I recently finished the third season of The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime. It wasn’t as intense as the first two seasons but it was still very solid, and it presented many new questions and thankfully answered many as well. One thing that struck me about this season was the simmering sci-fi undercurrent that was almost inconsequential during the first two seasons but came to the forefront with this new season. Taken at face value, this show is a cut-and-dried alternate history where the Allies lose World War II, but being a Philip K. Dick tale, there is more than meets the eye, and things finally start moving in a high-tech direction in the last few episodes.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE THIRD SEASON AND PLAN TO DO SO.

Image copyright Amazon Studios

At the end of season two, Trade Minister Tagomi teleports to a world that aligns with our own, in which the Allies won the war and the American dream is alive and well. He does this through mental power alone. The existence of parallel worlds explains the mysterious film reels, hoarded by the Man in the High Castle, all of which show different realities than the grim one the show’s characters inhabit. But what can the knowledge of these parallel worlds do in terms of helping our scrappy band of Resistance fighters stand up against the Nazis and the Japanese Empire? If someone told you that the greatest restaurant in the universe was on Neptune, that wouldn’t make a lick of difference in your own life since it would be impossible to get there. The only difference would be that now you are even less satisfied with your current restaurant choices because you know something better is out there, yet it is far out of reach. This was my thought throughout the first two seasons, as well as much of the third season. Okay, some people can pop in and out of different worlds but they can’t really do anything. It’s just like a vacation.

Enter the Nazi teleportation device at the end of season three. In true Nazi fashion, the Reichsführer decides that he not only wants to conquer this world; he wants to conquer parallel worlds as well. Deep in the mountains, Nazi scientists have been working on a device to one day transport armies to other dimensions and subject them to the might of the Reich. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and an unexpected wrench is thrown in their plans, but the Master Race isn’t so easily thwarted. Things are set up for what should be a very entertaining fourth season, one with a lot more sci-fi wizardry.

All of this got me thinking: what if parallel worlds do exist? From what I understand of quantum physics, the existence of parallel worlds is essentially a foregone conclusion. Does that mean there is a world out there where Adam didn’t sin? Where Jesus didn’t actually walk the Earth? Where Mark Carver is the billionaire founder of social media giant Markbook?

It’s fun to think about, and it’s certainly within the realm of God’s power to preside over infinite worlds, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. This reality is the only one I will ever know, and in this reality, I am a sinner saved by grace. Questioning the very fabric of reality unravels the sweater into nothingness, and questioning something doesn’t change its state of being. Someone says, “What if we’re all just plugged into the Matrix? What if we’re just one possible variation of infinite possibilities?” etc. etc. Well, what if this actually is reality and it’s the only one? And since that’s the more likely conclusion, let’s just go with that. Even if I did somehow find out that there were other versions of me in other versions of the universe, it wouldn’t affect my life here nor God’s sovereignty over all creation, because all of those other universes would still be created by Him.

If there are other Marks out there living countless lives, I only hope that they know God’s love, because He is the one constant in all possible worlds.