Angels and Demons

The third round of ballots at the Vatican returns no consensus; the cardinals continue to hope that the preferiti will arrive. The chapel door is unsealed, and the cardinals assume it is the preferiti finally arriving. Instead, the Camerlengo arrives and tells them there is something they must know.

Langdon runs through the Church, trying to escape the Hassassin. He sees the crumpled form of Vittoria, but he cannot help her as he desperately tries to avoid the Hassassin’s bullets.

Langdon crawls under a casket as bullets hiss past him. The Hassassin pushes the casket onto Langdon, and the lid slides off. The casket falls upside down onto Langdon, encasing him within it, and the decayed skeleton within falls on top of him. The Hassassin reaches into a gap between the floor and the casket and starts to strangle Langdon. Langdon pushes the casket up with his legs, managing to shift it, and it falls back down onto the Hassassin’s arm. The Hassassin withdraws his arm in pain, and the casket falls flush onto the ground, encasing Langdon in darkness.

The Camerlengo brings the cardinals up to speed. He is accompanied by Glick and Macri, who film his address and televise it. The Camerlengo concedes that science has won the war, and religion has become obsolete. However, he warns of the consequences of unchecked technological progress without considering the moral implications. He reminds the world that religion preaches restraint, morality, and compassion. He implies that the Church is not ignorant and out of touch for espousing these values, and these are values that the world needs more than ever—the Church is “a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control” (383). He believes that scientific discoveries prove, rather than disprove, the presence of God. The Camerlengo closes his address with his hope that goodness can prevail over the dark forces that threaten them: the antimatter and the Illuminati murders. He invites the cardinals and the world to pray with him.

The Hassassin happily considers violating Vittoria as he places her unconscious body in his van.

At CERN, Sylvie feels proud to be a Catholic. Many calls are already arriving about antimatter technology; people are eager to attain or invest in it.

Gunther Glick is joyful about the live transmission from the Camerlengo; he feels confident that the footage and coverage of the event will make his career. He is even more thrilled when the Camerlengo informs him that he wants to broadcast photos of the cardinals and the murdered Pope.

Langdon feels breathless and panicked in the sarcophagus. He tries to use a bone to leverage the sarcophagus off him, but it doesn’t budge. He positions the bone against the edge of the casket with his shoulder and pushes as hard as he can with both arms. He manages to wedge a tiny piece of the bone under the casket's edge, allowing in a tiny bit of air. He sets the alarm on his watch.

His mind wanders to a traumatic childhood event when he fell into a dark, cold well. He felt terrified and trapped, especially when night fell. He treaded water for five hours to stay alive before he was finally rescued.

The Hassassin ties Vittoria up and lays her on a divan in the Church of Illumination meeting room. She is still unconscious. He presses his thumb into the meridian pressure point at the back of her neck to lengthen her unconscious state. He goes down into the torchlit dungeon to retrieve the last cardinal, Cardinal Baggia, who tells the Hassassin that he prays for his soul.

A group of Vatican-commissioned firefighters uses Halon gas to extinguish the flames at the Church. The cardinal strung up over the fire is dead. The fire chief hears a beeping. He is concerned there is a bomb, and the bomb squad rolls the casket over and finds Langdon. They call for a doctor.

The Camerlengo instructs Rocher to escort the cardinals out at 11:15 if the canister has not been located and removed. Chartrand finds Rocher; a caller asking to speak to the ranking officer has information.

At CERN, Kohler instructs Sylvie to have his jet readied.

Langdon regains consciousness. He remembers where he is, and he asks if a Vittoria has been found. She has not. He feels lost without Vittoria and is determined to find and save her. He starts to look for Bernini’s next marker, knowing that it will point to a sculpture or relief affiliated with water. He examines the angel statue in the Church and follows the direction of the flaming spear it holds—it points west. Langdon inspects a map. He uses a pen to mark the previous altars and realizes that the points form a cross. He realizes that the poem revealed this detail, but he had missed the clue: “cross Rome the mystic elements unfold” (402). Langdon realizes that the final marker is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers.

Langdon takes Olivetti’s walkie-talkie and gun. He threatens a man in a car with the gun, instructing him to get out of the car. Langdon gets in and speeds toward the fountain.

Glick overheard news about a mysterious person who spoke to Rocher. He dubs the person, who is allegedly coming to Vatican City with important information, “The 11th Hour Samaritan” and televises an update about them (405). Macri criticizes Glick, who also theorized on air about George Bush being an Illuminatus and CERN being the home base of the Illuminati, for going too far with his speculation.

Langdon arrives at the fountain and sees a black van arrive. The Hassassin gets out with the final cardinal, who is naked and bound in chains. Langdon gets into the water and runs across the fountain. He aims the gun at the Hassassin. The Hassassin, looking relaxed, tells Langdon that Vittoria is at the Church of Illumination, and he assures Langdon that he will not be able to find it. Langdon considers shooting him but considers that he knows where the antimatter and Vittoria are.

