In the third season of Apple TV’s Silo, the core theme has been memory. In the silo, Juliette lost her memory after she was caught in a fire with Bernard, but over the past few episodes, she’s realized that it wasn’t the fire that caused the amnesia, but the “vitamins” given to her by the head of IT, Camille Sims.
But just what are these vitamins, what do they do, and what danger do they pose to the almost ten thousand people in Silo 18? The answer has suddenly become a lot more important in the last few seconds of Episode 6.
Warning! Spoilers for Silo Season 3, Episode 6, “The Drive,” ahead!
Silo 18 has been around long enough that nobody remembers what happened to put them in the Silo. In fact, nobody can remember anything beyond their own lifetime. It’s even in the mantra repeated by the characters over and over, starting from the very first episode: “We do not know why we are here. We do not know who built the Silo. We do not know why everything outside the Silo is as it is. We do not know when it will be safe to go outside. We only know that day is not this day.”
In the first half of Silo, Juliette spent her time trying to get her memory back after being dosed with Vitamin D+.
Over the course of Silo Season 3, we’ve learned a lot about the secrets kept by the powers that be. There’s the Algorithm, the mysterious AI that dictates what needs to be done to the Head of IT. Then, there’s the Safeguard, a mysterious protocol that seems to cause a complete culling of all the inhabitants of the silo in order to contain a Rebellion and keep it from spreading to the other Silos.
How Silo, Season 3, Episode 6, Changes the Memory Stakes
In the recent episodes, Camille has been presented with an option: risk a Safeguard, or release Vitamin D+ into the water supply, erasing everyone’s memory. That sounds like the better option, but it would mean friends would forget friends, families would forget passed relatives, and even children would forget their own parents. That last fact is particularly affecting for Camille, who has a young son.
So instead of releasing the Vitamin D+, she tries every other option, including sending exterminators into the mines while people are still in them. Eventually, she resorts to one last resort: finding a way to get rid of Juliette, as she holds the key to knowledge that could cause a Safeguard.
The Algorithm has been suggesting a memory reset in the Silo for a while now.
In Episode 6, Camille realizes she won’t be able to murder Juliette, so she tries to work with her. The Algorithm allows her to send two people out to Silo 17 in an attempt to rescue the children living there, but as soon as Juliette leaves, the Algorithm tells Camille the mission will be a failure. “Even if there are children alive in 17, she may still have another objective,” the Algorithm says. “You need to introduce Vitamin D+ into the water supply as soon as possible.”
Silo Vitamin D+ twist just brings up more questions
“If everyone forgets who she is, she won't matter anymore,” Camille replies. “Vitamin D+ entered the water system two hours ago.”
How quickly does Vitamin D+ affect the population? Could we see people start to forget next episode? More importantly, does this substance have anything to do with the memory loss of Charlotte Keene in the flashbacks? Hopefully, we’ll get answers to these questions before the season is over.
