Juliette has finally accessed George’s hard drive. And what’s in it is unlike anything she ever imagined. It’s surreal and scary to think that there might come a time when our future generation would be as taken aback as Juliette to see the blue sky and the green trees and grass and birds flying, that too on a screen—things that they have no idea about and yet what we all opened our eyes to after being born. We do not want that future. Coming back, we have reached Episode 10, aka the season finale of Silo, and it’s do or die for Juliette Nichols. Or is it do and die?
Spoilers Ahead
The Truth
Juliette has to find a way to show the clip to everyone. While Danny can do it by linking the drive to a signal booster, it will alert the IT, and thus Bernard, who has also found out their location by tracing the hard drive’s location. A security team must be on its way by now. Thankfully, she knows an alternate route, i.e., the trash chute. They manage to reach a signal booster, and Danny syncs the screen. The video begins to play on all the screens in Bernard’s room. He is shocked to see it, and we still do not know why he is so afraid of people seeing this. He has to be some kind of maniac to force his people to turn away from the screens. Why doesn’t he want people to see it? Does he fear a rebellion that will take place if people find the truth? He shuts down the whole thing. But who can tell that the clip wasn’t seen by at least a hundred people in the silence?
Bernard realizes that Juliette is using the trash chute to travel, and she is spotted. The only way to avoid getting hit by the trash is to let go. And she does. It is improbable that she will survive, but somehow she makes it. Juliette has an angel, or maybe the very soul of Silo itself, looking down her. She is saved by the people at the recycling center, and Knox and Shirley bring her to Martha’s place. Unfortunately, Knox has informed the judiciary about it, which is basically the right thing to do at this point because he cannot compromise the whole of Mechanical for one person. Mechanical cannot be responsible for whatever crime Juliette has committed. Juliette agrees to it too. Soon, Bernard and Sims arrive with a security team, and Juliette agrees to be put in shackles in return for the truth behind George’s death. But that’s nothing compared to what Bernard did—destroying the hard drive. We were right to imagine that he is scared of a rebellion, just as he tells Juliette. However, Juliette believes that the people of Silo can handle the truth. In this case, Bernard might just be speaking from his experience when he tells her that he doesn’t share her optimism. And the fact is that we cannot handle the truth. We never could, we never can, and we never will.
The Shackles
The whole of Silo watches as Juliette Nichols walks up the stairs, where she will be taken to her cell. She will spend the night. The next day, she will walk out of the Silo. Martha, for whom she is like a daughter, is in a lot of pain because Juliette will literally be walking to her death. She cannot accept it, and for the first time in 25 years, she musters up the courage to come out of her room to do what’s necessary. Her meeting with her friend Carla reveals that she had made a tape that was better than the one Juliette stole from the Judicial. But what’s in a tape?
Bernard and Sims bring Juliette to the station, where they keep an eye on each and every person in the Silo. Juliette is completely stupefied until they show her how George died. No one killed him. He killed himself. Why? Maybe because it was the only way to bring out the truth that he knew only Juliette was capable of. The fact that George was ready to die if it exposed the truth proves that the truth is worth life itself. She is then put in the cell, where her father, Pete, and Shirley visit her. They know that she is going to die. Martha has secretly sent her a note concerning the supply. Martha has apparently replaced the tapes that are used to seal the suit that a person has to wear before going out. But how does that matter? Is there something in the air? Finally, Bernard meets Juliette and gives her a long speech about how what she tried to do could lead to the total collapse of the Silo. But when questioned about what she saw in the video, Bernard merely addresses it as one of the many mysteries left by the Founders of the Silo, whoever they were. At this point, I cannot trust Bernard, no matter what he says. Before leaving, he gives her Sheriff Holston’s badge. Now she will finally see the truth.
What Does Juliette See Outside?
Thus arrives the moment we feared and yet had been waiting for. Juliette is about to walk out of the Silo. Hundreds have gathered to see her, including her father, Pete, Martha, Knox, Shirley, and all other colleagues of Juliette from Mechanical. Bernard reads her the oath, and two people help her put on the suit. She is cleaned and slowly walks out of the Silo into a whole new world, one she has never seen. The green grass, the blue sky, the butterflies, and the birds (although it is doubtful that she knows what they are called).
Everything in the outside world looks beautiful until she stumbles. For a second, it seems that the poisonous air is taking effect, but we think she hit something on the ground and lost her balance because of that. When she finally collects herself, we realize that Martha’s heat tapes might have done its job. It prevented poisonous air from getting into her suit or oxygen from leaking out of it. It is at this moment that Juliette taps something on the ground, which, from the POV of the screen in the cafeteria, looks like she has located Holston’s dead body, which is not visible on her helmet screen. She finally puts Holston’s badge on the ground to honor his death, and that is when the screen on her visor glitches, like the simulation it is. As surreal as what Juliette is seeing is, everything disappears right in front of her eyes and is replaced with barren land. What’s going on? There are buildings visible on the horizon. But is this real? We know that she is safe. But it’s what lies ahead of her that is shocking.
Episode 10 ends with Juliette walking toward the barren land, and we can see multiple silos. This is the truth that Bernard was hiding. Each of these must have thousands of people. This would mean that the visor in her suit is digital. Bernard was using it to keep everyone in the dark. However, somehow the clip that the digital visor had pre-installed came to an end. Bernard or the IT must have made it last for 3 to 4 minutes, thinking that the person who was watching it would die before it ends. But thanks to Martha’s heat tape, Juliette survived. What happened that led to this? And what are the buildings that can be seen at the far end? Meanwhile, Bernard realizes that Juliette “knows” and heads back to a server room, flipping a switch using his key number 18. Is this a way to alert the other Silos? Season 2 will be filled with answers.
