Brailovsky (Elya Baskin) travels to the Monolith in an EVA pod, but a burst of energy that emerges from the Monolith and heads to Earth consumes him.
Chandra discovers the reason for Hal's malfunction . . .
Walter Curnow: You had us scared for a moment.
Heywood Floyd: Nice work. Are you all right?
Chandra: Yes, I'm all right.
Chandra pulls out sabotage device Floyd had Curnow install in HAL's power circuit and gives it to Floyd.
Chandra: I thought you might want this.
Heywood Floyd [clears throat]: When?
Chandra: Wasn't very hard to find. Yeah I knew you'd do something like this.
Vasili Orlov: What was that all about?
Chandra: I've erased all of HAL's memory from the moment the trouble started.
Vasili Orlov: The 9000 series uses holographic memories, so chronological erasures would not work.
Chandra: I made a tapeworm.
Walter Curnow: You made a what?
Chandra: It's a program that's fed into a system that will hunt down and destroy any desired memories.
Heywood Floyd: Wait... do you know why HAL did what he did?
Chandra: Yes. It wasn't his fault.
Heywood Floyd: Whose fault was it?
Chandra: Yours.
Heywood Floyd: Mine?
Chandra: Yours. In going through HAL's memory banks, I discovered his original orders. You wrote those orders. Discovery's mission to Jupiter was already in the advanced planning stages when the first small Monolith was found on the Moon, and sent its signal towards Jupiter. By direct presidential order, the existence of that Monolith was kept secret.
Heywood Floyd: So?
Chandra: So, as the function of the command crew - Bowman and Poole - was to get Discovery to its destination, it was decided that they should not be informed. The investigative team was trained separately, and placed in hibernation before the voyage began.
Since HAL was capable of operating Discovery without human assistance, it was decided that he should be programmed to complete the mission autonomously in the event the crew was incapacitated or killed. He was given full knowledge of the true objective... and instructed not to reveal anything to Bowman or Poole. He was instructed to lie.
Heywood Floyd: What are you talking about? I didn't authorize anyone to tell HAL about the Monolith!
Chandra: Directive is NSC 342/23, top secret, January 30, 2001.
Heywood Floyd: NSC... National Security Council, the White House.
Chandra: I don't care who it is. The situation was in conflict with the basic purpose of HAL's design: The accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment. He became trapped. The technical term is an H. Moebius loop, which can happen in advanced computers with autonomous goal-seeking programs.
Walter Curnow: The goddamn White House.
Heywood Floyd: I don't believe it.
Chandra: HAL was told to lie... by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how, so he couldn't function. He became paranoid.
Heywood Floyd: Those sons of bitches. I didn't know. I didn't know!
Bowman, now an incorporeal being, appears on his widow's television and wishes her farewell. He visits his terminally ill mother in a nursing home and combs her hair before she dies.
The tensions between the United States and Soviet Union escalate to what is "technically a state of war", and the US government orders Floyd, Curnow, and Chandra to move into Discovery.
Victor Milson: This is a most... difficult announcement. As you know, things have not been going well back home. Well, it's gotten worse - a lot worse. Yesterday, a Soviet destroyer challenged the blockade. Several warning shots were fired across her bow; she did not respond. A second volley was fired, there still was no response - none. The nuclear destroyer USS Cunningham launched two of her Falcon missiles. Both struck the Soviet vessel amidship.
She broke in two and sunk. Eight hundred of her crew were lost. This morning, an American surveillance satellite was struck by a Soviet laser fired from the Sergei Kirov space station. The American satellite was destroyed. The United States has broken off diplomatic relations with Russia. All ambassadors have been recalled. The Soviet ambassador has been expelled, along with the entire staff.
All American air defense and satellite defense forces are on full alert. Premier Ulanova made a televised address and said that technically, a state of war exists between our two countries. All American personnel are ordered to leave Soviet territory immediately or they will be placed under arrest. All Russian personnel are similarly ordered to evacuate American territory. As a result, by direct Presidential order, the three of you must leave the Leonov.
No Russian citizen is allowed to remain on or is allowed to enter the Discovery; this order is effective immediately. The launch window for re-entry is 28 days. The Discovery has enough fuel for a low-consumption trajectory. HAL appears to be reactivated and is functioning well enough to operate the onboard systems. The Leonov has enough fuel for a low-consumption trajectory that will arrive 12 months earlier.
The launch windows are critical for both spacecraft. Only communications of an emergency distress nature are allowed between the Leonov and Discovery. I know you people are caught in the middle of this; in a sense, we all are. I wish there was something I could do. The only thing left for us is to pray: pray for the safety of our families, for our countries, for our planet. May God forgive us... and protect us.
