Sumith Prasad
Apple TV+’s science-fiction series ‘Silo’ revolves around the titular silo, an establishment in which the remnants of humanity reside after an apocalypse. The residents of the silo are governed by the Pact, which serves as the de facto constitution of the community. The cardinal law in the Pact is that the residents shouldn’t ask to go out of the silo, which will pave the way for their removal from the establishment to the outer world. The outside world becomes the subject of a mystery when Allison Becker and George Wilkins find a video in which the same is seen as green, lush, and habitable. But is it really the case? Let’s find out! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is the World Outside the Silo Habitable?
The residents of the silo have always believed that the world outside the silo is barren and lifeless. The enormous display in the cafeteria further makes the belief rooted in the consciousness of the remnants of humanity. Allison Becker and George Wilkins started to believe that the world outside is not barren or lifeless after laying their hands on a hard drive that contained several confidential documents concerning the establishment. They found a video clip among the documents and played the same, only to see the outside world as green and habitable. The hard drive eventually ends up at the hands of Juliette Nichols, Wilkins’ partner.
When Juliette realizes that Wilkins died while protecting the secrets stored in the hard drive, she sets out to unravel the same. With the help of an employee of the IT department, she gains access to the files in the hard drive and plays the video, only to believe what Allison and George believed before their deaths. Such a belief also leads her to the outside world as Bernard and Robert Sims punish her by sending her outside to prevent a rebellion from happening inside the silo. After leaving the silo in the first season finale, Juliette sees the world as green and habitable but notices that the birds are flying exactly the same way birds fly in the video stored in the hard drive.
Juliette then realizes that the outer world is not green and habitable. She confirms the same using Holston Becker’s badge, which leads her to the conclusion that what she sees is just a simulation displayed in the visor of her helmet. The Founders of the silo must have conceived the simulation to make the people who leave the silo clean the camera outside the same. They must have wanted those individuals to think that cleaning the same would make the other residents see the world as they see, only for them to make the barren land more visible.
Juliette then sees the barren and lifeless world in front of her, which makes it clear that the world outside isn’t habitable. That’s also the reason why Allison and Holston, like the others who left the silo before them, died after leaving the establishment. The atmosphere is filled with toxic air that suffocates and kills living beings, which makes the world not suitable for habitation. The same air must be entering the system of the individuals through openings in the suit designed for them. The Founders must have wanted to punish the same group of individuals for breaking the cardinal law through suits that wouldn’t protect them from the toxic air of the outside world.
Juliette stays alive because Walk makes sure that higher quality heat tapes are used on the former’s suit to cover those openings or pores. Even though the outside world is inhabitable, the residents of Juliette’s silo are possibly not the only human beings left in the world. More silos are existing underground with openings present on the ground. There must be human beings residing in those establishments just like how people live in Juliette’s silo.
Read More: What is the Syndrome in Silo, Explained
