Day Watch (2006) Synopsis

MOSCOW, January 2006. It is the day after New Year's Day, over one year after the events in the first movie Nochnoy dozor/Night Watch. Night Watch agent Anton Gorodetsky [Konstantin Khabenskiy] and his trainee, Svetlana 'Sveta' Nazarova [Mariya Poroshina], the Virgin, are driving along the freeway near the Moscow Expo Center. Sveta is reading aloud a book about the legend of how Tamerlane came to possess the Chalk of Fate, an ancient artifact reputed to possess the ability to change one's fate. Suddenly, an emergency APB comes over the truck radio. An old woman has been attacked near the Expo Center by a Dark One wielding a long needle that he plunged into her back and began sucking out her lifeforce. Anton and Sveta quickly locate the woman. When Sveta sees the ski-masked assailant running away, she takes off after him with Anton trying to keep up. The assailant leads Sveta into the Gloom. Anton follows, but when Sveta and the assailant pass into second level Gloom, where only Great Ones can go, Anton is unable to penetrate the shield. As he calls to Sveta to come back, the Dark One sneaks up behind her and stabs her with his needle. Sveta spins around and pulls off his black ski-mask to reveal a young boy. Anton gasps. It is his son, Yegor [Dmitriy Martynov]. Before Sveta can eliminate Yegor with her UV flashlight, Anton manages to break the shield and pull Sveta back from the Gloom.After their ordeal, Anton and Sveta stop for beers at Cafe Zoar. Sveta wonders why Anton protected the Dark assailant, but he won't talk. The leader of the Light Ones, Anton and Sveta's boss Gesser (now going by the name Boris Ivanovich), enters the restaurant and reminds Sveta that she has a lecture to give tonight. After Sveta has left, Gesser/Boris [Vladimir Menshov] reminds Anton that it is forbidden to have personal relations with trainees, but his warning comes too late. Anton has already fallen in love with Sveta. After Gesser leaves, Anton finishes his beer and reads a little more in Sveta's book, the part about how Tamerlane was buried in Samarkand with his right fist clenched, presumed to be holding the Chalk of Fate. He then has Zoar [Nurzhuman Ikhtymbaev] wrap his remaining manti and, drunker than a skunk, Anton leaves the restaurant and heads for home.Zavulon [Viktor Verzhbitskiy], leader of the Darks, and his fiancee, the Dark witch Alisa [Zhanna Friske], are checking out the hall at Hotel Cosmos where they plan to hold Yegor's 14th birthday party coming in a few days when Yegor suddenly races in, upset about the fact that he was chased into second level Gloom. Just then, Zavulon gets a phone call about the attack on the old woman, warning him about the ski-mask left behind. It is imperative that they get it back before it can be linked to Yegor. The mask has been stored in the Night Watch archives, so Zavulon sends Yegor's teacher, Galina Rogova [Irina Yakovleva], to intercept Anton on his way home and ask him to go into the archives and get the cap in order to protect his son. Anton refuses, but later he sneaks into the archives and gets the mask anyway. While there, he also enters the Central Asia vault and reads the files on the Chalk of Fate, which confirms the legend that Tamerlane was buried in the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand and that he was believed to be clutching the Chalk in his right hand. Anton also learns that Gesser made a request to search the tomb back in 1941, but it was denied.Galina is murdered on her way home by an unknown assasin, and her body found the next morning. The Darks' suspicion immediately falls on Anton. Since the Truce between Lights and Darks forbids any Light to kill a Dark (and vice versa), Zavulon orders Alisa to dig up some evidence on Anton so that they can take it to the Inquisition. Alisa talks with Galina's five-year old daughter Mashenka, but Masha denies knowing Anton. Next, she talks with Anton's neighbor, Kostya Sergevich [Aleksey Chadov], who has recently received his vampire papers, having been turned by his father Valery [Valeriy Zolotukhin] when he was a child dying of pneumonia. So far, Kostya has resisted drinking human blood. To Alisa, he admits to peering out the window last night and seeing Anton talking with Galina.Gesser has also received news of Galina's murder and that Anton is being accused. Gesser knows that Anton was in the archives at the time that the murder took place, but he also knows that Anton will never admit to that because it will finger his son as the attacker of humans, so Gesser contrives to have Anton and mage Olga switch bodies and then sends Anton (in Olga's body) to stay with Sveta. Although Sveta has the power of introscopy (the ability to see objects behind closed doors), she fails to accept her initial feeling that it is Anton