Who Is ‘Citadel’s Traitor and What Does it Mean for Season 2?

We start the show at the end of the powerful spy agency Citadel. In a timed train attack, the series’ two main characters narrowly escape alive and are presumed dead. In addition, Citadel technical genius Bernard Orlik (Stanley Tucci), activates a chip implanted in their brain that erases their memories. We follow Mason KaneRichard Madden) as Orlik slowly initiates him back into his life as a spy and fights agents of the evil Manticore organization over the nuclear codes case. Along the way, we are introduced to his former partner Nadia Shinkh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), Spence’s previous employee (Axis Ikhile) and his new wife Abby/Celesta (Ashley Cummings), who herself used to be an agent of the Citadel. Alternating between flashback and present, the series continually confuses us as to the mole’s identity until the grand reveal at the end.

Who is the “Mole of the Citadel”?

Since most of the Citadel’s agents have been wiped out, there are only five real opportunities for the mole in the series, short of the introduction of an entirely new character. These include Kane, Sheen, Spence, Celeste, and Orlik. In flashback scenes in Episode 4, Kane voices his suspicions that Celeste is a mole. In addition to simply saying that she was a mole, instantly disqualifying her, her late introduction to the series and access to the first level information also made it clear that she was not, removing her from the list of candidates. Similarly, the last couple of episodes have aggressively portrayed Nadia as a double agent, even fans of the spy genre might see this as a red herring. From the current scenes of Orlik’s interrogation by Manticore agent Dahlia (Lesley Manville) and the time of Spence’s torture at the black site, it’s easy to assume they’re clean. Thus, in the elimination process, Kane is easily identified as a mole long before the final.

The show essentially plays into the ending, showing the mole as Kane as his memories return. However, we learn that Kane is actually the son of a Manticore agent, Dahlia. In a flashback scene, we discover that the Citadel was involved in a cover-up when Kane was still a child. The Citadel accidentally sent an air missile to the wrong coordinates, claiming 157 innocent civilian lives, including Dahlia’s husband, Kane’s father. Prior to this, Kane believed that his father had died in a terrorist attack and was shocked to learn that the Citadel was responsible. After Nadia’s disappearance, Kane was especially receptive to Dahlia’s argument that “The Citadel takes the people you love and suffers no repercussions”, leading him to share secret files and information with her in an attempt to destroy the Citadel. As such, Kane is responsible for the fall of the Citadel, as Dahlia uses the information provided to destroy every Citadel agent and facility in one elaborate plan.

What does this mean for the second season of The Citadel?

While the mole’s personality was fairly predictable, its aftermath set the stage for a second season that was much more fun and challenging. Throughout the first season, Kane is a rather bland character, which makes sense given that his memory is being erased, making his personality a blank slate and he’s basically just baffled the entire season. Now that the memories have returned to him, we can not only experience the full power of the arrogant and manipulative personality that the memories hinted at, but also the new complexities inherent in the relationship. With so many unanswered questions on the show, such as how Kane is going to react to his previous relationship with Nadia, what he did with his current wife and his role as a mole, the second season should finally address conflicts that were initially kept under wraps. On the other hand, there is also a clear possibility that he may end up switching sides and being portrayed as a villain, especially considering that along with his memories, he also acquired the nuclear codes.

The ending also creates a gray area that was virtually non-existent in the first season, and which is also a hallmark of spy shows. The first season establishes a simplistic conflict and binarity between the “good” Citadel and the “evil” Manticore, completely ignoring the moral ambiguities that make the spy genre anything more than an action movie with quirky gadgets. It is not until the ending, during Kane’s flashback with Dahlia, that the already established binary system is disrupted and the influence of the Citadel is questioned. Even the fact that Kane, one of the Citadel’s top agents, ended up agreeing to become a double agent probably suggests there is more to both organizations. His motives for destroying the Citadel appear to be based on emotion and ideology, further indicating that there is still much to be learned about the Citadel and their unbridled power. This finally allows the show’s second season to operate in a gray area - we hope it will feature decisions that challenge ethical beliefs and interesting dynamics between agencies that many see as good and evil.