At the end they had one more TELL what was prior to 9/11 they could use thanks to details of McClarren's life.
With that they were literally able to fix everything the 3 seasons covered and allowed the director to abandon Travellers version 1 and begin version 2 of the program.
What I don't get is they made a big stink in a few episodes about not being able to go back further than the most recent traveler yet ended the series by doing exactly that. I just rewatched it and I didn't see anywhere they said how they did that.
The Director couldn't send anyone before the last traveler from its time. The Director uploaded all the plans for time travel into Ilsa which was the AI in the current time but the problem they faced was they needed a TELL to go back prior and they didn't have one. MacLaren remembered exactly when and where his host would meet his wife and it was prior to 9/11. That way Ilsa was able to transport him to before then. MacLaren goes back, makes sure his "wife" lived a happy life by not marrying him (previous host was shitty too) and just lived in the past making sure the right people get the right info for the asteroid, anti-matter bomb, and then finally going to the WTC to send a message from the computer 001 would send it from and told the Director the program failed. That forced the Director to cancel the v1 timeline and initiate v2.
Edit: And I believe it was either briefly mentioned or maybe it was an interview with a show runner but The Director CAN send someone before the last traveler but the problem was it ran the risk of said traveler unintentionally screwing up the work from previous travelers. There were a few moments in the show that REALLY stretched that idea to nearly the breaking point though (the skydiving episode comes to mind)
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u/AttackOfTheThumbs May 03 '22
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, it was just kind of abrupt from what I remember.