in Olga's body and starts telling "Olga" about her feelings of love for Anton. When they get to Sveta's apartment, Sveta takes a shower while "Olga" fumbles around in the kitchen. Sveta asks "Olga" to bring her a towel, and "Olga" is mesmerized by Sveta's naked body through the shower curtain. "Olga" confesses that she and Anton have switched bodies and that "she" is really Anton inside. At first Sveta is angry, but soon they are in the shower together, kissing and hugging. Later, they go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.Meanwhile, Alisa has gone to pick up Kostya at his apartment. She tells him that they suspect Anton and Olga may have switched bodies, and she wonders if Kostya would recognize Anton in a different body, but Kostya isn't sure. When Alisa begins to caress Kostya's hand, he notices that she is wearing a gold band on her ring finger. It's actually a magic ring that connects her feelings with Zavulon, and Alisa is unable to remove it. Makes no difference. They drive around in Alisa's Mazda, kissing each other.Back at the Chinese restaurant, "Olga" goes to use the rest room and mistakenly opens the door to the men's room. On the floor lies a dead man. Recognizing him as a Dark, Sveta and "Olga" run from the restaurant, straight into Gesser's car. It's a set up, Gesser explains as they find their car surrounded by Zavulon and many Darks. Zavulon informs Gesser that he's filing a formal charge of murder against Anton. Knowing that Anton is in Olga's body, the Darks lead her away. It is forbidden for any Light agents to interfere, but Sveta will have none of that. She rushes at Zavulon. When Gesser stops her, she wills a bus to appear and run smackdab into Zavulon, which only serves to anger an immortal. Zavulon knocks down some electrical wires and uses one of them like a bullwhip, striking at "Olga" as she flees. fortunately, "Olga" makes it to a taxi and gets away. She places a call to a friend at Samarkand and requests to be allowed into Tamerlane's tomb. She also calls "Anton" and demands that they switch back into the correct bodies. They are to meet at the airport in 30 minutes.Meanwhile, two Inquisition agents visit Gesser at his office in the Gorsvet Light and Power Company. They give him until dawn to prove that Anton is innocent in regard to the deaths of the two Darks or they will issue a warrant for his elimination. If Gesser refuses to hand Anton over, the result will be war. If he files an order of protest, it will be denied. Gesser's hands are tied either way.Olga and Anton are back in their own bodies, having exchanged in an airport elevator. Anton purchases a ticket to Samarkand and, after a bit of a problem getting through security with his weapons belt, he boards the plane. Olga follows him on board, and they sit in aisle seats opposite each other. The plane tries to take off, but Olga and Anton use their powers to start and stop it until Olga relents and lets the plane take off. Once in the air, Olga confesses to Anton that she knows the Chalk is not in Tamerlane's hand because she tried to get possession of it in 1941. At the same time, Sveta is asking Gesser why he isn't doing anything to save Anton. Gesser, hoping to stop Sveta from interfering, tells her how he once broke the Truce and how Olga tried to help him. He was acquitted, but Olga was sentenced. Back on the airplane, Olga explains how she was warned by Zoar, Tamerlane's right hand man, that to open the tomb would start a war. Anton suddenly realizes that the Chalk rests with Zoar (right hand = right hand man) and asks Olga to help him mentally direct the pilots to return the airplane to Moscow. Unknown to both of them, Zavulon's spy Popugay [Igor Lifanov] (Parrot) has been listening to their conversation.After returning to Moscow, Anton heads for Cafe Zoar. He requests that Zoar hand over the Chalk, and Zoar does it willingly, informing Anton that he need only write his wish on the blackboard. Anton writes Yegor, and Yegor suddenly enters the cafe. Father and son embrace. While Anton gets some warm rice plov to eat on this cold and snowy night in January, Yegor takes a call from Sveta on Anton's cell phone. Yegor tells Sveta that Anton has a family and warns her not to call him anymore. When Anton returns with their rice plov, Yegor asks his father to come home and eat again with his mother, but Anton says that he has another life and can't do that. Angry and upset, Yegor smashes the cell phone and runs out of the cafe. Zoar explains that the Chalk didn't work for Anton because it had to be written at the place where Anton carved his own destiny... the apartment where he conspired with the Dark Witch Darya Leonidova 14 years ago to abort the child being carried by his wife Irina, a child he thought belonged to another man. Anton puts on his coat