Mr. Robot: Is Darlene a real person? Details about the character from the thriller drama, explored

USA Network's thriller drama series Mr. Robot was surely packed with impressive twists at every corner, but the shocking reveal about Darlene and Elliot's relationship in Season 1 is certainly one of the biggest and monumental in the show.

Darlene Alderson is introduced as a hacker, programmer, and eventual leader of fsociety, aimed to bring down evil corporations, ie, E-Corp. In the initial episodes of the show, she is shown having a special and strange connection to Elliot.

Darlene is a real person, and by the Season 1 finale, it is revealed that she is Elliot's younger sister. However, Elliot forgot her because of his Dissociative Identity Disorder, under which he created many alter-egos of himself in his mind, like Mr. Robot and Mastermind.

While Darlene exists in the real world, she was left out of Elliot's fantasy reality created by Mastermind because she is a reminder of Elliot's traumatic and abusive childhood and would have 'woken him up' from this fictional reality.

More on Darlene in Mr. Robot in our story.

Mr. Robot: Why was Darlene not present in Elliot's fantasy world?

As Mr. Robot progresses, we learn that the show does not follow the real Elliot, but his alternative personality, The Mastermind. While The Mastermind took full control of Elliot and worked on taking down the E-corp, Elliot was safely tucked away in a fantasy world, untouched by the harrowing events of his 'real' childhood.

Elliot created the Mastermind alter so that he could make the world a safe place for him again, while he lived in his fantasy world. In this fantasy world, Elliot lived an ideal life and had a loving father and mother. Unlike his reality, Elliot had a fulfilling childhood in this reality, lived lovingly with his parents (who were not abusive towards him), and he grew up to get a good job. The Mr. Robot Season 4 finale also saw Elliot about to marry his perfect partner, Angela, in this fantasy reality, before things start to catch up with him.

While Elliot's mind conjured up the ideal world for him to live in, his sister Darlene was not a part of it. She was a hacker with the fsociety, but Elliot had seemingly forgotten her before the twist reveal in Season 1. Considering that Elliot and Darlene shared a special relationship, it might look strange that Darlene was not a part of this fantasy reality, but it was necessary for Elliot's survival.

The Mastermind alter knew about Elliot's bond with Darlene and how she would have anchored Elliot back to his reality. Since Darlene was a real (and traumatic) part of Elliot's reality, Mastermind conveniently left her out, creating the perfect fictional world for him.

Mr. Robot: Darlene played a huge part in bringing Elliot back to reality

In the Mr. Robot series finale titled Hello, Elliot, the viewers and Elliot finally learns that the entirety of the show did not follow Elliot, but an alter named the Mastermind. As Krista gave a final therapy session to Elliot, truths about his diagnosis and real identity came to life.

However, it was Darlene who finally anchored her brother back to reality. When Mastermind had complete control over Elliot's mind, she took the titular role and revealed the truth about his real life and how they created fsociety. She tried to evoke his memories about their shared, albeit traumatic childhood, and how they eliminated world debt and defeated E Corp & Dark Army.

It is Darlene who makes Elliot realise that the world is finally safe to return, and Mastermind is left with no choice but to lose his control. In Mr. Robot's final moments, Darlene makes Elliot realise that the world is safe and it is time for him to come to the real world, following which he wakes up to her voice of 'Hello, Elliot!'

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