In Orb: On Movements of the Earth (Season 1, Episode 16), the story of Oczy and Badeni reaches its conclusion. Like many heretics before them, their journey comes to an end, but the torch of rebellion must be carried forward. This episode leaps 25 years into the future, introducing Schmidt, a determined revolutionary who rises against the church’s oppression.
Schmidt sparked a movement by rescuing heretics from the church’s grasp and founding a group called the Heretic Liberation Front. The church, despite its power, struggles to counter Schmidt’s daring raids on its strongholds. In one intense encounter, an inquisitor manages to capture Schmidt, but his quick thinking and use of explosives secure his escape. With the church now on high alert, Schmidt and his followers embark on a perilous mission to find a legendary book rumored to reveal the secrets of how the Earth moves. The episode sets the stage for an intense battle of wits, faith, and science as Schmidt’s revolution gains momentum.
This article contains spoilers.
Orb: On Movements of the Earth (Season 1) Episode 16 “It’s Time To Begin The Operation” Recap:
The episode begins 25 years later after Oczy and Badeni’s demise. A prisoner, Schmidt, is brought to the inquisitor’s chamber. The prisoner Schmidt has started a Heretic Liberation Front organization and has liberated many heretics from the churches by raiding churches. The squad is well-known for having an infamous initiation test. The inquisitor asks Schmidt if his goal is to kill God.
But Schmidt says it isn’t. Furthermore, Schmidt says he believes in God, and he aims to restore God to a state unblemished by human ideas. To achieve this, the church’s orthodoxy must be weakened. These statements infuriate the inquisitor, who calls Schmidt a heretic. Now, Schmidt asks whether he is called a heretic for being a member of faith who opposes the church’s orthodoxy.
This is where Schmidt and the inquisitor differ, as Schmidt rejects all the teachings of the church as he is a naturalist. According to Schmidt’s beliefs, God is in nature, and there is no place for an artificial God. The answer annoys the inquisitor, who says Schmidt has blind faith in his righteousness. Now, the inquisitor asks Schmidt if he realizes how many people have died because of this belief.
Schmidt points out that because of the inquisitor’s faith, a lot more people have died. The inquisitor calls the guards, and Schmidt says it’s time to begin the operation. The guards come with some sacks and place them in front of the inquisitor. It turns out these men are with Schmidt and have disguised themselves as guards.
What does one have to do to pass the initiation test?
Now, the real guards come in, and Schmidt’s group is outnumbered. Despite that, Schmidt is unfazed. So Schmidt says he has three goals: overpower the guards, break into the store, retrieve something, and escape. Schmidt asks the guards if they have heard of the explosives, but none of them seem to know anything. Since nobody knows, Schmidt asks his men to burn the sacks, and the explosives inside them blast. The men with Schmidt are Frei and Lewandowski. The trio collects a notebook from the storeroom and heads out. Outside, Schmidt sees three heretics who Lewandowski has freed.
The heretics want to be a part of the Heretic Liberation Front, especially for Schmidt. To be a part of the troop, Schmidt asks them to take part in the initiation process. The process involves the heretics claiming that they disregard and don’t believe in the church or its teachings. The heretics are hesitant as they only oppose the church orthodoxy but not God itself. Schmidt says that human-made ideals have destroyed everything, and he can only accept natural disasters as God’s doing, but everything else is human-made and unnatural. Humans are sometimes worse than animals as we cannot accept the truth in front of us. Believing half-truths can lead to misunderstandings, which lead to tragedy.
Orb: On Movements of the Earth (Season 1) Episode 16 “It’s Time To Begin The Operation” Ending Explained:
The heretics choose not to disregard their belief system. Before leaving, Schmidt says one day, they may fight to the death. Inside the cart, Frei says according to the book, the earth does move; however, there is nothing about Oczy or Badeni. The leader of the group wants to know about Oczy and Badeni. Soon, the trio reach a village to rest. Twenty-five years back, a family with a small child left their village in the middle of the night as the villagers were burning crosses on the street.
The man’s brother stops the family and asks the man why there is a class difference among the impoverished and why the clergy and nobility enjoy all luxuries. The duo argue, and the man refuses to believe in the church. So the brother strikes the man, killing him. To save the child, the mother stops the brother, and the little child runs away.
At present, the village seems empty, so Frei sits down to read the notebook while Schmidt and Lewandowski leave to gather supplies. On their way, Schmidt realizes there is someone around. At the same time, a man of faith asks Frei what he is up to. Now the clergyman takes Frei to the Bishop, but Frei hides the notebook in a drawer. By then, Schmidt and Lewandowski attacked the clergyman. More clergymen arrive, so the trio decides to escape and come back later for the book. The clergymen report to Bishop Antoni, who is not worried as more can be gained from an old man standing in front of them.
It seems like Antoni was successful in his mission to get rid of Nowak and has become a Bishop himself in an isolated village somewhere. As there is a Heretic Liberation Front, Antoni is probably leading something similar for the church. The old man in front of Antoni could be Antoni’s father or Nowak himself, who is held captive by Antoni. We don’t know where Jolenta is or what has happened to her yet. The book Schmidt has is probably what Oczy has written. It will be interesting to see who will get to the book first, Schmidt or Antoni, and what they will do with it.
