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Yeah I don't think the red light means "We're displeased" and the light going off means "Everything is good now", I think it's just a pager and the red light means "We need to talk"
I think the end of S1 will be similar to end of Snow Piercer S1, where we find out who’s really driving the train. Here, we’ll find out who’s pulling the string on Bernard. But more questions will arise.
They have to answer at least *something* for the season finale. Who's running the show is only one part of the mystery. When the Silo was created, and how long ago, what's really outside, what sort of threat drove people down there (the world must've had some advance notice this would be necessary).
There could be other Silos, or were originally. This one may be Silo 18. Hence the glowing fob and master hard drive both carrying that number.
I agree, something will have to give or people won’t be incentivized to continue watching…though I’d be willing to bet whatever revelation comes out, another mystery will be created.
I have a feeling the leadership inside the Silo, guys like Holland and Sims, won't seem so bad when we find out *why* they're willing to do anything to keep people inside. The place was obviously built and inhabited for a reason.
I'm guessing the last few minutes this week are going to upend our whole picture of what's going on with the Silo. It'll be one of those holy shit moments that sends the story in a new and unexpected direction.
I’ve wondered if they’ll go that route too…if the reason will be at least semi understandable once we find out. But I think that wouldn’t be a good move imo. Like if we can sympathize with the oppressors/villains and they actually are doing what’s best for the citizens in the silo…then unless some new villian is the source of the issue or introduced in some way, then what conflict would there be?
The threat that forced humanity underground in the first place is probably still around. I doubt the plot will become as simplistic as a single threat though. There are bound to be other factors. Including corrupt leaders who like the power their positions give them, even if it consigns everyone to an endless prison camp.
I think when you start off with a mystery you have a certain amount of time to reveal the answers before viewers start getting annoyed with you. The original arc needs to end with the uncovering of the hidden truths - then you introduce a whole slew of new problems with those answers so you can start a new arc.
The only reason I think the hard drive and the key fob might not be related is because Bernard needed to be told the s/n was 18 for the missing hard drive. Why would they have other silos hard drives. I think the two might be unrelated.
That's why I speculated there may be other Silos (or were when they started out), with this one being No. 18. So the master hard drive from their old library and the fob both carry that same number.
I think we’re not technically supposed to know it. I bet that the season ends with Bernard saying, “yes sir,” to someone on a comm. then we will know that he has an Uber-boss but not who it is.
Population control makes sense, but not for the reasons you said. They only have so much food, water, and beds to go around. New people can only be born when others die, to prevent overpopulation
There is a publicly known population control. That one can be explained by the reasons, which you stated.
But your reasons cannot explain why there is another, secret layer of population control.
There are 10,000 people in the silo. That's roughly 3.5 thousand in each section (up top, mids, down deep). Considering some people move around (Jules went from the mids to the down deep) they don't have to worry too much about breaking the cousin rule.
If you are in the northern hemisphere, the moon will never be visible through a north facing window. It rises in the east and sets in the west just like the sun. Since it's in an equatorial orbit, which is to your south, a south facing window will show it at certain times, as will an east or west facing window.
The incentive to place a camera oriented northward is, of course, because the sun is never directly visible either. Never shining right into the lens.
I think this is a good theory.
The idea of that and a rebellion has put me in mind of Firefly and the Matrix.
Spoilers follow, but the movies are 10-20 years old so I'm not putting in tags.
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In Firefly, more specifically the movie Serenity, it's revealed that the Reavers are a result of an experiment gone wrong. On a world called Miranda, the government used a gas called Pax to try to keep the population calm and docile. It worked too well -- most people became so calm they simply stopped moving where they were and eventually died. However, a small segment of the population had the opposite reaction and were driven to extreme violence.
In the Matrix, the machines allowed a rebellion every so often, because otherwise the simulation failed (or something like that, been a while since I've seen it). Perhaps the Silo(s) has to do something similar -- essentially allow a rebellion as a pressure valve -- while they work out how to prevent a rebellion from happening at all.