to leave the cafe and, checking his pockets, discovers that Yegor has taken the Chalk.Later that night at 1:00 AM, Anton calls Irina [Mariya Mironova] anyway and asks to speak with Yegor. She says that he's sleeping. After hanging up on Anton, Irina checks on Yegor and finds him not there. Yegor is with Zavulon, getting a haircut. Yegor presents Zavulon with the Chalk. Unable to touch the Chalk, Zavulon suggests that Yegor give it to Alisa. Anton tries to hitch a ride to the Expo Center, but he recognizes that the driver of the car that stops for him is a Dark. Anton manages to get away by hanging on to Popugay's passing car until he thinks he can safely drop off. Popugay continues to follow, so Anton jumps through a Metro sign into the Gloom and lands in a Metro station. When he sees scores of Darks coming down the stairs, he jumps into a moving train and escapes.Sveta, Gesser, and Olga look for Anton at Zoar's but find only his smashed cellphone. When Gesser mentions that Yegor has taken the Chalk, Sveta retreats to the ladies' room, disappears outside, and hops into a taxi. Meanwhile, Kostya and his father Valery are washing clothes together when their doorbell rings. It is Sveta looking for Anton. Sveta recognizes Kostya as a vampire, and he jumps at her for the shock value, but his father pulls him back, claiming that no laws have been broken. Sveta assures them that she's not interested in accusing them, and she departs. Finding it hard to deal with his budding vampirism, Kostya puts on his coat and hat and leaves the apartment.In her room at the Cosmos, getting dressed for the party, Alisa slips the Chalk into her cleavage. On second thought, she takes it out and writes Kostya on the wall. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. It is Kostya, come to run away with Alisa. Alisa explains that the ring she is wearing connects her to Zavulon in such a way that he can feel everything she feels, so she can't just leave. Kostya promises to help her get the ring off, when there is another knock on her door. It is Zavulon, come to hurry Alisa along to the party. He recognizes Kostya as Valery's son, but Alisa covers for Kostya, saying that he's here because he can recognize Anton even if he's wearing another body.Anton has made it to a pay phone and tries to place a call. He is interrupted by Popugay, and they proceed to fight. Then Anton has an idea. He presses Popugay's face into the snow, digs out the impression, and places it on his own face. When the snow falls away, Anton has transformed into Popugay and can now attend Yegor's birthday party without drawing notice to himself. Unfortunately, he addresses someone with the wrong name and gets his face punched for it, returning him to his real face. To escape, Anton jumps through the Gloom and goes looking for Yegor. His face bloodied, Anton runs into a large, dark banquet hall. Suddenly the lights are turned on, and he finds himself in a room filled with Darks, all celebrating Yegor's birthday. Zavulon hands Anton a microphone and tells him to say a few words to his son. Anton wishes Yegor health and happiness and then downs a toast to him, not knowing that his drink has been inadvertently mixed with blood, which affects Anton as potent alcohol would.Reeling as though drunk, Anton makes merry with the Darks. Alisa asks Zavulon whether she should alert the Inquisition that Anton is here, but Zavulon says to wait, because there is one more guest who still hasn't arrived, that guest being Sveta. Legend says that when Sveta and Yegor, the two Great Ones, meet and spill only one drop of blood, it will begin the annhilation of the world, shifting the power between Darks and Lights, and that's what this birthday party has been arranged to do. Zavulon informs Anton that the Inquisition is coming to take him away, but Anton just laughs. "Do you really want to know who murdered Galina Rogova?", he asks the crowd, just as Valery arrives at the party. Anton has figured it out: Valery made a deal with Zavulon in order to save Kostya from being labeled as a vampire. Zavulon agreed to delay the papers in return for Valery killing Galina so that Zavulon could lay the blame on Anton.Two Inquisition agents suddenly appear in the door. The Great Truce has been broken, they say, and ask Valery whether he will confess to the crime. Valery admits it, and the agents finally pronounce Anton innocent of the charges. As Valery leaves the hall to go away with the Inquisition agents, Kostya leaps to his feet, grabs his father's two-sided wooden stake, and rushes at Zavulon, intending to kill him for setting up his father. Zavulon grabs the stake and places it between himself and Kostya. So that no one will suspect what is actually happening, he pretends to tango with Kostya as he thrusts the stake through Kostya's