Paladin of the Lost Hour - Recap

At a cemetery, an old man, Gaspar, is seated at his wife Minny’s grave. Two muggers come after him and throw him to the ground. They pull a pocket watch out of his jacket and the man yells “You must protect me!” One of the muggers holds the watch but it burns his hand and then floats into the air. A nearby visitor, Billy Kinetta, comes to Gaspar’s aid and beats the two muggers while the pocket watch floats into Gaspar’s hand. The hoods run away and Billy helps Gaspar to his feet. Gaspar invites Billy for tea and convinces a reluctant Billy to come along.

Back at Billy’s tenement apartment, Gaspar says that he’s an ombudsman of sorts who occasionally manages to make things better. He explains that he was talking to his dead wife and telling her about things that were going on. Billy admits he was there visiting someone as well. He works at a convenience store and Gaspar asks to stay there Billy agrees to let him stay.

Billy comes back later and discovers Gaspar has prepared a meal for him. Later, Billy realizes that Gaspar has nowhere else to go and the old man admits that he’s “at liberty.” Billy offers to let him stay there. Gaspar tells Billy that he doesn’t have long to live and would appreciate a chance to talk with someone before he dies. Billy mentions how his life was saved by a rifleman in Vietnam. They listen to the news and a story about nuclear warfare. Gaspar assures him there won’t be a nuclear holocaust and shows him the pocket watch. He explains that the it can’t happen because the watch shows it’s 11 o’clock.

The two men continue to bond and Gaspar says that he doesn’t want to leave his wife entirely. When he dies, his wife is gone for good. Gaspar wishes that someone could know about his wife and Billy tells him to tell everything he knows about his wife and Billy will remember for him. Billy then talks about the soldier in Vietnam who saved his life, a man who he never knew. Billy begins to rant hysterically as he remembers how the man was blown apart, and wonders why the man would have ever saved a stranger’s life. He never even had a chance to thank the man.

Later Gaspar dozes off and Billy notices the watch lying on the end table. When he tries to pick it up, it floats into the air and drifts into Gaspar’s hand. Gaspar, awake, smiles and explains that his name means “master of the treasure, keeper of the secrets, paladin of the palace.” He asks Billy to come to the cemetery with him the next day… when he’ll die.

The next day at the cemetery, Gaspar explains that in 1582, Pope Gregory the 13th altered the Julian calendar and eleven days were eliminated. However, Gaspar reveals there was one additional hour that needed to be adjusted, an hour that the Pope didn’t know about. The hour slipped free, a special hour that can never toll. If the lost hour ever comes, eternal night falls across the world and the universe ends. Gaspar confesses that he wants to spend his last life with his dead wife. If he dies without passing the watch on, it will begin to tick.

Gaspar offers the watch to Billy, who insists he’s nobody and doesn’t want responsibility. Gaspar points out that Billy has been responsible for him and believes that he’s worthy. He then asks Billy to use the watch to give him one minute of the hour so that he can call his wife back. Billy considers and then tells him that it’d be wrong. Gaspar smiles and tells him that was the last test. However, he has one last present for Billy. He activates the watch and a man appears in the cemetery: the soldier who saved his life. Billy turns away and finds Gaspar on the ground, dying. He reveals that the soldier told him that he never knew Billy was there or saved his life. Billy thanked him and the soldier thanked him for making sure he didn’t dying for nothing. The dying Gaspar looks up and lets the pocket watch float from his hand to Billy’s, and then dies, content.

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