The President addressed a joint session of Congress yesterday. He said he wasn't gonna back down on the blockade. I don't know which was scarier, the speech or the Congress cheering it. He evoked Lincoln. Whenever a president is gonna get us into serious trouble, they always use Lincoln.
I honestly don't know if we're gonna be at war or not - it's terrifying to hope that the Russians are less crazy than we are, when they are clearly crazy. Right now, I think you're in a safer place than we are. I just hope that there is an Earth to return to.
Both crews plan to leave Jupiter when a launch window opens in several weeks.
Although Kirbuk is skeptical of Floyd's report, the Monolith suddenly disappears and a growing black spot appears on the Jovian surface. The spot is a vast grouping of Monoliths that is rapidly increasing in number, shrinking Jupiter's volume, increasing the planet's density, and modifying the chemical properties of its atmosphere.
HAL-9000: Dr. Floyd?
Heywood Floyd: What is it HAL?
HAL-9000: There is a message for you.
Heywood Floyd: Who's calling?
HAL-9000: There is no identification.
Heywood Floyd: What's the message?
HAL-9000: Message as follows: "It is dangerous to remain here. You must leave within two days."
Heywood Floyd: What?
HAL-9000: Do you want me to repeat the message, Dr. Floyd?
Heywood Floyd: Who recorded it?
HAL-9000: This is not a recording.
Heywood Floyd: Who's sending it?
HAL-9000: There is no identification.
Heywood Floyd: I don't understand.
HAL-9000: Neither do I.
Heywood Floyd: Is this message by voice or keyboard?
HAL-9000: I don't know.
HAL-9000: Do you want me to repeat the last response?
Heywood Floyd: My response is, we don't have enough fuel for an earlier departure.
HAL-9000: The answer is, "I am aware of these facts. Nevertheless you must leave within two days."
Heywood Floyd: HAL, who the hell is sending this?
HAL-9000: I'm sorry, Dr. Floyd, I don't know.
Heywood Floyd: Well, tell whoever it is that I can't take any of this seriously unless I know who I'm talking to.
HAL-9000: Dr. Floyd?
Heywood Floyd: Yes?
HAL-9000: The response is, "I was David Bowman."
Heywood Floyd: Tell Curnow that this is no time for jokes.
HAL-9000: Dr. Curnow is not sending the message. He is in access way two.
Heywood Floyd: Well, tell whoever it is that I can't accept that identification without proof.
HAL-9000: The response is, "I understand. It is important that you believe me. Look behind you."
Bowman appears to Floyd . . .
Dave Bowman: You see, something's going to happen. You must leave.
Heywood Floyd: What? What's going to happen?
Dave Bowman: Something wonderful.
Heywood Floyd: What?
Dave Bowman: I understand how you feel. You see, it's all very clear to me now. The whole thing. It's wonderful.
The Monolith's disappearance convinces the two crews that they must leave soon. Since neither ship can reach Earth with an early departure, they work together to use Discovery as a booster rocket for Leonov.
Tension arises when Hal is not told that the Discovery will be left stranded in space, and possibly destroyed; Chandra fears that another deception may cause Hal to again malfunction. During the launch countdown Chandra tells the computer the truth.
HAL-9000: I understand now, Dr. Chandra. Thank you for telling me the truth.
Chandra: You deserve it.
Hal agrees that it must sacrifice itself for the human beings on board Leonov to complete Discovery's mission.
HAL-9000: Dr. Chandra, will I dream?
Chandra: I don't know.
Leonov leaves Jupiter just before the Monoliths engulf Jupiter and increase its density to the point that nuclear fusion occurs, transforming the planet into a small star.
Bowman commands Hal to repeatedly broadcast a final message to Earth.
HAL-9000 [message relayed from monolith]: All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there. Use them together. Use them in peace.
HAL-9000: What is going to happen?
Dave Bowman: Something wonderful.
HAL-9000: I'm afraid.
Dave Bowman: Don't be. We'll be together.
HAL-9000: Where will we be?
Dave Bowman: Where I am now.
A wave of hot plasma erupts from the forming star, incinerating Discovery.
Heywood Floyd: You can tell your children of the day when everyone looked up and realized that they were only tenants of this world. We have been given a new lease and a warning from the landlord.
The new star's miraculous appearance inspires the American and Soviet leaders to seek peace. Europa gradually transforms from an icy wasteland to a humid jungle covered with plant life. A Monolith stands in a swamp, waiting for intelligent life forms to evolve.
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