Tatiana was the invisible assassin in Netflix’s 3 Body Problem. Thanks to Ye Wenjie, the alien race called San-Ti was on its way to Earth. Mike Evans gave Ye Wenjie everything she needed to establish a seamless connection with the aliens. Then, they needed the best minds from all over the globe to be a part of their outreach program. So, with the help of the San-Ti, Ye Wenjie and Mike Evans devised a virtual-reality game that allowed the players to understand what was at stake for the San-Ti. Those who succeeded were brought into this Scientology-esque cult, and those who failed were dealt with in different ways. In addition to that, the humans and the aliens needed to execute several other tasks. And that was where Tatiana came in. So, let’s talk a bit about her and what lies ahead for her in the future.
Spoiler Alert
What Did Tatiana Do for the San-Ti Cult?
Tatiana felt like an omnipresent entity who appeared out of thin air and then vanished without a trace. When Auggie Salazar was seeing a countdown in her eyes, Tatiana approached her and told her to stop her nanofiber project. She gave her a time and a place to witness the “universe wink at her,” so that she believed that Tatiana was working for a divine entity with superpowers. Tatiana also said that since nothing good happens when a counter gets to zero and a task is left unfinished, Auggie shouldn’t wait for the timer in her head to reach zero, thereby hinting at the fact that she was going to die if she didn’t shut down her company. And as soon as Auggie shut down her nanofiber program, the timer went away. Then Auggie collaborated with Detective Da Shi to get to the root of the problem that she was facing, and that’s when it was revealed that Tatiana was invisible.
Well, Tatiana wasn’t literally invisible, but Sophon and maybe Mike Evans were scrubbing every single piece of footage of her that was captured by any kind of camera. When Jin Cheng and Jack Rooney completed the San-Ti virtual reality game, they were led to Tatiana to talk about the arrival of the aliens. Jin stayed back to listen to what she had to say while Jack walked out. Tatiana popped up inside his house and killed him. At that moment, Tatiana was not only invisible on the CCTV cameras in Jack’s house; she wasn’t visible to Da Shi, who was stationed right outside Jack’s home. That meant that the Sophon was erasing Tatiana in real-time, and you can interpret that as the San-Ti going the extra mile to safeguard the little cult member.
Why did she kill Ye Wenjie?
Things were seemingly running pretty smoothly even after Jack Rooney’s death. Jin apparently decided to go to the cult meeting that she was asked to attend by Tatiana. Unbeknownst to her or the rest of the San-Ti cult, Jin had conspired with the law enforcement authorities so that Ye Wenjie and her supporters could be arrested. When the police gatecrashed the cult meeting, it caused a lot of commotion. I guess, amidst all that chaos, Tatiana figured out that Jin was the one who had betrayed the cult. So she tried to shoot her down. Da Shi shot Tatiana in the leg, thereby causing her to fall down. The police did a decent job of capturing Ye Wenjie and the attendees of the meeting. However, the resilient Tatiana managed to crawl away into the woods, thereby evading capture. Then she kind of floated around for a while.
Tatiana saw the Sophon eye in the sky. Her faith in the San-Ti was restored. But then nothing much happened. She got herself a mobile home and parked it in the woods. While she was having her food, Sophon got in touch with her. Tatiana said that she was feeling very insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Sophon assured Tatiana that she had a big role to play. The first task that she was given in her personalized mission was to go and kill Ye Wenjie. The elderly lady was going to throw herself off the cliff where she made first contact with the San-Ti. Even though she had fulfilled her purpose, the San-Ti apparently didn’t want her to die so painfully and slowly. That was why they sent Tatiana to give her a peaceful and painless death.
Why Did Sophon Give Tatiana A VR Headset?
During the concluding moments of 3 Body Problem, we saw Tatiana approaching her mobile home with her groceries and noticing that its door was unlocked. Given how she was being pursued by the police, she assumed that they had gotten to her. But when she went inside, she noticed that a VR headset—the same kind of headset that the scientists had used—was waiting for her. She realized that she was important enough to wear the coveted device that was only meant for people who were immensely smart. So, she smiled and put it on. It’s impossible to say what the aliens have in store for humans. However, the reason why I think Sophon chose Tatiana over any other super-intelligent scientist was because Tatiana was straightforward and dedicated to the cause of the San-Ti. The aliens had abandoned the concept of coexistence. They wanted a blunt instrument that would do exactly what they were asked to do. They wanted someone who wouldn’t lie to San-Ti and Sophon. They wanted someone who wouldn’t question the logic behind what San-Ti and Sophon were doing. They wanted someone who would blindly believe in San-Ti’s cause, which was being carried about by Sophon. And Tatiana was that individual.
Tatiana represents every fanatic who doesn’t have a mind of their own. Their shallow intellect but sharp skills make them dangerous, especially during times of extremism and warfare. The San-Ti know that Wade and his team pose a threat. So, it’s totally possible that Sophon will send Tatiana to dismantle their project. If there are other scientists all around the world, who are equipped with Auggie’s nanofiber technology, who are working to stop the San-Ti, Tatiana will probably be sent there to put a stop to such projects. Will she ever realize how immoral and unethical she is? I don’t think so. She is probably going to die in a pathetic fashion, and maybe while she is taking her last breaths, she will understand that she has been used like a pawn. Tatiana was a recurring figure in the first season of 3 Body Problem, but I guess she is going to have a much bigger role in the yet-to-be-announced season 2 of Netflix. That said, all we can do now is wait and watch if the showrunners get to tell what lies ahead in Tatiana’s journey.