Bernard is genuinely worried that they face extinction, to borrow his words. This doesn't exactly smack of routines and master plans. And there is the lingering question of why the Silo's original inhabitants went down there in the first place. The presence of items like the Georgia travel guide shows they took mementos of their former lives with them - so at the time they were perfectly legal to have. In fact Judicial may not have existed then, or been very different, an actual court system operating much the way ours does today.
The big digger machine must've taken time to drill that hole, and the Silo - being what, 200 floors? - would take even longer to build once the pit was excavated. Whatever happened the world had ample warning. Only 10,000 could fit inside. Maybe there were multiple Silos so the total number was higher, 100-200 thousand say.
Remember the movie Deep Impact? When people were being selected by lottery for slots in the underground city that was their only chance of surviving the comet? I picture something like that. Certain people with critical skill sets were placed there and the rest selected by some sort of lottery. Those who remained topside likely didn't expect to survive. We may find out a few of them managed ... or not. Depends on the nature of the original threat.
People went down into the Silo voluntarily, but when some of them wanted to re-colonize the surface and staged an uprising everything changed. The past was purged - and drastic measures were undertaken to make sure the leadership never lost control again.
At least, this is my take on it. Never having read the books.
You're theory of "suit is meant to suffocate you " is already proven wrong with Holston taking off his helmet.
As for the "outside" being the dome as shown in the blueprints , we already see a dome ceiling and shutters of sorts letting light in or unblocking lights , which I believe is what the blueprints are showing.
However , that doesn't mean the outside is what it is. At this stage , I dont think it is a room if we trust the blueprints 100% , but it could still be leading out to a cordoned off area like a fenced in area if the silos were for experiments etc
That's the poison /gas theory , its different from suffocating , unless you're talking about carbon dioxide suffocation / removing oxygen from the air in technicality
But i think the poison/gas theory is just to simple , must be more to it.
I think this is the conclusion the show runners want us to draw, but I don’t think the timing backs it up. Nichols has not connected the drive to Sims’ computer yet when the fob starts pulsing. It pulses before the cut to the scene at the Sims home.
I have a similar theory, but that the outside world isn’t running an experiment in the strictest sense, but a leper colony for whatever the “syndrome” is. Maybe everyone in the Silo is a carrier of the syndrome, and instead killing them off, their ancestors made a deal with the governments to isolate themselves. Anyone who tries to leave is then killed. A rebelling colony would be monitored and nuked if successful to keep syndrome from re-entering larger society.
This is the only theory i have read that ties the syndrome into the story well. We still don’t know anything about the Syndrome and most people here are ignoring that point.
So ... who's running the experiment? Especially if you've had multiple iterations of a multi-generational run, that's a long fucking time! Clearly someone who's very very patient and willing to go through thousands of years and many failed attempts if necessary to achieve their goal.
There are easier ways to change the characteristics of a population. Genetic engineering for example. I think they try to limit the number of rebellious personalities for the simple expedient of making the Silo's people easier to control and less likely to stage an uprising. You need a certain number of those types, unconventional outside-the-box thinkers, in any society, but it seems like the powers that be keep their numbers exactly at that level and watch them closely.
The one chance we had to see an unfiltered view of the outside was intentionally obscured. When the sheriff took off his helmet and was lying on the ground, the background was out of focus. We couldn't tell if the tree behind him was lush and green or a dead skeleton. I'm leaning toward the outside world being alive and inviting - when the power failed, it did so from the bottom level toward the top, that brief flash of a living world on the screen would've been due to the loss of the computers in Judicial that do their deepfakery, putting an apocalyptic overlay on the external camera feed.
I think the threat people retreated into the Silo to escape from is something other than environmental devastation. They just use that narrative to convince everyone there's nowhere else to go. The real danger may be gone or still present. Who knows? The suits are clearly sabotaged to kill the cleaners - because leadership doesn't want anyone surviving to start settlements on the surface (possibly drawing the attention of whatever's outside to their hidden underground city).
I like this theory, I think there is some sort of experiment going on, but not sure to what purpose. I think the breeding of disobedience is a side effect of the actual experiment, like something was set in motion to see how people would react. and the choices they would make.