The Hassassin kicks the cardinal into the water. In the sudden action, Langdon shoots at the Hassassin, shooting him in the toe. The Hassassin kicks Langdon in the chest, sending him into the water. Langdon feels for the gun but comes across the cardinal’s chained body. He heaves the cardinal out of the water, and he breathes a few breaths. He is heavy and slippery, and Langdon drops him again. When Langdon dives down to grab him, he sees the ambigram of the word water on his chest and the Hassassin’s feet approaching.

Fighting the Hassassin in the cold water reminds Langdon of aggressive water polo games. The Hassassin tries to force Langdon under the water. Langdon manages to escape his grip but the Hassassin grabs him again. Langdon thinks that he sees Olivetti’s gun, but it is actually a hose blowing bubbles into the fountain.

Cardinal Baggia remembers Jesus’s pain when he died for mankind’s sins. He lets go of his fear and doubt and lets go of his final breath, breathing in a gasp of water.

The Hassassin holds Langdon beneath the water. He feels his body stiffen and shake and then go limp. Sure that he is dead, the Hassassin leaves.

Vittoria wakes up and realizes that she is tied up. Fearful, she looks around the stone room. She can see the Vatican beyond the open doors.

Langdon takes a deep breath from the air tube pumping bubbles into the fountain; he had imitated the effects of death by drowning. Langdon pulls the Cardinal’s body onto a stone lip and tries to resuscitate him, but it is too late. Langdon cries.

Langdon feels desperate to find the Illuminati lair and save Vittoria. He looks at the sculpture and despairs because there are no angels on the pagan piece. Finally, he works out that the single dove on the obelisk is a “pagan” symbol for the Angel of Peace. He climbs up the statue and sees the stone fortress that is the Church of Illumination. It is so near the Vatican, he is shocked at the brazenness. He gets into the stolen car and speeds toward it.

Langdon reaches the Castle of the Angel after crossing the Bridge of Angels on foot. He sees a figure at the peak of the central tower. An Australian journalist is in a van at the base. He convinces the man to raise him on a satellite dish to the outer rampart in exchange for telling him the location of Cardinal Baggia.

Meanwhile, the Hassassin excitedly approaches Vittoria, who is now awake.

Langdon finds a tunnel, but it descends rather than going up toward the Hassassin and Vittoria. Nevertheless, he follows it, seeing no other alternative.

The Hassassin contemplates the horrific abuse he is about to inflict upon Vittoria with mounting excitement. He imagines slitting her throat at his moment of climax.

Langdon finds the black van and Vittoria’s smashed phone within it. He follows the Hassassin’s bloody footprints to a slit in stone, which leads to a passageway. He sees another passage that leads toward the Vatican and the cell where the cardinals were kept. He follows the Hassassin’s footprints upstairs and grabs a metal bar to use as a weapon.

Meanwhile, the Hassassin produces a knife and tells Vittoria that it is the knife he used to cut out her father’s eye. He starts to cut off her shorts. Langdon appears and instructs the Hassassin to get away from Vittoria.

Langdon realizes from the embellishments in the room that he has reached the Church of Illumination. The Hassassin laughs at Langdon’s weapon and comes at Langdon suddenly with his knife. Langdon manages to duck away, and the two begin circling each other. Langdon feels exhausted and outmatched. The Hassassin glances at a chest containing the brands, intentionally drawing Langdon’s eye there. He attacks while Langdon is distracted and disarms him.

Langdon asks about the empty spot among the brands. The Hassassin explains that there is a sixth Illuminati brand, which the leader is going to use that night on a final enemy. Langdon correctly works out that he means the Camerlengo and that the Illuminati leader is the alleged Samaritan. Langdon wonders how Janus—the Illuminati leader—fooled Rocher, or whether Rocher is involved in the plot.

The Hassassin manages to steer Langdon toward the balcony, beyond which is a 100-foot drop. The Hassassin pushes him, and Langdon hangs on by one hand and his two feet. Vittoria suddenly appears and pushes a burning torch into the Hassassin’s back. Screaming in agony, he turns around to face Vittoria. Langdon climbs back up and strikes the Hassassin in his burn, causing him to release Vittoria. Vittoria thrusts the torch into the Hassassin’s face, burning out one of his eyes. Vittoria and Langdon push the Hassassin off the balcony. Vittoria explains that she used yoga to escape the binds, mentioning that “Houdini knew yoga” (445).

The Swiss Guards are unsuccessful in pushing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square to a safer distance. Less than 45 minutes remain on the canister’s countdown. Cardinal Moriarty and Lieutenant Chartrand wonder at the fact that Captain Rocher has not yet given the order to evacuate the cardinals. Chartrand is even more surprised when he is ordered to the Camerlengo’s door to ensure that he does not leave the room. Meanwhile, the Camerlengo prays for strength and a miracle in the Office of the Pope.

Vittoria and Langdon look over Vatican City. Vittoria worriedly reflects that the crowd of people is still too close. Langdon tells Vittoria that he is planning on returning to Vatican City to warn them that the “11th Hour Samaritan” is actually the Illuminati leader; he tells her that he knows a passageway. They watch as a Vatican chopper arrives and lands on the Vatican grounds. Vittoria is shocked to see Kohler disembark.

