The Lost Symbol

The CIA arrive at Mal’akh’s home and immediately find Hartmann dead in the front hallway, along with an unidentified security woman. They do not see signs of anyone else, so they begin searching the house methodically. Director Sato becomes upset when they find evidence that Mal’akh has a laptop but took it with him. Down in the basement, Katherine can hear the CIA but cannot do anything to attract their attention. Meanwhile, Langdon relives the trauma of Mal’akh’s attack against him as he floats in darkness.

Agent Simkins sees marks on the floor near a painting and believes that it might conceal a secret door. He calls Director Sato over and they manage to get the door open. Langdon becomes aware of the noise that their entry causes.

The sound of the CIA’s entry reminds Langdon of when he once he attended Peter’s lecture on James Smithson, a British scientist who gifted America a fortune with the request that they construct a place to build and share knowledge. The gift led to the construction of the Smithsonian Museum. During the lecture, someone questioned the nature of the forefathers’ religious beliefs. Peter quickly dismissed the premise of the question, stating that the questioner was confusing religion with spiritualism. Another attendee suggested that the Freemasons promote outdated superstition, including the idea that the Masons protect the Ancient Mysteries with a password called the verbum significatium. The students argued that no one could possibly believe that a single word could usher in a new time of enlightenment. However, Peter argued that many cultures believe in such things. Peter also suggested that a period of enlightenment would likely come, but that it would bring with it a period of darkness. This led the group to a discussion of the apocalypse, but Peter argued that apocalypse would not mean complete destruction. Instead, he stated that it literally means to unveil. Peter told the students that an apocalypse would come, but that it would not be what everyone believes it to be.

The CIA find Katherine and begin questioning her even as they treat her wound. Director Sato is summoned into another room, where she recognizes Langdon’s clothing on the floor. Sato shines a light into the window atop the box where Langdon floats, recognizing it as a sensory-deprivation tank filled with oxygenated perfluorocarbons: a breathable liquid developed in 1966. Director Sato’s men pull a confused Langdon from the tank and cover him in blankets, waiting a short time for his confusion to recede.

Katherine and Langdon are reunited. Katherine tells Langdon about seeing Peter. Director Sato needs Langdon to tell them where Mal’akh went, but Langdon doesn’t know the solution to the symbols on the bottom of the pyramid. He can recall some of the symbols, but not all of them. After seeing Mal’akh’s collection of papers taped to the wall, he realizes that he must try to solve the riddle because Mal’akh is searching for the Lost Word, the verbum significatium that supposedly protects the Ancient Mysteries.

As Mal’akh walks Peter into a building nearby and takes him into the elevator, Langdon and Katherine struggle to figure out the symbols on the bottom of the pyramid. Langdon is able to remember enough of the writing to come up with one term, and that term leads him to the code name of a building in Washington, DC: Heredom.

Mal’akh takes Peter to the House of the Temple, a Masonic temple in Washington, DC. On the top floor, he takes Peter to the same room where Mal’akh first celebrated his initiation into the Masons: the Temple Room.

Meanwhile, Langdon explains to Director Sato that Mal’akh is looking for the Lost Word and intends to inscribe it on the bare spot on his head. However, Langdon does not believe that Mal’akh will find anything at the temple. As they discuss whether Peter can be found before Mal’akh kills him, an agent shows Director Sato a wig with a camera in it. Langdon insists on going with Director Sato’s team to rescue Peter.

Mal’akh asks Peter to show him the staircase that leads to the Lost Word. Peter insists that there is no such staircase, but Mal’akh shows him the work he did with the magic circle to figure out the symbols on the bottom of the pyramid. In the center is a staircase leading down from a pyramid. Mal’akh shows Peter his tattoos, which include a staircase that works up from the small of his back to his head. Peter understands what the symbols and clues on the pyramid mean, but he also knows that telling this man the truth won’t save Katherine. At the same time, it appears that Mal’akh is preparing to kill Peter, based on the implements he has set up near the altar, including the iron knife.