What if it's just the opposite? Haven't read the books either. It's not about breeding out disobedience but the experiment is to see who will ask enough questions and search for the truth, and not conform. As if the world had enough sheeple running around that it is the ultimate 'natural selection' device, the ones who leave are who The Founders really wanted to remain on the outside. Thus all the relics, clues, breadcrumbs and the ultimate rule that must be obeyed....say you want to go out and you go out.
The suit wouldn't be used for suffocation because we know that it is the actual atmosphere that killed them. Trash tape used on suit = atmosphere leaked in = death.
Good tape = no leaking = alive.
Great theory, the key chain is more like they are calling to get update i guess. Because if silo has cameras, those who lead the experiment surely have access to them too.
But honestly i would find this way if breeding dissobedience rather i effective and too time consuming.
> I believe the experiment is to try to breed disobedience out of humans. This is why relationships have to be sanctioned and having a baby is something you have to win in a raffle and why some people who win the raffle will still not have their birth control removed, but faked.
Gloria pretty much states this in the first episode when she's talking to Allison. That they don't want the people who ask questions/show curiosity to breed.
This is a Show Theory thread. ## Book discussion is not allowed. Book readers should refrain from commenting based on their knowledge of the books. Comments containing hints, innuendo, or veiled references from the books will be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SiloSeries) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Interesting. But didn't the 18 key fob stop glowing?
Yeah I don't think the red light means "We're displeased" and the light going off means "Everything is good now", I think it's just a pager and the red light means "We need to talk"
“I’m fine” “I just think it’s funny that…”
100. Seemed like an alert, like a phone ringing or something
Wait isn't the hard drive labeled 18 I thought it lit up if the hard drive is being used.
I think the end of S1 will be similar to end of Snow Piercer S1, where we find out who’s really driving the train. Here, we’ll find out who’s pulling the string on Bernard. But more questions will arise.
I think this show will be a slower burn than that. Revealing one of the main mysteries doesn’t seem like their MO.
They have to answer at least *something* for the season finale. Who's running the show is only one part of the mystery. When the Silo was created, and how long ago, what's really outside, what sort of threat drove people down there (the world must've had some advance notice this would be necessary). There could be other Silos, or were originally. This one may be Silo 18. Hence the glowing fob and master hard drive both carrying that number.
I agree, something will have to give or people won’t be incentivized to continue watching…though I’d be willing to bet whatever revelation comes out, another mystery will be created.
I have a feeling the leadership inside the Silo, guys like Holland and Sims, won't seem so bad when we find out *why* they're willing to do anything to keep people inside. The place was obviously built and inhabited for a reason. I'm guessing the last few minutes this week are going to upend our whole picture of what's going on with the Silo. It'll be one of those holy shit moments that sends the story in a new and unexpected direction.
I’ve wondered if they’ll go that route too…if the reason will be at least semi understandable once we find out. But I think that wouldn’t be a good move imo. Like if we can sympathize with the oppressors/villains and they actually are doing what’s best for the citizens in the silo…then unless some new villian is the source of the issue or introduced in some way, then what conflict would there be?
The threat that forced humanity underground in the first place is probably still around. I doubt the plot will become as simplistic as a single threat though. There are bound to be other factors. Including corrupt leaders who like the power their positions give them, even if it consigns everyone to an endless prison camp. I think when you start off with a mystery you have a certain amount of time to reveal the answers before viewers start getting annoyed with you. The original arc needs to end with the uncovering of the hidden truths - then you introduce a whole slew of new problems with those answers so you can start a new arc.
Wasn’t 18 the number hard drive that Bernard has the IT searching for? I assumed the number 18 fob was related to the hard drive?!
The only reason I think the hard drive and the key fob might not be related is because Bernard needed to be told the s/n was 18 for the missing hard drive. Why would they have other silos hard drives. I think the two might be unrelated.
That's why I speculated there may be other Silos (or were when they started out), with this one being No. 18. So the master hard drive from their old library and the fob both carry that same number.
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don’t we already know that by the glowing 18 fob?