chest. Realizing that Zavulon has just stabbed Kostya, Alisa jumps from her chair, but Anton grabs her and asks for the Chalk. Still clutching Kostya to his body, Zavulon leaps from the window, just as a taxi drives up to the hotel, and Sveta gets out.When Sveta enters the banquet hall, Anton notices her and tells her to go home. For a moment, Yegor is fooled into believing that his father does not love Sveta and has become a Dark, but Zavulon (returned from his trek outside) explains that Anton is just casting shadows, i.e., pretending. Wanting to get Sveta out of his father's life, Yegor remembers that he stuck Sveta with a needle when they were in the Gloom together. "I could drink from her now", Yegor says and starts sucking on a juice container. As Yegor drains the juice, Sveta's lifeforce starts draining out, too. Sveta falls to the floor, and her face starts aging.Meanwhile, outside of the Cosmos, Light agents have begun amassing. Olga and Light agent Simeon [Aleksey Maklakov] are racing to the Hotel, but their truck keeps getting intercepted and surrounded by Darks in their trucks and on their motorcycles. Sensing that Sveta is being drained of her lifeforce, Olga calls Sveta on her cellphone. When Sveta answers, Olga tells her not to close her eyes or to stop breathing. As the motorcycles ram Olga's truck, she keeps talking to Sveta, instructing her to get up off the floor and stay away from Yegor. When Sveta finally manages to get to her feet and stumble out to the hall, Zavulon hands a yoyo to Yegor and tells him to practice with it. This isn't just any yoyo, however. It is a yoyo of mass destruction.Yegor follows Sveta into the hall and confronts her with the yoyo. Sveta refuses to fight and turns to leave. Yegor rushes at her, and the two of them collide with a third person, knocking Yegor to the floor, with Gesser there taking photos of it all. When Yegor gets to his feet, his nose starts to bleed, and a drop of his blood falls to the floor. The war between Darks and Lights has begun! As Olga and other Light agents run down the hotel halls, knocking on doors and telling the guests to evacuate, Yegor tosses the yoyo at Anton. The yoyo cracks open to reveal more yoyos, and these yoyos multiply and begin flying around the banquet hall, destroying tables of food, knocking holes in the walls, and killing both Darks and Lights. Soon the yoyos are unleashed on the city of Moscow. Within minutes, all of Moscow lays wasted.Back inside the banquet hall, Alisa has finally managed to get the ring off her finger... by cutting off her finger. Zavulon and Anton both go looking for Alisa so they can get the Chalk, but Anton gets to her first. Alisa is writing Kostya zhiv (Kostya lives) on the wall, but Anton tells her that it won't work because she was not the cause of his death. Anton admits that he is to blame, so Alisa gives him the Chalk. As Anton races to exit the hotel, he is intercepted by Sveta and Yegor, each grabbing one of his arms, trying to pull him to their sides. All around him, the building is collapsing. As a large shard of glass falls down, headed right for Anton, certain to slice him in half, Gesser appears and snaps a picture with his camera. Suddenly time stops, leaving only Gesser and Anton able to move and speak. "What a mess you've made," Gesser says to Anton.Gesser warns him that the camera will only hold for a short exposure so Anton must hurry and fix what he created from all this. Anton races back to the old apartment building where he first made the deal with Darya. The building has been destroyed, but the walls are still standing. He climbs to the old apartment, takes out the chalk, and writes Nyet (No) on the wall....Suddenly, everything reverts back to 1992. Anton is facing the Dark witch Darya [Rimma Markova] over her wanting to perform a spell to kill his pregnant ex-wife, and Darya asks Anton whether he wants her to perform the spell and agree to bear the responsibility for killing an innocent. "Nyet," replies Anton as if he is under some kind of spell. As he leaves the apartment, he runs into the three Light agents -- Ilya [Aleksandr Samoylenko], Lena [Anna Slyu], and Simeon -- in the hallway. Simeon asks him for a cigarette, but Anton says that he doesn't smoke and keeps going, giving no indication that he recognizes the agents. "He's human again," Simeon assures Ilya and Lena.Anton goes outside. It is spring and raining. As he walks down the sidewalk, a pig-tailed Sveta walks past him. Seated on a bench, Gesser and Zavulon watch, making bets on whether or not Anton will recognize Sveta, Gesser betting 'yes' and Zavulon betting 'no'. As Anton passes Sveta, he turns to look at her, then rushes to catch up with her. "Have we met?" he asks Sveta. "Maybe we did," she replies, as they walk off together.[Full summary by BJ Kuehl]

