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Bennett: "Whatever happens, you’re one hell of an Engineer, my friend."
Javi: "Top three in the world, right?"
―  Ben and Javi risking their lives for Melanie.


Javier "Javi" de La Torre is a main character on TNT's Snowpiercer. He is portrayed by Roberto Urbina.

He is one of the main Engineers onboard Snowpiercer working in the engine room alongside Melanie and Ben.[1] During the revolution, Javi initially sides with the Folgers and Commander Grey, but later helps Melanie to escape execution, allowing her to help Andre Layton and the Tail to win.

History[]

Javier is Colombian[2] and that he has known his co-engineer Bennett Knox for eight years, suggesting that they might have been friends prior to The Freeze. However, unlike Bennett Knox, Javi was not in on Melanie Cavill's plot to steal Snowpiercer and didn't even know about it for two days. At the time of the theft, Javi was in the bathroom and was literally caught with his pants down in the situation.

When he was a kid, he used to work at a restaurant in Montería with his cousins and after work they would play cards all night in the backroom. He claims by the time he was 16 he was able to beat anyone.

The Wilford Industries website states "he made a name himself at SpaceX before joining the Snowpiercer team."[3] While this would be a good explanation of his abilities of being able to hack into old Russian satellites, this has not been confirmed as canon in the entire series.

Throughout The Series[]

Advising Melanie[]

Javier is a member of the elite train management and often helps with the driving of the train. He uses advanced algorithms to predict the environment surrounding Snowpiercer at all times. From these predictions, he advised Melanie Cavill that without cutting Snowpiercer's power by 12%, they would not make it through the mountain unscathed. Melanie ignored Javier, and the hull in AgSec was breached causing mass-freezing.[4]

He is later shown to be proficient in driving the train and, whilst he doesn't always agree with Melanie (and Bennett's) way of doing things, he advises them and goes along. When the hydraulic system fails causing a seizure on the brakes, Javi takes control of the train and warns Melanie that they won't make it over the bridge unless the hydraulics are fixed. He lowers the speed of the train in fear but is over joyous when Melanie is able to fix the system and the train can return to running speed.[5]

Revolution[]

When the order comes to lock down the engine, Javi correctly suspects that Miles betrayed them. Javi decides to surrender instead of following orders, causing Bennett to lock his friend out. Javi reveals to Grey and Ruth Wardell that the real Mr. Wilford is dead, having been abandoned to die by Melanie at boarding.[6]

Javi is later employed by Grey and the Folgers for their plan of using poison gas to end Andre Layton's revolution. Javi balks at the idea due to it threatening the lives of innocent people, especially if the gas gets into the ventilation system, but the three refuse to be deterred and Javi departs, supposedly to make preparations.

Later, as Melanie is to be executed, Javi reveals himself to be the executioner in disguise, much to her surprise and relief. Javi helps Melanie escape to the sub-train where Jinju Seong, whom Javi was working with, is waiting for her.[7]

A Surprise Arrival[]

After the revolution, Javi returns to work in the engine with Bennett and now Melanie full-time as she gives control of Snowpiercer over to Layton. Javi notes a strange signal coming from outside to the northwest that Bennett keeps brushing off. The signal proves to come from Big Alice, the supply train which is presumably under Mr. Wilford's control. As Melanie works to disable the uplink, Javi attempts to keep Mr. Wilford from taking control, but can only watch helplessly as Snowpiercer is brought to a full stop in the middle of Chicago.[8]

Enslaved[]

Six months after the departure of the Pirate Train, Javi is enslaved by Wilford, acting as Big Alice's engineer. Due to the attack that he suffered from Jupiter, who constantly watches over him, Javi is scarred and hooked up to an IV as he runs the Engine. Wilford personally treats Javi's scar and tells him that he does need Javi alive despite what happened to him.[9]

Javi helps Wilford prepare an EMP weapon for when the Pirate Train returns which Ruth Wardell notices. At Ruth's request, relayed through Pike, Zarah Ferami attempts to get Javi to go to the First Class Dining Car and meet with Ruth, but Javi proves to be so traumatized that he doesn't even react until Zarah frames the request as an order from Wilford. Javi is shocked to find Ruth who he had believed to be on the Pirate Train, but he is too scared to help or even to tell Ruth anything and he flees. Passing through the Night Car, Javi is noticed by Kevin McMahon and he nervously claims that he was just running some final checks on the EMP and he needs to get back to the dog. Kevin lets him go, but his suspicions are drawn by Javi's presence. Javi is later in the Engine when the Pirate Train suddenly returns on a parallel track.[10]

