at that time, and that Akimov and Toptunov started raising the power of their own accord. This only serves to irk the prosecutor, Stepashin, who points out that both of the deceased men testified to the contrary. Scherbina then suffers a coughing fit, and the presiding judge decides that this is as good of a time as any for a recess. Outside, Scherbina fills in Legasov on the history of the town of Chernobyl, noting that its population was previously all but wiped out during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but that people came back to live in the town anyway, until their blundering around with atomic energy rendered the town permanently uninhabitable. Scherbina then confides in Legasov that his own health situation is similarly grim, if not more so, and that he'll be lucky to be alive by the end of the following year. Succumbing to despair, Scherbina laments that his life and career never amounted to much, but Legasov reassures him that couldn't be any further than the truth; everything that was needed to contain the disaster was obtained through Scherbina, meaning that he saved far more lives than either one of them will ever know.
When the proceedings resume, Legasov tells the court that the xenon levels in the reactor core were too strong for there to be any easy, let alone safe way of raising the power level. The only thing that Akimov and Toptunov could do was start removing the control rods, ultimately leading to them removing all but six of the reactor's 211 control rods.
April 1986. Despite their best efforts, Akimov and Toptunov can only get the reactor up to 200MW. Dyatlov figures this is good enough, despite it being less than a third of what the test requires, and Akimov's protests that the steam levels and turbine speed are both too low for the test to deliver any valid results. By now, Stolyarchuk and Kirschenbaum are similarly convinced that what they're doing is extremely dangerous, but Dyatlov doesn't want to know, and orders them to get things ready for the test. The reactor's SKALA monitoring system prints out a report, warning them that too few control rods are in the reactor and that they should shut down immediately, which is similarly blown off by Dyatlov. Finally, Dyatlov orders the test to begin, shutting off the supply of fresh cooling water. The remaining water begins to boil, at which point the reactor's positive void coefficient kicks in, burning up the xenon which had been slowing down the reaction, and causing the reactor's power to spike fivefold within a matter of seconds.
July 1987. Legasov begins to describe the function of the AZ-5 button, which fully inserts all the control rods at once. He pauses, pondering whether or not to reveal the full truth behind the disaster, but before he can do so, Dyatlov interjects and calls the trial a sham, accusing Legasov and Khomyuktestify of both spinning lies to convict him and his two co-defendants, neither of whom is very grateful for his input. The presiding judge decides that Dyatlov's outburst is as good as a confession, and announces that no further testimony from Legasov will be required. Scherbina then speaks up and demands that Legasov be allowed to continue, which the judge reluctantly permits. Legasov says that Dyatlov broke every rule in the book and pushed Reactor 4 to the point of self-destruction, but that he did so under the belief that the AZ-5 button would prevent disaster. Unbeknownst to him and the reactor's operators, however, there was a fatal flaw in the system, namely the graphite tips of the control rods, which accelerate the reaction before it's stopped. Upon being asked why the control rods were designed this way, Legasov bluntly responds that it's for the same reason the Soviet Union is the only country to build and operate a reactor as poorly-designed and lethally dangerous as the RBMK -- it's cheaper. The court attendees are simultaneously irked by this insult to their national pride, and alarmed at the implications of exactly what unfolded that night.
April 1986. Akimov reacts to the power spike by hitting the AZ-5 button, beginning the insertion of all the fuel rods into the reactor. The already-accelerated reaction rate further increases, instantly vaporizing all the cooling water in the reactor. The increase in steam pressure damages the fuel rod mechanism and locks the graphite tips in place, which combine with the positive void coefficient to begin a colossal chain reaction, ripping the fuel channels apart, releasing more energy, and increasing the steam pressure to unimaginable levels. Perevozchenko, in the reactor hall, sees the fuel caps -- each of which weighs the same as three large men -- jumping up and down, and flees in a fruitless attempt to warn the control room of the impending disaster. Khodemchuk and Degtaryenko watch as the pumps begin to burst open from the overpressure, but have no chance of avoiding the blast that will imminently claim both their lives. The control room staffers, meanwhile watch in astonishment as the power spikes to ''33,000MW'', over ten times what it was designed to operate at, and likely a mere fraction of the actual power output. Finally, the steam overpressure blows the lid off the core, and the inrush of oxygen combines with hydrogen, superheated graphite, and the remains of the fuel rods to produce a titanic explosion which utterly destroys the reactor and most of the surrounding building, scattering chunks of graphite and fuel rod around the immediate vicinity.