MOSCOW, January 2006. It is the day after New Year's Day, over one year after the events in the first movie Nochnoy dozor/Night Watch. Night Watch agent Anton Gorodetsky [Konstantin Khabenskiy] and his trainee, Svetlana 'Sveta' Nazarova [Mariya Poroshina], the Virgin, are driving along the freeway near the Moscow Expo Center. Sveta is reading aloud a book about the legend of how Tamerlane came to possess the Chalk of Fate, an ancient artifact reputed to possess the ability to change one's fate. Suddenly, an emergency APB comes over the truck radio. An old woman has been attacked near the Expo Center by a Dark One wielding a long needle that he plunged into her back and began sucking out her lifeforce. Anton and Sveta quickly locate the woman. When Sveta sees the ski-masked assailant running away, she takes off after him with Anton trying to keep up. The assailant leads Sveta into the Gloom. Anton follows, but when Sveta and the assailant pass into second level Gloom, where only Great Ones can go, Anton is unable to penetrate the shield. As he calls to Sveta to come back, the Dark One sneaks up behind her and stabs her with his needle. Sveta spins around and pulls off his black ski-mask to reveal a young boy. Anton gasps. It is his son, Yegor [Dmitriy Martynov]. Before Sveta can eliminate Yegor with her UV flashlight, Anton manages to break the shield and pull Sveta back from the Gloom.After their ordeal, Anton and Sveta stop for beers at Cafe Zoar. Sveta wonders why Anton protected the Dark assailant, but he won't talk. The leader of the Light Ones, Anton and Sveta's boss Gesser (now going by the name Boris Ivanovich), enters the restaurant and reminds Sveta that she has a lecture to give tonight. After Sveta has left, Gesser/Boris [Vladimir Menshov] reminds Anton that it is forbidden to have personal relations with trainees, but his warning comes too late. Anton has already fallen in love with Sveta. After Gesser leaves, Anton finishes his beer and reads a little more in Sveta's book, the part about how Tamerlane was buried in Samarkand with his right fist clenched, presumed to be holding the Chalk of Fate. He then has Zoar [Nurzhuman Ikhtymbaev] wrap his remaining manti and, drunker than a skunk, Anton leaves the restaurant and heads for home.Zavulon [Viktor Verzhbitskiy], leader of the Darks, and his fiancee, the Dark witch Alisa [Zhanna Friske], are checking out the hall at Hotel Cosmos where they plan to hold Yegor's 14th birthday party coming in a few days when Yegor suddenly races in, upset about the fact that he was chased into second level Gloom. Just then, Zavulon gets a phone call about the attack on the old woman, warning him about the ski-mask left behind. It is imperative that they get it back before it can be linked to Yegor. The mask has been stored in the Night Watch archives, so Zavulon sends Yegor's teacher, Galina Rogova [Irina Yakovleva], to intercept Anton on his way home and ask him to go into the archives and get the cap in order to protect his son. Anton refuses, but later he sneaks into the archives and gets the mask anyway. While there, he also enters the Central Asia vault and reads the files on the Chalk of Fate, which confirms the legend that Tamerlane was buried in the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand and that he was believed to be clutching the Chalk in his right hand. Anton also learns that Gesser made a request to search the tomb back in 1941, but it was denied.Galina is murdered on her way home by an unknown assasin, and her body found the next morning. The Darks' suspicion immediately falls on Anton. Since the Truce between Lights and Darks forbids any Light to kill a Dark (and vice versa), Zavulon orders Alisa to dig up some evidence on Anton so that they can take it to the Inquisition. Alisa talks with Galina's five-year old daughter Mashenka, but Masha denies knowing Anton. Next, she talks with Anton's neighbor, Kostya Sergevich [Aleksey Chadov], who has recently received his vampire papers, having been turned by his father Valery [Valeriy Zolotukhin] when he was a child dying of pneumonia. So far, Kostya has resisted drinking human blood. To Alisa, he admits to peering out the window last night and seeing Anton talking with Galina.Gesser has also received news of Galina's murder and that Anton is being accused. Gesser knows that Anton was in the archives at the time that the murder took place, but he also knows that Anton will never admit to that because it will finger his son as the attacker of humans, so Gesser contrives to have Anton and mage Olga switch bodies and then sends Anton (in Olga's body) to stay with Sveta. Although Sveta has the power of introscopy (the ability to see objects behind closed doors), she fails to accept her initial feeling that it is Anton in Olga's body and starts telling "Olga" about her feelings of love for Anton. When they get to Sveta's apartment, Sveta takes a shower while "Olga" fumbles around in the kitchen. Sveta asks "Olga" to bring her a towel, and "Olga" is mesmerized by Sveta's naked body through the shower curtain. "Olga" confesses that she and Anton have switched bodies and that "she" is really Anton inside. At first Sveta is angry, but soon they are in the shower together, kissing and hugging. Later, they go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.Meanwhile, Alisa has gone to pick up Kostya at his apartment. She tells him that they suspect Anton and Olga may have switched bodies, and she wonders if Kostya would recognize Anton in a different body, but Kostya isn't sure. When Alisa begins to caress Kostya's hand, he notices that she is wearing a gold band on her ring finger. It's actually a magic ring that connects her feelings with Zavulon, and Alisa is unable to remove it. Makes no difference. They drive around in Alisa's Mazda, kissing each other.Back at the Chinese restaurant, "Olga" goes to use the rest room and mistakenly opens the door to the men's room. On the floor lies a dead man. Recognizing him as a Dark, Sveta and "Olga" run from the restaurant, straight into Gesser's car. It's a set up, Gesser explains as they find their car surrounded by Zavulon and many Darks. Zavulon informs Gesser that he's filing a formal charge of murder against Anton. Knowing that Anton is in Olga's body, the Darks lead her away. It is forbidden for any Light agents to interfere, but Sveta will have none of that. She rushes at Zavulon. When Gesser stops her, she wills a bus to appear and run smackdab into Zavulon, which only serves to anger an immortal. Zavulon knocks down some electrical wires and uses one of them like a bullwhip, striking at "Olga" as she flees. fortunately, "Olga" makes it to a taxi and gets away. She places a call to a friend at Samarkand and requests to be allowed into Tamerlane's tomb. She also calls "Anton" and demands that they switch back into the correct bodies. They are to meet at the airport in 30 minutes.Meanwhile, two Inquisition agents visit Gesser at his office in the Gorsvet Light and Power Company. They give him until dawn to prove that Anton is innocent in regard to the deaths of the two Darks or they will issue a warrant for his elimination. If Gesser refuses to hand Anton over, the result will be war. If he files an order of protest, it will be denied. Gesser's hands are tied either way.Olga and Anton are back in their own bodies, having exchanged in an airport elevator. Anton purchases a ticket to Samarkand and, after a bit of a problem getting through security with his weapons belt, he boards the plane. Olga follows him on board, and they sit in aisle seats opposite each other. The plane tries to take off, but Olga and Anton use their powers to start and stop it until Olga relents and lets the plane take off. Once in the air, Olga confesses to Anton that she knows the Chalk is not in Tamerlane's hand because she tried to get possession of it in 1941. At the same time, Sveta is asking Gesser why he isn't doing anything to save Anton. Gesser, hoping to stop Sveta from interfering, tells her how he once broke the Truce and how Olga tried to help him. He was acquitted, but Olga was sentenced. Back on the airplane, Olga explains how she was warned by Zoar, Tamerlane's right hand man, that to open the tomb would start a war. Anton suddenly realizes that the Chalk rests with Zoar (right hand = right hand man) and asks Olga to help him mentally direct the pilots to return the airplane to Moscow. Unknown to both of them, Zavulon's spy Popugay [Igor Lifanov] (Parrot) has been listening to their conversation.After returning to Moscow, Anton heads for Cafe Zoar. He requests that Zoar hand over the Chalk, and Zoar does it willingly, informing Anton that he need only write his wish on the blackboard. Anton writes Yegor, and Yegor suddenly enters the cafe. Father and son embrace. While Anton gets some warm rice plov to eat on this cold and snowy night in January, Yegor takes a call from Sveta on Anton's cell phone. Yegor tells Sveta that Anton has a family and warns her not to call him anymore. When Anton returns with their rice plov, Yegor asks his father to come home and eat again with his mother, but Anton says that he has another life and can't do that. Angry and upset, Yegor smashes the cell phone and runs out of the cafe. Zoar explains that the Chalk didn't work for Anton because it had to be written at the place where Anton carved his own destiny... the apartment where he conspired with the Dark Witch Darya Leonidova 14 years ago to abort the child being carried by his wife Irina, a child he thought belonged to another man. Anton puts on his coat to leave the cafe and, checking