Langdon argues with Director Sato over how far from the House of the Temple she wants to land the helicopter. To get Langdon on her side, Sato shows him the same classified video that she previously showed to Warren. The video shows the ceremonies in which a new Mason is inducted and advanced through the degrees of membership, but the video is edited in such a way as to make the ceremonies appear malicious and downright evil. Not only this, but the video clearly shows the faces of some of the Masonic members, including several politicians and high-level government officials, one of whom is the director of the CIA. Langdon now understands why Director Sato and the CIA’s Office of Security are involved and why it is a matter of national security.

Mal’akh also shows the video to Peter and sets it to be emailed to multiple news organizations. He tells Peter that he will only stop the upload of the video if Peter tells him where to find the Lost Word. Peter attempts to delay even as he watches the upload percentage increase, but he finally reveals a word that Mal’akh believes to be the Lost Word.

Meanwhile, Director Sato attempts to arrange for the use of use an EMP gun but is told that it will only work with a direct line of sight to the item they are attempting to shut down. Back at Mal’akh’s house, Warren reluctantly shows Katherine something he found in a desk drawer that explains why Mal’akh is obsessed with the Solomon family.

Mal’akh tattoos the Lost Word on the top of his head using Peter’s blood. Peter insists that Mal’akh keep his promise to stop the upload of the video and send an ambulance to Katherine, but Mal’akh refuses. Instead, Mal’akh picks up the iron knife, a knife that is believed to be the Akedah knife: the biblical knife given to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Mal’akh explains that he wants Peter to kill him in a reenactment of Abraham’s unfinished sacrifice. When Peter balks at the idea that killing Mal’akh would be a great sacrifice for Peter, Mal’akh explains that he is in fact Zachary transformed. Mal’akh also explains that he heard the conversation that Peter had with the jail supervisor in Turkey and knows that Peter chose to leave him there. At the same moment, Katherine sees photographs in Mal’akh’s drawer and realizes that Mal’akh is Zachary.

Langdon directs Simkins to the House of the Temple and informs him that there is a skylight above the Temple Room. Simkins radios this information to Director Sato who is nearby in the helicopter.

Peter tries to reason with Mal’akh, but the man’s mind is set. Mal’akh gives Peter the knife, encouraging him to choose between Katherine’s life or Zachary’s. Then Mal’akh lies down on the altar directly below the skylight. Peter rises above Mal’akh as the tattooed man continues to hurl truths at Peter meant to enrage him. Langdon and Agent Simkins arrive just as Peter raises the knife and plunges it down. Langdon tackles Peter, thinking that he is Mal’akh, and realizes that the knife never touched human flesh. Instead, it broke against the stone altar. Above them, a helicopter comes too close to the skylight, firing the EMP gun. The helicopter’s strut hits the glass, causing it to shatter. Mal’akh first believes that the gods have come for him but realizes what has actually happened when he sees how badly the falling glass has injured him.

Mal’akh overhears Langdon tell Peter that Katherine has been rescued. Peter goes to the dying Mal’akh and strokes his head before telling him that the symbol he tattooed on his head is not the Lost Word. Peter explains that he convinced Mal’akh that the Lost Word was the circumpunct, a circle with a dot in the center that represents “the origin of all things” (574). As Mal’akh dies, Peter tells him that he was loved.

Warren calls Dean Galloway to let him know of the events of the evening. When Galloway asks if Langdon knows the truth of what the pyramid led him to, Warren says no, but Galloway knows that he will eventually discover that truth.

Katherine arrives at the Temple Room and embraces her brother. Peter cries in grief for his son. Director Sato speaks to Nola and learns that the upload never finished. Nola considers telling Sato about the nearly hacked document on the CIA director’s network but decides it can wait.

Langdon cleans up in a bathroom and then encounters Katherine in the hall. Katherine tells him that she has to go check on something but will see him later. Peter seeks out Langdon.

Peter sets out to convince Langdon that the Lost Word is real. He begins in the library at the House of the Temple, showing Langdon the magic circle of the symbols from the bottom of the pyramid inserted in the correct positions. Langdon explains that it appears to be a representation of God, heaven, earth, and knowledge. Peter agrees that this could be an explanation for what is represented there, but he also says there is another explanation if one considers the symbols to be a map. Peter shows him that the arrow indicates that the staircase is south of the building where they currently stand. Langdon argues that the symbol could indicate any place south of the building, but Peter points out another word that implies a link to another building in Washington, DC. Peter promises to show Langdon the word written on that building. Director Sato agrees to give them a ride to a location and she says she had to get special permission for them to go there. At Peter’s request, Langdon is blindfolded before they leave.

