Silo season 2 ended on a massive cliffhanger without actually revealing the fate of its protagonist – Juliette Nichols, and her sworn enemy – Bernard Holland. In the season finale, the two old foes came face to face one last time, not to kill each other, but to share a very dark secret about their silo. The underground bunker was never meant to protect them, but to contain them. They were nothing but expendable seeds that could easily be disposed off with the push of a button. But Juliette wouldn’t let the Founders kill her friends in Silo 18. She had found a way to override the “safeguard procedure,” but before she could explain it to Bernard, she saw the airlock door quickly closing, which was why she hurried into the chamber, and Bernard went after her to warn her about the flames. But alas, it was too late. So, what actually happened to them after they got engulfed by fire? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Bernard Is Dead
The cleansing fire consumed the entire room in a matter of seconds, and even though it seemed like no one could survive such a blaze, Juliette Nichols will. She was wearing a fire-resistant suit, meanwhile Benard was in a simple hazmat suit that would burn to ashes instantly. These raging flames act like a deterrent against anyone trying to return to the silo or planning to hide in that chamber instead of going to clean. In a way, one can leave the silo willingly, but cannot come back until and unless someone has hacked the airlock system, and turned off the flames. So, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the rats of Silo 17 destroyed the only remaining hazmat suit, because of which Juliette had to wear the makeshift firefighter suit for her miraculous return to Silo 18. And in the end, this coincidence will save her life. By the way, the helmet is still plastic and, hence, combustible. So, she could have burn marks on her neck or face, but we have to wait for season 3 to find out more. This particular scene is quite different in the book, yet it is Bernard who ultimately dies in the airlock. I guess this pretty much confirms his death, even though we haven’t seen his charred corpse.
Book Spoilers Ahead
The Congressman Meets Helen In The Past
The ending scene of season 2 seems like a snippet taken directly from “Shift,” the second book in Hugh Howey’s Silo trilogy. The scene takes place in the late 2040s, before the nuclear fallout, when the US government was dealing with a new threat: radiological weapons developed by Iran. They had triggered a “dirty bomb” in DC, implying that radiological warfare was inevitable, therefore bringing up the urgency of creating an underground bunker system that would protect the US citizens in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. There’s a deeper conspiracy at play here, which I am not going to mention as it’s a massive spoiler from the third book.
The closing sequence introduced us to a young congressman named Troy or Donald Keene (in the book), who represents the 15th congressional district of Georgia. He came to meet a woman named Helen, a potential date, at Capitol Tavern in Washington, DC. While the congressman had genuine intentions, it seemed Helen just wanted an interview, making Donald realize that their date wasn’t going anywhere, so he decided to leave. He probably believed that this was the last time he was going to see her, but destiny already had their fates sealed. Before heading out, the Congressman handed her the gift he had bought for her, which was a Ducky Pez dispenser. Yes, it looked similar to the one that Juliette’s lover, George Wilkins, had found in Silo 18 in the present timeline of the show. The Pez dispenser could imply that Helen might end up being a resident of Silo 18 in the near future, and left behind the relic after her death. This relic will likely get lost during the rebellion and eventually end up in Juliette’s possession. The true purpose of it? Well, we’ll find out soon enough in the next season 3. Just a hint: it has something to do with Donald, but beyond that, it’s all spoilers from the book.
Camille Sims Will Be The New IT Head
I literally couldn’t stop laughing when the Algorithm asked Robert Sims to leave the vault with his son, Anthony, leaving only his wife, Camille. I mean, it suggests that after Bernard’s death, the Algorithm (or the voice behind it) had chosen Camille to be the next IT head, and I feel she will choose Lukas Kyle as the shadow, as he’s already verified as one in the Algorithm’s database. But you see, I just feel sorry for Robert Sims, who literally didn’t leave a stone unturned to become the IT head, and eventually when he was “this” close to becoming one, the Algorithm chose his wife to take the mantle. I mean, it’s obvious that the Algorithm picked her because she’s the smarter one here, and she understands the people much better than Sims ever can. And considering the fact the Algorithm has eyes and ears throughout the silo, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume it had overheard the short conversation between Camille and Robert in episode 9, where Camille had tried to convince her husband to carry out Paul Billings’ plan to talk to the sheriffs and convince them to help the rebellion overthrow Bernard’s rule. But Robert didn’t have the guts to expose his true intent. His act of defiance would have backfired if Bernard had curbed the rebellion and found out about his involvement in it. In short, the Algorithm knows that Sims isn’t the most suitable candidate to rule the silo… he’s just the muscle in a leather jacket who could be a great executioner but not a good planner. He already had a title to his name, and I guess it’s best for him to be content with it.