July 1987. As the court digests the full truth of what happened, Legasov re-iterates that for as reckless as Dyatlov's actions were, he would probably never have undertaken them had he known of the flaw in the AZ-5 system. The judge reminds Legasov that this contradicts what he said in Vienna, to which Legasov admits frankly that his testimony was a lie -- and indeed, that the entire disaster was the result of secrecy and lies, bourne out of a desire to avoid the Soviet Union's nuclear technologies being seen as anything other than the best in the world, even if it comes at the cost of people's lives. He concludes his testimony by saying "That is how an RBMK reactor cire explodes. Lies."
Legasov is immediately taken from the courtroom to a bathroom, where he's eventually confronted by the enraged Charkov, who threatens him with the death penalty. Charkov then admits that they can't actually punish Legasov in any real way, as his appearance in Vienna would lead to too many questions if he suddenly disappeared. Instead, his testimony at the trial will be disavowed and kept secret, he will hold his job in name only and not be permitted any actual duties, and the history books will be rewritten to give credit for his accomplishments to other people. Charkov demands to know whether Scherbina or Khomyuk were complicit in Legasov's actions; Legasov denies it, which Charkov doesn't believe for a second, but it doesn't make much difference, seeing how Legasov and Scherbina will soon be dead anyway, and Khomyuk already has too much of a reputation as a troublemaker to advance far up the career ladder. Legasov is told that he will spend the rest of his life in seclusion, with the implication of dire consequences for himself, Scherbina, and/or Khomyuk if he ever communicates with them in any way again -- and, for that matter, anyone else he tries to tell the truth of Chernobylmanagers, where their testimonies are intercut to. Legasov asks what will happen if he refuses, but Charkov tells him not to worry about something that's never going to happen. "That's perfect. They should put that on our money." snarks Legasov.
As he's led away to begin his life of isolation and ignominy, Legasov shares one last look withflashbacks showing Scherbina and Khomyuk, knowing that they at least tried to do the buildup right thing, and hoping that it will somehow, someday pay off. An except from Legasov's tape recording plays us out:
->''"To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait, for all time. And this, at last, is theexplosion.
gift of Chernobyl. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: What is the cost of lies?"''
March 1987. As he buys a pack of cigarettes, Legasov,
July 1987. The trial of Anatoly Dyatlov, Viktor Bryukhanov, and Nikolai Fomin is convened in the abandoned town of Chernobyl. Scherbina is first to give testimony, and he explains the need for the safety test that was carried out on that fateful night 15 months prior. The RBMK reactor is dependent on external power to run its cooling systems, and in the event of the power failing, it would take a minute for the backup power generators to fully kick in, potentially leading to a meltdown. To prevent this, the operators are supposed to divert power from the turbine to run the cooling systems until the backup generators can kick in, and this test has to be completed before the reactor can go on-line. Bryukhanov, Dyatlov, and Scherbina in fact never carried out the test before the reactor went on-line in 1983, but falsely claimed that they had, so that they could get state honors and cash bonuses. The three times they tried it all ended in failure, and the fourth time was on April 26, 1986.
Khomyuk then takes over the testimony, and reveals that the test was meant to take place during the afternoon of April 25, and should have been scrapped entirely when the grid controller refused to allow it to take place as planned, but that the management decided to instead hold it that night. This resulted in the day shift, who had been trained to carry out the test, being replaced by the night shift.
April 1986. Toptunov arrives for his usual night shift at Reactor 4, and is quickly called into the control room, where Akimov briefs him on the test that's meant to be taking place. However, the two men are confused by the instructions, half of which are crossed out. Akimov calls the staff in Reactor 3, who advise him to still follow the crossed-out instructions. Dyatlov then arrives and, after taking a moment to chew out turbine engineer Igor Kirschenbaum for not having read up on a test he wasn't expecting to carry out until moments beforehand, instructs Toptunov to bring the reactor down to the required 700MW.
