‘Silo’ Season 2 Episode 10 Recap & Ending Explained: What Caused The Global Apocalypse?

0 COMMENTS

Most Popular

The incessant search for truth is what drove humanity to infinity and beyond; one might argue that human curiosity at times considers attaining truth to be even more important than survival itself. But time and again, if history has taught us anything, it is that truth comes with a cost, and not everyone is prepared to pay it. The second season finale of Silo brings the so-called truth everyone is desperately seeking, to light—essentially changing the way the denizens of Silo interpreted their reality. 

Previously, Billings, Sims, and Mechanical joined hands to oppose Bernard’s control once and for all. Bernard’s brilliant Shadow, Kyle was able to learn about the existence of multiple silos and the fact they were connected via underground tunnels. Most importantly, he had learned about the Safeguard protocol, which the secret Silo 18 operating AI, Algorithm, threatened to initiate if Kyle tried to even access the connecting tunnel. In Silo 17, Juliette faces problems of her own with teenage survivors—Ricky, Audrey, Eater, and Benny—and learns more about Solo’s true identity as Jimmy Conroy, son of the Silo 17 IT chief, Russell Conroy. As the terrible truth about the past gets unearthed, it becomes apparent that Juliette needs to return to her silo sooner than she thinks, in order to protect her loved ones from making a grave mistake of following the footprint of the late denizens of Silo 17.

Spoilers Ahead


Juliette Learns About Safeguard Protocol 

By the end of the penultimate episode of the second season, Kyle had become aware of the Safeguard Protocol enforced by Algorithm to ensure rebellion or mass escape doesn’t take place in the Silo, implying neither the judicial nor the IT had any power or control to begin with, something which was mentioned in detail in Salvadore Quinn’s cryptic letter. In the  season finale, Juliette became aware of the same, as Jimmy Conroy began remembering his past after returning to his childhood place—the IT section of Silo 17. While Juliette and Eater—whose real name is revealed to be Hope—decide to return to the vault after salvaging whatever Juliette needs to finish making her suit to make the trip back home, Jimmy decides to stay for a while as he reminisces about days gone. At this point, Jimmy comes across a note with the Safeguard Procedure on it, which at once triggers his past memories about it, and he goes on to warn Juliette. Jimmy refuses to reveal anything in front of Hope, deeming a kid shouldn’t have to learn something so problematic about the world of grown-ups, and once she leaves, Jimmy reveals to Juliette how the Safeguard Protocol is put in place in the silos, which can kill denizens of the silo at any given situation. He adds that his parents stopped the Safeguard Protocol in Silo 17 before the rebels reached outside, although he isn’t exactly sure how they did it, but putting a cap on a pipe is something he mentions on a couple of occasions. Jimmy reveals a pipe, connected to each silo from outside, that can push enough poison inside the silo to kill all ten thousand residents, something his parents stopped from happening in Silo 17 before the rebels moved outside. Which begs the question whether the outside world of silos are indeed toxic wasteland as initially assumed which ended up killing the rebels who ventured outside, or is there more to the situation as hinted by the mural in of the vault in Silo 17?

Anyway, Jimmy deems it important that Juliette go through the notes where the map of the silo, along with a detailed mention of the Safeguard Procedure, is present, which can help her to prevent the protocol from getting activated in her silo and thereby save its denizens. The duo finds out the aforementioned pipe is connected on level 14, where Jimmy’s mother, Gwen, used to work, and Juliette decides to move to that exact level to find more answers about the entirety of the situation. 


Bernard is Bamboozled by the Coalition

In the previous episode, it was hinted that Knox was aware of Bernard’s control over Martha’s actions; and Walker too had an idea that her predicament was known by her close associates, but still they continued holding their conversation in Martha’s workshop as usual—feigning ignorance to Bernard, who was keeping a close watch on Martha from the surveillance room. Which is why, when in the season finale, Knox and Shirley meet with Billings, Martha, and others to reveal the plan of holding off the raiders at the barricade for three hours, to have enough blast the generator in Down Deep, it becomes quite clear that they are playing the long game—luring Bernard to fall into a trap. Bernard sends Amundsen and his men, who capture the rebels of Mechanical, Billings and his family, Kennedy, and others, and bring all of the captives to the cafeteria, which had been turned into his makeshift prison in the previous episode. Under Bernard’s command, Amundsen also reveals Martha’s treachery to her comrades and Carla, and they play along as Carla pretends to detest Martha for her betrayal. Martha decides to meet with Bernard, who seems really elated, believing he has curbed the rebellion before it had a chance to spark the fire of dissent. 

