Raised by Wolves Season 2 Episode 7 got even weirder than previous episodes, if that was at all possible. This epic series keeps defying my predictions at every turn, flipping things upside down and sending viewers on a journey I never imagined in my craziest dreams. But somehow, it’s all working together to create a coherent, intelligent storyline. The latest episode of Raised by Wolves was super enjoyable — even if confusing at times — and I can’t wait for the next one.
This is a Raised by Wolves Season 2 Episode 7 review. As such, there will be spoilers up through the latest episode.
Paul Is Testing My Last Nerves
The episode kicks off with Paul creepily feeding the Sue Tree’s fruit to every single person in the colony. He lies and tells them it’s been tested. At this point, I’m kind of out of sympathy for Paul. He and Marcus are pretty sure that Sue was TURNED INTO A TREE. This is some serious messed up stuff going on here, and he just decides it’s a great idea to feed them strange fruit? We’re also talking a situation where very few humans are left alive. So great way to put humanity at risk, Paul. 🙄
He later tells Marcus that he thought maybe the fruit would somehow turn the atheists into Mithraic believers, and cause the Sol entity to return his “mom.”
Marcus gives him a side-eye at that idea.
But he’s still watching everyone eat the fruit, even though he no longer trusts Sol. So that’s messed up.
When Mother visits the tree later and realizes it has Sue inside it, you can just see the emotion written all over her face. Sue was pretty much her only friend. And now this strange tree creature has consumed her.
After she leaves, Marcus finally confronts Paul with his misgivings about Sol. (After they distributed the fruit, unfortunately. And there’s something about the fruit that really seems to be addictive!)
Marcus tells Paul: “You didn’t do anything wrong… I did. I wanted so bad for Sol to be the answer. A way out of the darkness. But maybe Sol is the darkness. Maybe Sol… he doesn’t care about us after all.”
That’s huge for Marcus, who has believed all this time that he is the prophet of Sol. (Or that Paul might be.) After seeing Sue turn into a believer, follow Sol’s commands, and then get turned into a tree for all her effort… Well, he doubts Sol now, and understandably so. All his followers were also murdered. He’s got nothing left.
There are a lot of clues in this show that point to Sol being some kind of AI (and the possibility that there are two warring AI factions on this planet.) I think all of this is starting to dawn on Marcus finally.
Did Anyone Predict the Snake Scene?
Did anyone predict the snake scene? I sure didn’t. He basically went crazy, broke out of his cage, flew all the way to the tree… AND ATE IT.
Sue-through-the-tree begged Marcus to set her on fire. I have no idea if that was an attempt to stop the snake from eating the tree (for her own sake or to kill the snake) and the fire just didn’t grow fast enough. OR if the fire was somehow a key in helping the snake’s evolution.
I also have no idea if the snake ate the tree because the two entities basically work together and the snake needed the tree in order to evolve. OR if the snake ate the tree maliciously to evolve and destroy the planet. OR if the snake ate the tree to stop the tree from poisoning the humans.
It could go in any of those directions.
The scene was so well done. I had no idea what the serpent was going to do, but it looked so menacing as it flew to the tree.
And then my jaw was literally hanging open as it ATE THE TREE and evolved.
When Mother had her face-to-face with the serpent, I thought that the snake was stronger than her. It wasn’t until later that I realized she didn’t try to kill it because of her caregiving protocol.
I’m also really enjoying the shift with Marcus and Mother now being friends because they have a common enemy. I mean, once again, it’s easy to forget that Mother is HORRIBLE. She killed so many people in season one. But now she’s needed to defeat a potentially bigger threat to humanity. It’s kind of crazy.
The Missing Baby Story Turned Out Pretty Sad
Last week, I was 100% taken by surprise when an alien acid water creature jumped out of the ocean to steal Tempest’s baby right out of her hands, putting the baby in its stomach for safety from the acid and promptly disappearing. I never guessed that one was coming.
Tempest is heartbroken since she bonded with her baby pretty quick. This poor kid is really confused, and I have nothing but sympathy for her.
