Almost every celebrated, pivotal piece of art and literature retains its uniqueness from its timeless quality and ability to use seemingly regular motifs, symbols, and references to discuss crucial themes and ideas that have universal appeal. Renowned Argentinian comic-book writer and journalist Hector German Oesterheld had set a great example of this through his pivotal work, the comic strip series El Eternauta, aka The Eternaut, beautifully illustrated by Francisco Solano Lopez, later collected as a graphic novel. On the surface, the graphic novel unfolds as an alien invasion story riding high in the 60s silver age sci-fi fandom and space race excitement, but in reality the narrative serves as a wake-up call against military dictatorship prevalent back then in Argentina, which robbed citizens of their autonomy, and also as a deeply personal account of the author’s connection with his family explored in troubling times. Netflix’s TV series adaptation of the graphic novel proves how enduring the narrative truly is, as the political allegory of the state controlling/suppressing its subjects and the theme of solidarity and survival are extremely relevant even today.
Spoilers Ahead
Deadly Snowfall, Paranoia, and A Tale of Survival
The Eternaut identifies itself with its setting, Buenos Aires, which one fine summer night gets blanketed by strange toxic snowfall, following the arrival of giant armored beetle-looking extraterrestrial creatures on the planet. Falklands War veteran Juan Salvo was initially unaware of the situation while playing a game of Truco with his longtime friends, Ruso, electrical engineer Favalli, and Lucas. Ruso’s brother-in-law, Omar, who lives in the States, has joined them—but due to a difference between culture and worldview, there is a clear unwillingness among Juan and Favalli to acknowledge Omar as a part of their group.
Favalli’s wife, Ana, notices the sudden toxic snowfall causing the death of anyone exposed to it, and out of morbid concern for his family, Ruso steps outside without proper protection, only to end up dead within seconds. The communication system is taken down by an EMP attack launched by unknown invaders, and survivors have to be reliant on old-school mechanical machinery instead of digital ones. Anxiety and fear take hold of the minds of the group members, especially Favalli, who becomes too paranoid, so much so that he initially refuses to open the doors to a delivery girl, Inga, who survived by staying inside the garage. Concerned for his daughter, Clara, Juan decides to venture outside to look for her. Unable to convince his friend to reconsider his decision, Favalli creates a makeshift suit, which protects Juan from getting exposed to the toxic snowstorm raging outside. At the same time, he is blissfully unaware that Clara was abducted by the visitors from unknown, as in the very beginning of the series it is shown that while enjoying a meet-up with her friends in a sailboat in the middle of the sea, Clara encountered the aliens.
As Juan makes his way through the deadly snowscape of Buenos Aires, he finds out exactly how helpless people are in the face of unpredictable crisis, how survival instinct brings out the worst among people, as he and his ex-wife Elena nearly get mobbed by surviving residents of the apartment complex who want to take Juan’s suit to increase their chances of survival. Juan and Elena rescue a teenage boy, Pablo, the only survivor in Clara’s school, who is revealed to have lost his mother in the snow.
Now the toxic snowfall, an element of panic and anxiety, its existence causes among people, was not merely a sci-fi narrative device in Oesterheld’s hands, who, as a lifelong advocate of social justice and humanism, used it as an instrument to highlight the oppressive machinations of the then military governance of South America, which was emboldened by constant support of the United States’ imperialistic, capitalist motivations. The alien invaders assume control over the denizens of the planet initially through fear tactics, the toxic snowfall being synonymous with the inhumane treatments of liberals carried out by the anti-leftist coalition of South American governments. Just like how the snowfall created a sense of isolation, paranoia, and mistrust among people who previously called themselves friends, they became skeptical of each other’s intentions.
The Community Spirit Stands Strong
Even though Juan is the central character whose worldview and experience as a survivor shape viewers’ perspective, the community spirit and unity among common people in dire times become the key highlight in The Eternaut, in sync with the author’s vision. Oesterheld always prioritized the collective over the individual, which is well realized by the series makers. Favalli, who is the one to figure out solutions to several crisis situations, deduces how fluctuating magnetic poles of the planet and Van Allen belt disruption resulted in the radioactive snowfall, has a brilliant mind, which he refuses to use for altruistic means. Initially, Favalli remains extremely individualistic, unwilling to assist or care for others’ concerns. However, he decides to accompany Juan downtown to his apartment to search for Clara. This is when the duo come across the giant beetle-like aliens, who can be equated with wardogs of tyrannical militaristic regimes. The cannibalistic nature of these beetle aliens serves as an example of how self-destructive and mindless the enforcers of devious forces can be. It is no coincidence that the beetle aliens swarmed in the highest numbers around the downtown area and created a wall to make the vicinity inescapable. The South American military regime targeted impoverished areas to terrorize the masses into submission.
Juan and Favalli get rescued from the beetle aliens by a group of boy scouts, who take them to a nearby church that has turned into a survivor’s camp for the time being. Omar, who had previously escaped from Favalli’s place by stealing a car, is seen present there as well—and their conflict gets settled as Omar saves Favalli’s and Juan’s lives. Juan, on the other hand, visits the ghost of his past, as a fellow survivor of the Falklands War, Rengo, recognizes him. Juan and Favalli get a lesson in self-sacrifice when Rengo and his partner, Rita, decide to stay behind at the church, distracting the beetle aliens, while the rest of the survivors make their way through the wall and escape. After returning back to Favalli’s apartment, where Inga, Lucas, Ana, and Elena are waiting for them, Juan is surprised to find out Clara has returned on her own, but still in a dazed state; she can not remember the events of the immediate past. There are some discrepancies regarding Clara’s recollection of events and evidence that indicate otherwise, and Juan can’t help but assume his daughter’s safe return seems like an incident too good to be true.