Unbeknownst to Bernard, Robert and Camille had spread Billings’ message to the deputy sheriffs about joining the rebels to thwart mayor’s oppressive control, and as a result, the deputies, secretly in cahoots with rebels, allowed easy escape for Billings and co. Martha reveals the truth to Bernard—that through sign language—which is a necessary communication skill in the Down Deep, where verbal exchange is not always an option, she had revealed everything to her comrades long ago. Getting captured was part of the plan, and she anticipates the explosion to go off at the generator room—only to have one of the raiders inform Bernard that the rigged explosives in the generator room were disconnected. The majority of the Bernard’s loyalist raiders had ventured to the Down Deep to check upon the explosive rigged generator, only to find the connection to have been severed by someone. It remains unknown who among the mechanical or Down Deepers betrayed them and cut off the connection to the explosive. 

On the other hand, using Hank as a decoy of an injured raider, Dr. Pete Nichols managed to cross the barricade. According to the plans of the rebels, they took hidden explosives along with them to destroy part of the staircase to render Bernard helpless, as most of his raiders will remain stranded in Down Deep while the rebels take over IT and the rest of the Up Top without struggle. However, finding the timer for the explosive to be missing as well, Dr. Nichols decides to sacrifice his life for the greater good. Handing over his watch to Hank ( to hand it to Juliette, hoping for her return) and leaving a final message for Juliette, Pete Nichols manually detonates the explosives, severing the connection between Bernard and her enforcers. 

However, things don’t go smoothly for the rebels either, as Kennedy manages to motivate others to join his quest of leaving the silo, and much to the dismay of Knox, Shirley, and Billings, an enraged section of the mob begins preparing to do whatever necessary to forcibly open the hatch. Things are going south pretty rapidly, and unless Juliette returns in time, Silo 18 will perish by following the same mistakes of the residents of Silo 17.


Kyle’s Truth and Juliette’s Return

The impact of the explosion in Silo 18 is felt in Silo 17 as well, and Jimmy advises Juliette to prioritize returning to her Silo at the moment instead of checking on 14th level like she was planning to do. Hurriedly returning to the vault, Juliette finds out the suit she found in the bag of the IT section to be tattered and beyond repair—a discovery that sends her into a momentary meltdown. Audrey thinks this is the perfect time to bicker with Hope and blame her for everything, much to the frustration and anger of Juliette.she reprimands Audrey while mentioning that the ones upon whom all of them should really be angry at is the founders, the makers who built the silos and locked them in this underground prison to suffer through generations. While Juliette is sharing a piece of her mind with the teenagers, Jimmy appears to have left with the only spare suit and helmet she had—the one she pieced together from the firefighter’s suit and paired with the IT chief helmet. Juliette fears betrayal at the final stage as Jimmy is nowhere to be found, only to eventually come across him in the flooded area. As it turns out, Jimmy was merely testing the suit to ensure Juliette remains safe during her return journey. Juliette is overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness—she assumed the worst of a guy who was genuinely concerned about his friend. Anyway, before Juliette takes her leave, Hope questions her whether she is going to return in the near future—but Juliette reveals she most probably won’t be able to; at this point, she doesn’t even know whether she will be able to survive the return trip in the first place. But she ensures the teenagers that they will be fine as long as they keep their head straight. While bidding farewell to Jimmy, Juliette is saddened to learn that he believes she will return someday. Without answering his question, Juliette shares a hug, and thanks to Juliette’s help, Jimmy has been able to get rid of his demons and isn’t afraid to embrace the only friend he has. 