July 1987. Khomyuk likens the situation that Toptunov was in to Yuri Gagarin having been forced to undertake his mission into space with minimal training, no prior warning, and only a list of half-crossed-out instructions to guide him. She adds that the bigger consequence of the delay was a "poison" building up in the reactor core.
Legasov is next to testify, and explains how the reactor works under normal conditions, with the reactivity balanced by various factors, chiefly the control rods and level of cooling water in the reactor. He also emphasizes the RBMK's positive void coefficient, meaning that as the cooling water boils away, it causes a positive feedback effect that further increases the reactor's power, the opposite of how most nuclear reactors are designed. In the case of Reactor 4 on that night, the balance had been disrupted in the other direction by a build-up of xenon during the hours it had been operating at half-power.
April 1986. Toptunov is bringing the power down to the required 700MW, at a slower pace than Dyatlov would like, when the power level suddenly drops to 500MW without any warning, despite Toptunov not operating the control rods at that moment. Akimov realizes that the core is being poisoned by a xenon build-up, and requests Dyatlov's permission to disable the reactor's automatic regulation systems for long enough to bring it back up to power. Dyatlov agrees, but when Akimov and Toptunov disable the automatic system, it has the opposite effect of what was intended and causes the power to completely crater, ending up at just 30MW. Dyatlov is absolutely infuriated, and despite Akimov's pleading that the safety regulations require a complete shutdown and 24-hour wait for the xenon to decay away, Dyatlov orders him and Toptunov to get the power back to 700MW by any means necessary, threatening to have them ReassignedToAntarctica if they fail.
July 1987. Dyatlov suddenly interrupts Legasov's testimony to claim that he wasn't in the control room at that time, and that Akimov and Toptunov started raising the power of their own accord. This only serves to irk the prosecutor, Stepashin, who points out that both of the deceased men testified to the contrary. Scherbina then suffers a coughing fit, and the presiding judge decides that this is as good of a time as any for a recess. Outside, Scherbina fills in Legasov on the history of the town of Chernobyl, noting that its population was previously all but wiped out during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but that people came back to live in the town anyway, until their blundering around with atomic energy rendered the town permanently uninhabitable. Scherbina then confides in Legasov that his own health situation is similarly grim, if not more so, and that he'll be lucky to be alive by the end of the following year. Succumbing to despair, Scherbina laments that his life and career never amounted to much, but Legasov reassures him that couldn't be any further than the truth; everything that was needed to contain the disaster was obtained through Scherbina, meaning that he saved far more lives than either one of them will ever know.
When the proceedings resume, Legasov tells the court that the xenon levels in the reactor core were too strong for there to be any easy, let alone safe way of raising the power level. The only thing that Akimov and Toptunov could do was start removing the control rods, ultimately leading to them removing all but six of the reactor's 211 control rods.
April 1986. Despite their best efforts, Akimov and Toptunov can only get the reactor up to 200MW. Dyatlov figures this is good enough, despite it being less than a third of what the test requires, and Akimov's protests that the steam levels and turbine speed are both too low for the test to deliver any valid results. By now, Stolyarchuk and Kirschenbaum are similarly convinced that what they're doing is extremely dangerous, but Dyatlov doesn't want to know, and orders them to get things ready for the test. The reactor's SKALA monitoring system prints out a report, warning them that too few control rods are in the reactor and that they should shut down immediately, which is similarly blown off by Dyatlov. Finally, Dyatlov orders the test to begin, shutting off the supply of fresh cooling water. The remaining water begins to boil, at which point the reactor's positive void coefficient kicks in, burning up the xenon which had been slowing down the reaction, and causing the reactor's power to spike fivefold within a matter of seconds.
