WARNING: There are SPOILERS ahead for Raised By Wolves season 1, episode 10, “The Beginning”
There are several questions left unanswered following the season 1 finale of HBO Max’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves. The premiere season of the big-budget show is a slow-burn, and the series is unafraid of tackling huge philosophical queries with no clear answers. Raised By Wolves ponders the meaning of life and death, what it means to be human, and how ethics are formed — all while telling a compelling story of humans fighting to survive on an alien world. With so many ideas raised, however, it should be of no surprise that many such questions remain unanswered going into season 2.
Created by Aaron Guzikowski and heavily inspired by Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Raised By Wolves is set in a dystopian future and follows the struggles of an unorthodox family trying to start a new human civilization on the planet Kepler-22b. Androids Mother and Father were sent to Earth by their mysterious creator to populate the planet with 12 frozen human embryos. This proves to be no small task, however, and all but one of the children perish (or do they?) after six embryos are accidentally destroyed, one child gets into an accident, and the remaining four more die from a mysterious illness. This leaves Campion alone on the planet with his replicant-like parents — until another ship arrives.
Throughout the first season, audiences gradually learned more about the primary setting of Raised By Wolves, Kepler-22B — as well as the Earth the characters left behind. Season 1 ended on October 1, 2020 with episode 10, aptly titled “The Beginning,” which sets up a number of storylines for the show to continue in the next season.
Are Mother and Father Still Alive (& Where Are They)?
After attempting (and failing) to destroy Mother’s alien “baby” — which looks suspiciously like the giant snake remains near the original settlement — the androids Mother and Father are shown coming to after seemingly flying through the planet’s core. This is despite them having appeared to shut down earlier in the episode, presumably due to the core’s intense heat (as indicated from the steam rising from Father). The androids try, again, to destroy the monster Mother has created, this time by trapping it in the craft and setting it on a collision course before they jump out the open door. The creature is revealed at the episode’s end to be alive (and huge), but Mother and Father’s fate is left a mystery. Chances are, they survived the fall and are now trapped on the tropic side of the planet — but at this point, anything is possible. One thing is for certain though: if Mother and Father are still alive, they’ll do whatever they can to reunite with Campion.
Who Are The Cloaked Beings In Mother’s Vision?
Mother has a strange vision after scanning mysterious metal plates, which are described as resembling Tarot cards. In her vision, she sees cloaked figures, standing suspiciously apart (are they social distancing?) staring at a hideous being incased in dodecahedron. Mother subsequently discovers remnants from the vision in the cave where she gives birth — but this only raises more questions. The being in the vision is not unlike Mother’s child, although there are clear physical differences, and the cloaked figures themselves are very similar to the one that Marcus and the Mithraic encountered in the cave in episode 5. This cloaked being is intelligent, since it created a map of the children and had set up traps; however, its movement and behaviour suggest primitive qualities. Is this the same creature Mother kills in the finale? Is there more than one of these humanoid beings? Is there any relationship between this being and the fact that Tally always appears draped in a similar shroud?
The vision alone inspires a number of questions: what was the nature of Mother’s vision? Was she viewing the past, perhaps, or even the future? Who left the cards for her to find (which were shown in the mysterious being’s possession in episode 5) and why? Are the cloaked figures in the vision the same as those currently on the planet? If so, what’s their motivation? The biggest question, however, is what was actually happening in the vision, and what was that mysterious being? Is it dangerous? It that what created her baby?
What Will Happen To Mother’s “Baby”?
The final moments of the Raised By Wolves finale reveal that Mother’s parasite-baby is very much alive, and has grown considerably in a short period of time. The snake flies off into a canopy of trees, the visual daring audiences to imagine what will happen when the being encounters humans. The snake being appears to be an apex predator, and even as a fetus demonstrated bloodlust. Since it has the durability to survive a crash and break through the space craft’s hull, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to defend against it. Furthermore, Paul indicated the impulse to preserve its life, likely because he is under the control of the same “voice” that appears to be pulling the strings throughout season 1. It seems Mother’s baby is poised to be a significant aspect of season 2, but what that role might entail remains a mystery.
How Did The Atheists Reach Kepler-22b?
Somehow, Marcus survived the beatdown her received from his disillusioned officers — which included them force-feeding him one of the necromancer eyes. In episode 10, Marcus stumbles around in some sort of hallucinatory state, encountering visions that defy reality. The distorted, blurred filter over the scenes add to the overall unbalanced feel. One scene, however, features much more clarity than the others, suggesting its events are very real. In the scene, Marcus encounters atheists on the planet. A large space ship is shown flying in the atmosphere. If this is in fact happening, how did the Atheists reach the planet?
All season long, characters indicated that the Atheists didn’t have the resources that the religion-based society, the Mithraic, had to build their ark. Was this all a lie, spread among the masses for the sake of a clandestine operation? Did Mother’s creator Campion know about this ship? Now that the atheists are there, what will this mean for the few remaining Mithraic on the planet? Will the war on Earth continue — or will the alien threats on the planet encourage the two groups to finally put aside their differences and work together?
Are The Creatures Human? & Why Are They Devolving?
When a cloaked figure approaches the pregnant Mother, she quick dispatches of him — and discovers that the being under the hood is strikingly humanoid in appearance. The feral creatures spotted earlier in the season also possessed human-like attributes (particularly in the face and hands). After consulting with Father, the two androids determine that the planet’s native inhabitants share striking similarities to Earth’s humans. Not only that, but they are devolving. Both reveals have disturbing implications for the parties on Kepler-22B, including the threat that they too could begin to devolve. How did these beings get on the planet? What is causing them to devolve, how quickly is it happening, and will it happen to the Earthlings as well? As Mother herself asks, “if humans existed here, where have they all gone?“
Where Are Mother’s Eyes Now?
When Mother has her eyes, she can transform into a powerful android unique to Raised By Wolves known as a necromancer. As a necromancer, she can fly, is incredibly durable, and has an arsenal of deadly weapons at her disposal. Without her eyes, however, Mother is a normal android — physically on par with Father, and only marginally stronger and more durable than the humans. Mother still has an advantage or two over most of the people on the planet, but not nearly as much as she did when she was able to transform. Mother will need to relocate her eyes in order to achieve the necromancer state again — something she will almost certainly need to do in order to destroy her “baby.”
The last time Mother’s eyes were seen, they were in the possession of the Mithraic dissenters who turned against Marcus. Lucious, correctly identifying that Marcus is a fraud, attacked his superior officer, shoving one of the necromancer’s eyes down his leader’s throat. Somehow, Marcus survived the experience, despite how deadly the eyes are. Does Marcus still have one of the eyes? Is it a part of him now?
How Did Marcus Survive — & Where Are The Mithraic Survivors?
How Marcus survived both the beating and the severe seizure triggered by the necromancer eye is one of the most tantalizing mysteries of the Raised By Wolves finale. The bloody foam frothing from Marcus’s mouth at the end of episode 9, “Umbilical,” suggested the crazed “prophet” had met his end — yet, he returned for episode 10, stumbling around the wilderness until he encountered — and dispatched of — some Atheist soldiers. How is it that Marcus keeps narrowly escaping death? And what happened to him to turn him into such a fanatic?
Who Is Behind The Voice of Sol & Mother’s Pregnancy?
Various characters heard the voice of Sol, in Raised By Wolves season 1; however, as the season progressed, it became increasingly clear that this “voice” was not the benevolent god the Mithraic worshipped. There appears to be a connection between the voice heard by characters like Marcus and his on Paul, as well as Mother’s visions of her creator — a possible virus that resulted in her unwanted pregnancy. Numerous times, characters suggested that Mother’s programming had been “corrupted,” and even the simulation itself warned Mother, repeatedly, that it was not intended to interface with androids. Given that Marcus and Paul also spent considerable time in the simulation, all three characters have this experience in common. Could all three be under the influence of the same “virus”? The nature of this voice is almost certainly going to be explored further in season 2 of Raised By Wolves.