Javi drives Big Alice throughout the game of cat and mouse between the two trains in a railyard. Despite following Wilford's orders, some of Javi's old fire appears to come back at the return of his friends and Javi becomes more vocal for the first time since his mutilation, arguing against Wilford's plans to a degree and warning him that they don't have the power to make Wilford's desperate escape, leading to a standoff between the trains when the lack of power brings Big Alice to a stop in front of the Pirate Train. Javi argues for switching helms and having Big Alice start pushing again, but Wilford orders him to bring the train to a full stop and power down, doing it himself when Javi hesitates. After Wilford threatens to allow everyone to freeze to death if the Pirate Train doesn't reconnect, Bennett seemingly concedes, but he tells Javi in Spanish to "open a beer, friend." Getting the meaning, Javi secretly opens an airlock in Big Alice's Engine, allowing Layton to sneak onboard while Josie Wellstead creates a distraction. As Josie distracts Wilford, Javi catches Zarah's attention and silently draws her attention to the side, presumably where Layton is either boarding or hiding. Alongside Zarah, Javi watches as Layton beats up Wilford and forces Wilford to publicly surrender the train to him.

In the aftermath, Bennett visits Big Alice's Engine where he finds Javi crying. Javi flinches at his friend's approach, turning his face away while Bennett hugs Javi, happy to see him and horrified by Javi's state.[11]

Free Again[]

Due to needing an Engineer to drive the train, Alex, Bennett and Layton reluctantly call on Javi for help while Bennett and Alex work on moving three Big Alice cars that Wilford had dropped years earlier. Although he is able to perform his job, Javi is shaky and haunted by hallucinations of Jupiter that cause him to freeze up at one point and drop out of contact while Bennett and Alex are trying to get him to call Layton for them to ask for more time. After the situation is resolved, Javi silently sits in the background while Layton reports on Sam Roche's failed attempt to murder Wilford, now wearing a hoodie to cover his scars similar to how he used his parka.[12]

Bennett later enlists Sykes' help to build life support systems for New Eden alongside Javi, knowing that Sykes might be the only person that can help Javi through his trauma as well as keeping an eye on Javi's work and keeping him on task. Javi is less than thrilled at his new partner, knowing that he is getting demoted due to screwing up while driving the train. However, Bennett reassures Javi that he trusts no one more than Javi and Sykes in HVAC and irrigation which they need for New Eden.

While collecting supplies, Javi suffers another hallucination of Jupiter. Noticing this, Sykes looks at his scars and sympathetically opens up about how her own experiences with the dog and how her thought that it wasn't Jupiter's fault stuck with her. When a fire starts, Sykes warns Javi that it's nine cars ahead and they need to clear out. However, Javi has discovered that a bunch of ammonium nitrate is missing. After the explosion, Javi and Sykes check on Bess Till and the injured Layton and confirm that the car is secure. When Ruth announces the successful birth of Liana Layton, Javi and Sykes share a pleased smile.[13]

While passing through a cloud of toxic volcanic gas, Javi and Sykes perform inspections on the cars with Sykes taking Javi to see Jupiter in a failed attempt to help Javi get over his fears. When the gas gets into one of the Ag-Sec cars, Javi rescues Sykes and he manages to revive her after she stops breathing. Javi takes Sykes to safety as Layton and Asha rush to deal with the problem.[14]

When Melanie is discovered to still be alive, Javi returns to work in the Engine during the operation to recover the Track Scaler. He takes over driving so that Alex can go see her mother after they successfully manage to bring it onboard. Later, a furious Javi sides with Melanie upon discovering that his friends had lied to him about having gone to New Eden, joking to Melanie that at least he wasn't in the bathroom this time when she seized control of the train.[15]

As tensions rise with 24 hours until the turn to the Horn of Africa, Javi continues to support Melanie and ignore Bennett's calls until Bennett slows down Big Alice. Javi angrily calls Bennett who points out that he only slowed down, not stopped completely. Eventually, Layton and Melanie are able to reach a deal without bloodshed.[16]