July 1987. Legasov begins to describe the function of the AZ-5 button, which fully inserts all the control rods at once. He pauses, pondering whether or not to reveal the full truth behind the disaster, but before he can do so, Dyatlov interjects and calls the trial a sham, accusing Legasov and Khomyuk
April 1986. Akimov reacts to the power spike by hitting the AZ-5 button, beginning the insertion of all the fuel rods into the reactor. The already-accelerated reaction rate further increases, instantly vaporizing all the cooling water in the reactor. The increase in steam pressure damages the fuel rod mechanism and locks the graphite tips in place, which combine with the positive void coefficient to begin a colossal chain reaction, ripping the fuel channels apart, releasing more energy, and increasing the steam pressure to unimaginable levels. Perevozchenko, in the reactor hall, sees the fuel caps -- each of which weighs the same as three large men -- jumping up and down, and flees in a fruitless attempt to warn the control room of the impending disaster. Khodemchuk and Degtaryenko watch as the pumps begin to burst open from the overpressure, but have no chance of avoiding the blast that will imminently claim both their lives. The control room staffers, meanwhile watch in astonishment as the power spikes to ''33,000MW'', over ten times what it was designed to operate at, and likely a mere fraction of the actual power output. Finally, the steam overpressure blows the lid off the core, and the inrush of oxygen combines with hydrogen, superheated graphite, and the remains of the fuel rods to produce a titanic explosion which utterly destroys the reactor and most of the surrounding building, scattering chunks of graphite and fuel rod around the immediate vicinity.
July 1987. As the court digests the full truth of what happened, Legasov re-iterates that for as reckless as Dyatlov's actions were, he would probably never have undertaken them had he known of the flaw in the AZ-5 system. The judge reminds Legasov that this contradicts what he said in Vienna, to which Legasov admits frankly that his testimony was a lie -- and indeed, that the entire disaster was the result of secrecy and lies, bourne out of a desire to avoid the Soviet Union's nuclear technologies being seen as anything other than the best in the world, even if it comes at the cost of people's lives. He concludes his testimony by saying "That is how an RBMK reactor cire explodes. Lies."
Legasov is immediately taken from the courtroom to a bathroom, where he's eventually confronted by the enraged Charkov, who threatens him with the death penalty. Charkov then admits that they can't actually punish Legasov in any real way, as his appearance in Vienna would lead to too many questions if he suddenly disappeared. Instead, his testimony at the trial will be disavowed and kept secret, he will hold his job in name only and not be permitted any actual duties, and the history books will be rewritten to give credit for his accomplishments to other people. Charkov demands to know whether Scherbina or Khomyuk were complicit in Legasov's actions; Legasov denies it, which Charkov doesn't believe for a second, but it doesn't make much difference, seeing how Legasov and Scherbina will soon be dead anyway, and Khomyuk already has too much of a reputation as a troublemaker to advance far up the career ladder. Legasov is told that he will spend the rest of his life in seclusion, with the implication of dire consequences for himself, Scherbina, and/or Khomyuk if he ever communicates with them in any way again -- and, for that matter, anyone else he tries to tell the truth of Chernobyl
As he's led away to begin his life of isolation and ignominy, Legasov shares one last look with
->''"To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait, for all time. And this, at last, is the
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* ArmourPiercingResponse: After being asked by the judge why the reactors have a fatal design flaw, Legasov states it´s the same reason why the entire soviet nuclear plan has other serious flaws that he lists and then:
---> '''Legasov:''' [[CuttingCorners It's cheaper]].
---> '''Legasov:''' [[CuttingCorners It's cheaper]].
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* KangarooCourt: Legasov outright says that Dyatlov, Fomin and Bryukhanov will only get a show trial in a conversation he has with Khomyuk.
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* KangarooCourt: Legasov outright says that Dyatlov, Fomin and Bryukhanov will only get a show trial in a conversation he has with Khomyuk. In a rarity for this trope, the trio actually ''are'' guilty of everything they're being accused of, with the trial being corrupt in the sense that it's designed to portray the disaster as purely the result of their incompetence, rather than just the end result of a dangerously flawed reactor design on top of a culture that values loyalty, ideology, and secrecy over anything else.
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* SolemnEndingTheme: The theme that plays during the RealPersonEpilogue, and the credit themes (which often are also ''[[DroneOfDread scary]]'' ending themes.
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* SolemnEndingTheme: The theme that plays during the RealPersonEpilogue, and the credit themes (which often are also ''[[DroneOfDread scary]]'' ending themes.themes).