Juan’s Ominous Visions and Brainwashed Civilians
In the final moments of the second episode, right after escaping with his life from the frenzied apartment complex residents, Juan sees an ominous vision—which shows aliens invading the planet, a visual reference to Saint George slaying the vicious dragon, his daughter Clara, and the end of times. Throughout the series, Juan continues to see this ominous vision for a number of times, until the very end, where he recognizes he is having a déjà vu experience, which almost intermingles with his PTSD sustained from the Falklands War in the 80s. It should be mentioned that Juan’s Falkland War arc is an addition by the makers, which once again is in complete sync with the vision of Oesterheld. Narrative-wise speaking, Juan’s déjà vu is connected with his role as a time traveler, who tries his desperate best to save his close ones, especially his daughter, from the alien invaders, to no avail. The visual reference to St. George slaying a dragon and rescuing the princess in the process is an allusion to Juan’s desperate wish to bring an end to the ongoing crisis and save his daughter. The historical context, however, is murky to say the least, as hinted through a flashback sequence where a young Juan finds himself taking part in the Falklands War. The Argentinian junta’s military governance, infamous for their Dirty Politics, which claimed the lives of numerous free thinkers, including Oesterheld, received the final nail in their coffin after a humiliating defeat in the Falklands War at the hands of Britain. So when Juan mentions having experienced the incidents of his vision, it also carries a historical connotation. Juan fought for an autocratic, tyrannical military government, shades of which are perceivable in the symbolic representation of the alien invaders.
Juan, Favalli, and their family, including Lucas and Omar, decide to venture to Favalli’s place in Tigre, considering it to be a safer refuge, but find it inaccessible after learning the topographical manipulation orchestrated by the aliens. The group found a safe haven in a mall, where survivors from the church had gathered as well. One night, Lucas goes missing and the next day, the snow inexplicably stops, finally allowing survivors a respite. Their momentary joy turned into horror as three seemingly common citizens, brandishing weapons, started killing the survivors rampantly, and somehow Juan and co. were able to take down two of them before the third one escaped and returned to a beetle alien nest. As it turns out, through mechanisms not fully disclosed in the series (a neck implant for mind control in comics), the extraterrestrial creatures had started commanding the humans, turning them into mindless slaves to do their bidding. Needless to say, this alien mind control trope utilized by the author is a reference to far-right propaganda brainwashing done by dictatorial regimes, who turn people against their own and govern by a dastardly divide-and-rule policy. The us-and-them dynamics referred to indicate humans and aliens get muddled when humans are seen colluding, although unknowingly, with their oppressors. The aliens needed to drastically decrease the numbers of human subjects, enough so that they could control the surviving ones; if not through mind control, then complete subjugation. Lucas returns with the Argentinian military by his side, and the survivors decide to move to the army settlement in Campo de Mayo, which becomes the headquarters of the Resistance force. Oesterheld’s leftist ideology prompted him to join Montoneros in the final stages of his life, an insurrectionist force that tried to resist the Argentinian junta. The Resistance formed to oppose the alien threat is a representation of them.
An Ominous Prediction: Did Juan Learn About Clara’s Truth?
In The Eternaut season 1 finale, Juan and co. agree to join Franco and Moro in an extremely high-stakes operation of venturing to downtown, sending a radio signal to reach the ones still surviving across the country, to urge them to hold on to hope and join the Resistance in the Campo de Mayo. Franco leads his unit, of which Juan, Omar, Lucas, and Favalli were a part, to destroy the wall created by the beetle aliens by ramming a train through it and transmitting the radio signal. While Moro’s unit, of which Inga was a part, gets trapped by a mind-controlled mob while searching for survivors and gets turned into a robot slave of the aliens. Lucas turns out to have become a victim of the alien mind control as well, as he turns on his buddies and stabs Omar before taking his own life by jumping off of a building.
The surviving unit decides to return to Campo de Mayo, while Juan expresses his wish to venture to the nearby football stadium, from where a bluish aura is seen to be emanating. Juan feels a desperate need to find answers and assumes whatever is happening in the stadium might satisfy his curiosity. Inga had found out that a crashed-down Peruvian armed force bomber had targeted the stadium, which has turned into the base of operations of the alien invaders. Franco decides to accompany Juan while the rest of the team returns, and the duo witness a troubling sight. An army of mind-controlled humans is being commanded by what seems to be the ultimate adversary, an alien organism that is visualized by a large hand with numerous fingers protruding. Grotesque, and apt, given the alien organism is puppeteering its subjects with a hive mind control and is going to unleash them on their close ones. Juan also remembers that he has lived through this experience in the past, which indicates the time loop plot point prominent in the comics. In the final moments of the series, Juan realizes that his own daughter, Clara, has become a victim of the mind-controlling aliens as well, which indicates a terrible future for the survivors.
The father-daughter dynamics, Juan’s desperation to save Clara, reference the terrible real-life predicament of Oesterheld and his family and a shocking instance of how Oesterheld’s work predicted his terrible fate. Oesterheld and his four daughters had joined Montoneros during the years of the Argentinian junta’s tyranny; all of them disappeared, presumably murdered by the tyrant state machinery. In the comic series, Juan tries his best to save his family; in the case of the series adaptation, he tries to save his daughter by going back in time, only to realize he can not change the inevitable. The prophetic quality of Oesterheld’s masterpiece wasn’t only reflected in his country’s fate; an ominous foreboding set by the narrative hinted at his own and his family’s fate as well. The tragic, haunting parallel only emphasizes the worth of a timeless creation, which goes way beyond its literary value.