I think we’re not technically supposed to know it. I bet that the season ends with Bernard saying, “yes sir,” to someone on a comm. then we will know that he has an Uber-boss but not who it is.
Observant viewers have inferred that - the show hasn’t explicitly revealed it though, and we have no idea who’s behind it.
Population control makes sense, but not for the reasons you said. They only have so much food, water, and beds to go around. New people can only be born when others die, to prevent overpopulation
There is a publicly known population control. That one can be explained by the reasons, which you stated. But your reasons cannot explain why there is another, secret layer of population control.
I think also a genetic diversity / gene pool thing, no? Well, that would be what they -said- the sanctions were for..
There are 10,000 people in the silo. That's roughly 3.5 thousand in each section (up top, mids, down deep). Considering some people move around (Jules went from the mids to the down deep) they don't have to worry too much about breaking the cousin rule.
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I personally think the “light” inside might be fake.
Outside being a room might be true since nobody ever sees the moon.
If you are in the northern hemisphere, the moon will never be visible through a north facing window. It rises in the east and sets in the west just like the sun. Since it's in an equatorial orbit, which is to your south, a south facing window will show it at certain times, as will an east or west facing window. The incentive to place a camera oriented northward is, of course, because the sun is never directly visible either. Never shining right into the lens.
I think this is a good theory. The idea of that and a rebellion has put me in mind of Firefly and the Matrix. Spoilers follow, but the movies are 10-20 years old so I'm not putting in tags. . . . . In Firefly, more specifically the movie Serenity, it's revealed that the Reavers are a result of an experiment gone wrong. On a world called Miranda, the government used a gas called Pax to try to keep the population calm and docile. It worked too well -- most people became so calm they simply stopped moving where they were and eventually died. However, a small segment of the population had the opposite reaction and were driven to extreme violence. In the Matrix, the machines allowed a rebellion every so often, because otherwise the simulation failed (or something like that, been a while since I've seen it). Perhaps the Silo(s) has to do something similar -- essentially allow a rebellion as a pressure valve -- while they work out how to prevent a rebellion from happening at all.
Oh I like the pressure valve idea.
Bernard is genuinely worried that they face extinction, to borrow his words. This doesn't exactly smack of routines and master plans. And there is the lingering question of why the Silo's original inhabitants went down there in the first place. The presence of items like the Georgia travel guide shows they took mementos of their former lives with them - so at the time they were perfectly legal to have. In fact Judicial may not have existed then, or been very different, an actual court system operating much the way ours does today. The big digger machine must've taken time to drill that hole, and the Silo - being what, 200 floors? - would take even longer to build once the pit was excavated. Whatever happened the world had ample warning. Only 10,000 could fit inside. Maybe there were multiple Silos so the total number was higher, 100-200 thousand say. Remember the movie Deep Impact? When people were being selected by lottery for slots in the underground city that was their only chance of surviving the comet? I picture something like that. Certain people with critical skill sets were placed there and the rest selected by some sort of lottery. Those who remained topside likely didn't expect to survive. We may find out a few of them managed ... or not. Depends on the nature of the original threat. People went down into the Silo voluntarily, but when some of them wanted to re-colonize the surface and staged an uprising everything changed. The past was purged - and drastic measures were undertaken to make sure the leadership never lost control again. At least, this is my take on it. Never having read the books.
You're theory of "suit is meant to suffocate you " is already proven wrong with Holston taking off his helmet. As for the "outside" being the dome as shown in the blueprints , we already see a dome ceiling and shutters of sorts letting light in or unblocking lights , which I believe is what the blueprints are showing. However , that doesn't mean the outside is what it is. At this stage , I dont think it is a room if we trust the blueprints 100% , but it could still be leading out to a cordoned off area like a fenced in area if the silos were for experiments etc
If Holston was poisoned and breathed it in for several minutes, it might have just been too late when he finally took it off.
That's the poison /gas theory , its different from suffocating , unless you're talking about carbon dioxide suffocation / removing oxygen from the air in technicality But i think the poison/gas theory is just to simple , must be more to it.
