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    EntertainmentTVLove, Death & Robots Episode "Bad Travelling" Explained

    Love, Death & Robots Episode “Bad Travelling” Explained

    Following an Anthology format Love, Death & Robots never allows anyone to know what to expect, not only from the upcoming season but from the next episode as well. The season uses short and snappy standalone stories to merge science fiction, horror, and comedy elements to great effect.

    David Fincher, who also acts as an executive producer on the show, directed the second episode of the third season, Bad Travelling. The story is all set in a unique marine setting that will keep you on the edge of your seat, unsure of how events will unfold. Allow us to assist everyone who is perplexed by the second episode of Love, Death & Robots season 3! Do note that this post will contain spoilers, so make sure you’ve watched the whole episode before reading any further.

    Bad Travelling beginning explained

    Via trinikid

    The second episode, titled ‘Bad Traveling,’ begins with the legend of “Bad Traveling,” which describes how ships were frequently lost during long trips to an alien ocean, in the hunt for “the Great Jable Shark.” When all of a sudden we see that the ship’s crew is attacked by a Thanopod, a sea monster that feeds on the flesh of the crew.

    The ship’s captain gets killed and now the remaining crew has to elect someone who will confront the sea monster. After considerable consideration, Torrin is dispatched to meet the Thanopod hiding in the ship’s hull.

    The Deal Between Torrin and Thanopod

    Upon confronting the sea monster Torrin realizes the Thanopod has the ability to communicate, and it demands to be securely taken to Phaiden Island, a densely populated island. The Thanopod may spare the crew’s life in exchange. Torrin confirms the deal with Thanopod offering to carry it to the island if it doesn’t kill him. He retrieves the captain’s key from the Thanapod’s vomit and takes over command.

    Torrin then sacrifices the previous captain to the Thanopod, leaving the rest of the crew in a dilemma to decide whether to save the people by sailing to an uninhabited island that is significantly further or save their own lives by sacrificing the thousands of lives on Phaedin Island.

    Torrin’s Confession

    Bad Travelling Explained

    We were led to believe that after everyone votes, Torrin then makes a confession that he had marked the votes and he now knows the people who just care about their own safety rather than the lives of thousands of people on the Phaedin Island. Upon this Torrin kills the two crew members who voted for Phaedin Island and feeds them to the Thanopod as they couldn’t be trusted and the ship needed to be aligned to one common goal.

    Torrin vs The Crew

    Bad Travelling Explained

    Torrin receives a call from the Thanapod, informing him that it and hundreds of its offspring were hungry. He becomes aware that he is running out of time. Torrin, therefore, decides to ignore the assassination attempt by one of the crew members and stick to his plan of abandoning the Thanapod on the uninhabited island.

    The crew realizes that Torrin’s scheme will ruin them all so they plot a covert assassination attempt on his life. Torrin however had foreseen the attack. He kills all but one of the ship’s crew members. He discovers the final surviving crew member confined in a chest for refusing to take part in the attempted assassination.

    The Actual Plan

    Bad Travelling Explained

    After killing all the crew members, Torrin now had enough meat to feed the Thanopod and its offspring. With the help of the surviving crew member, he feeds all other bodies to the Thanopod and pushes the very last member to the realm of Thanopod as well.

    Now here is the twist, remember we told you that “we were led to believe that Torrin had marked the votes and now knows the two crew members who voted for Phaedin Island”. Torrin when pushing the final person confessed to him that there were no marks on the votes, it was just that everybody voted for the Phaedin Island. This also shows how Torrin knew that the crew will eventually turn against him because all they cared about was themselves and were willing to sacrifice all of the people on the island for their own safety.

    Bad Travelling ending explained

    Bad Travelling Explained
    Via trinikid

    Finally, Torrin directs the ship’s path toward the deserted island and descends to the hull to falsely report the Thanapod their arrival at Phaedin Island. However, while conversing with the Thanapod, he leaks oil from the drums and sets the ship to catch fire. He dives overboard and onto an emergency boat that is already waiting for him in the water.

    As Torrin leaves for Phaedin Island, the ship explodes in the distance. We observe the Thanapod screeching in anguish as the fire spreads, despite its declaration that its shell will protect it. It is unknown whether it will survive the fire, but Torrin is most likely to have saved the lives of thousands of innocent people on Phaedin Island.

    Ending remarks

    Throughout the episode, Torrin was a complex character. A man intended to do good through any means suitable for his goal. He wasn’t prepared to let the Thanapod loose on Phaiden Island and eat the island’s unsuspecting inhabitants. However, his crew had other intentions so, he unhesitatingly devised a plan to take them all out first to avoid any complications further.

    Though, he succeeded in saving thousands of innocent lives, were his actions justifiable? Couldn’t he talk his way through the other members of the ship? It did make me think that does end justifies the means?

    Overall, Bad Travelling was a fantastic episode and quite easily one of my favorite episodes of all time. What do you think of Bad Travelling? leave a comment down below to let us know about your views on this remarkable episode.

    That is all on Love, Death & Robots Episode “Bad Travelling” Explained. To know about Love Death + Robots Season 3 Episodes Ranking: Worst to Best or for more entertainment, keep following Retrology.

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    Rehan Muzammil
    Rehan Muzammil
    Rehan is a gaming enthusiast who loves to guide, discuss and share his ideas/views on Retrology. On the side, he is also a business student. Rehan has been writing gaming guides on Retrology for over a year now. His last played game was Stray - about which he has also written guides.

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