“Party at Castle Varlar” is episode four of season one of Timeless.
This episode opens at a Nazi award ceremony on December 9th 1944, where a speech is being given about the triumph of the National Socialists over their enemies, as a V2 rocket is launched. The man being given the award is Wernher von Braun.
Back in the present, Jiya has tracked the location of the mothership. In the previous episode, “Atomic City”, Flynn had managed to steal the core of an atomic bomb and buried it to recover it in the future. It seems that despite Anthony’s misgivings regarding what they are doing, he still seems to think it’s important enough to keep doing it to stop Rittenhouse – whatever that is. He’s currently fiddling with the core when a strike team arrives at the site, but the mothership, Flynn and his associates travel back to 1944 Germany. With the nuclear core. Which means that Nazi Germany might wind up with a nuke that can be fired on a V2. Which would be bad.
Mason has sorted out a complete authentic wardrobe for many different periods, so that they will have proper clothing. Lucy knows of a contact at a bar back in 1944 that may be able to help them, if they give order the right drink. Unfortunately they land rather near a bunch of soldiers, one of whom practically sees them arrive. Rufus really sticks out in Nazi Germany and, not surprisingly, doesn’t want to show his face.
The codeword doesn’t seem to work, and then they are approached by a SS captain who tells them to leave by the back. The captain is, however, not German, but Allied Resistance. The German is actually British. His name is Fleming. Ian Fleming. Of course, they know who the creator of James Bond is (Fleming was an intelligence operative in WWII). Major fanboy moment for the three. Although Bond hasn’t been created yet. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus pretend to be with the OSS. There is going to be a demonstration of a V2 at Castle Varlar that night, but the bomb isn’t on the V2. Then Flynn arrives at the launch site.
With the warhead not being on the V2, that suggests that a nuclear-tipped V2 isn’t the objective. So what is the objective? Flynn has been donating money to the Third Reich, and furthering Von Braun’s research (although giving them a nuke might be more helpful, if that was his aim). If Flynn had killed him, that would cause problems for the U.S., but how will helping the Nazis further Flynn’s supposed aim of saving the country?
The trips are starting to get to Lucy, and there are more moral problems. What the nuke is actually for isn’t revealed until nearly the end.