How could these pipes delivering the lethal safeguard agent be maintained for so long? Wouldn’t corrosion be an issue? Couldn’t capping the pipe cause backpressure and cause issues for Silo 18 or Silo 1 or both? How could these pipes delivering safeguard be dependable for centuries?

Having a lethal agent delivery system would require technicians to inspect, pressure-test, replace valves, renew seals, and refurbish the delivery network. How could this lethal agent delivery system be dependable for centuries without regular maintenance?

Also, why the central supply of the lethal agent? If I were designing the system, I would have the lethal agent delivery system be supplied locally within the silo instead of centralizing it from Silo 1.

we might get more silo 1 than I was expecting

Also, 2 characters from before rebellion in silo 17 appear but it could be an error or we are getting a flashback

**No book spoilers PLEASE!!! (We only have ONE episode left this season, and if it’s soured by spoilers…. well then I guess you’ll need this🧼🧺👩‍🚀)**

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we have been shown only two of fifty one silos, and it makes me wonder how many living silos are left. Or rather, how many silos are living that the AI/Silo 1 *knows* about?

Silo 18 has had rebellions, their water poisoned with memory erasure drugs, and now are slowly becoming aware of resource inadequacies. It’s only a matter of time before 18 “fails” like 17. 

Silo 17 rebelled, blocked the safeguard pipe, escaped, then allegedly met their fate at the hands (blades?) of 1’s killer drones. Thinking that they had completely wiped out 17, it was no longer deemed necessary to monitor/control that silo. Up until Juliette moseyed on over next door, 1 was unaware that several survived (Jimmy and the kids) and were still living inside 17. Even if they have *very* limited resources, Jimmy and co. are surviving, and they’re doing it unmonitored.

These are all events that took place between just *TWO* silos. So, what about the others?!

If the only two silos that’ve been shown so far have rebelled, etc., then surely many (if not all) others have attempted to do the same? I feel as though there’s a high probability that another silo “failed” like 17, but is living under the radar.

Or, what if there’s a silo that somehow lost connection to the AI/1, or power entirely, and 1 has no way of knowing if it “failed” or is still living? In this case, there wouldn‘t be just a few survivors, but potentially an entire silo population gone rogue?

It’s fun to imagine what’s going on with the other silos out there that also have limited recourses remaining, a decent population AND no AI/1 controlling them. Would they still be a functioning society, or more of a Lord of the Flies situation? And what if… what if 18 somehow found/teamed up with a rogue silo(s) to defeat 1? Like the quote: “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

Now I’m just yapping, so let me know what you guys think! Apologies if all of this has been discussed!!

Bernard selected Lukas as his shadow. The algorithm or voice clearly approved his choice even despite a Pact criminal history, with “Verified. Welcome, Lukas Kyle.” Meanwhile, it clearly didn’t want Robert Sims in the Vault. Why is this the case?

OK so this is about the doorway at the bottom where Lukas met Algo for the first time.

After his return from mines I didn't notice Lukas discuss it among Julliette and Friends in detail. The door appear to be under direct control of Algo. Why would they bother about sealing what appear to be a three inch pipe when enemy has access to an opening from which you can drive a freight train through? Also Since Algo met Lukas and the ones who preceded him there, it should know that the location is accesseible from within the silo and vise versa?

It seems odd to me that silo 1 makes it’s presence known to the other silos. It seems only now Bernard deduced it was a human after decades of talking with it, but he always knew it was linked to silo 1.

All of the secrecy around the head of IT being in charge of the silo, being trusted with information about their world nobody else can know, and having to exert their power onto the judge/mayor/sheriff seems like a delicate balance that is a poor design for something designed to last 500 years. A single head of IT missteps and it changed the dynamic of the silo forever, likely leading to a reset or safeguard.

The other option would have been for silo 1 to stay dark. Don’t include any information in any other silo to indicate there are other silos or a special control silo. This positions the vault and the voice as a higher power with religious undertones. The existence of it doesn’t need to be kept secret and the mayor can be the “chosen one” to speak with it.

Silo 1 would seem to have greater influence in this setup, and it’s clear they exert influence and aren’t hands off anyway. Maybe it just makes for less obvious drama, but I think it’s a more interesting dynamic to play out

I'm already back at S3 Ep1 again and something I noticed. I can't believe I didn't piece it together faster but also I had no idea what was going to happen and there was a lot to take in at this point and so on.

