On the morning of his final day, Arthur Leander wakes exhausted after nights of insomnia, irritated by small shortages and feeling ill and dehydrated. With a snowstorm approaching, he privately decides that once King Lear closes he will move to Israel to live near Elizabeth and see Tyler every day, imagining a clean restart stripped of obligations and possessions.

At the theater, notes turn into a long argument and Arthur cannot focus. Restless, he leaves and revisits an old diner from his youth with Clark, remembering their early dreams and how time has erased familiar places. Back at the theater, Tanya confronts him for forgetting breakfast; Arthur, shaken and trembling, tries to reassure her that he is only tired.

Tanya finds Miranda’s Station Eleven comics in Arthur’s dressing room and is fascinated, while Arthur admits he never understood the “Undersea.” Wanting fewer belongings, Arthur gives Tanya a glass paperweight Miranda sent back, and promises to call if Kirsten comes by. Soon after, Kirsten arrives upset about a scandal book with Arthur on the cover; Arthur tells Kirsten the book should not exist and gives Kirsten the Station Eleven comics as a present.

Preparing for the show, Arthur calls Tanya and impulsively offers to pay off Tanya’s $47,000 student debt, framing it as part of his plan to give away money and start over. With time before places, Arthur calls Tyler in Israel; Tyler is still hurt about Arthur missing his birthday, but Arthur draws Tyler out by asking about the comics, and Tyler explains Dr. Eleven, the seahorses, and the Undersea. Arthur tells Tyler he loves him, hears a quiet “you too,” and ends the call hoping they will reunite in New York soon.

During the performance, Arthur steadies himself by mentally listing what is good in his life, but he remains dizzy and short of breath. He briefly sees Tanya in the wings and Kirsten backstage, where Kirsten whispers that she loves the comics. In the storm scene, Arthur bungles a line, then suddenly clutches his chest as a sharp pain hits; he staggers, collapses against a pillar, and falls as stage “snow” drifts down, thinking it is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.