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* ThreatBackfire: During Legasov's testimony, the presiding judge warns him that if he continues with his implications that the Soviet state holds some responsibility for the events of the Chernobyl disaster, he will find himself "on dangerous ground". This might have carried more weight if directed at a man who ''hadn't'' spent months working around the irradiated grounds of a destroyed nuclear power plant -- the same land near where the trial is being conducted -- and who knows full well that thanks to radiation poisoning he will be dead soon whether or not the Soviet authorities decide to execute him for his insubordination:
-->'''Legasov:''' I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on [[AnalogyBackfire dangerous ground]] right now.
-->'''Legasov:''' I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on [[AnalogyBackfire dangerous ground]] right now.
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* BittersweetEnding: The disaster is contained, but at great cost in human life. The surrounding area is an irradiated no-man's land, though life is slowly creeping back into the area. Steps are taken to prevent another such disaster happening again, but Legasov is forced into social isolation for speaking out and commits suicide two years after the disaster, but his martyrdom spurs the Soviet nuclear industry to correct the dangerous flaws in the RBMK reactor design. Shcherbina dies within five years of the disaster, just as predicted. According to the epilogue, The people of Pripyat and the surrounding evacuated areas were able to move on and start new lives, and Lyudmilla even had a son despite being deemed infertile, while Gorbachev believed that the disaster led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: The disaster is contained, but at great cost in human life. The surrounding area is an irradiated no-man's land, though life is slowly creeping back into the area. Steps are taken to prevent another such disaster happening again, but Legasov is forced into social isolation for speaking out and commits suicide two years after the disaster, but disaster. However, his martyrdom spurs the Soviet nuclear industry to correct the dangerous flaws in the RBMK reactor design. Shcherbina dies within five years of the disaster, just as predicted. According to the epilogue, The people of Pripyat and the surrounding evacuated areas were able to move on and start new lives, and Lyudmilla even had a son despite being deemed infertile, while Gorbachev believed that the disaster led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* BittersweetEnding: The disaster is contained, but at great cost in human life. The surrounding area is an irradiated no-man's land, though life is slowly creeping back into the area. Steps are taken to prevent another such disaster happening again, but Legasov is forced into social isolation for speaking out and commits suicide two years after the disaster, and Shcherbina dies within five years of the disaster, just as predicted. According to the epilogue, The people of Pripyat and the surrounding evacuated areas were able to move on and start new lives, and Lyudmilla even had a son despite being deemed infertile, while Gorbachev believed that the disaster led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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* BittersweetEnding: The disaster is contained, but at great cost in human life. The surrounding area is an irradiated no-man's land, though life is slowly creeping back into the area. Steps are taken to prevent another such disaster happening again, but Legasov is forced into social isolation for speaking out and commits suicide two years after the disaster, and but his martyrdom spurs the Soviet nuclear industry to correct the dangerous flaws in the RBMK reactor design. Shcherbina dies within five years of the disaster, just as predicted. According to the epilogue, The people of Pripyat and the surrounding evacuated areas were able to move on and start new lives, and Lyudmilla even had a son despite being deemed infertile, while Gorbachev believed that the disaster led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Charkov's reason you suck speech to Legasov
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** Charkov delivers a short, muted, but ''devastating'' one to Legasov, listing his affiliations with, membership in, and actions for the Party. Charkov's placcid demeanor holds until he notes that Legasov blocked the promotion of Jewish scientists to curry favour. The flicker of disgust and anger on Charkov's face shows he regards Legasov as an antisemitic hypocrite who is 'merely a dying man who forgot himself.'
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* {{Irony}}: As Khomyuk lampshades at the start of her testimony:
-->'''Khomyuk:''' It begin with, of all things, a safety test.
-->'''Khomyuk:''' It begin with, of all things, a safety test.
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* {{Irony}}: As Khomyuk Shcherbina lampshades at the start of her his testimony:
-->'''Khomyuk:''' -->'''Shcherbina:''' It begin began with, of all things, a safety test.
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Changed line(s) 84 (click to see context) from:
* PoorCommunicationKills: As Legasov points out, even someone as pig-headed as Dyatlov probably wouldn't have been so reckless if he'd have been told about the crucial design flaw in the reactor control rods.
