'Secret Level' Episodes 1-8 Recap And Ending Explained

Tim Miller’s Secret Level is an anthology series, with each episode being based on a video game. It’s kind of like the other anthology series that he created with David Fincher for Netflix, Love Death + Robots, but unlike that show, the Prime Video project requires some level of knowledge about the video game franchise the story is set in or inspired by—which is certainly something that I don’t possess, because I’m not a gamer. I’ll be talking about the storytelling in the episodes on its merit, and that’s about it. I’m more than open to learning about the extended lore that they are drawing from, so feel free to educate me in the comments, preferably in a non-combative way (because I know how gamers can be). Now, without further ado, allow me to talk about the first 8 episodes of Secret Level.

Spoiler Alert

Episode 1 – Dungeons And Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle

Secret Level episode 1 is centered around a tortured soul named Solon who is rescued from his captors by a group of four: Mora, Tally, Luzum, and Ahokal. Tally is of the opinion that they should either kill Solon or abandon him, because the tattoos all over his face and body are bad news, and it’s too much of a hassle to deal with his captors. Mora wants to take Solon to Oriel because she thinks that he can help him with his curse. What’s the purpose behind saving this cursed child? Why is it so important? The episode doesn’t really go into that. From what I understand, Mora knows a thing or two about people who have been scarred for no fault of their own, and she wants to save as many people as she can before her regenerative abilities run out of juice. That’s why she puts her teammates’ lives on the line to make a mad dash for the dungeon where Oriel (a gigantic golden dragon) lives while being pursued by a ghoulish guy with icy powers on a giant bat and his army. While Tally, Luzum, and Ahokal keep the villains from entering the dungeon, Mora takes an injured Solon to Oriel, who extracts the curse that’s tearing the kid apart and absorbs it. Even though the ghouls outside are all defeated, at the end of Secret Level episode 1, the act of lifting the curse backfires, because Oriel fails to contain it, and it transforms him into a 5-headed dragon known as Tiamat. Although all hope seems to be lost, the usually cynical Tally points out that, with the inclusion of Solon, their team is finally complete (it’s a reference to players needing a specific set of characters in the Dungeons and Dragons game). So, I guess the underlying message is that, even after putting a lot of effort into a quest, the threat you were trying to defeat can grow tenfold, but if you can make some friends along the way, you’re gonna have the courage to keep fighting.

Episode 2 – Sifu: It Takes A Life

The second episode tells the story of MC, who is sitting at a dumpling shop waiting for the goon, Sean, and his henchmen, who killed his father. As soon as he spots them, he follows them into a discotheque and challenges them to a duel. As warned by the owner of the dumpling shop, the goons prove to be too powerful for MC, and he perishes on the dance floor. It seems like MC’s story is over, but that’s when he gets back up, and, by the looks of it, he has aged significantly. As MC makes his way through hordes of men before confronting Sean, it becomes clear that this avenging angel has some kind of a superpower that’s both a boon and a curse. So, every time he dies, he goes into some sort of an astral plane where he gets to learn the ability he needs to beat his enemy. When he comes back into the mortal realm, the time he has taken to learn this new skill literally reflects on his appearance and health. He gets to do this because he has a talisman tied to his hip. I guess, at most, he can do this four times, and after that, he is toast. That explains why Sean and his henchmen don’t seem to have aged ever since they killed MC’s dad, while MC keeps getting older and older.

At the end of Secret Level episode 2, MC does defeat Sean and returns to the dumpling shop to have his meal. More than a fully fleshed-out story, this seems like a tutorial for the game, which is a great throwback to the martial arts action genre. In addition to that, I guess it says something about how experience and revenge, no matter how righteous and noble they are in nature, come at a cost.

Episode 3 – New World: The Once And Future King

The third episode follows King Aelstrom as he approaches the island called Aeternum. But before his ship can reach the shore, it’s struck by lightning. The entire crew drowns, and Aelstrom would’ve gone down with them too; not to show solidarity with his team, but to get to his sinking crown. But his courtier, Scaevola, reaches him in the nick of time, gets the armor off him, and drags him all the way to the shores of Aeternum. Thanks to an islander named Urda, Aelstrom and Scaevola learn, pretty violently, that the place grants its people immortality, but they can never leave. Aelstrom sees that as an opportunity to become Aeternum’s ruler by defeating King Zimah. That turns out to be an uphill task, because Zimah is too good at combat and strategy while Aelstrom is an idiot. No matter what the beefcake does, he ends up dying. At one point, Scaevola reveals to his king that he has been made to think that he is one of the greatest men alive because his subjects don’t want to lose their lives by telling their king the truth—which is that Aelstrom is a spoiled brat with no skills whatsoever. Yet Aelstrom pursues his quest for domination, and Zimah is compelled to give up one of his million crowns because the latter is bored of fighting him. As Aelstrom puts on the crown, he realizes that the only person who would’ve congratulated him is now with Zimah because, with him, at least he gets the respect and love he deserves. So, instead of wearing that meaningless ornament on his head, he decides to take Urda’s help and turn it into a prosthetic hand so that Scaevola won’t have to spend all eternity with one hand; something that Aelstrom was joking about earlier.

