WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Season 1 of Katla, now streaming on Netflix.
In Season 1 of Netflix's Katla, the small Icelandic town of Vik gets rocked when volcanic activity once more creates an unstable environment. Most citizens have fled, with a few staying back to take care of small businesses.
However, things get eerie when copies of people -- some who are alive and some who died -- begin emerging from the ash. Soon it's revealed that the volcano spits out people based on who's grieving for them in town, manifesting them the exact way the mourners are missing them. With that in mind, let's dissect who these duplicates are and why they're alive.
The first woman to emerge from the ash is a young Gunhild, who's taken to Vik's hospital. She identities herself, thinking it's decades ago and that the town's still a tourist attraction. She confesses that she's a Swede who worked at the only hotel around, now asking for Þór to visit. It turns out that Gunhild had an affair with Þór years ago and wants to rekindle that love. He's older now and shocked as she looks the same as she did in the past.
The authorities eventually bring the real Gunhild down, who leaves her deformed son, Björn, back home. While she denies knowing or being related to this young lady, she can tell deep down it's her younger self. What's scary is that this double is pregnant too, saying Þór is the father. Þór has been craving companionship for years now, with all his animals dying, so the volcano gave him his true love back, although he always thought she aborted the child when she left.
Over a year ago, Ása got caught in an ash storm near the volcanic site where they were on ranger duty. As the scientific expedition left, Gríma soon realized her sister didn't return, thus she was chalked up as dead. However, Gríma finds her at a shack near the site in the present day, thinking maybe her sister was lost, survived somehow and came back.
Sadly, later on, Gríma finds a dead body under the shack and DNA testing proves that it's the original Ása. This duplicate came back to give Gríma closure and get her to move on. Ása found their dad, Þór, in an affair years ago and their mom killed herself in front the girls because of it after Ása spilled the beans. Ása now wants Gríma to stop blaming herself for these tragedies.
Gríma's world is further rocked when a double of her arrives in town as well. This double is more compassionate, though, and as Gríma keeps her a secret, she learns to connect with her old self. She's been in denial for some time, neglecting her husband, Kjartan, but when she leaves home, the clone slips in and provides him the love he deserves.
Gríma even sees them having sex together, but she's more angry with herself than with him or her double. She knows they both deserve better and that she closed herself off because of all the death she endured since she was a kid. She's also never really known love due to her dad's cheating, her mom abandoning them, as well as the loss of Ása, which she felt was so unfair to her. The more she reconciles her old and new self, however, she starts wanting her husband back emotionally.
Gísli's the town sheriff, taking care of his cancer-stricken wife, Magnea, who isn't doing well at all. He's a religious man but his conscience eats at him as he's got lustful thoughts still. He comes home one day to find a younger Magnea cooking, and with the fire reignited, he hides her from the town. He wants to resume life with his old flame so he starts giving the sick wife natural placebos to feel less guilty about indirectly killing her.
However, while the volcano may have returned Magnea to sate his wishes, it could be that the dying Magnea brought her back accidentally. It may be that she wanted her old self back so Gísli would have someone once the sick woman died. Either way, the younger Magnea thinks Gísli's a monster for how he's treating his wife and he eventually locks her in the basement. At first, she thought her role might have been to help him, but she wants out to save her future self.
Mikael died years ago after kids bullied him and he jumped in front of a car. He had a troubled childhood, often aggressively acting out to the point that Darri and Rakael thought he was psycho, especially after an incident where he nearly burned his school down. Darri now finds him at his science hub after coming over to study the volcanic activity, but quickly realizes that this dark soul isn't his son. He locks Mikael in a shed but the boy escapes after calling his mom, Rakael.
She tries to sneak him back home, hoping it'll patch her loss and fix her failing marriage, but also realizes this Mikael is indeed a monster. It's the way Darri always envisioned him, thus why the volcano brought him back like this. Rakael eventually abandons him in the wilderness but Mikael makes his way back to the hotel, wanting his parents to love him for who he really is. Sure, he's a violent killer but he still thinks they can be a happy family.
Created by Sigurjón Kjartansson and Baltasar Kormákur, Katla stars Íris Tanja Flygenring, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Aliette Opheim, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Haraldur Stefansson, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Baltasar Breki Samper, Birgitta Birgisdóttir and Björn Thors. Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
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