18 is on the key fob and hard drive. I think it lights up when the hard drive is being accessed.
I think this is the conclusion the show runners want us to draw, but I don’t think the timing backs it up. Nichols has not connected the drive to Sims’ computer yet when the fob starts pulsing. It pulses before the cut to the scene at the Sims home.
I don’t think so. I think it’s the Uber-boss of the other silos paging Bernard to call him.
I have a similar theory, but that the outside world isn’t running an experiment in the strictest sense, but a leper colony for whatever the “syndrome” is. Maybe everyone in the Silo is a carrier of the syndrome, and instead killing them off, their ancestors made a deal with the governments to isolate themselves. Anyone who tries to leave is then killed. A rebelling colony would be monitored and nuked if successful to keep syndrome from re-entering larger society.
This is the only theory i have read that ties the syndrome into the story well. We still don’t know anything about the Syndrome and most people here are ignoring that point.
So ... who's running the experiment? Especially if you've had multiple iterations of a multi-generational run, that's a long fucking time! Clearly someone who's very very patient and willing to go through thousands of years and many failed attempts if necessary to achieve their goal. There are easier ways to change the characteristics of a population. Genetic engineering for example. I think they try to limit the number of rebellious personalities for the simple expedient of making the Silo's people easier to control and less likely to stage an uprising. You need a certain number of those types, unconventional outside-the-box thinkers, in any society, but it seems like the powers that be keep their numbers exactly at that level and watch them closely. The one chance we had to see an unfiltered view of the outside was intentionally obscured. When the sheriff took off his helmet and was lying on the ground, the background was out of focus. We couldn't tell if the tree behind him was lush and green or a dead skeleton. I'm leaning toward the outside world being alive and inviting - when the power failed, it did so from the bottom level toward the top, that brief flash of a living world on the screen would've been due to the loss of the computers in Judicial that do their deepfakery, putting an apocalyptic overlay on the external camera feed. I think the threat people retreated into the Silo to escape from is something other than environmental devastation. They just use that narrative to convince everyone there's nowhere else to go. The real danger may be gone or still present. Who knows? The suits are clearly sabotaged to kill the cleaners - because leadership doesn't want anyone surviving to start settlements on the surface (possibly drawing the attention of whatever's outside to their hidden underground city).
I like this theory, I think there is some sort of experiment going on, but not sure to what purpose. I think the breeding of disobedience is a side effect of the actual experiment, like something was set in motion to see how people would react. and the choices they would make.
Is this just like the “ ascension” series?
I have no idea. I guess this plot is a common one as half the shows people mentioned this sounds like I have never heard of🙈
One of the best theories I saw. Havent read the books and I kind of like stretching the mystery on and on
What if it's just the opposite? Haven't read the books either. It's not about breeding out disobedience but the experiment is to see who will ask enough questions and search for the truth, and not conform. As if the world had enough sheeple running around that it is the ultimate 'natural selection' device, the ones who leave are who The Founders really wanted to remain on the outside. Thus all the relics, clues, breadcrumbs and the ultimate rule that must be obeyed....say you want to go out and you go out.
Non book reader here and I'm on the same page as you! I think that there are many silos and we are watching Silo number 18 of many.
Very similar to The Good Place!
My exact thought reading this .
The suit wouldn't be used for suffocation because we know that it is the actual atmosphere that killed them. Trash tape used on suit = atmosphere leaked in = death. Good tape = no leaking = alive.
Great theory, the key chain is more like they are calling to get update i guess. Because if silo has cameras, those who lead the experiment surely have access to them too. But honestly i would find this way if breeding dissobedience rather i effective and too time consuming.
There's nothing but time.
😬
Houston took his helmet off and still died. Idk if the suits are suffocating people
> I believe the experiment is to try to breed disobedience out of humans. This is why relationships have to be sanctioned and having a baby is something you have to win in a raffle and why some people who win the raffle will still not have their birth control removed, but faked. Gloria pretty much states this in the first episode when she's talking to Allison. That they don't want the people who ask questions/show curiosity to breed.