At the end of Secret Level episode 3, Aelstrom and Scaevola begin rebuilding their relationship on the basis of friendship instead of bondage. I think this is the best one of the lot because the narrative and the storytelling are good, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is clearly having such a great time playing Aelstrom. And it has a pretty timely message about how hubris and arrogance can never make up for one’s shortcomings. Regardless of the nature of our lifespan (finite or immortal), we should always lead with empathy because this world is too small for men with huge egos. Side note: this short film is a Terminator: Dark Fate reunion because it brings together Arnie, Gabriel Luna, and Tim Miller.

Episode 4 – Unreal Tournament: Xan

The fourth episode is about the Liandri Mining Corporation, which manufactures robots for, well, mining on asteroids, moons, and anything that can help produce stuff of some value to sustain life on the planet that’s ruled by the Gamemaster. Each team of mining robots is supervised by a pair of humans who treat the seemingly mindless machines pretty heartlessly. While hitting one of the robots, who we later come to know as Xan, one of these supervisors flips its switch and makes it gain sentience. Xan helps the robots around it think for themselves too, which leads to a massacre at a mining station. The Gamemaster imprisons that whole batch of robots, and, to make a display of strength and power, she decides to pit them against the most deadly mercenaries in the titular tournament. That said, Xan turns the tables by defeating anyone that comes before it. So, the Gamemaster has no option but to send the Necris Captain and his squad of elite warriors after Xan and the remaining mining robots. Now, before this particular match, a piece of Xan was sent to a technician so that Liandri could understand the reason behind the organized and hostile behavior of the robots. That was a trap because that malfunctioning piece had a virus that infected Liandri’s whole system.

At the end of Secret Level episode 4, the Necris Captain and the Gamemaster fail to figure out Xan’s grand plan. Xan kills all of its oppressors and sparks a rebellion amongst the people of Liandri, thereby making this the umpteenth take on Isaac Asimov’s story from the 1950s, I, Robot. I don’t think there’s anything new to this story. The action is cool. But, yeah, that’s about it.

Episode 5 – Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear

The fifth episode focuses on a team of four elite soldiers, known as the Ultramarine Strike Squad: Metaurus, Icaron (I think), Levantus, and Titus. They need to go to the planet Zsax’uj or Z’sak’uj (I’m guessing that’s the name based on what I could see on the display panel that Metaurus was reading from) and, firstly, destroy the apostate relic and, secondly, transmit the coordinates for the airstrike. Upon reaching the aforementioned planet, the squad is faced with Fury Road-esque rogues, and the soldiers cut through them like butter while dragging along a large coffin-like case behind them. They reach a gigantic hole in the ground and dive into it without giving it a second thought. There they encounter another round of nameless and faceless enemies and turn them into a fluorescent Jackson Pollock painting. By the time they reach the planet’s sanctum sanctorum, you’re under the impression that whatever is next won’t be a big deal for these armored beasts. They even unpack the wizard in the casket they’ve been carrying so far for some extra protection, I suppose. But that’s when they face a flying creature with skeletal wings (I guess that’s the Sorcerer of Tzeentch), which has the ability to stop time and enter the minds of the soldiers. The wizard dies by impalement while the soldiers are made to implode by this creature, whilst making them face their worst fears. Metaurus manages to resist its tricks; that’s why he doesn’t die. Titus, though, doesn’t fall prey to the creature’s spell at all, and he kills the thing.

At the end of Secret Level episode 5, after broadcasting the coordinates, Titus drags Metaurus to a safe place and then proceeds to take on another horde of rogues. Although the moment is quite epic, there’s an undercurrent of melancholy to it because these soldiers certainly have the ability to take on anything, regardless of its supernatural or mortal origins. However, that’s the only way they can connect with each other. Metaurus lives in a shrine that has nothing but a display that signals an upcoming mission. Titus is Metaurus’ pupil, but the two don’t share any words of encouragement before going to war. It’s only when they’re at the brink of death that they converse, because all the bloodshed gets them to bring down their defenses for a while and actually connect. That’s just pathetic. It looks cool, but it’s still pathetic; and that’s grimdark for you, folks. I don’t know if that’s the intended message of this short film, but it’s my message to those who glamorize war or use it for propaganda.

Episode 6 – PAC-MAN: Circle

The sixth episode opens with a guy, referred to as the swordsman, coming out of a pod (much like the ones in The Matrix) and being greeted by a golden orb. This orb talks about stuff like escaping the maze and eating or being eaten. The swordsman, armed with, well, his sword, faces all kinds of creatures and monsters, and all he does is kill and eat. Finally, the orb and he reach a temple, but the latter is no match for the gorilla-like guardian that comes out of its chambers. The swordsman feels defeated, but that’s when the orb drills into the guy’s body and creates a giant spherical eating machine around him, which resembles the titular and iconic game character. But the swordsman’s decision to disallow the orb from unleashing any more violence by pulling it out of its body causes this demented version of Pac-Man to disintegrate. That leads to his death, and the orb is unable to breach the temple’s heavily protected doors.

