‘Silo’ Season 2’s Twisted Ending Explained

Okay, deep breaths. It was a lot to unpack.

The Silo The Season 2 finale had several threads to follow, most of which led to more questions than answers. So let’s unpack what answers we have do have, and speculate on what may come in Season 3.

From the fate of Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) and Bernard (Tim Robbins) to the strange pre-apocalypse flashback, we’ve broken down the finale below.

What happens at the end of Silo Season 2?

More cliffhangers, plus an unexpected flashback!

Like the second season as a whole, the finale jumps between key characters such as Juliette, Bernard, Lukas (Avi Nash), Shirley (Remmie Milner), Knox (Shane McRae) and Sims (Common). When the rioters finally reach the top of the silo, eager to get answers from Bernard, they see Juliette reappear on camera outside, warning them not to come out. But as she runs down the stairs towards the airlock, she is met by Bernard coming the other way with a gun. The two discuss how to save the silo from the ominous security procedure (more on that below) before finding themselves trapped between the airlock doors as fire engulfs them.

Elsewhere, Sims visit the vault after confronting Lukas. The same robotic voice that spoke to Lukas in the tunnel addresses Sims and agrees with his statement that he “wants to save the silo” before telling him and his son to leave the vault. “Camille can stay,” says the voice, referring to Sims’ wife (Alexandria Riley).

Finally, we have a flashback where two people meet for a date in a bar, before the days of the silo. It eventually becomes clear that the man is a congressman and the woman is a journalist trying to get answers from him about a possible “radiological attack on the United States.” Eventually he leaves, but not before giving her a gift he picked up on a whim from a nearby store: what appears to be the same duck-shaped Pez dispenser that appears as a “relic” in Silo Season 1. Exciting!

So what is the protection procedure?

That was a big question in Season 2, Episode 9, and in the finale, we finally get the answer. When Juliette encounters Bernard leaving the silo, their conversation makes it clear that the fuse is a way for someone outside the silo to pump in poison.

“It’s no use what you’re trying to do: Save them. It’s out of your hands, it’s never been in your hands, in my hands, in anyone’s hands,” says Bernard.

“Because of the poison they can pump in?” replies Juliette.

Mashable Top Stories

“Do you know that?”

“I know. But I don’t know who would do it and I don’t know why.”

“I know who. But I don’t know why, and I don’t really care.”

Presumably, “who” is the owner of the voice that threatens Lukas with protection in episode 9. But who exactly that owner is – whether some kind of sentient AI or ultimate IT boss – will be a question for season 3.

What will happen to Sims and his family?

The voice in the vault that responds to Robert Sims also claims to save the silo – but how do we know if it’s telling the truth? On the one hand, you could argue that it surely wouldn’t even engage with sims if it didn’t want to save the silo. On the other hand, we know that Juliette has a plan in place to stop the protection. Maybe the poison takes time to pump in? Perhaps the owner of the voice is aware of this, and plans to use the Sims’ family to prevent Juliette from getting in the way of its plans?

One thing that seems likely, however, is that the owner of the voice intends to work with Camille Sims instead of her husband. Perhaps, based on its observations of the silo, it thinks she is the more capable family member?

Will Juliette and Bernard survive the fire?

Juliette and Bernard are not in a good place at the end of season 2, and that’s putting it mildly. As the airlock doors close, Bernard throws himself to the ground, and as fire begins to pour into the cramped chamber, Juliette does the same. But is there any way any of them could have survived it?

Well, maybe. Let’s not forget that Juliette is actually wearing a fire suit. While she’s not as quick to duck as Bernard, it should give her some protection.

If one of them is going to die, Bernard seems the most likely. He quickly falls to the floor, but that might not be enough to save him – especially now that he’s no longer the show’s main villain.

What’s with that flashback?

From all the clues we’re getting, it seems pretty obvious that the flashback at the end of season 2 is meant to take us back to the silo’s origins. The congressman is from Georgia, for one thing, and it’s heavily implied that this is where the silos are located (the travelogue’s remnant from Season 1 refers to Georgia, for example, and the skyline behind the silo resembles Atlanta’s).

The scene we witness also suggests that the threat of war is looming, or possibly already here. The congressman has to pass a radiation check before entering the bar, there is talk of a dirty bomb and a threat from Iran, and there is the reporter’s mention of a possible “radiological attack”. The silos may already be under construction at this point for all we know. Perhaps the congressman even knows about the project.

So will we see these people again? Will Season 3 be packed with flashbacks that tell the origin story of the silos? At this point it’s impossible to say, but it certainly seems possible. Maybe the reporter will end up being one of Silo 18’s first residents — the Pez dispenser certainly hints at this — and maybe, just maybe, the congressman will be revealed as one of the fabled founders.

How to watch: Silo now streaming on Apple TV+.