The ending of Leviathan revolved around Alek and Sharp's efforts to prevent the Germans from capturing Tesla's machine, Goliath, and also to prevent Tesla from activating it and destroying Berlin. How did it get to that point? Well, as Volger, Alek's caretaker, explained, Austria and Serbia had been at war for quite some time. Then, Serbia murdered Alek's parents, prompting Austria to invade Serbia. Russia entered the scene to support Serbia. Germany joined to oppose Russia and maintain the Clanker alliance it had with Austria.
For their part, the British and French were searching for a weapon capable of causing mass destruction before the Germans (who had already stolen the ray-generating cannon) got it. This weapon, the Goliath, had been created by Tesla as an instrument of peace. He planned to unleash it on the capital of every country willing to declare war, starting with Berlin, because the Germans had come to the shores of New York to steal Tesla's invention. So, on the one hand, Sharp and Nora tried to convince Tesla not to take drastic measures, and on the other, Sharp tried to prevent the Germans from showing aggression.
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At the end of Leviathan, Captain Schultz ordered the crew of Base U, the new German submarine Walker, to storm the beaches of New York and capture the Goliath. Since Alek was convinced that Tesla was truly anti-war, he didn't want the Germans to force him into drastic measures or take the Goliath to bolster their arsenal in this world war. So he knocked out Schultz and set about stopping Base U in its tracks. Volger was appalled by Alek's actions, believing the "spoiled brat" should be grateful that the Germans had agreed to take them to Austria so that Alek could take the throne recently vacated by the death of Emperor Franz.
Volger didn't mind the Germans using the Goliath to destroy the entire world, as long as they left Austria alone. He cared only about preserving the Habsburg bloodline. He had convinced himself that the deaths of millions were fine if it meant Alek had a crown on his head. He was willing to kill anyone who prevented him, including Alek. He had sworn to never allow his enemies to harm him, but he was too ignorant to realize that they had become the main source of toxicity in his life. However, Alek was not one to be intimidated, and during his sword duel with Volger on the aforementioned subject, he opened his eyes by inciting him to harm the person he was obligated to protect.
Volger laid down his sword and let Alek climb onto a Walker so he could use his radio to listen in on Tesla's plans: to destroy Berlin if the Germans didn't slow down. From the Goliath's control room, Tesla announced to the press and relayed his message to the Germans: after threatening to destroy Berlin, they had stopped. He presented Goliath as the ultimate peacemaker and claimed that, as long as it existed, humanity would not dare go to war to avoid Tesla's wrath. I know this sounds absurd, but recently, the president of a country whose name I shall not reveal proclaimed, "The time for peace has come," right after bombing another country that shall also remain nameless.
Reality has become so bizarre that a fictional version of Tesla, ostensibly a megalomaniacal villain, pales in comparison. Ponder this. Anyway, back to the plot, after hearing Tesla's threat, the Germans announced their withdrawal and asked him to stop attacking Goliath and spare Berlin. However, as soon as he shut down his infernal machine, the Germans used the Lightning Cannon to bring down the Goliath's central tower, supposedly disabling it.
It was then that Tesla revealed that the central tower wasn't actually what the Goliath used to unleash hell on Earth; it was one of the towers around the control room that powered the machine. While Tesla recharged the Goliath, the Germans used their Walkers to march into the control room and capture him alive so he could recreate the Goliath after the version in New York was destroyed. Apparently, they didn't care that by the time they reached the Goliath's base and figured out which of the towers was the real one, Tesla would have already destroyed Berlin.
Alek also entered the battlefield with the intention of destroying the Goliath and saving Berlin, and, conveniently, by then Nora and Sharp, with the help of the Loris, had regained control of the control room, contacted the titular ship, and ordered them to attack tower number 4, because that was the real Goliath. However, the Leviathan ran into a problem: due to the turbulent weather created by the Goliath, it couldn't target Tower 4. Therefore, Alek decided to be the attack marker.
In the Leviathan ending, to prevent Alek from destroying the Goliath and thus save Berlin, Tesla pointed out that his actions would cause the war to drag on for months, perhaps years. If Tesla managed to demonstrate the Goliath's power by destroying Berlin, everyone would give in. Therefore, according to him, it made sense to launch an attack on Berlin, as he believed it would stop a world war. However, Alek wasn't willing to let millions of people die to save millions more. So he signed up to be the target marker for the titular ship.
Alek reached Tower 4 and fired the flare into the sky. But he had no way to escape the blast radius of the bomb the Leviathan dropped on the Goliath. Fortunately, Sharp had anticipated this exact scenario and used one of Tesla's wingsuits to save Alek as the Goliath burned. Meanwhile, American warships arrived to destroy the U-Base, thus killing the Germans who hadn't been killed by the defense system around the Goliath's control room. At the time, it was unclear how long the war would last, but the protagonists were optimistic that the United States could keep Germany on the defensive. Later, we saw that Volger had somehow avoided death during all the chaos and had been admitted to a hospital where he was recovering. Alek went to see him, buried the hatchet, and asked him to accompany him to Austria to work together for an era of peace without violence.
Sharp enlisted as an aviator and, after saying goodbye to Alek and promising to see him soon, accompanied Nora on the British voyage to Antarctica, where storms had been reported. What did that mean? Well, during the skirmish, while the Leviathan was busy shooting down the Goliath, the Americans were focused on destroying the Germans. Sharp had gone to rescue Alek, and Nora watched all the chaos. Tesla escaped with the help of one of his wingsuits. He had made it to Antarctica and started working on Goliath 2.0. I don't think he built another Goliath from scratch in such a short time.
Based on the conversation he had with Alek during their first meeting, where he confidently stated that "no one could take it away from him," I think he had a backup machine on that wintery continent, ready to be used as soon as the one in New York was destroyed. Now, if Tesla was able to have a backup Goliath, is it possible he has several more Goliaths scattered around the world? I don't know what other people think, but seeing how crazy this version of Tesla is, it's very likely he has several Goliaths in storage and will continue using them until the world bows down to him. Therefore, Alek and Sharp's only plan of action should be to neutralize Tesla, get him to reveal the location of all the Goliaths, destroy them, and stop his electrical reign before it even begins.
I know many will want to point out that the freak weather event in Antarctica wasn't caused by humans and could be a natural phenomenon, since, in the book, the Tunguska explosion was caused by a real meteorite and not Tesla's Goliath. Yes, he simply claimed credit for the catastrophe, as it made his invention seem much more threatening to the world. So, it's possible the series will reveal that Tesla might not be behind the freak weather storms in Antarctica. But I can't say for sure, as the show is free to deviate from the books in the yet-to-be-announced second season. Until then, we must assume Tesla is currently in Antarctica working on Goliath 2.0. Anyway, that's just my take on the ending of Leviathan.
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