The Ghost In The Shell Episode 2 Recap: Is Major Able To Capture The Hacker?

After a breezy first episode which perfectly set up the cyberpunk technosphere and showcased the basics of advanced cybercrimes, the second chapter “The Ghost in the Shell” provides a brief glimpse to the central crisis while a geopolitical conspiracy starts unfolding. Previously, under the orders of late Japanese PM, Major Makoto Kusanagi killed a far east trade representative who was conspiring with Japan’s vice minister of commerce to bolster slave trade between their nations. Public Security Officer Aramaki was ordered to assign Makoto as a leader to a tactical unit, and with her leadership the unit was able to expose an government sponsored ongoing brainwashing program in an orphanage where a Ghost Controller was being used to subject children to torturous means.

Spoilers Ahead

The second episode opens at one of Major’s tactical unit members, Togusa’s home. Often called a newbie for his adherence to old school ideology, Togusa is shown to be a family man and is living a peaceful life with his wife and child. The unit is under fire after Major used the Ghost key to make the minister of Internal Affairs to make him punch himself. Aramaki meets Major, who is sulking in a bar, to inform that the minister has dissolved their unit with immediate effect. However, he has a proposition to offer, he is getting thrice the budget it was allocated for the previous unit to form a shell squad, which will be only answerable to him and PM of the country. The team will not be held back by national or international jurisdiction and will operate on meritocracy, without facing the burdens of hierarchy. He wants Major and her team to run the unit as they deem fit, given he shares her vision of building a safer future. It goes beyond saying that Major accepts the proposal, and this time her team will have greater authority and freedom. A brief glimpse of the orphanage highlights that the authorities have been detained, and orphans are now the sole caretaker of the place. 

The narrative shifts to three months later, as Batou is seen secretly watching over the beach house of Col. Malles, former junta leader of Gavel Republic who is living in Japan at the moment after seeking asylum in the country. It should be mentioned that Malles’ butler becomes aware of Batou’s presence in the nearby wilderness and informs him about it.  Aramaki approaches Batou and reveals his suspicion that a mysterious super hacker, known as Puppet Master, who is making their moves across the global networks, is  trying to interfere with Japan’s upcoming meetings with the newly formed democratic government of Gavel Republic. He asks Batou to inform Major about an upcoming meeting, and cancels her ongoing vacation. Batou tries to contact Major using Cyberbrain, only to find her in an awkward situation as Kusanagi was having some private moments with her girlfriends. The means of deriving carnal pleasure has also become much more tech reliant, as they use VR to enjoy the settings of tranquil sea and advance stimulus mechanisms to explore pleasure conventional human bodies can’t experience. After Batou’s unexpected interruption, Major uses the Ghost Controller, which is still at her disposal, to have him punch himself in the face. 

Anyway, Aramaki meets with Foreign Minister, who reveals one of Aramaki’s underlings provided tactical aid in Gavel’s freedom revolution against former military junta rule, which indicates Aramaki might have been pulling the strings from behind. It is also revealed that while staying secure in Japan, Malles has been funding pro-junta factions, who have held over their country’s platinum deposit. The Government of Japan is in a precarious situation, as they have found themselves in a dilemma of handling the Gavel Republic issue while maintaining a public image. They can either deny asylum to Malles and support aid to control over the platinum deposit, or support the present democratic government and lose control over the deposit. Aramaki suggests tracking the aid trail from platinum deposits might help them get to the chain of command. At the same time, Aramaki becomes alarmed as he believes someone is passing intel to pro-junta factions.

There is another reason for Foreign Minister to pay a visit to Aramaki, as his interpreter has been infected with an old version of AI virus  HA-3, and the hacker, who wants control over her ghost, is on the move while briefly taking access over her for short spans of time. Major arrives to meet Aramaki and Foreign Minister and is informed about the situation. Her team is already trying to locate the hacker in question and she is instructed by Aramaki to join them. An intelligence division officer, Nakajima, who was instructed to stay out of the meeting, secretly overhears their conversation. 

Major joins Togusa, who used to be the interpreter’s old flame, and has a conversation with him where she shares her opinion that Togusa should adapt wielding modern weaponry instead of using revolvers and shotguns which are practically considered antique. Togusa is alarmed upon learning about the condition of his past acquaintance, and Major tries to assure him by mentioning they will nab the culprit. Their conversation also reveals the fact that the present world order is set in post non-nuclear World War IV, even though details about it are not revealed. Major also mentions that the version of virus which has infected the interpreter is an old variant of it, as the new one would have been untraceable. This makes me believe that the hacker in question wants the team to track him, for reasons yet undisclosed.

The narrative shifts to focus on two overworked garbage collectors, one of them reveals he is having serious marriage problems and lately has been sleeping in the office. It is also mentioned that they used to work in the orphanage, Sacred Citizen Relief Centre, and miss working there as they used to have lighter workload there. Batou and Ishikawa are getting restless as the hacker continues to slip off right when they reach their last known location, and upon speaking with a local in their latest location, they suspect the aforementioned garbage collectors might be the hacker in disguise. They relay the intel to Major, who begins searching for their garbage truck. 

Aramaki reveals to Major that Nakajima has recently called Malles, who has been using fake companies to sell platinum from Gavel. Riding their AI walker drones, Tachikomas, and hiding their presence with camo installations, Major and Togusa head out to locate the garbage truck, and Major reveals her suspicion that Malles and Nakajima, who turned out to be a mole, are behind the attack on the interpreter. The old version of HA-3 was deliberately used to keep Malles out of range of suspicion. The garbage collector with marriage problems, driver of the garbage truck, is revealed to be desperate enough to even consider Ghost hacking his own wife, and it turns out he received a barrier breaker (eliminates firewall protecting ghost/ mind) from a certain individual a few days ago. Upon learning that they are being tracked by the authorities, the driver starts moving at a breakneck speed, but Major/ Togusa manage to catch up while remaining invisible in their Tachikomas. 

The driver drives to the person who gave him the barrier breaker to warn him about the authorities, who is supposedly  the hacker in question. Seeing the driver being tailed by authorities, the hacker uses a camo suit to hide himself and shoots up a garbage truck – causing it to crash along with Togusa’s Tachikoma. Major is all on her own as after checking on an unconscious Togusa, she decides to follow the hacker through the allies, and the episode comes to an abrupt end. This hacker doesn’t seem to be the Puppet Master, and is probably an underling working for them. In any case, intel about Malles and Puppet Master can be extracted if Major is able to capture him, and the HA-3 afflicted interpreter can be saved in time.