Silo season 2 episode 1 recap: What happened in Silo 17?

Season 2 of the Apple TV+ hit will continue to follow Juliette after she stepped outside her own silo in the jaw-dropping season 1 finale, while also detailing the rebellion in her home silo and giving fans glimpses into the tragic events in Silo 17's past and what led to it becoming deserted.

Showrunner Graham Yost recently revealed who fans should be most afraid for, telling RadioTimes.com: "Juliette's in danger the whole time, and she has to do crazy things and barely survives. I think we have to worry about Juliette's father and family and her friends. They're doing a very risky thing, having a rebellion."

So, for a recap and full breakdown of what happened in season 2 episode 1, read on! Alternatively, check out our season.2 review.

Silo season 2 episode 1 recap: What happened in Silo 17?

The first episode of Silo season 2 goes back in time and shows the uprising that led to the extinction of most of Silo 17. We say most, because there was one survivor – Solo, who Juliette meets at the end of the episode. Here's what went down.

Early scenes in the episode show a child called Tim running to give his father a message from engineering in Silo 17. The message reads: "The generator will flood in 15 minutes."

While Tim is taken to safety, at the orders of his father, a full-blown uprising ensues in Silo 17 with a group of rebels fighting – and winning – their freedom to go outside.

During the course of the fighting, the name Russell is mentioned – remember that as it's going to be important.

The group of rebels triumphantly make their way out of the silo with a green flag in hand – but a cut to the present day shows the flag in tatters and dozens of bodies littering the ground outside the silo where the residents of Silo 17 only made it a few steps before dying from the toxic atmosphere outside.

What happens to Juliette in Silo 17?

In the present day, Juliette makes her way into Silo 17 and meets one survivor, Solo.

Juliette finds the bodies of the citizens of Silo 17, stepping across them to lower herself into the silo. But, in the process of getting herself inside, the tape on her suit starts to come away. She runs further into the silo, picking up any tools she can find and seeing the remnants of the past rebellion, including the word "lies" scrawled across where the display would have been.

Running down the steps, Juliette's helmet finally runs out of air. Struggling to take it off, she smashes the glass in the helmet. While she doesn't know if the air is breathable, it's better than nothing, and luckily it seems a lot better than the air outside.

She also throws a liquid over herself (in the books, it's soup) in a desperate bid to clean her suit of any toxins from outside before ripping it off.

She looks around the deserted Silo 17, finding a boiler suit in one of the apartments that she can wear, as well as finding a water source. But soon enough she hears a strange metallic clanging, making her think she's not alone.

To reach it, she has to get across a deep pit of water, first trying swinging across on a rope (which fails dramatically, giving us yet another near-death experience for Juliette), and then casually building a bridge from scratch – all to find out that the clanging she's hearing is just a fan that's been left on.

But that doesn't mean she's there alone. Suddenly, she hears the distant sound of Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River. Following the sound of the music, she finds more bodies leading to a vault.

She unsuccessfully attempts to open the vault, with a man (our new character Solo) peering out of a slit in the door to tell her that, if she opens the vault, he'll kill her.

The episode also delves into Juliette's past, when she first moved from the mid regions of Silo 18 to the "Down Deep," where Mechanical is situated as a teenager. Shirley and her family show her the ropes in Mechanical and she meets Walker, played by Harriet Walter, who she goes on to form a close bond with (fans might remember it was Walker who saved Juliette's life by making sure effective tape was used on her suit when she was sent outside).

It also establishes the rebellion that happened years before Juliette's birth in her home silo, Silo 18. Going back to her childhood again, Shirley shows Juliette some graffiti from the rebellion and instils in her the importance of independence and having a will to survive – even when you're left alone.

Ferguson recently opened up to RadioTimes.com about how Juliette will struggle after meeting Solo, describing her character as "nearly on the spectrum" in that she is "socially awkward" but has methods of keeping herself safe.

"She has to be in a situation now where she's handling human beings, and it's something that she doesn't know how that works," she told us.

"She's up against a person [Solo] who you don't know, is a threat, is an absolute lunatic, or is there to support and help."

She continued: "And they create a bond, and that's very unusual, but with that comes a lot of compromise and issues and very scary scenarios. So it's not a machine, but actually a person she has to work around."

How is Silo season 2 episode 1 different to the books?

A few changes are made from Hugh Howey's novels in Silo season 2 episode 1. For one, the way Juliette and Solo meet is different. In the books, he's not sequestered in a vault, but wanders around the silo on his own and Juliette discovers his existence when he steals her knife and water.

He manages to slice her hand before she convinces him she's not a threat.

In the books, Solo is also that little bit more welcoming, never quite threatening Juliette, and is a bit more forthcoming with information than he is in the show.

Fans may also remember that Walker, played by Walter in the show, is gender-swapped, with the character being an old man in the books.

Showrunner Yost has previously asserted that this was so Juliette could have a mother figure in the show.

Silo season 2 airs weekly on Apple TV+.

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