It became clear to the audience long ago that the silo’s societal structure wasn’t primarily to support the last safe haven for humanity. It was evident from the beginning that the rules and regulations for maintaining balance within the silo were fundamentally meant to ensure that the residents didn’t question their way of life. It was forbidden to ask questions or even show curiosity about the Before Times, not because it was better for the silo but to keep the population subjugated.
It all started with George Wilkins’s quest for answers when he discovered a hard drive from the Before Times. Not only that, but George dealt with relic smuggling when he was in the Mids. That was what led to his transfer to Mechanical, because he knew the answers lay in the Deep Down.
However, while the urgency of keeping the drive’s contents secret was understandable, the viewers never quite learned why the relics were banned in the silo in the first place. The residents weren’t permitted to keep things belonging to the Before Times or the pre-apocalyptic world. After almost two-and-a-half seasons, we finally know why this seemingly small rule mattered so much.
Possession of relics is a crime in the silo
We know that both George Wilkins and Lukas Kyle got into trouble because of having relics in their possession. Relics are prehistoric objects belonging to a world before humanity was pushed into the silos. It’s a punishable crime in the silo to have or trade relics without Judicial's knowledge.
At first, it seemed that relics were banned because they might contain information about the outside world. Residents knowing about the Before Times poses a potential threat to the silo’s safety because curiosity might give others the impression that the population is being deliberately kept in the silo even though the outside world is habitable.
However, that theory is debunked when Juliette sees that the outside world hasn’t healed and it's still poisonous to breathe. Therefore, it made us wonder, if the world is still inhabitable, then why all the secrecy? Why don’t the IT heads take people in confidence about the outside world’s situation?
It never made sense until Silo season 3, episode 5, when Bernard tells Juliette the truth about the forgetting drug. Juliette finds Bernard safely tucked in the Deep Down by none other than Rob Sims himself. He has been keeping the former head of IT alive while also looking out for Juliette, hoping she will remember how to stop the Safeguard procedure.
They eventually understood that keeping Juliette off the forgetting drugs completely would draw Camille’s attention to the matter. Therefore, they decided to slowly stop the dosage while having a plan in place for her to regain her memories once the time came.
Bernard informs Rob that there is information about the forgetting drugs and their effects in The Order, which is like The Pact but for IT heads and their shadows. He informs him about the protocols in place for administering the forgetting drug and the precautions one must take. This explains why no one remembers what happens during a Rebellion because the people are made to forget and potential threats are eliminated.
Bernard finally reveals why keeping relics was banned
It turns out that it's essential that the person on the forgetting drug be kept away from important artifacts from their past to avoid triggering memories. This explains why the silo’s administration was always on the lookout for artifacts from the past and not just from the Before Times but also the items from the time when mass memory loss was triggered.
If people held on to possessions from before they were given the forgetting drug, those belongings could put them at risk of remembering their past. That’s why keeping relics is outlawed, and IT personally took care of anyone who did manage to remember by either sending them out to clean or wiping their entire existence from their head.
Sims have since then been on the lookout to gather Juliette’s belongings so that they can help trigger her memories. However, the episode points out the obvious flaws in the procedure. It’s not that anything from a person’s past can bring back memories, but objects with extreme emotional value or trauma attached to them can.
That’s why Juliette was unable to remember anything from her personal belongings, even her father’s watch. However, what ultimately triggers her memories is the yellow duck-headed Pez dispenser that George first gave to Juliette when they met. It was in Robert Sims’ possession, who gave it to his son in hopes of it triggering his memories if Vitamin D+ was administered.
The moment he hands it to Juliette, the memories come flooding back instantaneously. This proved that only objects that serve as a core emotional keepsake can trigger full recovery, as the candy dispenser did for Juliette. It’s worth mentioning that it’s the same object that Congressman Daniel gave to Helen when they first met.
It may not seem so now, but the Pez dispenser keeps popping up, and it has significant value, especially in Juliette’s hands. What’s more, the show has yet to reveal how it came into George’s possession, if it is indeed the same one that Daniel had. The artifact would definitely play a critical role in connecting the past and the present in the upcoming episodes.
Silo season 3 is currently available for streaming on Apple TV+.
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