Also, with the Algorithm putting its trust in Camille, I am sure it won’t trigger the safeguard procedure, even though Juliette’s return contravenes the directives of the Pact or the Order. It has to make an exception for Juliette Nichols, as Silo 18 cannot survive without its hero. No one will listen to Camille or Robert or anyone else except for Juliette herself, which makes it abundantly clear that neither the Algorithm nor Camille can run the silo, or for that matter save it from another rebellion, until and unless they make peace with Juliette.
Juliette Will Be The New Mayor
I mostly saw Bernard as an overly obedient class monitor who had mugged the entire rule book just to impress the teachers so he could earn their favor. In Silo 18, he was just the IT Head, but soon became the Mayor too, believing no one was better suited for the job than himself. But with the tyrant gone, I guess Silo 18, with the help of the new IT head, Camille, will be able to conduct a new election, which obviously Juliette is gonna win by a fair margin. But with Juliette becoming the Mayor and Camille the new IT head, there’s bound to be someone who’ll feel a bit left out and will try their best to bring one of them down, if not both. After Bernard’s death, I believe Robert Sims is going to be the next antagonist of Silo 18, who will try to sabotage Juliette’s position and incite people to rise against her.
I think the first thing Juliette is going to do as the new Mayor of Silo 18 will be to restore peace and repair the staircase that was destroyed in the explosion triggered by her own father. Yes, I just mentioned the explosion to remind you that Dr. Pete Nichols is dead. Things are going to be pretty mundane for a brief period of time, until Juliette will remember the promises she had made before leaving Silo 17.
Juliette Will Wage A New War
Silo season 2’s ending makes it evident that Juliette is not going to leave Solo aka Jimmy, Hope, and the other survivors of Silo 17 behind. Hope, of all the survivors, was literally begging Juliette to take her with her, but she didn’t want to give the girl any false hope. However, when Solo asked her again, she replied, “Nothing’s gonna stop me from trying.” And by nothing, she really means nothing. She won’t let any authority dictate the lives of her friends and family and will make it her life’s mission to save them at all costs, especially from those monsters living in Silo 1. She’s going to wage war against everyone who’s gonna stop her from saving her friends, but the main question you should ask is: how is she going to do that?
The Algorithm may make an exception for Juliette and let her stay in Silo 18, but it is not going to let her bring more people from other silos, because that is against its directives. I know that Solo told Juliette how his parents overrode the safeguard procedure, but does that really work? There’s a pipe coming from outside into Judicial Level 14, which she can block to stop the release of poisonous gas, but the gas isn’t as much of an issue as the “machine” that triggers such a protocol.
Jimmy didn’t know, or maybe he didn’t remember how his parents got rid of the Algorithm, because in an ideal situation, the Algorithm might trigger the safeguard procedure long before Juliette would even think of pulling such a stunt, which means she has to deal with the Algorithm before thinking about anything else. My point being, Solo didn’t tell her the whole plan. Maybe he himself doesn’t know, because he was just a kid at the time of the uprising. And you see, having little knowledge is more dangerous than having none at all. Juliette cannot even use the tunnel to bring Solo and the others to Silo 18 because, once again, the Algorithm will not let her do that. So, what she’s going to do next to help her friends stuck inside a dead silo, and what role will the congressman and Helen play in the larger scheme of things. I guess we’ll find out more about it in the third season of Silo, which has already been renewed by the streaming platform.