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* PoorCommunicationKills: As Legasov points out, even someone as pig-headed as Dyatlov probably wouldn't have been so reckless if he'd have been told about the crucial design flaw in the reactor control rods. (Indeed, the real Dyatlov was adamant that the reactor's flawed design was what caused the disaster.)
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* AllForNothing: Subverted. Shcherbina, now diagnosed with terminal cancer, muses to Legasov how he has spent is entire life working for the government only to be sent to certain death in the end. He laments that he is an "inconsequential man" whose life was wasted in the pursuit of self-importance. Legasov rebuffs him, pointing out that no one else could have directed the clean up, rallied the troops, or acquired all the resources that made the operation possible as well as Shcherbina. Far from it, Shcherbina's actions ended being just as important, if not more so, than any of the scientists or workers. He really did matter in the end.
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* AllForNothing: Subverted. Shcherbina, now diagnosed with terminal cancer, muses to Legasov how he has spent is his entire life working for the government only to be sent to certain death in the end. He laments that he is an "inconsequential man" whose life was wasted in the pursuit of self-importance. Legasov rebuffs him, pointing out that no one else could have directed the clean up, rallied the troops, or acquired all the resources that made the operation possible as well as Shcherbina. Far from it, Shcherbina's actions ended being just as important, if not more so, than any of the scientists or workers. He really did matter in the end.
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The trial was not televised. That's why the state could supress Legasov's testimony
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Legasov does this to the ''entire Soviet state'' during his testimony at Dyatlov's ''nationally televised'' trial, stating that the entire reason the Chernobyl explosion happened in the first place was because the workers were not told that the AZ-5 button, which was ''supposed'' to serve as a fail-safe during an emergency situation, could [[FailSafeFailure actually trigger a disaster]]; all sixteen of the other existing RBMK reactors have the same design flaw. The Soviet Union lies constantly whenever they're confronted with an unpleasant truth, such as having to admit that the disaster even ''happened at all'', and the only reason that Legasov didn't tell the truth in Vienna was because he was ordered by the authorities to lie.
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Legasov does this to the ''entire Soviet state'' during his testimony at Dyatlov's ''nationally televised'' trial, stating that the entire reason the Chernobyl explosion happened in the first place was because the workers were not told that the AZ-5 button, which was ''supposed'' to serve as a fail-safe during an emergency situation, could [[FailSafeFailure actually trigger a disaster]]; all sixteen of the other existing RBMK reactors have the same design flaw. The Soviet Union lies constantly whenever they're confronted with an unpleasant truth, such as having to admit that the disaster even ''happened at all'', and the only reason that Legasov didn't tell the truth in Vienna was because he was ordered by the authorities to lie.
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** Many people in the Court Room reacts like this when Legasov informs that the Cernobyl Power Plant used a more unstable cooling system than western power plants because it was cheaper.
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** Many people in the Court Room reacts like this when Legasov informs that the Cernobyl Chernobyl Power Plant used a more unstable cooling system than western power plants because it was cheaper.
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Akimov and Toptunov try to review the sequence for the rundown test, but find many of the steps are crossed out. They are then told to follow the crossed out instructions. During the trial, Khomyuk compares this to Yuri Gagarin being told nothing of his mission into space until he's on the launchpad, with nothing more than an instruction manual he's never seen before.
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe:
** Akimov and Toptunov try to review the sequence for the rundown test, but find many of the steps are crossed out. They are then told to follow the crossed out instructions. During the trial, Khomyuk compares this to Yuri Gagarin being told nothing of his mission into space until he's on the launchpad, with nothing more than an instruction manual he's never seen before.
** Many people in the Court Room reacts like this when Legasov informs that the Cernobyl Power Plant used a more unstable cooling system than western power plants because it was cheaper.
** Akimov and Toptunov try to review the sequence for the rundown test, but find many of the steps are crossed out. They are then told to follow the crossed out instructions. During the trial, Khomyuk compares this to Yuri Gagarin being told nothing of his mission into space until he's on the launchpad, with nothing more than an instruction manual he's never seen before.