New Eden[]

When the trains separate, Javi decides to join Big Alice in going to New Eden, acting as one of Layton's Engineers alongside Alex while Bennett remains on Snowpiercer with Melanie. The track to the Horn of Africa proves to be as bad as expected and Javi and Alex struggle to keep Big Alice on the track. Big Alice eventually derails after reaching the warm spot, but it is discovered to be habitable. Emerging from the train for the first time in years, Javi revels in the warmth of the outside world.[16]

A year later, Javi is a member of the New Eden Town Council and investigates a mysterious power outage. He also works to make contact with Snowpiercer which will soon be passing through the area without any success. Now more carefree and apparently recovered from his traumatic experiences, Javi often draws the rest of the council into poker games which Javi wins due to his previously hidden talent at card games. However, as New Eden celebrates repairing the old Trestle Bridge, Miss Audrey arrives in a Track Scaler with a warning that someone's coming while Mrs. Headwood helps Rat and the International Peacekeeping Forces kidnap Liana Layton, killing Zarah Ferami when she tries to stop them.[17]

Javi is later one of the people present to hear Audrey's story about what happened on Snowpiercer that had led her to escape to New Eden.[18]

When Layton decides to take Big Alice after Snowpiercer, Javi suggests that they can figure out a way to rig the other power sources in New Eden to compensate for the loss of the Engine, something that Alex disagrees with. After Ruth refuses to let him take the train, Layton covertly enlists Javi to help him do it. Javi is able to figure out a way to buy New Eden three weeks of power without the Engine, telling Layton that he didn't do it to impress anyone or because he was afraid of Layton, but because Javi is Layton's friend, and he wanted to help him. Ruth, Josie and Sykes stop the two men from stealing the Engine, but Roche convinces Ruth to put it to a town-wide vote which goes Layton's way. Although Javi intends to go along as Layton's Engineer, Alex decides to go in his place, telling Javi she's worried that New Eden's warm spot might only be temporary, meaning that Alex needs to leave in order to seek answers. As such, Javi remains behind in New Eden to help keep the colony going in the Engine's absence.[19]

A week later, Javi struggles to keep New Eden going amidst wild weather and increasing power issues. Severely stressed out, Javi snaps at Sykes, telling his old friend that he's no longer some helpless little thing that needs her to save him. Javi is enlisted by Roche to autopsy a severed hand that Oz had found buried in the snow, only increasing Javi's stress and workload. Javi later makes up with Sykes and apologizes for not speaking up for her when Sykes was nominated for the council. Javi brings Sykes in on the crisis who reveals, much to his surprise, that she knows how to autopsy a severed limb. Javi discovers a Snowpiercer Access Chip in the hand, revealing that it had belonged to a Snowpiercer passenger.[20]

With Roche's disappearance, Javi is effectively left as the de facto leader of New Eden as the only remaining council member in town, relying on Sykes and Oz to help him out. Oz finds former First Class passenger and Jackboot Stu Whiggins who proves to be the source of the severed hand. Javi comforts Sykes when she gives into aggression during the interrogation, something that greatly disturbs her. Javi agrees to allow Oz to use his skills from the Nightcar to get answers instead and the alarmed Oz later reveals to Javi and Sykes that the soldiers have planted bombs all along the mountainside that they can use to bury the town.[21]

When Big Alice returns to New Eden, Javi is working with Oz, Sykes and Lights on the bomb problem. Concerned about possible booby traps on the tracks, Javi warns Till and Ruth to stop and that the town is nearly out of power. At Sykes' suggestion, Javi has everyone move to the farthest sleeper cars for safety and to conserve what's left of New Eden's power. Checking the tracks, Javi, Sykes, Oz, and Lights find a bomb which Javi attempts to disarm so that Big Alice can safely return. As Till and Ruth watch in horror, the bomb suddenly detonates.[22] Having set it down and moved away, Javi survives with a concussion while Sykes guesses that the anti-tilt trap must've been triggered. Doctor Pelton treats Javi's injuries and he quickly recovers while Big Alice is finally able to make it to New Eden with the rescued Snowpiercer passengers.[23]

