Zero Day’s Who Killed Bambi?, Explained: Did Geoge Mullen Kill His Son, Nick?

At the end of Zero Day, you might still be left asking, “Who killed Bambi?” It’s tragic, though; there’s no simple answer. Maybe no one really killed Bambi. Maybe that gentle, pretty animal killed itself? And that’s what George Mullen, a father, had been trying to figure out throughout the series. [Spoiler Alert] Back in the day, when Mullen was still the President of the United States, his son, Nick, was found dead. The medical reports suggested that Nick overdosed on hard drugs; however, Mullen’s only daughter, Alexandra “Alex,” believed that her father killed her brother. It’s pretty harsh to put it like that, but the truth is, while trying to serve his country, Mullen forgot to look after his family. And that’s the kind of guilt that haunted him till the very end. But hold on, I hope I made myself clear that the “Bambi” in our story is none other than Mullen’s son, Nick, right? The song symbolized the things he regretted the most in life, and Nick’s death was one of them.

Spoiler Alert

The thing is, Alex hated her father for not being there when his own children needed him the most. She believed his presence could have averted the family tragedy and saved her brother’s life. Nick started doing drugs at a young age, and Mullen, instead of trying to talk to his kid, lashed out at him, only driving him further away. Or that’s what Mullen believed. I am not saying that’s an absolute truth, because Mullen has been an unreliable narrator and his visions can’t be trusted. But I do agree with Alex that Mullen could have saved Nick. He could have sat him down and talked to him about his addiction, but he didn’t. He was so busy playing the president that he forgot to be a father.

The Sex Pistols’ “Who Killed Bambi?” was playing on the stereo when Mullen found his son’s lifeless body lying in his bedroom. This was the exact same song that Mullen started to hear when he decided to become a part of the Zero Day commission after his retirement. In the past, Mullen had refused to run for president for the second time not only because he had lost his son, but also because he didn’t want his scandal to become the talk of the town. He was having an affair with his chief of staff, Valerie Whitesell, and somewhere around the end of his tenure, she got pregnant. In Zero Day’s ending, President Evelyn Mitchell pointed out that Mullen had stepped down from the presidency because he wanted to protect Valerie’s child and give her a chance to lead a normal life, though I don’t completely agree. Mullen had always been the kind of man who was too occupied by his own things. Even in the present time, he didn’t think much about other people, and that’s what got Bambi killed.

Many might want to believe that it was Proteus that toyed with Mullen’s brain, because the series doesn’t give us any definite answers. I guess it had always been Mullen’s own guilt and regret that had traumatized him to the core. And this was one of the reasons why his troubled mind brought up a forgotten neurological weapon that had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation. Proteus, a weapon developed during Mullen’s tenure, was in complete violation of the Geneva Convention. It was something Mullen wasn’t very proud of, especially after what happened to his kid. And years later, it was his regret that was dredging up the past, punishing Mullen for things he could have done better.

The ex-president had a habit of noting down everything in his diary, and after all these years, “Who killed Bambi?” was one of the few things he couldn’t seem to forget. His conscience wouldn’t let him shut off those memories because somewhere in the back of his head, he blamed himself for his son’s death, and now going back to the office only reminded him of the tragedy he had failed to prevent. He heard the song for the first time in the series when his friend Natan told him that Zero Day could be an inside job. And you see, that’s the conflict. An internal conflict, to be exact.

“Who killed Bambi?” symbolizes that blurred line between right and wrong. It’s always easy to point fingers at an outsider. It’s always easy to pin the blame on Russia or China. But the real challenge is to make a decision when you know that someone very close to you committed the crime, yet you are not sure if you want that truth to come out. That’s not an easy decision to make for a righteous man. And Mullen’s traumatized brain wasn’t ready for such a conversation. I believe Natan might have told Mullen that his daughter had been involved in the Zero Day Cyber Attack, so he knew the truth from the very beginning, yet his mind ignored the truth because Mullen didn’t want to lose another child. And every time he came across “Who killed Bambi?” in the series, it only reminded him that he was letting a father obstruct the course of the investigation. It was his conscience telling him that he shouldn’t be denying justice to all those 3402 people who lost their lives on Zero Day. Everyone wanted Mullen to pin all the blame on tech giant Monica Kidder to protect his own daughter and all those white-collar men who conspired against the country. However, Mullen knew that by hiding the truth, he would only be aiding those who wanted to push their own fascist agendas and put a leash on the free citizens.

One could also see Bambi as a political allegory, implying American citizens are not safe even in their own country and are being brutally murdered by people whom they had chosen to protect. These elected representatives are nothing but wolves in sheep’s clothing who could go to any lengths to further their political interests. And what makes matters worse is people like Alex, who knew the truth from the very beginning, didn’t do anything to stop such monsters. Instead, they stand and watch, which makes them equally responsible and accountable for the loss of those innocent lives. The original story, written by Felix Salten, which thematically explored the inhumane treatment of the Jews and other minorities in Europe, underlines that these voiceless folks (or Bambi) will always live in fear in their own homes and will eventually be hunted down by the hunters. They will never have any future, nor will they be given any choice. But Mullen always had a choice, and what he did with it made all the difference in the world.

In Zero Day’s ending, Mullen heard the song once again and imagined words (ironically) on a prompter that convinced him to do the right thing. He told his countrymen the truth about Richard Dreyer and his known associates, who deserved to be prosecuted for murdering 3400 people on American soil. By doing the right thing, Mullen finally found absolution for his son’s death and for developing something as diabolical as Proteus. However, he paid a huge price for doing the right thing. He saved the forest and all those animals who lived in it, but in the process, lost another Bambi, his daughter. People no longer lived in fear of another Zero Day but Mullen might have to live with the consequences of his actions. His wife left the house, and darkness was all Mullen was left with in the end.  He may have silenced the voice in his head, but soon an eternal loneliness swept in. His demons weren’t with him anymore. Mullen saved his country, but his family broke apart.