The Young and the Restless turns up the heat this Tuesday, December 2, as Genoa City becomes the battleground for a corporate war with stakes higher—and darker—than ever before. Power shifts, loyalties fracture, and the line between strategy and survival grows razor-thin. This episode doesn’t just raise tension; it detonates it, setting the stage for what may be one of the most consequential storylines in the show’s history.

At the heart of the chaos? A collision course between Victor Newman, Cain Ashby, and the entire Abbott family, whose legacy hangs by a thread as artificial intelligence, corporate espionage, and decades-old grudges converge into a storm none of them saw coming.

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Victor Newman Makes His Move: No Mercy, No Rescue, No Regrets

Victor Newman has played ruthless before—but never like this.

As Tuesday’s episode opens, Cain Ashby faces the financial collapse of Arabesque, the company he built on ambition, borrowed power, and secrets he hoped would stay hidden. With his back against an imploding digital infrastructure, Cain turns to the one man he once believed might help: Victor Newman.

He was wrong.

Victor’s response is a masterclass in controlled coldness. He refuses Cain’s pleas not out of cruelty, but precision. Victor sees Cain’s downfall not as a tragedy, but a tactical advantage—a necessary first domino in a larger plan designed to destabilize the Abbotts and leave Jabot vulnerable. Cain’s crisis is not a coincidence. It is a calculated step toward a future where Victor holds complete leverage over his rivals.

For Victor, this is not business. This is warfare.

And Cain Ashby has just learned that in Victor’s wars, there are no allies—only assets or casualties.

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Inside the Abbott Estate: A War Council Forms

While Victor maneuvers in the shadows, the Abbotts gather for what may be one of the most pivotal family meetings in decades.

Jack Abbott, sleepless and increasingly haunted by the patterns emerging from Cain’s compromised AI system, has pieced together a revelation that chills him to the bone:
Victor’s attacks are coordinated, deliberate, and weaponized through an evolving AI capable of infiltrating Jabot at its core.

Jack calls Ashley, Tracy, Billy, Kyle, and Diane to the Abbott living room—a space cherished by the family, but now transformed into a strategic war room. The atmosphere is electric with urgency and dread as Jack lays out the horrifying truth: Cain’s AI, now under Victor’s control, is not just capable of breaching Jabot’s cybersecurity. It is learning, adapting, and preparing to cripple them from the inside.

Jack describes it as “frighteningly human.”

From corrupting financials to dismantling production lines, this AI could destroy not just Jabot’s market standing, but the Abbott legacy itself.

Shock ripples through the room.

• Ashley, ever the scientist, is stunned by the scope of the threat.

• Tracy, the family’s emotional anchor, fears the irreparable damage ahead.

• Billy, impulsive and fierce, wants to strike back immediately.

• Kyle, torn between pride and fear, demands a counterattack.

• Diane reads Jack’s expression and realizes something even more devastating is coming.

And then Jack drops the bombshell.

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The Unthinkable Plan: Jack Proposes Shutting Down Jabot

Jack reveals the strategy he believes is their only hope:
Shut down Jabot completely for three full months.

The room falls silent.

The idea is unheard of—unprecedented even in Genoa City’s cutthroat corporate environment. A shutdown of this magnitude would send shockwaves through the market. Investors would panic. Rumors would explode. Rivals would smell blood.

But Jack insists that remaining operational is suicide.

If Victor’s AI infiltrates their systems—and Jack believes it’s only hours away—the damage will be irreversible. A temporary shutdown, while painful and risky, could give Jabot’s tech teams time to rebuild cybersecurity from the ground up. It isn’t surrender, Jack argues. It’s strategic retreat.

Ashley balks. Tracy’s eyes fill with dread. Billy rages. Kyle protests.
But Diane, recognizing the weight behind Jack’s words, stands silently beside him.

Slowly, painfully, the Abbotts begin to see the truth:
The cost of action is high—but the cost of inaction is annihilation.

In a powerful moment, Jack vows he will not move forward without full family consensus. The company their father built cannot be saved unless they save it together.

And one by one, the Abbotts agree.

Jabot will go dark.

Not because they are defeated, but because they refuse to allow Victor Newman to dictate the terms of their downfall.

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At the Newman Ranch: Cain Ashby Faces His Failures

While the Abbotts brace for the shutdown, another emotional showdown unfolds across town.

Cain Ashby arrives at the Newman Ranch—not angry, but devastated. His arrogance is gone, replaced with the weary defeat of a man who has finally realized he’s out of moves.

He confesses everything to Adam Newman:

• Arabesque has collapsed.

• The AI is uncontrollable.

• He stole the technology—not maliciously, but recklessly.

• And now the monster he created has turned on him.

Cain accuses Newman Enterprises of using his stolen program, but Adam pushes back sharply. Newman Enterprises has its own battles, and Adam refuses to take responsibility for Cain’s mistakes.

And yet, Adam sees something in Cain’s desperation—a warning.
Cain isn’t just seeking forgiveness. He’s trying to prevent a catastrophe.

Though Adam refuses to help, he offers Cain one sliver of hope:
Victor may not help him, but he will listen.

Because even a broken man can be valuable if he carries information.

And Cain carries information that could expose Victor’s entire endgame.

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The City Braces for Impact

By the episode’s end, Genoa City stands on the brink of collapse:

• Jabot will shut down for 90 days.

• Arabesque is already in ruins.

• Victor Newman is steps away from total victory.

• Cain is at the edge of surrender.

• Adam sees a disaster looming that could destroy three companies and ignite a war the city may not recover from.

The Newmans and the Abbotts are closer than ever to open conflict—one that threatens to tear families apart, destroy dynasties, and rewrite the power structure of Genoa City forever.

With so much at stake, one question looms:

Who will stop Victor Newman before it’s too late?

And the more terrifying question—
What if no one can?