A high-concept action thriller mixed with a coming-of-age story, Hanna begins with identical beats to the film before branching out in a brand new direction. Hanna was born to be a genetically-enhanced super-soldier but, at the behest of her birth mother Johanna (Joanna Kulig), Erik rescued baby Hanna, though Johanna died in the escape. When Hanna season 1 begins, she and Erik leave the forest, where they lived and trained in secret for 15 years, to enact a plan to find safety from their pursuer, Marissa, who works for the CIA. Gradually, Erik and Hanna learn that the program that created her, Utrax, wasn’t destroyed after Hanna’s birth in 2003 as they previously believed. Instead, the agency rebooted the program, dubbed Utrax Regenesis, which now trains over a dozen super-soldiers born in 2004, all of whom have abilities identical to Hanna’s.
Hanna’s search for the truth about her origins led to her splitting from Erik, who kept her in the dark in order to protect her. Hanna was able to live as a semi-normal teenage girl in the UK with Sophie (Rhianne Barreto), whose family she met while they were vacationing in Morocco. Meanwhile, Erik escaped imprisonment by the CIA in Berlin and, when he learned about Utrax Regenesis, he sought to find Hanna before Marissa does. Ultimately, Erik decided that the only way to keep Hanna safe was to destroy Utrax, even though it was essentially a suicide mission…
- This Page: What Happened In Hanna Season 1’s Ending And How Marissa Fits Into It All Page 2: Hanna Season 1’s Real Meaning And How It Sets Up Season 2
Hanna Season 1’s Ending: Erik’s Suicide Mission And Hanna’s Plan
After their falling out in the middle of Hanna season 1, Erik was reunited with Hanna when he rescued her from Marissa in London. Back on the run together, Erik finally told Hanna what he learned in Berlin: she born in Utrax and was experimented on with “mutations” to give her “advantages” to create perfect soldiers. What’s more, the CIA continued the program, dubbed Utrax Regenesis, and now there are many other super-soldiers like her. Erik, who was already slowly dying from a gunshot wound in Berlin (that he kept secret from Hanna), hatched a plan to keep Hanna safe: he contacted Emil Prodka, Hanna’s birth father, and arranged to have her stay with him and his family. He was then going to attack Utrax and attempt to destroy the facility - intending it to be a suicide mission.
When Hanna found out Erik’s plan, she sped to his rescue and saved him from an attack by Sawyer and his troops. The next day, Hanna decided that they were going to Utrax but to rescue the other super-soldiers, whom Hanna feels are her sisters. However, Utrax was in lockdown and even though Erik and Hanna broke in, they found the Utrax trainees to be too far gone in their programming; only one, recruit 249, whose real name is Clara (Yasmin Monet Prince), resisted her programming and joined Hanna. Sawyer arrived with soldiers and evacuated the Utrax trainees, along with Dr. Roland Kunek (Noah Taylor), who runs the program. Hanna, Erik, and Clara then fought and killed the soldiers but Erik was too wounded and they were caught dead-to-rights by Sawyer. However, Marissa killed Sawyer and allowed the fugitives to escape.
Erik died from his injuries and Hanna granted his dying wish to be buried in the same gravesite as her mother Johanna, whom Erik loved. Meanwhile, Marissa contacted Norris, who oversaw Utrax from CIA headquarters in Colorado, and reported that Sawyer and Erik were both dead but Hanna escaped. At the conclusion of Hanna season 1, Hanna brought Clara with her to the forest where she grew up, the only place where Hanna feels she’s safe and truly belongs - but now she has a sister and is no longer alone in the world.
Whose Side Was Marissa Wiegler Really On In Hanna Season 1?
Marissa is the most complex and interesting character in Hanna season 1. She began the series as the main villain but evolved as circumstances changed (even though Erik and Hanna saw her as their enemy until the very end and never fully trusted her). In truth, Marissa was haunted by being forced to burn the babies of the original Utrax that Hanna was part of. The fact that Erik and Hanna were in the wind, and then resurfaced, forced Marissa to hunt them down to eliminate the last living proof of Utrax. Marissa did hire mercenaries to hunt Hanna and she was willing to murder when necessary, but Mireille Enos’ version of the character wasn’t as malevolent as Cate Blanchett’s was in the Hanna film.