Javi reconnects the Engine to New Eden, restoring the town's power supply, and works with Sykes to plan a defense against the upcoming attack. Having learned of Bennett's recent death, Javi is devastated by the loss of his best friend and works to make his sacrifice count. Javi comes up with an idea of how to use the frequency that the bombs' radio receivers are on to prevent them from being used to bury the town and seemingly finds what he needs in the fragments of the bomb that had nearly killed Javi just before the attack starts.[23]

As Ace of Spades snipes at the town, Javi attempts to reach his workshop, only to learn from Josie that Wolf is inside forcing Alex to switch the tracks so that Big Alice can be stolen. As Josie helps the injured Boki to Doctor Pelton for treatment, Javi finds Layton and warns him about Alex's situation before revealing that he had found the trigger frequency on the booby trap's detonation reciever. With it, Javi can build a jamming device that will block the trigger signal from reaching the bombs. Javi remains in cover throughout the attack, warning Layton when Rat goes into Town Hall in search of him and Alex. After the attack is repelled, Javi successfully build a jamming device and plants it in the hills, thus missing the full-scale invasion of New Eden. Ruth and Layton reach out to Javi via radio and have him set up a booby trap of his own using one of the bombs and his spring doll in order to clear out some of the troops occupying the town. In the process, it's discovered that the soldiers have no bullets. After Doctor Nima Rousseau brings Snowpiercer into town to steal Big Alice, Javi is one of the people who joins Layton in storming the train in an effort to retake Snowpiercer and stop Nima from launching Gemini. When Nima attempts to bury New Eden, Javi's jamming device works, stopping the detonation of the bombs and saving New Eden from destruction.[24]

Killed Victims[]

Personality[]

Though good at his job, Javi is often seen questioning Melanie's decisions. Javi implies that he feels he has no choice but to follow Melanie's orders as he is not sleeping with her unlike Bennett Knox, thus not affording him a level of protection.

When the revolution comes, Javi decides to surrender to Commander Nolan Grey and his forces, effectively defecting to their side and revealing the truth about how Melanie took the train. However, though he lends them his engineering expertise, their plan to flood the train with gas, sacrificing innocent people to end Andre Layton's rebellion, appears to be too much for him to bear as Javi aids Jinju Seong in rescuing Melanie from execution. Javi's actions earn him no reprisals in the aftermath and he remains a trusted member of Layton and Melanie's crew.

Despite his nervous disposition and initial unwillingness to risk his life when the revolution happened, Javi is shown to have a great deal of courage and cunning that is hidden as demonstrated by his inventiveness in getting a message to Layton and Ruth and the incredible risk that he took to help go back after Melanie. This is even more significant since Javi was visibly terrified during this event and yet he kept going. Javi later joins Layton's army in directly storming Snowpiercer in order to stop Doctor Nima Rousseau.

After being mutilated by Jupiter, Javi has become traumatized and nearly mute, acting subservient to Wilford, flinching around the dog and only really reacting enough to follow orders. He also wears his parka's hood at almost all times even when it's not needed to cover up his scarred face. According to Zarah Ferami, Javi refuses to talk to anyone, including her. When Zarah attempts to get Javi to meet Ruth Wardell, he only reacts at all when she tells him that going uptrain is an order from Wilford and calls him by his title of Engineer. His fear is so great that he refuses to even talk to Ruth about the EMP weapon. However, despite his fear, he doesn't betray her to Kevin McMahon.

The return of the Pirate Train and his friends appears to reignite some of Javi's old fire and he openly questions Wilford's tactics during the cat and mouse game between the two trains and hesitates when given an order for so long that Wilford simply does it himself. When given a message in Spanish by Bennett, Javi secretly rebels to open an airlock for Layton, leading to Wilford's downfall, showing that despite his trauma and fear, Javi still has some of his courage. When reunited with Bennett, Javi visibly flinches and turns away from his friend, possibly ashamed of what has happened to him and not wanting Bennett to see him like that.

After the reconnection of the trains, Javi regains some of his old fire, but he remains traumatized by his experiences to the point that he suffers from hallucinations that impact his job and replaces his parka with a more practical hoodie to cover his face. As a result, Bennett chooses to not tell Javi the truth about New Eden in order to keep his hopes up. Javi appears to recover somewhat with the help of Sykes, although he remains terrified of Jupiter even when the dog is caged. When Javi learns the truth, he is furious about the lies to the point that he sides with Melanie over his friends. Nevertheless, he makes the choice to take the chance of going to New Eden on Big Alice rather than staying aboard Snowpiercer.