Kohler is disgusted with the opulence of the Vatican corridors he is led through. The Swiss Guards that Rocher and Kohler encounter are confused by Rocher leading the unknown man directly to the Camerlengo. Eventually, they stop Kohler at gunpoint and insist on announcing the guest to the Camerlengo.

Kohler resentfully stops. As he waits, he remembers a fever he had as a child; his parents refused medical intervention, assuring him that God would protect him. Helpless doctors watched as Kohler suffered through an agonizing night. Finally, one intervened when his parents were not watching, injecting the young Kohler with medicine. Kohler finally slept, and the fever broke, but when he awoke, he had lost the use of his legs. The local priest praised God’s intervention in saving Kohler, but Kohler knew it was the medicine.

Kohler demands to see the Camerlengo alone. A guard starts to explain that this is not permitted, but Kohler overrules him. The guards frisk Kohler half-heartedly, clearly embarrassed by his disability. Kohler enters, and the Camerlengo asks, “[H]ave you come to make me a martyr” (455).

Langdon and Vittoria follow the secret tunnel, known as Il Passetto, toward Vatican City. Langdon wonders about the Hassassin’s claim about the sixth brand. Vittoria continues to insist that Kohler would not bring negative press coverage to CERN, and Langdon wonders if this constitutes amazing publicity for the Church. Langdon suggests that the Camerlengo’s decision to publicize the threat was not what Kohler would have anticipated, and it had the effect of producing a new and inspiring church leader.

They pass through a series of unlocked gates but suddenly reached a one-way, closed door.

Lieutenant Chartrand is concerned and suspicious of Rocher’s behavior; he feels uneasy about the Camerlengo being alone with Kohler and the cardinals being locked in the Sistine Chapel. Chartrand hears insistent banging and follows it into the Pope’s library. He shoots the lock and enters, and he is shocked that the banging is coming from an iron door engraved “il passetto”—a passage he had heard of but thought hadn’t been used in decades. He hears the muffled shouting of Vittoria and Langdon on the other side of the door: “...meeting…stop…erlengo…danger…” (463). Chartrand finds the key and opens the door.

Chartrand, Vittoria, and Langdon run toward the Pope’s Office. Rocher tries to stop them, and they hear a scream from within.

Chartrand steps past Rocher and blows the door open. Kohler is standing over the Camerlengo, having just branded his chest. The Camerlengo points at Rocher and yells “ILLUMINATUS!” Chartrand shoots Rocher, who dies immediately. Kohler, who is seconds away from death, gives Langdon a small camcorder and instructs him to give it to the media.

The Camerlengo instructs the cardinals and everyone else in Vatican City to evacuate immediately and orders that a helicopter be called to get him to the hospital.

The Swiss Guard pilot considers the chaos in St. Peter’s Square, and he feels guilty for not trusting his instincts—he had sensed that Kohler was hostile. He notes that the cargo box in the helicopter, where aspirin is kept, is locked.

Langdon, Vittoria, and two guards assist the Camerlengo to the helicopter.

As Langdon and the group emerge, Macri and Glick film them. Langdon sees their progress on all of the huge media screens. Suddenly, the Camerlengo sits upright. His cassock falls off him, and the camera zooms into his chest. Langdon realizes that he is looking at the alleged Illuminati diamond; the words earth, air, fire, and water are contained in a symmetrical ambigram.

St. Peter’s Square is in chaos. The Camerlengo suddenly turns his face upward and yells, “Ti sento, Dio! I hear you, God!” and “Upon this rock I will build my church!” (474). The crowded square becomes silent. Suddenly, the Camerlengo turns and runs back into St. Peter’s Basilica.

Langdon tries to stop the Camerlengo, and Macri follows, filming. The Camerlengo continues to run into the dark space, and Chartrand, Langdon, Vittoria, the guards, and Macri follow. The Camerlengo, to Langdon and Chartrand’s surprise, starts descending into the Necropolis. Langdon tries to stop him, but the Camerlengo explains that he believes that “upon this rock, I shall build my church” means that the antimatter is in St. Peter’s tomb. St. Peter was often called “the rock” for his unwavering devotion to Jesus.

The group follows the Camerlengo down steep steps into the Necropolis. Vittoria remembers her father’s explanation that prayer is a process of opening one's mind to that which it may already know, and she wonders whether the Camerlengo entered a state in which he was able to realize something he had unconsciously figured out. Vittoria and Langdon try to stop the Camerlengo from bringing the canister up; if it is left where is, it will destroy the Vatican but likely leave the people above unharmed. The Camerlengo implores them to have faith.

The gathered crowds, including Cardinal Mortati and the other cardinals, watch the media screens as the group follows the Camerlengo to St. Peter’s tomb. The antimatter canister is on the tomb. Vittoria and Langdon are terrified when he grabs the canister and starts running back through the twisting passages of the Necropolis toward the square.