Silo Season 2 Finale: What Is the Safeguard & Did Jules Survive, Explained

Season 2 of Silo ended with a fascinating cliffhanger. Let's analyze the main events of the Season 2 finale so that we can be fully prepared for the third chapter.

The Final Phase of the Rebellion

At the beginning of the final 10th episode, Shirley tells Dr. Pete that his daughter Juliette was seen alive. Knox tells the doctor that his help is desperately needed by the rebels, who are preparing to take drastic measures.

Meanwhile, in silo 17, Solo indulges in memories of his parents. Soon after, he calls Juliette and explains that he has an idea on how to save their bunker.

Lukas climbs up through the catacombs. He is arrested on Shirley's orders, but the assistant to the head of IT still manages to escape. Meanwhile, the rebels discuss their plan. Knox plans to lead the people in an attack, and Shirley will follow him. This way, they will slow down the attackers and have time to fill the generator with explosives.

They plan to force Bernard to comply with their demands by threatening to blow him up if he doesn't. Bernard himself watches the meeting on a security camera and orders the raiders to arrest the rebels and block the generator.

The Safeguard

Solo tells Jules that in order to save silo 18, she must disable the Safeguard created by the shelter's founders. The Safeguard is a pipe that can release poisonous gas into the bunker and kill everyone inside.

In Episode 9, a mysterious voice belonging to the Algorithm – an AI or someone hiding behind it – warned Lukas that the Algorithm would have to use this measure if he told anyone about what he saw.

Solo reveals to Juliette that his parents were able to figure out where the gas was coming from, and they even managed to save the people who came out and did not die. At least not right away.

Battle for Silo

The clash between the raiders and the rebels begins. Sheriff Paul is arrested for dereliction of duty and sedition. Robert and his wife Camille fear that they have chosen the wrong side and delivered Paul's message in vain, and worry that Bernard will punish them for their betrayal.

As the riots grow, security puts Knox and Shirley in jail with Carla. They release Carla and thank Martha for her cooperation in front of her friends, who "learn" of her "betrayal." Carla refuses to leave her cell, refusing to forgive Martha's betrayal.

Pete manages to lead a disguised Hank to the spot on the stairs that the rebels were going to blow up, but on the way they lose the timer for the detonator. So the doctor volunteers to sacrifice himself and asks Hank to return the watch to Juliette and tell her that her father loved her.

Big Surprises for Bernard

Bernard is left alone with Martha, waiting for word that the generator is fine. Martha then explains that using a special sign language, she had been having a completely different conversation with her friends all along, while Bernard, who was monitoring the surveillance cameras, thought he knew about the mechanics' plans.

Meanwhile, Molly, who received the message, releases Paul and the other prisoners from the cell.

Pete detonates the bomb. Jules and Solo hear it even in the neighboring silo. Bernard learns that the sheriff's deputies have indeed joined his opponents.

After the bomb detonates, the main staircase collapses, leaving almost all of the raiders below the blast level. Bernard realizes that most of his supporters remain on the lower floors or have deserted.

Lukas finds Bernard and tells him that he deciphered the message and, like Meadows once did, resigns as his assistant.

Most likely, he told Bernard that the silo's inhabitants were in danger due to a precautionary measure beyond anyone's control – and that the fate of the local residents depended not on the head of IT, but on an unknown force from outside that could pull the "trigger" at any moment.

Soon, Sims asks a shocked Bernard to explain what Lukas told him. In response, he simply appoints him as his assistant.

Juliette Returns to Silo 18

In silo 17, Jules realizes that her suit is damaged. Now the only chance to get out is to use a new suit, but Solo has disappeared. It turns out that he successfully tested another suit in the water, and Juliette can use it to get to her bunker.

Robert breaks into Lukas' house and threatens him with a gun, demanding that he admit what he told Bernard. Lukas replies that Bernard mistakenly believed that everything was okay because his key did not glow.Meanwhile, Bernard goes to the surface with a gun.

Jules admits to her new acquaintance that she does not know if she can return. She says goodbye to the residents of silo 17 and prepares to leave, before promising Solo that she will try to return.

Meanwhile, in silo 18, some of the rebels decide to leave. Paul asks Bernard to go out and tell the people the truth. The rebels try to force their way to the head of IT.

Suddenly, the people see Juliette on the big screen, wiping the lens. She sends them a message that it is dangerous outside and they cannot go out, saving many of the shelter's residents from death. Jules tries to get into the bunker, but then the entrance itself opens in front of her.

The Algorithm tells Sims to leave the compartment with his son and asks him to leave Camille with him. In the corridor leading out of the bunker, Juliette is confronted by Bernard, who points a gun at her.

Jules admits that she wants to convince people not to go outside because the air on the surface is poisonous, and also about the plans to remove the Safeguard.

Bernard, however, says that after realizing the futility of his work and life in general, he decided to leave the bunker to feel free for once. He took the gun with him to commit suicide in the event of excruciating pain from possible poisoning.

Bernard and Jules suddenly find themselves locked in a room with a system that is needed to burn potentially contaminated things from the surface, and it immediately turns on.

The suit should help Jules survive. But the degree of fire resistance of Bernard's suit remains to be seen. It cannot be ruled out that the IT Director's suit is also fire resistant.

Flashback From the Distant Past

We are shown a flashback to the time before the bunkers appeared. In it, viewers are introduced to Congressman Daniel, who thinks he has come on a date, and journalist Helen, who is doing an investigation.

Their conversation suggests that Iran has attacked the US, specifically Washington, with a dirty bomb, and now the US is probably planning to attack Iran. However, it is not entirely clear how serious the consequences of this attack were, and the reporter doubts that it even happened. Perhaps the story of the attack was needed to give the US an excuse to attack.

The security guard admitted that the radioactivity sensor had not yet recorded any elevated levels, and under the conditions of a "radioactive attack" this is very strange.

The Congressman gives the reporter candy from a toy dispenser in the shape of a duck that he bought for her. The same or a similar toy dispenser would end up in the home of George, Jules, and then Robert Sims' son many years later.