At the end of last season, and after he developed an opioid addiction that resulted in a tragic accident, Ed left Danny marooned in a North Korean space capsule 90 km away from their Mars base, with no means of getting around – or off of – Mars without NASA's help. Ed did not know at that point that Danny had had an affair with Ed's then-wife a decade earlier. He's the show's lone major character (among those still living) whose whereabouts remain entirely unknown at this writing.
1,000🏅 Top traders
| # | Name | Total profit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ṁ95 | |
| 2 | Ṁ27 | |
| 3 | Ṁ14 | |
| 4 | Ṁ11 | |
| 5 | Ṁ0 |
People are also trading
@Emanuele98 Yes, I'm up-to-date on the episodes, but I asked this question nearly a month ago before there was any clue what happened to Danny. I correctly figured that he died on Mars, but it remains to be seen whether we as viewers know the whole story. (The fight between Danielle & Ed on this week's episode suggests there's more to it, but I'm assuming we won't know for certain until the finale.)
@Emanuele98 @JeffKirk I called that he was “doing something boring offscreen”, the “something” was rotting on Mars 😬
@Emanuele98 Yes, it's clear that that's what we were made to believe, but this is a show that thrives on borderline-bizarre plot twists – who TF saw last year's North Korean capsule plot twist coming?? – and we've already seen multiple astronauts & cosmonauts die from nothing more than an ordinary hole in their spacesuits (zero oxygen plus temps that literally freeze a person solid in seconds).
Really, this is all entirely rooted in my conviction that allowing such a huge plot hole – Ed not finding out about Danny & Karen's affair – linger for two entire SEASONS is absurd. Unless the writers screwed up, a possible resolution to said plot hole could've been Ed paying Danny a visit at the capsule, Danny confessing, and Ed breaking open his helmet glass. Or part (or most) of the reason for Danny's apparently quite long exile was Ed ALSO finding out (after the events of last season) about the affair.
If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but we should know in two weeks, once E9's plot twist is unveiled (though the one this week with Dev & Ed was a "WTF???" moment).
@JeffKirk I don't know if this is considered a spoiler, but I think the twist this season will be the discovery of life on Mars. We will soon know..
@Emanuele98 I don't think it's a spoiler if you don't know for sure, and this is admittedly a possibility that didn't occur to me. And while it'd obviously be important in a macro sense, I'm not really seeing how it could play out plotwise (unless you're suggesting Mars has sentient life).
@JeffKirk If you mean what will happen in the next season, I imagine that life on Mars will be the reason why Happy Valley will continue to "exist" after whatever happens in Goldilocks, and in the next season Mars will be a "semi-autonomous" colony, complete with people living there permanently, which Ed's nephew will probably do. But maybe we are going too OT to the question :D
@Emanuele98 That's possible, but Dev & Ed stealing the asteroid (assuming they succeed) would be reason all by itself to keep Happy Valley going & growing. The asteroid is the literal most valuable object ever discovered. If humans have to travel to Mars to mine its resources, so be it.
If there is life on Mars, it's realistically only bacteria or signs that it once had an atmosphere. (They also already found water on the moon, so I don't think that's this year's big "reveal.")
OTOH I don't think Mars will ever be "semi-autonomous," or at least not beyond what it is at present (though I assume it'll grow far larger if it becomes a full-blown mining operation). Seven nations have staked valid claims for it, and even if Ed & Dev steal the asteroid, there's no real chance they can keep it (meaning for themselves - Helios has influence, but at least five of the Mars 7 have nukes, and obviously nukes trump influence!).
Danny’s doing something boring offscreen (we’ll find out offhand)
@mattyb Possible, but this show usually saves at least a few surprises for the tail end of the season. Last season's penultimate episode ended with the reveal that, despite the entire season's narrative of a huge race to Mars among the US, USSR & Helios, North Korea somehow beat all of them to the moon.
Also, it's ridiculous enough that Ed never found out about Danny & Karen's affair before she literally died, but do the math here: Danny hasn't been mentioned even once. He's also the only main character (meaning someone in the opening credits at some point) whose fate is unclear; Ed, Danielle & Margo are the only OG characters from S1 still there, and every other main character died at some point.
Moreover, it's borderline bizarre that Ed hasn't returned to Earth after eight years on Mars, despite having a daughter and grandchild back home. Ed & Karen had already divorced by the beginning of last season, set in 1992. It's now 2003 on the show. I know mourning can take a toll, but mourning his former wife for that long??
My hypothesis is that Ed somehow figured out – likely not long after last season's end – that Danny had an affair with Karen, and amidst his grief over losing her; the devastating JSC explosion in general, with Margo also presumed dead (along with Molly definitely dead); and anger that Danny's opioid addiction nearly killed everyone on Mars, he confronted him & killed him. (Possibly with the pistol the North Korean conveniently brought with him.)
An alternate scenario, and one I lacked the room to ask in the main question, is whether Danny died via neglect, e.g. Ed in his grief literally forgot Danny was in the capsule 90 km away and he died because he ran out of air, water and/or food. It's also possible Danny killed himself after finding out Karen died, given his obsession with her. The most extreme scenario is that Danny is also still on Mars, marooned in the capsule, but that's clearly a stretch.
@JeffKirk Lol, I had simply imagined that he died in a car accident caused by his being an alcoholic