Bear Island

Larsen hurries across the Arctic landscape and fires off an emergency radio signal, hoping to contact colleagues on the Morning Rose. He is killed before he can transmit any information. The disappearance casts a pall over the expedition from the very start.

The Morning Rose carries a United Nations–backed scientific expedition toward Bear Island. Lansing joins the crew and is reunited with Smithy and Rubin, while belongings are searched and suspicions begin to simmer among the diverse group. The voyage sets up the interpersonal tensions that unravel later.

The expedition reaches Bear Island, where they learn Larsen is missing and access to the old U-boat base is restricted. Gerran and his deputy Hartman take charge, while the team contemplates the unfamiliar dangers that lie ahead. The mystery of Larsen's fate deepens the mission's stakes.

Gerran forbids access to the U-boat base, but Lansing is drawn to it because his father was a U-boat commander who died there. His quest for answers overrides protocol and casts doubt on the expedition's mission. The line between scientific curiosity and personal vengeance blurs.

Lansing and Rubin disobey orders and approach the submarine base. An avalanche triggered by explosives wipes Rubin out, leaving the explorers shaken and exposed. Lansing discovers an underwater entrance to the base and signs of recent visitation, hinting at a larger conspiracy.

Lansing and Smithy decide to seek help at the NATO base, but their snowmobile is sabotaged and an explosion damages their escape. They survive the peril and press on, sensing that more sinister forces are at work. The incident heightens the sense of danger surrounding the expedition.

Lindquist finds a message from Larsen confirming that Jungbeck and Heyter are neo-Nazis controlled by a third expedition member codenamed Zelda. The discovery points to a broader conspiracy within the mission and the possibility of hidden agendas. The mystery tightens as loyalties are tested.

Back at the U-boat base, Lansing and Lindquist uncover crates marked as explosives, but opening them reveals gold instead of munitions. The treasure’s existence reframes the expedition’s purpose and raises questions about who is really driving the operation. The base becomes a crossroads of greed and guilt.

The operation suffers a cascade of failures: the radio mast collapses, Lechinski is fatally wounded, and an explosion destroys the electrical generator. The chaos suggests that someone within the circle is sabotaging the mission. The loss deepens the mystery and raises the stakes for the survivors.

Lansing realizes that Hartman is the mastermind code-named Zelda, manipulating events from behind the scenes. In the wake, Jungbeck and Heyter are released to continue their pursuit under Zelda's influence. Trust fractures as the group discovers the depth of the conspiracy.

Hartman murders Smithy amid the escalating conflict, and Lansing boards the boat to confront him. In a decisive showdown, Lansing shoots Hartman, ending his treacherous operation. The confrontation brings the villain to account and clears a path toward closure.

The SS logbook recovered by Lansing reveals that his father refused to hand over the gold to the SS in 1945 and was executed with his crew. At his father’s burial, with Smithy and Lechinski remembered, Lansing embraces Lindquist and finds a measure of closure. The past, the treasure, and the lives lost are reconciled in these final moments.