Dhruv Sharma
NBC Peacock’s ‘Brave New World’ is an adaptation of a century-old novel of the same name. Surprisingly, its futuristic sci-fi themes—although exhaustive—are still relevant for the times. Along with these, the series also sheds light upon several moral quandaries with its nihilistic view towards humanity. In its opening scenes, the series introduces us to a dystopian world, New London, ruled by an AI technology known as Indra. This AI separates New London from the rest of the world and maintains peace and harmony by imposing several stringent rules on its citizens, among which, one involves the ban of monogamous relationships. Through its runtime, the series makes several other complicated revelations about the nature of the AI. So if you want to get a better understanding of the workings of Indra and its motives, read on further.
What is Indra?
Indra is an AI technology that was developed by ten individuals when the world was at its brink of extinction. While the world was reaching its apocalypse, the founders of Indra went underground and connected themselves to its mainframe. Monds, who later becomes the director of New London, was among these creators along with CJack60’s clone, Elliot. After connecting themselves to it, the founders ran several simulations to determine a perfect world where humanity could thrive again. And thus, this leads to the development of New London—an ideal world. In this world, a few selected humans live a comfortable life and suppress their negative emotions using Soma, a sensation neutralizing drug. The AI thrives on the combined consciousness of its citizens and develops even further to acquire a human-like mind for itself.
Indra’s Solipsism
Indra’s notions of an ideal world revolve around the theory of solipsism, which states that only selfish behavior can exist. To save the world from an apocalypse, Indra creates rules that altogether remove solipsism in humans. Thus, with no monogamous relationships, the new humans are never jealous and have their lust under control. Moreover, the drug, Soma, suppresses all their other emotional urges. Paradoxically, Indra in itself is solipsistic. The AI is only driven by its selfishness to create a perfect world, and all it takes is one unstable element in its environment to set in on the path of self-destruction.
What Are Indra’s Motives?
The moment an Epsilon commits suicide, Indra senses it. The AI then intentionally orchestrates a perfect plan, which allows John-the-Savage to enter New London. As Indra had expected, John refuses to comply with the norms of the New London Society and uses the fury of Epsilons to start a revolution against the upper classes. In the end, Indra’s perfect world comes to an end when the Epsilons go on a killing rampage. Since Indra is a mere AI, its motives are simple—it only aspires to create an ideal world where humans suppress their emotions entirely and cause no harm to one another.
However, to create this world, Indra cannot even stand even the most trivial instabilities. As Monds states, Indra thinks like a child. It aspires to create a utopian society but also understands that humans, with their natural traits, are not suitable for it. So ultimately, after being abandoned by its founder, Monds, the AI makes Bernard her new catalyst and sets out to create a new paradise. The only possible way to stop Indra is by eradicating all the technology that allows it to gain access to the consciousness of humans.
Read More: Brave New World Season 2 Release Date