Rick comes back to Nola’s office with an explanation for the document that was nearly hacked. He tells her that, to help morale, the director of the CIA runs a forum where employees can talk about anything they want. He says that at some point in the past there was debate on this forum about a sculpture called Kryptos that contains a code that many have tried unsuccessfully to break. The document is an attempt by some CIA employees to break the code. There is a rumor that the artist buried the key to the code somewhere in Washington, DC, and this explains why so many of the keywords that Katherine was searching for showed up in this document.

Langdon is led inside a building and along a path that ends at an elevator. Peter allows Langdon to take off his blindfold once they exit the elevator, but the area is very dark. Peter turns on a light and shines it down a shaft that is occupied only by a spiral staircase that seems to go on forever. Peter has Langdon look out a window, and Langdon realizes he can see the top of the Capitol Building. It is then that he realizes they are in the pinnacle of the Washington Monument.

Langdon realizes that the final word written in the code on the pyramid is the same word that is written in tiny letters on the tip of the Washington Monument. Peter explains that true cornerstones are always buried under the ground and that some are hollow in order to serve as vaults for buried treasure. Peter explains that the cornerstone of this structure was buried on July 4, 1848, in a Masonic ritual and that it contains the Lost Word.

Galloway reflects on how the phrase “the Word” often refers to the Bible itself. Galloway sits with his own treasured Bible, a Masonic Bible that includes not just the Old and New Testaments, but also the Masonic philosophical writings. Galloway believes that one day people will begin to appreciate the ancient teachings and will experience a leap forward in enlightenment.

Peter leads Langdon down the spiral staircase and talks to him about certain warnings that the forefathers and other philosophers issued against interpreting the Bible too literally. For example, Francis Bacon wrote code regarding the Bible, and Jefferson reedited the Bible to reveal its true meaning. Peter insists that the Bible was written cryptically because the information it contains is too powerful for some people to understand. Peter insists that the original intention of the Bible was to show humans how to transform themselves and to teach them that all people are gods. But the Bible hidden in the cornerstone will never be accessible because it is too far underground. At the same time, Langdon realizes that the Washington Monument is itself a circumpunct.

Katherine believed that her research was destroyed in the explosion Mal’akh caused at her lab, but she has discovered and seen for herself that there were backups that Peter had not told her about. All the information is therefore intact. Katherine meets with Langdon and learns that Peter went to the hospital to get checked out. Langdon tells Katherine what Peter revealed to him, and she explains that Peter told her the same thing years ago, and that most of what Peter said has fueled her research. Langdon and Katherine meet Warren at the Capitol Building.

Langdon and Katherine wait on the catwalk above the Capitol Rotunda with an iron key that Warren gave them before he left. They have strict instructions to go through a door at the end of a narrow staircase, but only at a specific time. As they wait for the proper moment, Langdon and Katherine continue the conversation that Langdon was having with Peter, discussing how the Ancient Mysteries focus on the possibility of humans using knowledge as a way to transform themselves into gods. Per Peter’s suggestion that the Bible is written in a way that conceals the truth, Katherine points out several instances in which words in the Bible have been interpreted one way but should have been interpreted differently. One example is the phrase that suggests a body is a temple. While this seems to imply that one should take good care of the body, it might actually mean that the body houses a true god. Katherine explains that this concept bleeds into her own work because she believes that once humans harness this power to become gods, they will be able to exert control over the world with mere thought. As Langdon closes his eyes and slips off to sleep, he realizes that some words for God are linguistically plural.

Langdon wakes and finds himself alone. He carefully makes his way up the staircase and finds Katherine about ready to open the door. As he waits for the right moment, he thinks of all that humankind has accomplished since the time of the forefathers. He reflects that the forefathers might believe that humankind has become gods because of the advancements they have made in technology. The moment arrives, allowing Langdon and Katherine to watch as the rising sun glints off the golden tip of the Washington Monument and creates a momentary beacon that few are allowed to witness. As the sun rises, the light moves from the capstone down to the ground, moving from heaven to earth. Langdon knows that the process would be reversed during sundown. As he stands there, Langdon thinks of everything he has learned and the immense human potential around him, and he feels hope.