A year later, Javi has become more carefree, enjoying his role as one of the leaders and engineers of New Eden and using his previously hidden talent at card games to fleece his friends.

Relationships[]

Melanie Cavill[]

Though good at his job, Javi is often seen questioning Melanie's decisions. Javi implies that he feels he has no choice but to follow Melanie's orders as he is not sleeping with her unlike Bennett Knox, thus not affording him a level of protection.

When First rebels, Javi abandons the Engine and betrays Melanie, revealing her actions to the Folgers, Ruth Wardell and the Jackboots. However, while Javi sides with First, their tactics appear to be too much for him as he later helps Jinju Seong rescue Melanie from execution.

Following Andre Layton's takeover of the train, he and Melanie work together again in the Engine, Melanie having apparently given up all other duties to be an Engineer full time. After Melanie declares that its snowing while trying to break Mr. Wilford's uplink from Big Alice, Javi simply believes that she's hallucinating due to the cold and expresses concern over her well-being.

When Melanie returns and steals the train once again, Javi helps her out of betrayal and anger, even joking that at least he wasn't in the bathroom this time and could actually help her do it. Although Javi supports Melanie, he ultimately chooses to join Layton in going to New Eden rather than remaining on Snowpiercer.

Bennett Knox[]

Bennett and Javi are shown to be good friends, although they don't often agree. At one point, Javi bitterly notes that he has no choice but to follow Melanie's orders as he isn't sleeping with her like Bennett. Although Javi betrays them when the Folgers take over and Bennett literally throws him out of the Engine, the two men are shown working together afterwards with no animosity, possibly because Javi saved Melanie's life during the revolution.

After Wilford takes control of Snowpiercer in Into the White, the two men are able to communicate with each other in code over an open radio line with even Sykes, a highly-trained operative, not understanding the true meaning of their messages. When Javi comes under siege, perhaps understanding what is likely to happen to his friend, Bennett gets visibly emotional and reassures Javi, calling him "a hell of an engineer." Javi is also heard mentioning to Layton and Ruth that he's known Bennett for eight years, a year longer than Snowpiercer has been running, suggesting that they already knew each other before the Freeze.

When the Pirate Train returns, despite Javi's traumatized state, Bennett telling him to "open a beer, friend" in Spanish is enough to cause him to open an airlock and let Layton in to take over the train. When Bennett finally reunites with Javi, he is upset and horrified by the state that his friend is in.

Following their reunion, Bennett remains a supportive friend to Javi, although he lies to him about having been to New Eden as a way of protecting his friend whom Bennett knows needs the hope. As a way of helping Javi with his trauma, Bennett assigns Sykes to work with him, knowing that they share similar experiences and can relate to one another. Their close friendship results in much of Javi's anger when he learns the truth being about Bennett lying to him and the betrayal that he feels over it. The two appear to reconcile before going their separate ways after Layton and Melanie reach a peaceful solution to the situation.

After learning that Bennett had died, Javi is devastated and is determined to save New Eden so as to make his best friend's sacrifice matter. Javi tells Sykes that his spring doll reminds him of Bennett. Bennett had always made fun of it, but Javi knew that Bennett secretly loved it.

Andre Layton[]

After Layton learns the Engineers' secret, Javi is fearful of the implications and advocates for coming clean before Layton can expose them.

Layton and Javi don't have much direct interaction at first, but Javi appears to resent Layton taking control of the train and having to answer to him rather than just going through Melanie as he did in the past.

Over the course of the second season, although they work together towards the common goal of protecting the train from Wilford and getting Melanie and her data back, Javi doesn't work as closely with Layton as Layton does with Bennett, although Javi is shown to be more supportive and cooperative than he has been in the past. After being posted on Big Alice against his will, Javi figures out how to slip Layton a message and risks his life for Layton's plan to get Melanie back, resulting in Javi nearly dying in Jupiter's attack.

When the Pirate Train returns, Javi helps Layton sneak onboard and he thus plays a pivotal role in Layton retaking the train. While Javi works towards Layton's goal of reaching New Eden, he betrays Layton and Bennett in favor of Melanie after learning that they had lied to him, even telling her that Layton, Bennett and their crew are the bad guys for lying to everyone.