At the end of Secret Level episode 6, the orb returns to the starting point, brings out another blank slate of a living being from his pod, and restarts the process of programming him to eat until he is ready to go through the doors of the temple, solve the maze, and escape this realm. This is a pretty cool way of giving Pac-Man, of all things, a violent and somewhat meaningful (there’s strength in repetition) backstory. But I think this particular story has been borne out of those countless fan theories where people have tried to make sense of the game’s simple concept. Zach Weinersmith imagined Pac-Man as a Lovecraftian creature with endless hunger, while the ghosts were jealous of Pac-Man because they couldn’t consume stuff like he could. The story in the Prime Video show is pretty close to that one. However, making the gamer or player an empty vessel that’s taught to eat and puppeteered by an ambitious orb with endless rows of teeth is quite cool. Maybe in a sequel to this short, we’ll see it finally entering the maze that the game is so famous for. 

Episode 7 – Crossfire: Good Conflict

The seventh episode takes place in a city whose streets have been emptied because of a hurricane warning. A squad of elite soldiers, led by Layla and Fitz, is looking to use the wind and rain as cover to transport a guy called Mahler and a valuable package that is his ticket out of this life of crime. But a rival group of soldiers, led by Cross and Cabrera, is looking to intercept them. After an ambush and a chase through the streets, the two teams find themselves at a cargo port. Fitz takes on Cross and tries to avenge one of his fallen compatriots, Mason. Layla tries to usher Mahler to safety but finds herself face to face with Cabrera. While Fitz gravely injures Cross, Layla is compelled to give up the package to Cabrera so that she can get out of there alive with Mahler. Fitz almost kills Cross, but Layla tells him to stand down because both teams are just doing their jobs, and there’s no need for unwanted violence. So, Fitz puts down the gun.

At the end of Secret Level episode 7, Layla drops Mahler at the rendezvous point. However, he is livid since, without the package, he has no value. Layla says that that’s none of her concern and drives away. Meanwhile, Cabrera gets to Cross, and they celebrate the fact that they have the package. This short film is way too ambiguous to make any actual sense. You can say that it’s about how mercenaries on either side of the line think that they are on the righteous path, but the truth of the matter is that both sides are killers, and they’re killing for money. Unless they understand the value of their life, they’ll be stuck in this cycle of warfare until the day they die.

Episode 8 – Armored Core: Asset Management

The eighth episode follows a pilot whose kind seems to have gone obsolete. All they are left with is a voice in their head, various kinds of braces and bruises all over their bodies, and a general sense of disdain from the public. The pilot is called up by his boss to show up at the hangar within 40 minutes and he obliges because he needs the money to eat, booze, and smoke his way through whatever remains of his life. While he usually looks pretty morbid and lifeless, the prospect of piloting a mech suit at breakneck speeds makes him feel alive. He comes across two bogeys who are so good that it seems like they are running on some kind of an A.I., but the voice in the pilot’s head tells him that there is a sign of life in those mech suits. Instead of looking into it, the pilot destroys the enemy suits and kills the pilots in them. He moves deeper into enemy territory and skillfully takes out a trio of bogeys and then sends himself hurtling through the enemy factory that’s manufacturing all these mech suits. Upon reaching the plant’s innermost quarters, the pilot finds out that it’s a lab much like the ones where he was “repaired” in the past after a life-threatening mission. There he finds one of the destroyed enemy mech suits, and in that mech suit is a very human-looking operator, reaching out for help.

At the end of Secret Level episode 8, instead of helping this guy out, the pilot crushes the kid with his mech suit, whilst announcing that there’s no one who can replace him. My best guess is that, in this world, humans (with the help of the A.I. voice) used to steer these mech suits, but then they were decommissioned because humans are too emotional and unpredictable. I guess the company in charge of these suits and employing soldiers then said that they’d use only A.I. for the suits because that’s more “efficient.” However, I guess that didn’t exactly work out because, well, A.I. can be more unwieldy than humans. So, the company either started making human clones or secretly employed humans to pilot the suits. Given how much flak the protagonist has faced for simply doing his job, he can’t digest this revelation, and that’s why he chooses to kill the human pilot in front of him. Also, it’s really cool to see Keanu Reeves in this avatar. He is so synonymous with John Wick, Neo, and Ted Logan that it’s easy to forget that he can be pretty unhinged, that too in a non-stoic way. This kind of reminded me of his roles in The Devil’s Advocate, Johnny Mnemonic, Constantine, and Street Kings. I hope he gets to play more roles like this in the future.

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