The 10 most shocking moments in 'Station Eleven'

The reality of the apocalyptic Georgia Flu sinks in during the first episode of "Station Eleven," and Frank and Jeevan initially bicker about the severity of the crisis when Jeevan and Kirsten arrive at Frank's apartment.

A plane crashing into what appears to be Chicago's Navy Pier puts an end to that, causing an explosion. It's the most visual manifestation of the calamity thus far.

While conversing with The Prophet — now known to be Tyler, Arthur Leander's son — and expressing her distrust of him in episode 2, Kirsten stabs the stranger while holding a knife to his throat. She leaves him lying there and bleeding on the ground.

He survives, and Kirsten finds a bloodstain on the rocks the next morning but no body.

In episode 3, Miranda decides to leave Arthur amid the implication that he's having an affair with his costar, Elizabeth Colton. Later, Arthur and Elizabeth get married and have a child together. 

When Miranda leaves him, she does so spectacularly — by setting the pool house, where she had previously worked on her novel "Station Eleven," on fire.

The menace of the Prophet looms heavy in episode 4, culminating first in an explosive fight between Kirsten and Alex, who had been somewhat taken in by the Prophet's ideals, and later in an actual bombing enacted by children from the Undersea.

The Prophet sends the kidnapped children of Pingtree back, strapping them with mines that one of them tells Kirsten are "beacons for the Prophet." Two children surround Gil and detonate the bombs, killing both themselves and him.

In episode 5, Tyler witnesses a man climbing out of the Gitchegumee airplane, a miracle given that those in the airport believed its passengers to be dead. 

Tyler brings the surviving passenger into the Severn City airport, prompting a panic that he may still be infected. As the airport residents panic, Miles shoots the passenger, making his blood splatter onto a young Tyler. When Elizabeth runs to her son, the two are forced to quarantine in a private jet for a month to ensure they don't spread the disease to the airport. 

When the Traveling Symphony arrives at the Severn City airport, it seems as if they've reached a temporary, if uneasy, state of security. 

That's briefly shattered when Sarah, the symphony's conductor, has a heart attack inside the airport, collapsing in front of the rest of the group. Only Dieter makes it inside to help her, cradling Sarah and calling for help as the other members of the Traveling Symphony press themselves against the glass.

By the time of his death, Frank has already decided that he's staying behind while Jeevan and Kirsten venture out into the world, believing that his brother can't handle both him and a child. 

Still, it's incredibly striking to see him provoke the stranger who enters their apartment and allow himself to be stabbed, exacerbating his wound as Jeevan takes down the stranger.

In a bid to wreak havoc on Clark, Tyler lights an explosion in the control tower.

In the process, he destroys the Museum of Civilization that Clark has meticulously crafted, full of trinkets and technology from the pre-pandemic world. Even past wounding Clark, it's also a testament to his belief that "there is no before."

"Station Eleven" is very clear about the human danger of the post-pandemic world, but until this moment, it hadn't fully leaned into the natural one.

That makes it all the more shocking when Jeevan, outside of the cabin at night to retrieve Kirsten's copy of "Station Eleven," is mauled by a wolf. It's a visceral moment punctuated by the sound of the animal's assault on his flesh, and is ultimately what leads to Jeevan being separated from Kirsten.

Since Kirsten and Jeevan were separated, it seemed unlikely that they would be reunited given that until episode 8, there was little confirmation that Jeevan was even still alive. Jeevan was also one degree further away from "Station Eleven" and Arthur Leander — the nexus point of most of the story's major characters post-pandemic — than Kirsten, Tyler, and Clark.

That uncertainty is what made their reunion all the sweeter in the series finale.