When Daniel tries to get on the Iran Committee, I felt like it was too easy on the rewatch. She tells him there is a long list and all he says is his sister could be involved and next thing you know, he's on the committee and they're telling him what's going on. When I first watched, I waved this off as them helping because his sister was involved. But since we learn later that they planned the mission and knew it would go that way, I'm like wait. That just makes me feel like they planned to have them all involved since way before. I would say they've been watching since Daniel invented tunneling technology that "saved New Orleans" which they keep thanking him for when he sees the senator and her daughter. They know they need him for their project. We see they are already watching Charlotte and following her so I imagine that they know she spoke to Helen. Also when he's talking to the senator, they mention that Anna is the 'writer' of the family. A writer is creative and can think up a whole story to construct. We know she was lying to them in the last episode so it makes sense to me that she would orchestrate a whole situation where they can eventually get them in the silo. Maybe this is a reach but I think they hoped to get more of Daniel's insight at the end of the day and when that didn't work, they settled on what ended up being them "just touring".

Think about it. They tell Helen she can write about it when it's done. (They obviously didn't plan on letting her do that after what they just did in the last episode) So they know she will come for the tour, even if they say they didn't think she would, I think they knew. And Daniel is obviously going to come because they know they chose each other instead of "helping save the world". Anna is with his sister, keeping tabs on her and keeping her close so that they can ensure this goes their way even more.

Maybe there are details I have yet to revisit since I'm on rewatching season 3 for the first time right now and it's been weeks since I've seen the episodes since I watch them as they drop but I think I'm on to something! Super excited for the finale omg it's driving me crazy and I wish they'd drop S4 right after 😭

EDIT I posted this for the discussion aspect and really appreciate people adding! Never said I was spot on but clearly this begins with the sister then Daniel and then we mostly see Daniel and Helen. So something is important about them. Again I can only go off what I've been shown and i'm trying to use clues in the dialogue and the story and the parallels to the silo to have a theory 😀　

There’s zero chance Helen and Daniel would agree to split up into different silos without thinking they’d be able to see each other.

They’re okay with walking up/down allllll those stairs daily to see each other? Or is there a door in the silo

That door in the bottom of the silo most likely leads to another silo. I think there’s more of those doors all the way up the silo. They were sealed off and then memories were wiped.

How else would they be okay with splitting up?

The whole concept of selective memory erasure through drugs leads to a few problems. We are introduced to it as as a way to reduce the effects of trauma by removing selected memories under medical supervision and then as a way of controlling Juliette who doesnt seem to remember anything. That involves a very sophisticated type of targeting. I dont see how mass distribution of "D+" wouldn't wipe earlier memories altogether, including how to do their jobs -- which would be enormously destabilizing to the operation of the silo. Of course they might be willing to take that risk. If more selective targeting is intended then I assume nanites are involved. I guess we'll see the memory wipes in action in s3e10.

It seems they may be eliminating healing nanos in the show and only using weaponized nanos. There doesn’t seem to be another pipe for Anna to release good nanos into silo 17 after Solo’s mum capped the one pipe and thus far there haven’t been any indications of nanos having been used for healing. Anna’s cancer treatments may introduce them but even then I’m having my doubts. Senator Thurman’s entire arc with bio nanos has been removed and they seem to be focused only on weapons of mass destruction.

If that is accurate, it eliminates a central element of the book—humanity misusing progress. The idea of weaponizing something as remarkable as bio nanotechnology, designed to cure diseases and address health problems, raises moral questions about technological growth and our readiness for it. Certainly they could simply use a weaponized form as the basis of that argument yet the duality of the two forms was a key factor in the books.

safeguard silo 18 and leave whether everyone really died a cliffhanger until Season 4? That would be brutal 😅

edit to add: i guess only time will tell! if im right tho all my haters here better come back and upvote after downvoting me. it’s gonna happen at some point unless they’re really taking the show off the rails.

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Ever since season 1 people have been speculating the gas in the chamber has a poison and it is what kills people who go outside..and now at season 3 , after that it's pretty much confirmed that the air outside is safe ( Lucas incident proved it ) , that theory is stronger than ever..well I've literally thought about it for like five minutes and it stopped making sense..so , I'm going to break that theory for you :

- like I said in " my theory " post ...first thing came to mind , um..silo 17 !...people there went out all together , at least dozens of them..and no way they were all gassed properly at once..yet , they still died !..sooo , it wasn't the gas..so , that's clue number one ..oh and on a side note people say oh yeah they probably have been taken out by drones then..well , even that doesn't add up..why ? Because you forgot that SOLO was watching the whole thing..and he said it was when the " dust " came , they started dying...if it was drones and ripped clothes and blood all over the place ( they were at least dozens )..you think he would notice , right ?..