When everyone is given a choice of where to go, Javi decides to accompany Layton to New Eden as one of his Engineers, working together with Alex to get Big Alice there before the rough track derails the train. Javi reveals the danger of the old Trestle Bridge at the last moment, claiming that he hadn't wanted to worry Layton, earning a sarcastic thanks from Layton. This may have been a subtle jab and a minor act of revenge by Javi for Layton keeping him in the dark about the truth of New Eden because Layton didn't want to worry Javi.

A year later, Layton secretly enlists Javi to figure out how to supply power to New Eden temporarily while they take Big Alice after Snowpiercer. Although initially reluctant, Javi helps him and is unphased by Layton's threatening behavior, stating that he knows that Layton isn't a bully and expressing his sympathies about the loss of Zarah, something that greatly impacted Javi too. After Javi manages to get New Eden three weeks of power without the Engine, he tells Layton that he didn't do it to impress Alex or anyone else, or because he was scared of Layton. Javi did it simply because Layton is his friend, and he wanted to help him. Javi only doesn't join the mission because Alex volunteers to go instead due to her concerns that New Eden's warm spot may be temporary. With Alex joining the mission, Javi remains behind in order to help keep New Eden running in Layton's absence.

Sykes[]

Due to their shared trauma over being mauled by Wilford's dog Jupiter, Bennett introduces Sykes to Javi and puts them to work together on preparing for the new colony. Although Javi is at first closed off, Sykes' ability to relate to him gets Javi to open up and they befriend each other. Over time, Sykes is shown to help bring Javi more out of his shell, although her attempts to help him by taking him to confront Jupiter fail to work.

A year later, the two are shown to still have a good relationship with Sykes instantly becoming suspicious of Javi's behavior when he's secretly helping Layton. Sykes notes to Javi that he always gives her a warning if something is wrong, but Javi chooses not to bring Sykes in on the secret, something that proves to be a good choice as Sykes steps in to stop them after finding out what Layton and Javi are up to. Javi later comforts his friend after she gives into aggression while interrogating Stu Whiggins, something that disturbs Sykes.

Appearances[]

Appearance EP1 EP2 EP3 EP4 EP5 EP6 EP7 EP8 EP9 EP10
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3 H
Season 4
Appeared Did Not Appear H = Hallucinations
V = Voice C = Cameo F = Flashback

Memorable Quotes[]

Trivia[]

  • He has the opening monologue in By Weeping Cross. That is also the first episode of the series to include an opening monologue in another language than English, as Javi delivers it in Spanish.
  • He was one of the few crew members to know Melanie's secret.
  • As revealed in Many Miles From Snowpiercer, Javi is Colombian.
  • His last name probably got inspired from Tina de la Torre.
  • Javi wears a cross.
  • In The Show Must Go On, Javi displays a familiarity with Big Alice's systems and a surprise to the changes that Alexandra Cavill made to them, suggesting that he probably had a hand in designing the train.
  • In the last few episodes of the second season, Javi brings one of his personal mementos - a bobblehead depicting a presumedly Hispanic dancing girl - aboard Big Alice, something that he's seen using as a prayer object in Into the White like a Christian would use a cross.
  • He has a Spring Doll.
  • From The Tortoise and the Hare to The First Blow, Javi wears a heavy parka with the hood up to hide his scars. He is still wearing the parka, despite it no longer being necessary, when he returns to duty in the Engine in Bound by One Track, although he removes it before sitting down. At the end of the episode, he's wearing the parka and the hood again. Subsequently, for the rest of Season 3, Javi is often seen wearing a hoodie with the hood up, having apparently replaced his now-impractical parka with something more practical for the warmer temperatures.
    • In Season 4, Javi has done away with the concealing clothing, having apparently recovered from his trauma over the year that passed since Big Alice's arrival in New Eden.
  • In Snakes in the Garden he explains that used to work at a restaurant with his cousins in Montería. Montería could be a possible location for Javi's birth.
  • As revealed in Snakes in the Garden, he is good at playing poker. He used to play poker all night with his cousins in the backroom after work and states that by the time he was 16 he would beat anyone.

Gallery[]

References[]

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