his pockets, discovers that Yegor has taken the Chalk.Later that night at 1:00 AM, Anton calls Irina [Mariya Mironova] anyway and asks to speak with Yegor. She says that he's sleeping. After hanging up on Anton, Irina checks on Yegor and finds him not there. Yegor is with Zavulon, getting a haircut. Yegor presents Zavulon with the Chalk. Unable to touch the Chalk, Zavulon suggests that Yegor give it to Alisa. Anton tries to hitch a ride to the Expo Center, but he recognizes that the driver of the car that stops for him is a Dark. Anton manages to get away by hanging on to Popugay's passing car until he thinks he can safely drop off. Popugay continues to follow, so Anton jumps through a Metro sign into the Gloom and lands in a Metro station. When he sees scores of Darks coming down the stairs, he jumps into a moving train and escapes.Sveta, Gesser, and Olga look for Anton at Zoar's but find only his smashed cellphone. When Gesser mentions that Yegor has taken the Chalk, Sveta retreats to the ladies' room, disappears outside, and hops into a taxi. Meanwhile, Kostya and his father Valery are washing clothes together when their doorbell rings. It is Sveta looking for Anton. Sveta recognizes Kostya as a vampire, and he jumps at her for the shock value, but his father pulls him back, claiming that no laws have been broken. Sveta assures them that she's not interested in accusing them, and she departs. Finding it hard to deal with his budding vampirism, Kostya puts on his coat and hat and leaves the apartment.In her room at the Cosmos, getting dressed for the party, Alisa slips the Chalk into her cleavage. On second thought, she takes it out and writes Kostya on the wall. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. It is Kostya, come to run away with Alisa. Alisa explains that the ring she is wearing connects her to Zavulon in such a way that he can feel everything she feels, so she can't just leave. Kostya promises to help her get the ring off, when there is another knock on her door. It is Zavulon, come to hurry Alisa along to the party. He recognizes Kostya as Valery's son, but Alisa covers for Kostya, saying that he's here because he can recognize Anton even if he's wearing another body.Anton has made it to a pay phone and tries to place a call. He is interrupted by Popugay, and they proceed to fight. Then Anton has an idea. He presses Popugay's face into the snow, digs out the impression, and places it on his own face. When the snow falls away, Anton has transformed into Popugay and can now attend Yegor's birthday party without drawing notice to himself. Unfortunately, he addresses someone with the wrong name and gets his face punched for it, returning him to his real face. To escape, Anton jumps through the Gloom and goes looking for Yegor. His face bloodied, Anton runs into a large, dark banquet hall. Suddenly the lights are turned on, and he finds himself in a room filled with Darks, all celebrating Yegor's birthday. Zavulon hands Anton a microphone and tells him to say a few words to his son. Anton wishes Yegor health and happiness and then downs a toast to him, not knowing that his drink has been inadvertently mixed with blood, which affects Anton as potent alcohol would.Reeling as though drunk, Anton makes merry with the Darks. Alisa asks Zavulon whether she should alert the Inquisition that Anton is here, but Zavulon says to wait, because there is one more guest who still hasn't arrived, that guest being Sveta. Legend says that when Sveta and Yegor, the two Great Ones, meet and spill only one drop of blood, it will begin the annhilation of the world, shifting the power between Darks and Lights, and that's what this birthday party has been arranged to do. Zavulon informs Anton that the Inquisition is coming to take him away, but Anton just laughs. "Do you really want to know who murdered Galina Rogova?", he asks the crowd, just as Valery arrives at the party. Anton has figured it out: Valery made a deal with Zavulon in order to save Kostya from being labeled as a vampire. Zavulon agreed to delay the papers in return for Valery killing Galina so that Zavulon could lay the blame on Anton.Two Inquisition agents suddenly appear in the door. The Great Truce has been broken, they say, and ask Valery whether he will confess to the crime. Valery admits it, and the agents finally pronounce Anton innocent of the charges. As Valery leaves the hall to go away with the Inquisition agents, Kostya leaps to his feet, grabs his father's two-sided wooden stake, and rushes at Zavulon, intending to kill him for setting up his father. Zavulon grabs the stake and places it between himself and Kostya. So that no one will suspect what is actually happening, he pretends to tango with Kostya as he thrusts the stake through Kostya's chest. Realizing that Zavulon has just