Although she was willing to do the dirtiest parts of her job, Marissa was trying to have a normal life before Erik and Hanna reemerged; she had a boyfriend in Paris and was attempting to be a stepmother to his young son (who rejected her). But her real enmity wasn’t for Erik, even though he kidnapped her and held her hostage, or even Hanna, who kept evading her; it was for Sawyer. Norris and the CIA sent Sawyer to clean up Marissa’s mess and he not only sandbagged her, he later gave the order to have Marissa executed. However, he underestimated Wiegler’s cunning; she killed her would-be assassins and later captured Sawyer. Finally, Marissa executed Sawyer to help Erik, Hanna, and Clara escape.
Marissa had spent enough time with Hanna to develop empathy for her, and she was furious to find out the CIA restarted Utrax behind her back. In the end, Marissa is only truly on her own side but she cares enough for Hanna to let her live.
Page 2 of 2: Hanna Season 1’s Real Meaning And How It Sets Up Season 2
Hanna Season 1 Was About Rebelling From And Then Choosing Family
Hanna is an action-espionage series but it’s also a coming-of-age drama about a very sheltered 15-year-old girl rebelling and searching for where she belongs in the world - and with whom. For her entire life, Erik was the only person Hanna knew but she also bristled at all the secrets he kept from her - especially how he refused to answer direct questions. When she found out Erik was lying about being her father, she broke away from him and made her own way for a while. In her season 1 journey, Hanna got to experience different types of family.
Hanna’s adventures living as a “typical” teenager in London with Sophie were a highlight of season 1. In Sophie, Hanna found her first real friend who adored her, but Hanna also ended up betraying her by sleeping with Anton, the boy Sophie liked. Moreso, Hanna got to experience Sophie’s dysfunctional family and, for a short while, Hanna also had a “found family” among Sophie’s group of friends. This relative bliss was interrupted by Marissa, who tracked Hanna in London, and posed as her mother to retrieve her. As they traveled and stayed in a hotel together, Marissa attempted to be an ersatz mother to Hanna before Erik rescued her, even offering to arrange for Hanna to receive a new fake identity to keep her safe.
Hanna once more felt betrayed by Erik when he revealed he contacted her birth father, Emil Prodna (Aleksandar Milik), and arranged for ger to live with him and his family. En route, Hanna got to meet Erik’s mother and witnessed their cold, distant relationship. This directly powered her decision to intercept Erik while he was planning a suicide mission, with her feeling Erik was always her “real” father and the Ultrax trainees her “family”. When the series began, Hanna was alone and isolated from the world, but now she knows there are others like her. She lost her father Erik in the end but, in Clara, she gained a sister.
How Hanna Season 1 Set Up Season 2
Hanna season 1 opened up a larger universe that’s poised to continue in season 2. The series expanded on Hanna’s origin story from the 2011 movie by creating Utrax. It also gave Hanna natural enemies in the second generation of all-female super-soldiers who are a year younger but possibly better trained and more disciplined than Hanna herself. It was disappointing that Hanna didn’t fight any of the Utrax trainees, which seemed like a natural showdown that season 1 avoided entirely, but it seems likely Hanna will eventually face one or more of her “sisters” in season 2.
The Utrax Regenesis trainees were transported to a new facility, Wilberforce, where the program will continue under Dr. Kunek. What’s more, there’s still the unseen Norris in Colorado overseeing Utrax that Hanna is yet to reveal. Marissa’s fate was also left up in the air, but with Erik gone, it’s likely she will maintain her deception about what really happened and will continue her CIA career, possibly angling for the assignment to once again run Utrax Regenesis. While Marissa doesn’t know that Hanna has returned to the forest, she will likely do what she can to keep Hanna safe from afar. Regardless, Hanna season 2 will no doubt bring the young super-soldier back into the world once more.
