The sci-fi series Raised by Wolves unfolds in a future where the Earth has been torn apart by a holy war between the Atheists and Mithraics. As a result, androids Mother and Father fled to the desolate planet of Kepler-22b, tasked with raising a flock of young children in order to rebuild an Atheist human civilization. This season, the dysfunctional family finds themselves on the other side of Kepler-22b in the Tropical Zone where Atheist humans, governed by an A.I. super-computer called the Trust, have settled the terrain.
At first, Mother and Father’s new home seemed like a veritable paradise, but danger is never far away. Mother’s flying snake offspring roams the lands, Mithraic zealot Marcus has been planting seeds of doubt in the Atheists and recruiting them for his own religion and the Trust’s agenda doesn’t necessarily mesh with Mother’s mission. The Tropical Zone is quickly becoming more of a paradise lost than found. Raised by Wolves Showrunner Aaron Guzikowski recently spoke with CBR about Mother’s mounting tension with the Atheists, Father’s newfound android friend, the Trust and the inevitable clash between Marcus and Mother.
CBR: Raised by Wolves’ sophomore season continues the holy war between the Atheists and the Mithraics. How will their faith and beliefs be tested like never before?
Aaron Guzikowski: Mother and Father are on a different side of the planet at this point, so they are dealing with this completely new environment, this what appears to be almost like an Eden or paradise. In a lot of ways, at first glimpse, it seems things are going to be easier in terms of survival. But, in addition to all of that, in the Tropical Zone we are seeing a lot more ruins and remnants of this civilization that was existing on the planet long ago. Within it, it has these secrets. There’s a lot of things going on that they didn’t have to deal with last year that they are dealing with this year. Mother and her children have joined this Atheistic colony. Beyond the environment they are dealing with, she also has to deal with her new neighbors. Mother has these Mithraic children and, as we know, there was this horrible war. They are seen by the Atheists as the descendants of these mass murderers, the people who destroyed the Earth, so they are getting a lot of conflict with their new neighbors.
On the other side, you have Marcus, the last of the Mithraics. He doesn’t see any way of winning against the Atheists at this point. They have all the gear. They have a ship. They have hundreds of soldiers. He has almost nothing, but what he decides — what he thinks God wants him to do — is to find ways to convert these Atheists. He’s searching for something from this Mithraic prophecy that talks about the Tree of Knowledge. This prophecy lays out this idea that all who eat from this tree will be made pure. Marcus takes this to mean they can be converted, that he can actually convert these Atheists into believers. He’s trying to restart Mithraicism, a new brand of Mithraicism here on Kepler-22b, which in his mind is going to be more like a family and not so much of this hierarchical system of power that they had on Earth. This is something closer to a clan or cult, if you will.
New environment. New conditions. New neighbors. How will Mother and Father continue to evolve and adapt under these circumstances?
Last year, Mother tried her hand at creating a child on her own, outside of her partnership with Father… much to his chagrin. She’s created this natural child, this serpent, this monster that has been unleashed into the very environment where this colony is. She’s in this really tough spot. Mother has this connection to this monster that she’s created and no one else knows that it came from her. They just know that it is out there and that it’s dangerous. Only Father knows what the parentage of this thing is. She kind of has to make a choice. She’s really the one individual who would be able to destroy this thing that is threatening the colony. Yet, at the same time, she’s starting to understand she has this connection to it and that it came from her — that she might not be able to destroy it even if she wanted to.
Meanwhile, we have Father who started out feeling very resentful over what Mother created last season and the fallout that came from all of that. Since then, he has been reassembling this ancient android that he’s located. He’s kind of making a creation of his own now, so he’s putting together this new confidante for himself. He’s talking to it and working through this resentment that he has. At the same time, he’s putting this thing together. He’s trying his hand at creation. That will obviously take him down an interesting path.
How does everything thrown at Mother alter her mission and grand design?
Mother’s mission is to continue Atheistic civilization. In doing that, in a lot of ways, she is a servant of humanity. Now, she’s starting to really understand she is a servant to humanity and yet she has all these powers. She is something akin to a god. She tried to make something for herself, a child that came from her, and it’s kind of seen as a monster by these human beings. In some ways it reminds Mother that they see her in the same light. She has dedicated her entire being to shepherding them into the future, to being the mother of humanity, yet humanity won’t even accept this thing that came from her. She sees that as a reflection, in terms of how they really feel about her and how she fits into humanity. In some respects, she’s starting to figure out, ”What’s in it for me?” It’s an interesting question to start asking yourself if you are an android who has been put in charge of the future of humanity, but one that is sure to come up.
Episode 4 is a big game changer. What can we tease about the shift in power among the characters?
We have Mother and then we have the Trust, which is kind of Mother’s sibling. She was created by the same guy who programmed Mother. They have very different philosophies. They are both, obviously, pro-Atheist and they want what is best for the colony. The top of Mother’s hierarchy of concerns are her children. They come before everything or any other person. Her six children are top priority. Meanwhile, the Trust has to see the entire colony as a collection of people. No one is more important than anyone else.
At some point, a decision might be made that might endanger one of Mother’s children but be best for the larger collective of human beings. That would be the moment where Mother and the Trust would have a serious point of conflict. As you get into Episode 4, you will see that underlies an explosive confrontation between them.
What can viewers expect from the reunion between Mother and Marcus in that episode?
Yeah, it’s an interesting reunion with those two. At the moment that she encounters him, Mother does not have her powers. Marcus, on the other hand, is experiencing these mysterious abilities that he didn’t have before, that seem related to the sun. It’s almost like he is getting solar-powered charges. When we see the two of them come together and the resolution of this big pinnacle moment, we will start getting some understanding in terms of why Marcus has been experiencing these powers. What exactly is the source? How does it relate to Mother? It’s a big reveal, for sure.
The first two episodes of Raised by Wolves Season 2 are now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes released weekly on Thursdays.
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