** Many people in the Court Room reacts like this when Legasov informs that the Cernobyl Power Plant used a more unstable cooling system than western power plants because it was cheaper.
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* SuddenlyShouting: Charkov, as he interrogates Legasov at the end.
-->"Scientists... and your idiot obsessions with reasons. When the bullet hits your skull, '''''WHAT WILL IT MATTER WHY?'''''"
-->"Scientists... and your idiot obsessions with reasons. When the bullet hits your skull, '''''WHAT WILL IT MATTER WHY?'''''"
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* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A grid controller in Kiev asks Chernobyl to delay the test in order to satisfy evening demand. Both Fomin and Dyatlov agree that they can simply wait.
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* AccidentalTruth: Dyatlov calls Legasov a liar during the trial in a futile attempt to deflect fault from himself. As it turns out, Legasov has lied at Vienna (and for years before Chernobyl) by order of the KGB.
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* ILied: At the trial, Legasov is asked why his testimony, which featured BrutalHonesty about the reactor's glaring design flaws, contradicts his testimony at Vienna. He bluntly states that the former testimony was a lie.
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Legasov does this to the ''entire Soviet state'' during his testimony at Dyatlov's ''nationally televised'' trial, stating that the entire reason the Chernobyl explosion happened in the first place was because the workers were not told that the AZ-5 button, which was ''supposed'' to serve as a fail-safe during an emergency situation, could [[FailSafeFailure actually trigger a disaster]]; all sixteen of the other existing RBMK reactors have the same design flaw. The Soviet Union lies constantly whenever they're confronted with an unpleasant truth, such as having to admit that the disaster even ''happened at all'', and the only reason that Legasov didn't tell the truth in Vienna was because he was ordered by the authorities to lie.
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* AlreadyTheCase: After Legasov reveals the reactors' design flaw, the judge presiding over the trial warns him that by accusing the state of such a grave error her is "treading on dangerous" ground. Legasov responds, "I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on [[AnalogyBackfire dangerous ground]] right now!" acknowledging that he knows he has already [[SayingTooMuch said too much]] and reminding the court that the very ground they're standing on has been lethally contaminated by the consequence of the state's negligence.
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* AlreadyTheCase: After Legasov reveals the reactors' design flaw, the judge presiding over the trial warns him that by accusing the state of such a grave error her he is "treading on dangerous" ground. Legasov responds, "I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on [[AnalogyBackfire dangerous ground]] right now!" acknowledging that he knows he has already [[SayingTooMuch said too much]] and reminding the court that the very ground they're standing on has been lethally contaminated by the consequence of the state's negligence.
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* AlreadyTheCase: After Legasov reveals the reactors' design flaw, the judge presiding over the trial warns him that by accusing the state of such a grave error her is "treading on dangerous" ground. Legasov responds, "I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on [[AnalogyBackfire dangerous ground]] right now!" acknowledging that he knows he has already [[SayingTooMuch said too much]] and reminding the court that the very ground they're standing on has been lethally contaminated by the consequence of the state's negligence.
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* DescriptionPorn: Much of the episode consists of the three protagonists [[StoryboardingTheApocalypse explaining in moment-by-moment detail just how and why the reactor exploded]], under the assumption that by now the audience will be sufficiently invested in the mystery to enjoy the description. It's helped along by {{flashback}}s to the events being described.
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* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: At the trial, Legasov uses red and blue tiles to illustrate his explanation of how nuclear reactors stay balanced (or, in this case, [[FailsafeFailure don't]]). The red ones represent factors that increase reactivity, while the blue ones are for factors that decrease it. The cards are all labeled, but in Cyrillic like all writing in the show--the creator remarks on the podcast that it doesn't matter because the colors tell the audience all they need to know.
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* AudienceMurmurs: There are several times during the trial when the scientists in attendance are shown reacting to Legasov's testimony. After he [[TheReveal reveals]] that the control rod tips are made of reaction-accelerating graphite, they are shown worriedly murmuring amongst themselves.
