THE WALL WAS BUILT TO KEEP US IN
We begin inside Haven, a fortified city surrounded by an enormous wall built after the catastrophe known as The Fall. The citizens have been taught that outside the Wall are poisoned lands, infected humans, predatory creatures called Hollows, and death. Our heroine, Mara Vale, has no reason to doubt this. She has grown up inside Haven. She has a family. Friends. Responsibilities. A job. A life. And importantly, she is not rebellious simply because she is the protagonist. Her older brother Elias serves in the Wall Guard, making the Wall personal to her. Mara has spent her entire life believing men like him are the reason Haven still exists. During Block 1 we establish everyday Haven properly—markets, rationing, housing districts, Wall Guard culture, curfews, government broadcasts, schools, memorial ceremonies, work assignments and class divisions. No immediate conspiracy. No stranger dragging Mara into a secret tunnel in Episode 1. We allow her world to feel real first. A young Guard officer, Kael Rowan, begins crossing paths with Mara through ordinary circumstances. There is attraction eventually, but initially they are simply two people whose lives repeatedly intersect. Kael believes strongly in order. Mara believes strongly in Haven. This becomes important later. Near the end of the block, a Wall breach alarm occurs. Everyone expects Hollows. Instead, Mara witnesses something she cannot explain. A figure appears briefly beyond one of the restricted barriers. Standing upright. Wearing clothes. Watching the soldiers. Human. Before Mara can get closer, the Guard kills him. Episode 10 ends when Mara secretly retrieves something that fell from the dead stranger. A metal identification tag. Stamped with words impossible according to everything she has ever been taught: REPUBLIC OF WESTERN TERRITORIES ISSUED: THREE YEARS AGO. The outside world is supposed to have been dead for seventy-six years.
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