Raised by Wolves, Ridley Scott and Aaron Guzikowski's new HBO Max show, tells a story about the power of faith and belief and the human instinct to survive, but is a mysterious voice heard by Mother (Amanda Collin) and Marcus (Travis Fimmel) a connection to a higher power or a virus? After Earth falls from years of wars between the Mithraic religion and atheists, two distinct groups travel to the planet Kepler 22-b, seeking to colonize it and restart human civilization. The planet is surrounded by mysteries, and certain characters begin to hear voices and are haunted by visions of the dead. While some believe the voices are a manifestation of the Mithraic god, Sol, another more scientific explanation could be the answer. Instead, it’s likely the characters are infected by a virus.
Raised by Wolves is a show interested in exploring the meaning of humanity, the role of belief versus survival, and what it means to be a parent. Other Ridley Scott movies feature androids at the core of the question of what it means to be human. The blurred line between humanity and artificial intelligence seems to be a topic of fascination for the director, and in Raised by Wolves, this concept is explored using religious symbolism and metaphors, while still contained within the science fiction genre.
While traveling to the planet Kepler 22-b, the Mithraic were placed in stasis pods but their minds were connected into a highly advanced simulation for at least a decade. This shared simulation allowed people to continue their lives, interacting with loved ones in a virtual reality. However, a man named Otho claimed he heard the voice of Sol commanding him to leave the simulation and rape multiple women, including a young Tempest. Although it’s possible he was lying, sometime later, Marcus also hears a voice, which guides him to burn a religious leader and take his position. While the voice stopped speaking to Otho once he was outside of the simulation, Marcus continues to hear it.
Marcus Is Hearing The Virus — Not Sol
Otho believes he received a message from Sol because he was a faithful follower, but Marcus is an atheist pretending to be Mithraic in order to survive. Later, other atheists such as Mother, Father, and Campion also have strange experiences with voices and visions. From what is known of the Mithraic religion and its god, it seems strange that a demanding and rigid deity would speak to those who reject his existence. Instead, a more likely scenario involves a mesh of science, faith, and alien technology.
In Raised by Wolves season 1, episode 8, “Mass”, a medical android tells Mother that she was built by the Mithraic, but they relied on sacred texts they didn’t fully understand. The implication seems to be that another civilization or entity gave them knowledge. If they used these sacred texts to create the virtual simulation, it’s not far-fetched to speculate that the voice Marcus and Otho heard is, in fact, a type of virus—perhaps a remnant of the true holders of knowledge used by the Mithraic.
Mother Suspects Her Programming Is Corrupted
Another sign pointing to a more scientific explanation for the voice is Mother’s trips to the simulation. When looking for a missing child, Mother finds the broken wreckage of a stasis pod. Compelled to know more about her powers and origins as a Necromancer, she plugs herself into the simulation, despite the computer’s warnings. At first, she’s shown memories, but the more time she spends inside of it, the stranger things get. Once outside of the simulation, Mother spots a new drawing made by a long-dead child depicting one of her memories. She becomes paranoid and afraid someone is watching her in the virtual world. Concerned, she goes back into the simulation and asks the computer if someone else had used the pod in her absence. The computer says someone did, but doesn’t specify its identity. Mother concludes the simulation infected her with a virus and that it wants something from her.
The virus, taking the image of her creator Campion, explains that it wants to give Mother what she desires. When Mother says her mission is to raise her children to help ensure the continuation of the human race, the virus argues that humans live only to die, but as an android, she’s eternal. They embrace and have virtual sex (or something like it). Once she leaves the simulation, she discovers she was impregnated with a new kind of embryo, perhaps a mix of android and human, or at least carbon-based. The takeaway here is that the virus—or the intelligence inside of the simulation—has a goal.
What The Virus Wants
If Marcus and Mother were both infected by the same virus, it would explain why the voice compelled Marcus to let Mother live despite her being a clear danger to the rest of the Mithraic survivors. When Paul takes Mother’s eyes, which are the source of her power, Marcus has the opportunity to destroy Mother; the voice tells him to “let her live”. He captures her instead. Later, when Marcus is losing control of Paul and his wife, he once again tries to destroy Mother, almost throwing her into the strange pits of the planet. This time, the voice is more aggressive. Marcus is attacked by a vision of himself. The fight distracts him, giving Father enough time to resist his new programming and pull Mother out of the pit.
It seems the virus isn’t particularly concerned with Marcus’ well-being or his goals. Instead, it placed Mother’s safety above him. Possibly, the virus wanted to protect the embryo growing inside Mother, since it was involved in its creation. If the androids were built using technology the Mithraic did not understand, it means they are, in fact, a product of a different civilization or beings. The virus could be the original creator of the androids, now seeing them as the next step in human evolution. Mother’s child might be a human and an android hybrid.
The visions of Tally that Mother, Father, and Campion shared might be another hint of the virus’ goals. The visions of Tally in the forest could've been acting as a guide, nudging Mother to find the stasis pod. Tally’s dark suggestions to Campion, while he was imprisoned by Marcus, might be a sign that the virus wants to hurt the young boy, perhaps so Mother can focus on the new child growing inside her. It may want to end humanity, since inside the simulation the virus seemed dismissive of human lives.
On the other hand, the virus and the visions could be opposing forces, each one with their own goals for humanity and the androids. Tally guided Mother to the strange metallic cards in “Umbilical,” which distracted her and allowed Otho to siphon her powers and attack the children. Whatever its goals, the voice and the simulation appear to be connected to the greater mysteries present in Raised by Wolves.