The Hermitage

The Hermitage in its current state.

The Hermitage is an abandoned house located in the vicinity of Kadic Academy. Its last owner was Franz Hopper. It has an access point directly to the sewers.

After the Men in Black had kidnapped Anthea Schaeffer, a young Aelita Schaeffer and her father, Waldo, moved there and changed their names, again. They lived there until some time in 1994, during which Waldo Schaeffer taught Science at Kadic under the name Franz Hopper while he created the Supercomputer, Lyoko, and X.A.N.A.. In 1994, the Men in Black raided the house. The Schaeffer family abandoned it, taking refuge on Lyoko, but left behind a ton of information. Over a decade, a lot of deterioration has occurred in and around the house, between natural degradation and what appears to be the result either vandalism or the Men in Black searching for things.

The house has a ground floor, a second floor above it, a large basement, and what appears to be an attic. It also has several security cameras. The first floor has a study, hallway, stairwell, closet, kitchen, and a living area with a piano. The second floor has bedrooms and bathrooms. The basement has a utility room and a massive steam room which can operate well above human habitable levels.

The house was rediscovered by the Lyoko Warriors in the Season 2 premier episode New Order, its first "production order" appearance. This caused Aelita to have several flashbacks of living there, though she was ignorant to her full history with the house until the the Season 2 finale. These visions included Franz Hopper playing the piano, the Men in Black attacking, and an elf being chased by wolves. It was also where X.A.N.A. attacked Ulrich and Yumi, using the basement's steam room. In the next episode, Uncharted Territory, the group found a book on the Punic Wars at the Hermitage, which led to the deduction of the password Scipio to allow access to Sector Five. In Revelation, X.A.N.A. captured Odd, impersonated him and left him to drown in a well in the Hermitage, but he was found and saved by Yumi before he could drown.

Despite its decayed state, the Hermitage contains resources left behind by Franz Hopper that have proven invaluable to the Lyoko Warriors. In Mister Pück, the group found Aelita's elf doll here, which eventually led to the rediscovery of Franz Hopper's digital diary. In Skidbladnir, Aelita finds a Norse mythology book on a shelf in the Hermitage, recalling a story about a mythical tall ship called the Skidbladnir, which could sail over land and would never sink. At the end of the episode, the group names their virtual ship the Skidbladnir, or the Skid for short. Later in Wrong Exposure, out of desperation, Aelita and Jeremie visited the Hermitage for help. They found a photo of her and Franz, with the partial equation for the Supercomputer Reboot Program in the background. Based on this, they recreated the program and Jeremie ended up using it to free Aelita from the Scyphozoa's control.

Appearances

Season Two

• New Order (first appearance)
• Uncharted Territory
• Mister Pück
• X.A.N.A.'s Kiss
• Déjà Vu
• Revelation
• The Key (flashbacks)

Season Three

• Aelita
• Final Round

Season Four

• Skidbladnir
• Wrong Exposure
• Echoes (in flashbacks)

Trivia

• The Hermitage plays an important role in the five alternate-canon novels, Code Lyoko Chronicles.
• The Hermitage does not appear in Code Lyoko Evolution.
• In a few episodes, Aelita got upset and took refuge in her old bedroom at the Hermitage, such as in X.A.N.A.'s Kiss and Aelita.
• The sign on the gate outside the Hermitage has also been seen to be spelled as "Ermitage" in several episodes. This is because the French background art was occasionally left in the English episode instead of being changed for the dub. "Ermitage" is the French word for Hermitage.

Gallery

Non-damaged Hermitage (official concept art).

As well with Yumi.

Odd vs X.A.N.A. Odd in the Hermitage's living room.

Spectre Jeremie kisses Aelita in her old room.

X.A.N.A. watches Aelita through a camera in the Hermitage.

Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich look through the old books for more information.

The men in black can be seen though Aelita's window in another vision.

Aelita crying in her old room.

Yumi saves Odd from drowning.

Hermitage exterior in Aelita's memories.

Hermitage living room in Aelita's memories.

A photo of Franz with the Hermitage behind him.

Non-damaged Hermitage interior (official art).

Ulrich almost falls unconscious.

The Men In Black appear in Aelita's vision.

Three men in black come to the Hermitage in another vision.

The ball of light surrounds the Hermitage after a Return to the Past is activated.

Ulrich and Yumi trapped in the Hermitage boiler room.

Aelita has more visions once she arrives at the Hermitage.

Aelita wanders to the Hermitage.

Odd and Aelita in the Hermitage.

Hermitage entrance hall in Aelita's memories.

Aelita's room in her memories.

House layout as seen in Get Ready to Virtualize.