'The Man in the High Castle' Season 4, Episode 4: Juliana returns to her world to kill John Smith
Major spoilers for Season 4, Episode 4 titled 'Happy Trails' of 'The Man in the High Castle'
Episode 4 of 'The Man in the High Castle' begins with Greater Nazi propaganda written, directed, and narrated by none other than Hawthorne Abendsen (Stephen Root).
After Alt-John Smith (Rufus Sewell) is killed, Juliana (Alexa Davalos) returns her world to kill John Smith, where she lands in the destroyed ruins of what is now known as The District of Contamination, where she is arrested. She manages to flee but not without being recognized for who she is.
When this news reaches John Smith, he now knows that he can travel to Alternate America because that world's John Smith is dead.
Elsewhere, both Helen (Chelah Horsdal) and Smith, anticipating the dinner with Führer Heinrich Himmler (Kenneth Tigar) and his wife Margarethe (Gwynyth Walsh), have meetings prior to the dinner: Obergruppenführer Goertzmann (Marc Rissmann) make a visit to Reichsmarshall Smith and Helen is visited by Margarethe early in the day hours before the dinner.
In a clear power play, Margarethe tries to gather information against the Smiths - chastising Helen for her behavior and disregarding the code of conduct of the Reich.
Meanwhile, it is a particularly conflicting time for Kido as well - his general is practically commanding him to turn against the Crown Prince and implicate the wrong person in Tagomi's (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) murder. But Kido knows something is wrong and, in his own way, finds the truth.
But the Crown Princess is keen on organizing peace talks with the Black Communist Rebellion and sends Admiral Inokuchi (Eijiro Ozaki) on behalf of the Japanese Empire.
Meanwhile, at the Smiths, tensions are the dinner are so dense, you could cut it with a knife. Here seated at one table are the most powerful men of the GNR but each one is ailing - be it physically or with blind ambition. The Führer is sick and his health is quickly deteriorating, which means that there are many waiting to pounce at his position.
But Helen senses danger - "He is one coughing fit away from eliminating you, John", she tells him. "All of us." Over the past one year, the Smith family isn't exactly on the same pedestal they once were. As their familial tensions begin becoming more and more public, it leaves space for outsiders to spew poison.
Smith gets a confirmation for Abendson - he can now visit Alternate America without dying since the John Smith of that world is now dead; courtesy his own (unsuccessful) assassination plan to kill Juliana. And off he goes through the portal at Die Nebenwelt into the other world.
All ten episodes of season 4 of 'The Man in the High Castle' is currently airing on Amazon Prime Video.
