Sumith Prasad
The third episode of Apple TV+’s science-fiction series ‘Silo,’ titled ‘Machines,’ revolves around the aftermath of Sheriff Holston’s departure from the titular silo. Since Holston has named Juliette Nichols as his successor, Mayor Ruth Jahns tries her best to make it happen with the help of Deputy Marnes, even when she confronts several oppositions to the same. Juliette gets conflicted about accepting the sheriff’s position since she is an indispensable part of the engineering crew. The engrossing episode ends with a startling development concerning the mayor and a decision Juliette makes that turns her life around. If you are intrigued about the same, let us share our take on it! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Silo Episode 3 Recap
‘Machines’ begins with Juliette trying to find out what really is hidden underwater. Without finding anything relevant, Juliette gets out of the hidden pit. Mayor Ruth Jahns needs to appoint a new sheriff as Holston’s successor. She visits Bernard to know more about Juliette before appointing her as the new custodian of the silo. Bernard tells Ruth and Marnes that Juliette is a thief who robbed materials that belong to the IT department. He proposes Paul Billings as the ideal candidate to succeed Holston but Ruth doesn’t want to dismiss the nomination of the one who occupied the position previously. She continues to get pressured to appoint Billings as the new sheriff, especially from the judicial department.
Sims invites Ruth to talk to his superior hoping that the mayor will change her mind about Billings, only for the latter to dismiss the invitation. Juliette and her team, headed by Knox, confront problems with the generator one after the other. While she tries to deal with the same, Ruth and Marnes meet the former’s father to know more about the engineer. Ruth is surprised that a doctor’s daughter chose to leave the comfort of her family to become an engineer. Although Juliette’s father doesn’t turn out to be helpful, the mayor decides to choose the engineer over Billings. Juliette initially decides against accepting the sheriff’s position since she cannot abandon the generator that keeps the residents of the silo alive.
Ruth and Marnes get together as a couple as the former reveals her feelings for him. Juliette’s decision changes when she notices something carved on the other side of Holston’s badge. She accepts the position but sets out to repair the generator first so that she doesn’t need to worry about the same after leaving the engineering crew. While repairing the generator, the steam that keeps the same running gets accumulated in a chamber, which makes an explosion impending. After asking her “shadow” to complete the repair, Juliette goes into the chamber and cools down the door of the same by putting her life on the line. After successfully repairing the generator, she leaves her crew.
Silo Episode 3 Ending: Does Mayor Ruth Jahns Die?
After the appointment of Juliette as Holston’s successor and the generator’s repair, Ruth decides to spend the night with Marnes in her apartment. She asks him to take a bottle of wine and goes to the restroom, only to choke on her own blood after throwing up the same. After finding her in a nearly-dead condition, Marnes calls for help. Even if the help arrives in no time, the chances of Ruth surviving are low. Considering her condition, it is clear that she most likely is poisoned by someone who wants her dead. Marnes may not have enough time to save Ruth before the possible poison kills her.
If Ruth is indeed poisoned, the person who wants the mayor dead must be someone who has authority or power in the silo. Even if Marnes brings her to the hospital, the influential person may have already made necessary arrangements to ensure that Ruth will not leave the place alive. Considering that the mayor’s life gets threatened when she appoints Juliette as the sheriff, the judicial department can be behind the same. They may want to make sure that Ruth will not provide the engineer enough authority to unravel the mystery behind George Wilkins’ death. The heads of the department must have felt that Ruth is using her authority to ignore them.
If Ruth dies, we may see Paul Billings becoming the successor of Holston rather than Juliette. Billings must be a pawn in the hands of the judicial department, which explains why the same gets involved in the selection process of the next sheriff when it’s really the responsibility of the mayor alone.
What’s Carved on the Bottom of the Sheriff’s Badge?
When Ruth initially offers Juliette the sheriff’s position, she decides against accepting the same. The mayor gives the sheriff’s badge to the engineer nonetheless since Holston wanted the same. Her decision changes when she notices that something is carved on the bottom of the badge, which is later revealed to be the word, “Truth.” When Juliette revealed George’s secrets to Holston, the sheriff promised to unravel the truth for her. At the time, he was trying to convince himself that his wife Allison was telling the truth before she left the silo.
Holston must have carved the word on the bottom of his badge to let Juliette know that she may need the authority of a sheriff to unravel the truth she has been searching for. The word can be the signal he wanted to give her so that she can kickstart her investigation into the possible murder of her partner as his successor. By the time Holston decided to leave the silo, he might have realized that there are powerful individuals or groups behind the operation of the establishment. He might haven’t wanted Juliette to confront them as a mere engineer.
