Speculation is rampant after Apple released a series of teasers for tonight’s penultimate episode. There are dozens and dozens of incredible breakdowns out there. Amazing theories. Most of them wrong, but a few who are starting to get it.

For me, this is the most brutal little tease:

Here’s what I’ll say that doesn’t spoil anything but will heighten your appreciation of this season if you’re following along closely: The show is not about the destruction of the world. It’s about the things that cannot be destroyed. Love, curiosity, the human spirit. The people with very little of these things inside them assume it can be crushed in the people who are full of them. That’s the cycle of human history. It’s still relevant today and it will be relevant for as long as we persist.

Here’s the second thing this story is about that not many stories are about these days: If a single person is the hero and does all the saving, then nothing is saved. Sure, you’ve got an exciting yarn to spin. But once that person is gone, so is any hope of surviving the next catastrophe. A real hero is someone who inspires others, who brings people together, who stirs something within us and makes us pull in the same direction. Upward. Outwards. Towards a better future that most think is impossible . . . until they start seeing more clearly.

“How did it all begin?” everyone wants to know.

It’s a love story.

“How will it all end?”

A different love story.

See you after episode 10.