Disney+'s Paradise episode 4 just delivered a heartbreaking death – and now we need these questions answering
Season 2 is bringing all the twists
Paradise on Disney+ is clearly intent on breaking our hearts in season 2. Just four episodes in and the latest instalment, titled A Holy Charge, delivered a death that absolutely blindsided us.
At the start of the episode, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) and Annie (Shailene Woodley) were at a stalemate in Graceland. Xavier needed to get to his wife in Atlanta, Georgia, but was badly injured and not in a state to argue.
Annie, on the other hand, heavily pregnant, was armed with Elvis Presley’s jewel-encrusted gun, and had handcuffed Xavier to the sofa. She was willing to nurse him back to health… but only if he took her to Colorado afterwards so she could reunite with Link.
Here’s how the story played out, some major questions answered, and our new questions for what lies ahead…
***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD***
What is going on with Link?
As Annie and Xavier dealt with their issues in Tennessee, Link was busy making his way to the bunker in Colorado.
Link was clearly a leader among his group – so much so those around him look to him for instructions about what to do next.
After waiting for a train that was delayed, he commanded everyone – easily a hundred people, if not more – to head to Paradise to try and talk to those in charge.
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Once they got there, Link took the lead and, via the bunker’s security camera (and some Love Actually style signs), he demanded to be taken to the leader.
Will he be able to get access to the mysterious ‘Alex’ we keep hearing about?
But that was not even the weird bit about him. Xavier was having visions of Link, despite have never seen him, and having nosebleeds when he did.
The only clue he haf to his identity was the college ID card Annie was keeping hold of. While Xavier kept that hidden from Annie, how exactly are Link and Xavier connected?
What did Annie and Xavier decide?
Annie and Xavier may both have separate missions, but they are both good people. They remained in Graceland for two weeks as Xavier recovered, during which time both of them tried to convince the other to go their way.
Xavier was a bit stunned at Annie’s pregnancy, as he hadn’t seen a pregnant woman in years. The last time was three years ago – five months after The Day that changed everything.
However, there was little time to dwell on it. After all, he was recovering from being stabbed and needed six stitches in his spleen.
Surprisingly, they made quite the pair of homebodies, falling into domestic life together during the two weeks together.
Annie was struggling with swollen feet with her pregnancy, and Xavier helped where he could.
Eventually, they came to an agreement. She’d join him on his trip to Atlanta for Teri, if he took her to Colorado so she could reunite with Link at Paradise.
It did mean leaving Graceland though, which scared Annie as it had always been her safe place. Annie had been alone for a long time because she didn’t trust people even before the world ended. Xavier assured her that being a parent was scary and, although she’d often feel frightened, the reward would make it worth it.
The next day, they headed off on horseback into the world outside.
What happened outside of Graceland?
Once Xavier and Annie hits the road, it was clear Annie was not exaggerating about her fear of other people.
Passing a wagon of people, Xavier wanted to be friendly, but Annie wanted to keep her head down. Especially when they flashed their guns.
Arriving at an abandoned diner, Xavier taught Annie how to swaddle a baby, and assured her anyone who says they’re not scared of becoming a parent is lying. To this comment, she noted her baby was about to be born into literal destruction and storms.
When they went to hit the road again, Annie’s waters broke and she collapsed in agonising pain. She had preeclampsia, high blood pressure and swollen ankles, and if she was not careful it could be fatal.
They headed back inside to try and deliver the baby safely, but when they didn’t have what they needed he ran off to track down the people they saw on the road, leaving her alone.
The group were living in a farmhouse, and weren’t pleased to find him rooting around their kitchen. Despite the awkward first impression, he was able to convince them to help her.
Their help assured the delivery of a healthy baby girl – but Annie was in a bad way when her placenta wouldn’t disconnect. She started bleeding heavily, and there was nothing they could do.
Tragically, Xavier held her as she died in his arms. She told him she knew she was going to die and would never make it to Paradise. She handed him a letter she had written in crayon while she was at the diner.
He promised to look after her baby, with her calling it his Holy Charge before she died. Xavier was left devastated, rocking her lifeless body.
Is the bunker baby connected to everything?
As we followed Annie’s pregnancy, in flashbacks we also met the only baby born in Paradise – at least as far as we knew.
Louisa Marino, who was one of the select few to get access to the bunker, arrived pregnant, and everyone – especially President Bradford (James Marsden) – was excited for the arrival.
He thought it would bring hope to the residents. However, despite his best efforts, Louisa refused to call her baby son Hope as he wanted.
Less happy was Sinatra, who thought the President should be making a better effort to understand how Paradise even worked.
When Louisa went into labour, things went wrong quickly. She needed an emergency C-section, and her husband was a staffer on the congress plan that didn’t make it to the bunker. Bradford stepped in to support her, with Xavier as his guard having to scrub in as well.
She safely delivered a baby son.
Despite her initially cold demeanour, Sinatra seemingly did have a soft spot. In fact, she paid Louisa and the baby a visit once they were home. Bringing Lego blocks “for when he’s older”, she offered to help if she could. Louisa asked if she minded holding the baby while she took a shower and had a nap, as she had not been able to since getting home. Sinatra happily agreed.
As she cradled the boy, she promised that one day he would see the real moon and stars. Asking for him to keep a secret, she revealed she had a plan to get them out of Paradise.
What will Xavier name the baby?
After Annie’s death, the family helped bury her body under a tree to ‘give her some dignity’. By the number of gravestones, it seemed they’d done it for dozens of people they’d met over the years.
They then supplied Xavier with what he needed for the baby, even offering to look after her. But he said no, as he wouldn’t break his promise to Annie and would get the girl to her dad in Paradise.
The horse refused to leave Annie’s graveside but, when he heard the baby crying, he moved toward the sound, silently agreeing to help Xavier protect her.
As Xavier headed out on the road with the little girl, he later read the letter from Annie that was meant for the baby. Its message was to remind the baby girl of there always being good people in the world.
To date, the baby is still nameless. What will it be?
Who has taken Teri?
Xavier escaped Paradise on a plane, survived a plane crash, dealt with tearaway kids, and even helped deliver a baby to get to Teri in Atlanta.
So imagine his frustration when he arrived at her co-ordinates to discover… There’s only a nerdy guy there named Gary.
Gary explained Teri had lived there with him for three years, but she had been taken.
Who is this man and can we trust him? And if so, who took Teri and why?
Unfortunately, we’re going to need to wait a week to find out…
