2010 Odyssey Two

2010: Odyssey Two, is a science fiction book by Arthur C. Clarke and a motion picture by 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

For both the book and the movie, the story is set nine years after the Discovery mission to Jupiter failed. Note that the novel version of 2001: A Space Odyssey featured the journey to Saturn instead: Clarke acknowledges this retroactive continuity in his author's foreword.

A joint Soviet-American crew, including Heywood Floyd from 2001, on the Soviet spaceship Alexei Leonov (named after cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov) arrives to discover what went wrong with the earlier mission, to investigate the monolith in orbit around the planet, and to resolve the disappearance of David Bowman. They hypothesize that much of this information is locked away on the now-abandoned Discovery craft. The Soviets have an advanced new "Sakharov" drive which will propel them to Jupiter first, so Floyd is assigned to the Leonov crew as part of a joint mission. However, a Chinese "space station" rockets out of Earth orbit, revealing itself to be an interplanetary spacecraft named the Tsien, which is also aimed at Jupiter. The Leonov crew comment on the kamikaze-like method of the Chinese team, but Floyd eventually surmises that due to the large water content of Europa, they are destined to land there and use the water content to refill their tanks. (The Tsien subplot only appears in the novel and was omitted from the film.)

The Leonov eventually docks with the Discovery, and Hal's creator, Dr. Chandra, on the mission, restarts the HAL 9000 computer to ascertain any information HAL has.

The Tsien's daring mission ends in failure, when it is destroyed by an indigenous life-form on Europa. The only survivor radios the story to the Leonov; it is presumed that he dies when his spacesuit air supply runs out.

A sequence of scenes follows the explorations of David Bowman, who has been transformed into a noncorporeal, energy-based life-form, much like the aliens controlling the monoliths. This avatar of Bowman travels the Earth, making contact with significant individuals from his human past: he brushes his mother's hair, and he appears on his widow's television screen.

An apparition of Bowman appears before Floyd (in the novel, shaping itself from dust), warning him that they must leave Jupiter within seven days. Floyd has difficulty convincing the rest of the crew, at first, but a dark spot on Jupiter begins to form and starts growing. HAL's telescope observations reveal that the Great Dark Spot is in fact a vast population of monoliths, increasing at a geometric rate. (The film accelerates the pace, both shortening Bowman's deadline and making the spot grow faster.)

The Leonov crew devises a plan to use the Discovery as a "booster rocket", enabling them to return to Earth ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, HAL and the Discovery will be trapped in Jupiter orbit, with insufficient fuel to escape. The crew are worried that the HAL will have the same neuroses on discovering that he will be abandoned yet again, and Chandra must convince HAL that the human crew is in danger.

The Leonov crew make a hasty exit from Jupiter, just in time to witness the swarm of Monoliths engulf Jupiter. Through a mechanism the novel only partially explains, these monoliths increase Jupiter's density until the planet achieves nuclear fusion, becoming a small star. In the novel, this obliterates the primitive life-forms which had inhabited the Jovian atmosphere, which the Monoliths' controllers had deemed less worthy than the aquatic life of Europa. (The film only discusses the Europan organisms.)

As the Leonov leaves Jupiter, HAL begins repeatedly broadcasting the message "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE." (The movie version adds the words "USE THEM TOGETHER. USE THEM IN PEACE," as part of its heightened Cold War emphasis.) The new star, which Earth eventually dubs Lucifer (bringer of light), destroys Discovery entirely. HAL is transformed into the same kind of lifeform as David Bowman, as a companion.

Notes

The sequel novel 2061: Odyssey Three handles the consequences of the warning and the subsequent breaking of the warning to save the lives of a hijacked crew.

Considering the impact of 2001: A Space Odyssey, this sequel is considered by many to be a disappointment. However, as a movie on its own, it is also considered to be quite good. The novel and movie do have some differences, most importantly the absence of the Tsien in the movie.

Clarke's e-mail correspondence with 1984. Entitled science fiction films ever made.

Clarke makes a cameo appearance in the film, and pictures of Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick appear on a magazine cover seen in the film.

In Babylon 5 the Earth Alliance Omega Class Destroyers look very similar to the Leonov ship in this film, particularly the rotating section near the middle of the ship.

Stanley Kubrick had the Discovery sets destroyed entirely fearing that they could be recycled for some b-movie production, the 2010 art department had to rebuild them from photos and 2001 footage.

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