Hunter made a very good point during their hunt for the baby though, and Father didn’t pay close enough attention to what he had to say. Father’s work with the Grandmother android is indeed very important. But he’s working such long hours that he’s missing important time with his kids. As a result, he missed Tempest’s agonizing fear and grief, he missed Campion falling in love with a killer android, Paul leaving the group, and more. Some of this might not have happened if he had focused more on building his bonds with the children.
Father might just be my favorite character on this series. He’s really so easy to relate to. His storyline is a little more grounded. He’s just trying to feel important and find his own way, while Mother rules with a strength he can’t quite match. But in his own way, he’s every bit as important as Mother, he just doesn’t realize it.
But back to the baby hunt… It looks like this Mother Acid Creature lost her original baby (something killed it), and out of grief it mistook Tempest’s baby’s cries as the cries of its own baby. That’s why it stole the baby and is now raising the baby as its own. It’s not some weird AI program, but a case of mistaken identity. (Possibly due to the acid creatures having DNA so close to humans’.)
Tempest wanted to save her baby until she saw it again, and realized it still brought back the trauma of her rapist. In a strange move, she decided to leave the baby with the monster. For some reason, Father’s caregiving program didn’t argue with this, so Hunter ended up stepping in. But matter how you look at it, there are very few humans left and this baby needs to be protected at all costs. I’m honestly kind of confused that Father didn’t feel that way. Is his caregiving program truly broken like Hunter suggested?
How Did I Feel Bad for Vrille Again?
The Vrille android is a terrifying creature. We watched her go on a major rampage and kill a ton of people, terrorizing poor Holly. And yet somehow, when her demise was near, I found myself feeling kind of bad for her.
Now don’t get me wrong. I didn’t forget that she’s a broken android who could start killing people again. But I also felt bad for her. Kudos to the writers for pulling that off.
Campion is totally obsessed with her and avoiding all reason and logic, just chasing after the new love of his life despite all warnings. I got a bit frustrated with him at some points. But his journey did reveal some interesting things.
In case you couldn’t make out everything Vrille said, she told Campion that the serpent’s necro-scream fried some of her circuits. (Which was why she later shut down completely.)
“When the real Vrille learned her mother was profiting off weapons that were destroying the Earth’s atmosphere, she punished her by destroying herself,” she added, in a revealing statement. (Kind of sounds parallel to the serpent that Grandmother talks about later, right?)
In her last scene, when she realizes she’s shutting down, Vrille tried to write down as much as she could from the original Vrille’s journals, “her favorite days” and other “good parts.” She believed it was important that the original Vrille’s thoughts be preserved so it’s not all for nothing. It’s an interesting scene. Not the most logical choice, in some ways, but I imagine we’ll learn some interesting things about the war from Vrille’s diary.
Grandmother’s Words to Mother Were Intriguing
Grandmother’s conversation with Mother was fascinating. But remember, just like we were warned earlier in the episode, androids can lie. So take everything she said with a bit of skepticism.
She told Mother she was built by the same ancient humans who created those card relics that Mother has.
“Yes, the Technocrats. They fought against the believers in the war and built androids like myself, naming us shepherds. Ensuring the everlasting life of human beings is my priority…”
Mother tells her about the flaw in her programming that won’t let her kill the serpent, after believers used a biotech tree to weaponize it.
Grandmother says, “It will try to destroy the planet. That is what the entity wants. Humans here spent many centuries trying to answer that question. (The question of why.) But ultimately, the limits of their own rationality made it impossible.”
Mother explains that the entity infected her and manipulated her memories so she could be used to birth the serpent. But the serpent seems to feel jealousy too that’s stronger than its desire to destroy the planet.
Grandmother says, “Then it has emotions… My veil. Perhaps it could be transplanted. It could help null your caregiving impulses.”
She confirms it’s a sensory filter and says, “We are able to make the best decisions for humans that way” and removing it “will be no more difficult than for you to wear it.”
So that will be interesting. We’ll see Mother with dulled emotions and we’ll see Grandmother having full access to her emotions for the first time in millions of years.
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