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* ConfessToALesserCrime: We find out at the beginning of the episode that Legasov has explained to the international conference in Vienna how human error contributed to the accident, while concealing the deadly design flaw of the reactors. Just as the Kremlin intended, the conference was satisfied by this confession and praised Legasov as a rare [[{{Irony}} "Soviet scientist who tells the truth"]].
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* InfractionDistraction: Legasov has gone to Austria and told a conference how human error caused the explosion, thereby concealing the larger design flaw.
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-->'''Legasov:''' There are other scientists like me. Any one of them could have done what I did. But you . . . everything we asked for, everything we needed; men, material, ''lunar rovers''. Who else could have done these things? They heard me, but they listened to you. Of all the ministers and all the deputies. Entire congregation of obedient fools, they mistakenly sent the one good man. For God's sake Boris, you were the one who mattered the most.
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-->'''Legasov:''' There are other scientists like me. Any one of them could have done what I did. But you . . . everything we asked for, everything we needed; men, material, ''lunar rovers''. Who else could have done these things? They heard me, but they listened to you. Of all the ministers and all the deputies. Entire congregation of obedient fools, they mistakenly sent the one good man. For God's sake Boris, [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre you were the one who mattered the most.most]].
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Akimov and Toptunov try to review the sequence for the rundown test, but find many of the steps are crossed out. They are then told to follow the crossed out instructions. During the trial, Ulana compares this to Yuri Gagarin being told nothing of his mission into space until he's on the launchpad, with nothing more than an instruction manual he's never seen before.
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Akimov and Toptunov try to review the sequence for the rundown test, but find many of the steps are crossed out. They are then told to follow the crossed out instructions. During the trial, Ulana Khomyuk compares this to Yuri Gagarin being told nothing of his mission into space until he's on the launchpad, with nothing more than an instruction manual he's never seen before. before.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: The radiation has done a number on Legasov by 1988; he's only fifty-two when he dies, but looks at least a decade older.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: The radiation has done a number on Legasov by 1988; he's only fifty-two when he dies, but looks at least a decade older.
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* ThrowingOutTheScript: Not with a literal script, but Legasov goes OffTheRails with the testimony he was supposed to give at the trial in episode 5. It's pointed out that he's contradicting what he said in Austria, and Legasov responds that he had lied then.
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* ThrowingOutTheScript: Not with a literal script, but Legasov goes OffTheRails with the testimony he was supposed to give at the trial in episode 5.trial. It's pointed out that he's contradicting what he said in Austria, and Legasov responds that he had lied then.
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* VillainousBSOD: At the trial, Legasov reveals that the AZ-5 [=SCRAM=] system, which is supposed to shut down a nuclear reactor if something goes wrong, had the opposite effect, and Dyatlov gets one of these. The look on his face, as he realizes that the failsafe never would have worked, shows that he finally grasps what his actions led to.
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* VillainousBSOD: At the trial, Legasov reveals that the AZ-5 [=SCRAM=] SCRAM system, which is supposed to shut down a nuclear reactor if something goes wrong, had the opposite effect, and Dyatlov gets one of these. The look on his face, as he realizes that the failsafe never would have worked, shows that he finally grasps what his actions led to.to.
* WhamLine: "It's cheaper."
* WhamLine: "It's cheaper."
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* SuddenPrincipledStand: Legasov is interrupted by Dyatlov, and the frustrated judge declares court adjourned, with all given facts seeming to indicate that the problem was solely operator error. Legasov suddenly interrupts the judge, saying he hadn't finished and had more testimony to give, but he is overruled until Shcherbina himself stands up and commands, "Let him finish," which shocks the whole court into silence and allowing Legasov to reveal the true cause of the disaster and call for a refit of the remaining dangerous reactors.
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* SadisticChoice: The night shift of Reactor 4 can either obey Dyatlov's boneheaded orders to put the reactor into meltdown or get themselves banned from ever working again. They choose the former only because they are unaware of how bad things could get.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Dyatlov tells Akimov and Toptunov that if they don't raise the power back up from 30 immediately (against all safety precautions), he will see to it that they never find work in the nuclear industry again.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Dyatlov tells Akimov and Toptunov that if they don't raise the power back up from 30 immediately (against all safety precautions), he will see to it that they never find work in the nuclear industry again.