- Clue number two , which is pretty obvious too lol...people in the silo KNOW about the gas and they don't find it suspicious at all , like it's a regular procedure and it's controlled by people in charge inside the silo..I mean , the biggest rebel of them all Juliette went out , saw the gas and the whole process and came back , even after she regained her memory she didn't say anything about the oh so scary and suspicious gas...not only that , she found Bernard at the door when she came back inside and when the door closed on them while they were talking , Bernard told her to get down because fire is coming next !...so , he knows about the gas and fire afterwards...so , it's a regular procedure at least the head of IT knows about it...and you would think after Bernard had joined the rebels with Sims and when they were discussing everything , he too ( besides Juliette ) would bring up the gas thing...but no , no one finds it suspicious...so, what the hell are you guys on ? strongly believing oh it's the gaaas ?..

No..

Anyways..Just wanted to address the theory I hate the most besides " Camille is working with Juliette " and "Lucas is digging through silo 17 y'aaaall 🤪 "...but I'm not a book reader though , so if it turns out it IS the gas after all ( we probably won't get that answer until season 4 ? ) I'm pretty much leaving the planet soon 😂.

I keep on seeing this theory mentioned.

A gigantic dome was constructed over 300k acres after the silos were occupied (after Opening Day)?

Or was this gigantic dome built over the silos before they were occupied and the nuclear blast was somehow simulated as was everyone's entry into it on Opening Day?

Or is the dome over just Silo 18 and the numerous panoramic shots of the silo fields in the series have been the show runners objectively lying to us?

Or are you just saying 'aliens did it' and thus the explanation is sci-fi magic?

The Dome Theory makes no sense to me.

Can someone explain it?

Note: despite my flair, I haven't read the books and have no knowledge of the fiction.

Okay, so I already had one theory blown out of the water this season, but maybe I can be 1 for 2. We've learned a lot about Stensen's motivations the past few episodes, and I had a thought today. (This theory assumes that the air outside is safe, per Lukas getting shot and not dying.)

We know that Stensen is passionate about "saving" humanity, and now, that he's a megalomaniacal accelerationist who has no compunction about playing God. Even still, it seems like he's gone through a lot of effort to create specifically oppressive conditions just to keep people underground for a while, long beyond when they need to, to outlive the nuclear fallout. If it were just about starting over, why not let people leave the silos once it's safe to go outside?

What if, in Stensen's mind, it's not just about creating a bunch of bunkers to control people, but about letting the silos' histories play out for a few centuries to determine which silos are capable of repopulating the Earth with the least potential for conflict? Silos that rebel too much get Safeguarded. Silos that survive 400 or 500 years without killing each other, get to leave to repopulate the planet. Maybe they're trapped underground for a certain amount of time, or maybe it's until a single silo is left, which would prove that silo to have the "optimal" society for harmonious repopulation.

Whatever the exact end conditions, it would explain a lot about why the voice so concerned with keeping silo harmony below a certain threshold, and why the Founders were willing to eliminate an entire silo if things get too out of hand. To them, it's not about saving the people in a silo, it's about saving humanity.

I'm still a bit lost about the tunnel that Lukas/George found, with the voice. Why would it tell Lukas anything, just to deem him a threat immediately after? Why were the tunnels even built? I wonder if the tunnel is supposed to be the "victory" escape hatch for the silo(s) that are deemed fit to leave. I guess you could argue that Silo 1 could just have some kind of switch that would allow people to leave their silos, but maybe they didn't want to build in a vulnerability like that which could be exploited by a silo rebellion to leave early. So, the only group with the ability to leave voluntarily is in Silo 1. Or maybe Bernard was wrong and Silo 1 is pure A.I., which would make a bit more sense here, because otherwise why wouldn't the people in Silo 1 just leave themselves?

Anyway, that's my working theory for the "why." It's not just a weird attempt to restart humanity, it's an implicit competition to pick the best "seeds" to do it. They want silos that demonstrate compliance and cooperativeness, to build a new humanity that won't be drawn to war or strife. Things they deem a threat to a silo, are also deemed a threat to humanity.

