[Warning: This story contains spoilers for season three, episode nine of USA Network's Mr. Robot, "eps3.8_stage3.torrent."]

The penultimate episode of the first season of Mr. Robot culminated in a startling reveal: There is no Mr. Robot, at least not as we knew him. The man wearing Christian Slater's face was in fact another side of Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) himself, a key duality that has since become the cornerstone of the award-winning thriller.

Season three's penultimate episode included a similar twist, albeit on a smaller scale, and one that was concocted and revealed within the span of the single installment: "Stage Three," a proposed third plan to further the Dark Army's dark agenda, does not exist. It's another Elliot Alderson fabrication, though this one was weaponized by Elliot himself as a means of hacking the Dark Army and gaining a measure of control over the people responsible for killing thousands of men and women in the Cyber Bombings, not to mention his late comrades Trenton and Mobley, murdered and blamed for the attacks.

Now, heading into next week's season finale, Elliot boasts ownership over the most dangerous entity on the planet — but he lacks complete control, as the Dark Army is well-positioned and incentivized to kill both Elliot and his sister Darlene (Carly Chaikin), currently in federal custody after a romantic evening with Dom DiPierro (Grace Gummer) gone wrong. What's more, Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) is in as much mental duress as we have ever seen her, and is on her way toward what's shaping up to be yet another clandestine meeting with a power player. Through it all, Elliot's alter ego Mr. Robot has some plans of his own, hatched alongside Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström).

Where is it all leading? For his part, writer-producer Kor Adana offers this solemn tease of the coming season-three finale: "In more ways than one, we're going back to the place where it all started."

Listen to the latest episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Mr. Robot podcast with Post Show Recaps, in which hosts Josh Wigler and Antonio Mazzaro take a look at what's on the table heading into the season finale: