A conversation between Lev Zubov and Wilf Netherton in The Peripheral episode 4 turns the show’s time travel rules inside out, but also confirms a rather concerning theory about how the past is used by The Peripheral‘s elite class. In Amazon Prime Video’s The Peripheral, characters from the future can influence the past through technology, and even provide plans for devices that bring consciousnesses forward through time. Flynne Fisher is one such “polt,” working with Wilf Netherton in his own futuristic timeline. Unable to resist the temptation of Googling her new friends, Flynne finds nothing on Wilf, but does dig up a news story concerning his rich benefactor, Lev Zubov.
Confronting Lev, Wilf discovers his Klept friend paid assassins in 2032 to have the Zubovs of 70 years prior murdered. Ever the egotist, Lev is apparently unable to stomach other versions of himself in stub timelines, so cuts off his lineage to ensure only one “Lev Zubov” will ever exist. That’s a dark enough revelation in itself, but the truth takes an even more shadowy turn when Wilf discovers why Zubov and the Klept seek access to stub timelines in the first place. Here, The Peripheral episode 4 confirms a major theory: the stubs – of which Flynne’s world is one – are used as testing simulations by powerful factions in the future.
What Lev Zubov’s Stub Reveal Means For The Peripheral
Lev offers Wilf the example of his brother Alexei when explaining how the Klept would use stub timelines in The Peripheral. Alexei has investments in the pharmaceutical industry circa 2100, and wants to trial a brand-new drug. Naturally, said drug must be tested on humans before going on sale but, just as naturally, drug trials are wrapped in regulations and laws that make Alexei’s job both more expensive and more time-consuming. Instead, Alexei can crack open an ice-cold stub timeline, hand out his new drug like candy on Halloween, then sit back and collect the data. If anyone in the past dies from Alexei’s drug, or an ear falls off, or they turn green, no law can send Alexei to jail. No one would even know.
Needless to say, Lev Zubov’s admission steers The Peripheral season 1 in a deeply disturbing direction. Although Alexei is merely an example for Wilf Netherton’s benefit, The Peripheral implies the Klept are well-versed in how a stub timeline can be abused. Their only obstacle is getting their hands on the Research Institute’s splinter universes in the first place, which raises another point. If the Klept can utilize stub timelines in such a nefarious manner, so can the R.I. T’Nia Miller’s villainous Cherise previously mentioned how data from stub research was keeping the future safe. After The Peripheral episode 4, viewers can almost certainly assume the R.I. is carrying out similar experiments to our friend Alexei.
Who Did Lev Zubov Kill In The Peripheral’s 2032 Timeline?
The Peripheral leaves a note of ambiguity over exactly who Lev killed in the 2032 timeline. Chloe Grace Moretz’s Flynne Fisher discovers an article that mentions a “Lev Zubov” by name, reporting that he and his family were murdered in a “mafia incident.” Future Lev, played by JJ Feild, looks to be in his 40s, so one might assume the victims Flynne read about were Lev’s direct ancestors. This is hinted at when Lev mentions to Wilf, “I would offer to take care of your lineage, but…” It is, however, also possible that the “Lev Zubov” in 2032 is the same man The Peripheral shows in 2100 London…
One option is that Lev looks much younger than his years, and through life-extending medical technology has the appearance of a man in his prime when his actual age is closer to 100. Though impossible to rule out completely, the technology needed to cheat death would likely remain unavailable until the Reformation began around 2070. If Lev was already an adult in 2032, therefore, he would surely still look older. A more intriguing prospect is that the Lev Zubov viewers see in The Peripheral is actually a peripheral body, piloted by either an extremely old Lev, or someone else entirely. This figure may have killed the “real” Lev Zubov in 2032 to protect this secret – not because of some imagined existential crisis.
The Peripheral continues Friday on Amazon Prime Video.