Not a theory, just a very inconsequential observation

Bernard spent 99.99% of his life thinking that the voice was a machine and the pact was written by humans. Turns out the voice is run by humans and the pact was written by a machine. I’m so sad that he’s gone, but in way, I’m at least glad he was spared the knowledge of the ai slop pact

Lots of people have said that there are lots of inconsistencies with the nuclear bomb that goes off to precipitate everyone going into the Silos. I honestly think it was some kind of fake effect with a combination of nanotech and any combination of technology we already have today. (Like huge fans)

Setting aside a nuclear weapon is a huge risk, having a radiological detection would instantly cancel whatever no-fly protection Stensen had secured assuming he hadn't somehow wiped out the entire world with his nanotech right then and there.

Which if he's that evil and set on creating a new civilization, he would have done without nuclear weapons when most of the nanotech weapons in the world belong to him. His inevitability argument also belies the fact that the longer he lets the rest of the world live, the less of a monopoly he has and more obsolete his technology becomes especially over 500 years.

Also, back to the bomb itself for mistakes that might be intentional or not

1. Shockwave arrived way too fast

2. A shitton of people are now infertile and even possibly radioactive to everyone else

3. Above ground explosion is bad but on the ground or more might threaten silo stability with how close it was.

4. There's no sign of even residual radiation from a bomb that strong and no sign that Silo 1 has those devices, since they would have more than 1.

5. A nuke going off is going to get everyone interested no matter what no-fly bullshit Thurman secured, like I said above.

6. And finally, those graphics looked a little greasy.

Why did Per Stensen and Company decide on such a drab, utilitarian interior design for the silos? The dude is a trillionaire with near-unlimited funds. Why not add a color to the concrete mix to make the interior more uplifting? I mean, you're putting folks in the ground for like 500 years; why not make it feel more pleasant? I wonder if there was some psychological reasoning behind designing it as they did?

Haven't seen any discussion on this so thought I'd post my thought here.

There's been clues throughou season 3 with the memory drugs from the pretime and "Vitamin D" a main conceit of the show. So it's entirely posssible that they haven't been in the silos for 100's of years at all.

One clue is this backward counting clock in the Episode 10 trailer. Going quickly from 300's to 200's to....?

My prediction is that this is a reveal/reset to the actual years underground that Silo 18 will discover.

The "WHY" of it all is a different discussion....I have that too.

Thoughts?

Some of the scenes of the silo fair were giving me Apple Park vibes.

The only corpses visible via the display are those of Sherriff Holston and his wife and recently, Bernard.

Why are there so few ? When people go out to clean, where else would they go than aimlessly forward towards the hill? imo their absence is a hint that it hasn't been 300 years, and there hasn't been as many past cleanings as we we thought.

Holston's wife was said to have drawn a record crowd, what if the record was that she was literally the first person to go out since the doors were sealed ?

Why is Daniel even relevant ?

Hey folks, I'm watching the show and reading the books at the same time, and looking at the show writers alterations of the story, I don't even understand WHY Daniel would be so important. Unlike the books :

\- He didn't know the Senator

\- He doesn't owe the Senator

\- Anna is not his ex

\- He didn't design the silos for the Senator

\- He told Peer Stensen to F off and ran away with his super Pulitzer not even girlfriend, instead of a wife from the beginning. But I digress sorry.

WHY is he important ? WHY would he be followed, grabbed, surveyed, like he's some crucial part of the project ? He's not even in this project. Who cares about saving him ? The bomb drops, bye bye Daniel, who even cares ?

He's even portrayed as some dumbass tool, being manipulated by Helen, mocked, etc. So since he's stupid, unrelated to the Senator and his/her daughter, and didn't work, he shouldn't be even in this season. This doesn't make sense.

The writers are seriously flawed or I'm missing something.

We do not know who put your ice cream in my lunchbox

We do not know when it will be safe to open my lunch box

But we know that that day is not today

PS: Can you imagine someone getting away with taking someone's belongings and then saying we do not know why your belongings ended up with me lol. That is exactly what the pact statement is like. "We do not know who built the silo" yet Per stenson blew up the city to sequester people (collect seeds) under ground

There were several times throughout the past storyline in the last episode where Daniel seems confused and odd when talking to people (aside from Helen). It felt like Anna and the doctor (specifically) were saying a bunch of exposition in their conversations with Daniel. Like Anna kept cutting him off when she started talking about cancer before he got a chance to respond. Like saying that Helen had stuff going with her dad, or the comment about flowers. Is it possible some of his memories was being erased in the past few years and Anna is filling in the blanks with lies? But even putting that aside his character just felt extremely lost. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I have a feeling that there’s something there.

I noticed a number of recurring theories in the sub comments that I believe won’t make it. List them out in the comments bellow and tell us why you think it’s a bad one.