stabbed Kostya, Alisa jumps from her chair, but Anton grabs her and asks for the Chalk. Still clutching Kostya to his body, Zavulon leaps from the window, just as a taxi drives up to the hotel, and Sveta gets out.When Sveta enters the banquet hall, Anton notices her and tells her to go home. For a moment, Yegor is fooled into believing that his father does not love Sveta and has become a Dark, but Zavulon (returned from his trek outside) explains that Anton is just casting shadows, i.e., pretending. Wanting to get Sveta out of his father's life, Yegor remembers that he stuck Sveta with a needle when they were in the Gloom together. "I could drink from her now", Yegor says and starts sucking on a juice container. As Yegor drains the juice, Sveta's lifeforce starts draining out, too. Sveta falls to the floor, and her face starts aging.Meanwhile, outside of the Cosmos, Light agents have begun amassing. Olga and Light agent Simeon [Aleksey Maklakov] are racing to the Hotel, but their truck keeps getting intercepted and surrounded by Darks in their trucks and on their motorcycles. Sensing that Sveta is being drained of her lifeforce, Olga calls Sveta on her cellphone. When Sveta answers, Olga tells her not to close her eyes or to stop breathing. As the motorcycles ram Olga's truck, she keeps talking to Sveta, instructing her to get up off the floor and stay away from Yegor. When Sveta finally manages to get to her feet and stumble out to the hall, Zavulon hands a yoyo to Yegor and tells him to practice with it. This isn't just any yoyo, however. It is a yoyo of mass destruction.Yegor follows Sveta into the hall and confronts her with the yoyo. Sveta refuses to fight and turns to leave. Yegor rushes at her, and the two of them collide with a third person, knocking Yegor to the floor, with Gesser there taking photos of it all. When Yegor gets to his feet, his nose starts to bleed, and a drop of his blood falls to the floor. The war between Darks and Lights has begun! As Olga and other Light agents run down the hotel halls, knocking on doors and telling the guests to evacuate, Yegor tosses the yoyo at Anton. The yoyo cracks open to reveal more yoyos, and these yoyos multiply and begin flying around the banquet hall, destroying tables of food, knocking holes in the walls, and killing both Darks and Lights. Soon the yoyos are unleashed on the city of Moscow. Within minutes, all of Moscow lays wasted.Back inside the banquet hall, Alisa has finally managed to get the ring off her finger... by cutting off her finger. Zavulon and Anton both go looking for Alisa so they can get the Chalk, but Anton gets to her first. Alisa is writing Kostya zhiv (Kostya lives) on the wall, but Anton tells her that it won't work because she was not the cause of his death. Anton admits that he is to blame, so Alisa gives him the Chalk. As Anton races to exit the hotel, he is intercepted by Sveta and Yegor, each grabbing one of his arms, trying to pull him to their sides. All around him, the building is collapsing. As a large shard of glass falls down, headed right for Anton, certain to slice him in half, Gesser appears and snaps a picture with his camera. Suddenly time stops, leaving only Gesser and Anton able to move and speak. "What a mess you've made," Gesser says to Anton.Gesser warns him that the camera will only hold for a short exposure so Anton must hurry and fix what he created from all this. Anton races back to the old apartment building where he first made the deal with Darya. The building has been destroyed, but the walls are still standing. He climbs to the old apartment, takes out the chalk, and writes Nyet (No) on the wall....Suddenly, everything reverts back to 1992. Anton is facing the Dark witch Darya [Rimma Markova] over her wanting to perform a spell to kill his pregnant ex-wife, and Darya asks Anton whether he wants her to perform the spell and agree to bear the responsibility for killing an innocent. "Nyet," replies Anton as if he is under some kind of spell. As he leaves the apartment, he runs into the three Light agents -- Ilya [Aleksandr Samoylenko], Lena [Anna Slyu], and Simeon -- in the hallway. Simeon asks him for a cigarette, but Anton says that he doesn't smoke and keeps going, giving no indication that he recognizes the agents. "He's human again," Simeon assures Ilya and Lena.Anton goes outside. It is spring and raining. As he walks down the sidewalk, a pig-tailed Sveta walks past him. Seated on a bench, Gesser and Zavulon watch, making bets on whether or not Anton will recognize Sveta, Gesser betting 'yes' and Zavulon betting 'no'. As Anton passes Sveta, he turns to look at her, then rushes to catch up with her. "Have we met?" he asks Sveta. "Maybe we did," she replies, as they walk off together.[Full summary by BJ Kuehl]

Published Time: 2020-07-29 09:44:17