Station Eleven

Sometime during the August before the pandemic, Arthur calls Miranda at her office in New York to tell her that his father died. Miranda is surprised but responds sympathetically. When she asks what prompted him to call her for the first time since their divorce, he responds, “You know where I’m from” (207).

In October, two weeks before the pandemic, Miranda arrives in Toronto. After a few business meetings, she goes to meet Arthur at the Elgin Theatre, where she is dismayed to be recognized by paparazzi. She meets Arthur in his dressing room; each is struck by how the other has changed. Arthur warns Miranda about the upcoming publication of Dear V. but assures her that did not write anything bad about her in his letters. Miranda says that he must be angry, but Arthur suggests that he deserves to have the letters published, since he “treated Victoria like a diary,” even though she rarely wrote back to him (211). As he speaks, Miranda has the impression that Arthur is acting.

After some small talk, there is a knock at the door, and Kirsten, whom Arthur affectionately calls “Kiki,” comes into the room. As Kirsten draws in a coloring book, Arthur asks Miranda about Dr. Eleven. She presents him with two copies each of the first two volumes in the series, thinking to herself about how her interest has recently shifted from Dr. Eleven himself to the people of the Undersea, who, yearning to return to Earth, live in “limbo.”

At her hotel, realizing that she forgot to give Clark’s paperweight to Arthur, Miranda sends it to the Elgin Theatre by courier.

Two weeks later, Miranda is on a business trip in Malaysia. After a day of meetings, she goes to the beach, intrigued by the sight of a fleet of ships on the horizon. She receives a call from Clark, who informs her of Arthur’s death.

After calling Miranda, Clark prepares to call Elizabeth, but delays for a few minutes. He receives a call from Arthur’s lawyer, who wants to know if Clark knows anything about Arthur’s affair with Tanya, since Arthur may have been thinking of including her in his will. Clark tells him that Arthur was “wonderful” and “kind” as a young man before his career took off and hangs up.

Clark calls Elizabeth. She is surprised to hear that Arthur’s funeral will take place in Toronto. Clark remembers Arthur confiding in him that Toronto was “the only place” he ever “felt free” (223). The next day, Clark is fortunate to catch a flight without any infected persons and surprised to see that Elizabeth and Tyler are aboard. The flight is redirected due to the outbreak, and they land in Severn City.

After hearing of Arthur’s death, Miranda heads back to the hotel. Checking the news, she learns of the outbreak and tries to find a flight out of Malaysia. Early next morning, she wakes with a fever. After several calls go unanswered, she painstakingly makes her way to the beach, where the rising sun reminds her of Station Eleven’s seascapes. She consoles herself with the thought that the passengers on the container ships must be isolated from the virus.