'Metropolis,' Pt. 2: "The heart must be the mediator...."
Overhead, John Frederson is not about to permit this incipient rebellion to go any further. He tells Rotwang to capture Maria, then transform the robot to look like her and send it back among the workers to "sow discord."
As Maria turns to leave, Freder calls to her. She recognizes him, and their mutual attraction is apparent. They plan to meet the next day in the cathedral in the upper city. As soon as Freder is gone, however, Rotwang gives chase, pursuing Maria relentlessly through the shadowed tunnels, taking her captive and dragging her back to his house.
The following day, Freder waits in vain in the cathedral. He wanders into a side chapel, where an image of Death is flanked by the Seven Deadly Sins: sloth, greed envy, lust, pride, gluttony and anger. It is a telling symbol of life in Metropolis--and the fate that awaits those who dwell in it. Finally giving up, he wanders aimlessly through the streets, where chance takes him past Rotwang's cottage. He hears Maria's cries for help and pounds in vain on the front door. Suddenly, it opens and he rushes inside; but it is only another trick of Rotwang's. The doors in the house are remote-controlled, and he uses them to force Freder into a basement room and locks him in.
Assured now of not being interrupted, Rotwang places an unconscious Maria into a transformation chamber. Amid flashing electrical arcs, spinning gears and blinking lights, he impes her form onto the robot. When he is finished the only difference between the real woman and the automaton is the cold, empty glare in the android's eyes.
Freed at last, Freder stumbles to his father's office. There, to his horror, he sees what he believes to be Maria, apparently conspiring with his father. Exhausted and deeply shocked by this seeming betrayal by the woman he loves sends him into a deadly fever. Nightmares beset him in which the statues in the chapel come to life and stalk him.
Frederson and Rotwang test whether the robot can pass for human by having it perform before an audience. As a crowd of formally dressed city-dwellers watch, the robot does an erotic dance that leaves them glassy-eyed with lust. Satisfied, Frederson sends the robot down among the workers. There, it replaces Maria's gentle philosophy of mediation with a demand for rebellion and destruction. Above, Rotwang gloatingly tells Maria what is happening.
Alarmed by the false Maria's activities, Joseph comes to warn the recovering but still very weak Freder. The robot's call for violence has been effective,and an enraged mob of workers and their wives closes on the great turbine that powers the city. The manager tries to stop them,warning that shutting it down will cause an uncontrolled build-up of pressure in the great city reservoirs, shattering them and flooding the underground city where their children are. It does no good. They beat him unconscious and destroy the power plant.
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