Silo: Did A "Dirty Bomb" Destroy The World? (Theory Based On Book)

The ending of Silo season 2 dropped a few hints that might suggest what led to a nuclear holocaust and forced the world to take refuge in the underground bunkers that protected humanity from the harmful radiation outside. In the show’s closing sequence, which looks like a flashback, we came across a young congressman, Daniel (also known as Donald Keene or Troy in the book, Shift) and a journalist named Helen. A brief exchange between these two new characters suggested that the US’s adversary, Iran, had triggered some kind of radiological weapon or a “dirty bomb” in Washington, DC, dispersing radiation in the nearby area. 

Daniel, who had come to meet a potential date, Helen, was scanned for radiation at the entrance of the bar, where Daniel asked the security guard, “you ever get a red” where red means dangerous level of radiation exposure. Daniel’s words could imply that there might not be a “dirty bomb” at all and it could all be a hoax to instill fear in the minds of the general public. Later, Helen, the journalist sitting on the other end of the table, questioned the same when she said, “Whether or not there really was a radiological weapon attack on the US.” Based on this information, it could be possible that Iran might have developed a radiological weapon (or the harmful nanobots), and the senators in the US feared the increasing power dynamics in the Middle East will lead to human extinction, which was why they spread rumors about an alleged explosion to push their propaganda. Irony is, it wouldn’t be the first time when the “Wild West” had pulled such a stunt to make them seem like a victim.

One of the recurring themes in the show is the “control of knowledge.” None of the residents trapped inside the silo are really aware who put them down there and why they were even living inside it. They just know that the world outside isn’t safe for human living, which also can be a lie propagated throughout these years. It seems like the flashback sequence followed the same theme of the show as Daniel, like the rest of the citizens, wasn’t aware of the conspiracy theories circulating in the country. Personally, I don’t think that Daniel didn’t answer Helen’s question not because he didn’t want to, but because he himself didn’t have any idea what was happening around him. In the book, the senator who was involved in spreading such rumors and propaganda had told Daniel’s book counterpart that he should deny each lie and every truth with the same vinegar, and it seems like what show’s Daniel had been doing to avoid Helen’s questions. Senator Paul Thurman, and many others like him in power, liked hiding the truth in plain sight so that no one could see what’s coming next. With that said, it would be safe to assume that Iran didn’t trigger any radiological weapon, but it was false information spread by the US Senators themselves because they were planning government-sanctioned nuclear strikes on the world so as to level the playing field. In short, push the button and restart the game.

These rumors are going to make Daniel, and many other patriots believe that their country is really in danger, and they would enlist their help to the Army to prepare themselves for the impending radiological warfare. On the other side, there’s a journalist, Helen, seeking truth, which makes it a lot more interesting that Daniel will not straight away fall for his government’s false narrative and suspect their true intentions, which will eventually help him to see through their lies.

Book Spoilers Ahead

In the book, it was Daniel, along with a few other engineers and congressmen, who finished the underground bunker project, which Senator Thurman, the real bad guy of the book, finally inaugurated during the National Democratic Convention, moments before calling a nuclear strike on the planet. But you may want to ask what Thurman or the senators who helped him really wanted to achieve by taking so many innocent lives. Well, like Helen pointed out, the US government didn’t have any plans to strike back at the hostile country that had developed the radiological weapon, as it would make the world see them as the real villains attacking the Middle East once again without any sufficient evidence. But they did fear that the terrorists, sooner or later, would make use of nano-biotech that would eventually lead to a nano epidemic or a cyber war. Once triggered, these self-replicating nanobots could spread uncontrollably and lead to mass human extinction and that’s what the US Senators or Silo Founders feared the most. It’s one of the reasons why they created an intricate system of 50 silos and gave all of them an equal chance to prove themselves. In the end, the algorithm would choose the one silo with the highest score, i.e., the one where the residents have been most peaceful and shown the least propensity to destroy themselves. Such a silo might handle the crisis or the rebellion in a much better way than the rest of the bunkers in the system, and therefore the chosen one will get a chance to repopulate Earth and take humanity forward. So, like one of the commenters told me, it’s all a game, and it could have been all fair and equal until Silo 1 and the VIPs decided to rig it to give themselves an unfair advantage. But that’s a discussion I have already had. So, I guess, you finally understood the real reason why the silos were created and why people were actually living inside the bunker. Also, before leaving, I also want to drop a bomb of my own. I believe the world outside is safe for human resettlement, but the Founders don’t want the residents to find out the truth, as according to the plan, they want the residents of only one silo to leave the underground bunker while everyone else will be wiped out.