The focus shifts to Lukas Kyle in Silo 18, who managed to evade get caught by Down Deepers while making his way to the Up Top, only to later get captured by raiders and finally gets freed when Billings’ loyalists turned their backs on Bernard. Kyle meets with Bernard and conveys to him the truth about the Safeguard Protocol in secret. The fact that he, just like other denizens of the silo, was a lab rat who could have been killed at a moment’s notice, by the mechanism implemented in each silo by the will of the founders, makes Bernard undergo a sudden feeling of loss of purpose, and he is practically stupefied after realizing all his life’s work was undone with this simple truth. Amundsen and Robert were watching the conversation take place between Bernard and Kyle, and seeing the IT chief in crestfallen state, Robert approached Bernard to learn whatever the information was that Kyle shared with him. A distraught Bernard refuses to share the intel with Robert, but in his utterly hopeless situation, makes him his Shadow and provides him the vault key with the passcode—something Robert wanted for a long, long time. Kyle has made peace with his reality, and he returns to his mother—when a frustrated Robert approaches him and holds him at gunpoint to share the truth with him as well. Kyle refuses to do so and suggests he go to the vault and read the legacy while there is still time. Robert takes his wife, Camille, and their son, Anthony, inside the vault, and after being identified by Algorithm, Robert is asked to step outside the vault with his son, as Camille seems to be the person Algorithm wants to share the secrets of the founders with. Despite being a tough-as-nails enforcer, Robert is truly a pitiable guy, given how much he is always treated as a pushover.

 Kyle, and Bernard as well, consider the rebellion and attempt to escape from the silo will trigger the Safeguard Protocol, killing all the residents at once—and the way things start to go out of hand in the cafeteria section, where Kennedy has prepared a battering ram and whatnot to escape, Silo 18 seems to be headed towards inevitable doom. Bernard goes to the IT section, and vacating the place by threatening the Up Toppers present there by firing his gun, he prepares to take his own life. Seeing the frenzied mob led by Kennedy attempting escape, in sheer desperation, Billings decides to return to Bernard to request he take control of the situation, but it has already been too late for making new alliances. 

At this moment, Juliette is seen appearing in the horizon from the cafeteria display screen, not only has she survived, she has  returned to her silo – a sight which at once changes the situation in Silo 18. The rebels start rejoicing, witnessing their symbol of hope, whose departure inspired the rebellion in the first place, to be alive. Juliette wastes no time in warning the denizens of Silo 18 as she cleans the visor and shows a handwritten message, which conveys outside is not safe; they shouldn’t attempt to escape from the silo. Juliette leaving the silo triggered the chaotic situation that nearly ended Silo 18, and with her return, she effectively saved it. 

Seeing all this, Bernard is truly flabbergasted, and as Juliette tries to pry open the silo hatch from outside, he opens it from inside. Bernard, wearing a specialized suit of his own, holds Juliette at gunpoint, asking her the meaning of all this. He himself wants to go outside, like Meadows, he too wants to feel free for a single moment of his miserable life. Juliette realizes Bernard’s disillusionment with Safeguard Protocol and shares that she is aware of it as well, although the probable causality behind it escapes her. In the meantime, the door leading to the silo starts closing, prompting Juliette to hastily enter—despite Bernard warning her not to do so, given outsiders were never permitted to enter the silo, and he fears it will trigger the Safeguard protocol. As Bernard and Juliette re-enter through the silo door, a fire erupts as flammable gas is pushed through the pipes, and it remains unknown whether they survived after all. In the case of Juliette, she is already wearing a refurbished firefighter’s suit, which means she might remain safe; I am not so sure about Bernard. But what we do know for sure is Juliette will make the denizens aware of the truth about the silos, at least whatever little she knows – and perhaps Kyle will corroborate with her statement as well, as they will obviously try to find a solution to escape this entrapment. 


What caused the global apocalypse?

The final moments of the second season finale of Silo are most important as they show a flashback sequence, taking place in the distant past in Washington, DC, as a young congressman of Georgia is seen meeting up with a journalist named Helen in a diner near the capitol. Given the congressman is checked for radioactive traces before entering the diner, it becomes pretty clear that nuclear warfare might have something to do with the apocalyptic condition which made it imperative for humanity to create silos. During their conversation, both Helen and the congressman mention something about a ‘dirty bomb.’, further confirming the nature of the calamity which will push humanity to the subterranean depths. Their conversation further hints that Iran might have used a nuke to launch an assault on the United States, and Helen is eager to learn whether the government, or whoever is in control of the shady corporation the congressman secretly works with (silo founders?), have planned to retaliate. Unwilling to divulge the intel, the congressman simply leaves, handing Helen a gift he had bought—the silk wool duck, which will become a relic in the far future during the present timeline of Silo. The ending of the finale hints that the beginning of the series of events, which led to the creation of silos, will become a major focus in the third season of the series. Like Fallout, nuclear warfare seems to be the reason for humanity to have to resort to living in underground establishments, and like Fallout, shady conglomerates seem to be at the control of the fates of the survivors this time around as well.


Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.


 

 

Latest articles