Redarina pulled Liz out of the flames. The scene from 8.20 where Red flashes back to the night of the fire is a direct parallel to the scene from 8.21 when Katarina flashes back to going in after Liz.

See gif 4 and 5 for reference. The part where the person with the coat and gloves takes Liz out of the closet and walks her down down the hall grasping her little hand in theirs. We later find in Nachalo that it was Katarina carrying her out.

Look closely. In Reds gif from 8.20 they play it super fast.

by kiss-my-freckle (gif 5)

I liked the part with the cat.

A bizarre, almost biographical style drama with a sprinkling of situational comedy.

Inna Churikova gives a strange and captivating performance, particularly in the Jeanne d'Arc scenes. The movie is largely unscored, but the silence highlights the infrequent music, bringing it closer to the forefront of the scene and more obviously linking it to Pasha and her story.

I really enjoyed the couple of times she stares directly into the camera as significant events take place, breaking the fourth wall as if to wordlessly tell us that we are witnessing an important aspect to understanding her story. It's an interesting technique I'm not sure I've seen used before, and lends itself to a vague feeling that this is an autobiography with silent a narrator.

Visual Interpretations [clues] The parallel scenes between Red and Katarina.

Me Free You Safe / You Safe and Your Mother Hidden.

Episode 4/20 The Debt Collector

Red: I’ve spent 30 years building an intelligence network of spies, informants, patriots, traitors. I’ve used it to build an empire that exists for only two reasons to keep me free and you safe.

Episode 8/20 Godwin Page

Red: A network meticulously crafted with her knowledge and blessing to serve one guiding purpose – To give me the power to keep you safe and your mother hidden.

Building an Empire

Episode 4/21

4/20 Red: I’ve spent 30 years building an intelligence network of spies, informants, patriots, traitors. I’ve used it to build an empire that exists for only two reasons to keep me free and you safe.

4/21 Red: After Katarina’s sudden departure, I felt a responsibility to watch over the girl from a distance. 

4/21 Red: Indeed, I need to control the danger to Elizabeth. I’ve built a vast criminal network predicated on that very principal. It’s time to live up to my mission statement.

Episode 8/21

Katarina: If he was, I could use his story and all that it provided to protect my daughter while watching over her from a distance. So I constructed him. Someone powerful and feared. Someone who traded in the very secrets that could help him monitor the danger around you.

Episode 8/21 

Katarina: This story is all about you, Masha. Protecting you. And then protecting your daughter.

Mistakes

Episode 8/21

Katarina: I’ve made so many mistakes, but abandoning you wasn’t one of them.

Red: Over the years, your mother’s legend has grown. Mythic spy. Bloodless turncoat.

In the process, people forgot the person behind the legend, but I haven’t. If she were here, I’m sure she’d tell you she made so many mistakes.

The Fulcrum

Liz: You said it hurt. To see me in so much pain the night of the fire. Why were you there?

Red: The Fulcrum.

Liz: My mother went to find it, to confront my father. But she wasn’t alone.

Red: There were others.

Real RR: Yes. But your mother, her people came–

Katarina: He knew we would come for you.

Real RR: Not just you. The Fulcrum.

[ Jingle Bells music slows, groans, stops ]

Real RR: And that’s why she came with a team.

Katarina: The men who worked for me looked for the Fulcrum, but the fire had spread too fast.

Promise

8/20

Red: Its shape was so clear in my memory. As if I’d seen it before. And then, one day, there it was on a map, not a perfect match, but eerily close. It became the symbol of the most important aspect of my business, an image representing the danger you faced, and the promise to protect you from it. 

8/21

Katarina: You. I made a promise the day you were born – To protect you.

My Mother

6.11

Red: My mother- My m- My mother- My mother understood.

Liz: About who you used to be – there’s something I need to ask you.

Red: My mother understood the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself. So she understood Everything.

8/21

Katarina: My mother understood me. She knew I wanted to follow a different path, but my father was unyielding. He scripted my life. He observed and scrutinized it. Even before I could understand, I was helping the Fifth Directorate carry out operations.

Other relevant dialogue from Nachalo and Konets 

8/21 Katarina: Dom lied to you about who became Reddington, but most of what he told you about Ilya was true.

Ilya: Including the part about framing Reddington as a traitor.

Misc 2 8/21 & 9/12

Red: I was born to a dark path. It’s the only path I know. 

Katarina: I was born into a world of spies. Becoming one was my destiny. 

8/21

 Liz to Katarina: Everything about you is a lie.

Hello, sweetheart. You don’t remember me. 

Katarina: Long before Dom tricked Tatiana…

Dom: we’re not telling HIM anything…

Ilya: she’s dead.

Dom: Nonsense!

Katarina became Reddington and was hidden when the Belgrade plan was concocted.