Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘The Power’ is set in a world where women suddenly develop the ability to create electricity. The fact that this power is limited to women turns the table and results in a massive cultural shift. The foundations of patriarchy are shaken as women become more powerful than men. The show explores the premise through the stories of five women who use their power for different things. While focusing on the change that sweeps through the world as women use their power, the show’s sixth episode drops a surprise when it reveals that a man has EOD too. It is Jos’s boyfriend, Ryan. If you want to know how Ryan got EOD when the power is supposed to be limited to women, we’ve got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD
Ryan’s Skein Activation by Accidental Jolt
The sudden development of the power in women is traced to the skein, a new organ that lies along the collarbone and serves just one purpose: to produce electricity. Everyone’s skein is different. For some, it is powerful and entirely under their control. For others, it is chaotic and difficult to tame. Some can control others through it, while others can barely get a flicker out of their fingers. The common denominator is that all of these people are women.
The show has yet to delve into the true origins of the skein, why it was not found before, why it is only present in women, and why it has only started to work now. This lack of information makes Ryan’s skein much more interesting and important. He tells Jos that his skein was activated around the same time hers was. In one scene in the first episode, when Jos first gets her power, she accidentally sends a jolt of electricity through the locker door. It touched Ryan, and he commented on having felt something.
This jolt activated his skein and gave him the same power as Jos and every other teenage girl. But if men aren’t supposed to have skeins, how did he get one in the first place? Ryan reveals that he is intersex. He was born with both male and female organs. When he was a kid, he got surgery and identifies as a man. This explains why he has EOD. It is believed that skein is present in women since birth and is either triggered by someone else or due to the increase in estrogen levels, as happens during teenage, which is why perhaps it kicks in earlier for adolescent girls.
Ryan was born with a skein and has higher estrogen levels as compared to other men. His body might have already been in the process of activating his skein, and the process received a bump after Jos jolted him. While he seems to have the ability to produce electricity from his fingertips, it remains to be seen how much power he actually has. Is it just like any other girl, different in intensity but normal? Or is his power limited to the sparks on his fingertips? Can he jolt someone else, set things on fire, electrocute people, or kill them?
The true extent of his power remains to be seen, but Ryan does bring up a critical point. He is scared to tell other people about it because it could have devastating consequences for him. People still don’t know much about skein, which led to unethical and illegal experiments on girls in Carpathia. For now, the scientists are focused on women, primarily to figure out why men don’t have it. If they discover that Ryan has it, they will want to know what makes him so unique. He would end up in a lab being experimented upon for the rest of his life.
Even if he doesn’t get experimented on, he will be treated as an outcast. Men, especially the Urbandox followers, will see him as an anomaly or traitor. If Margot is attacked for simply expressing her support for EOD, how will Urbandox react to Ryan? He thought about this and decided to keep it a secret from everyone, including Jos. However, it is bound to come out sooner or later, and the timing will determine what happens to Ryan.
Read More: Who is the Voice Inside Allie’s Head in The Power?
