WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for the first two episodes of Raised by Wolves Season 2, now available on HBO Max.
In HBO’s Raised by Wolves, Travis Fimmel’s Marcus has cut a very sinister figure, losing his way after sneaking aboard the Mithraic ship, the Ark of Heaven, in Season 1. Born as Caleb, he along with his wife, Mary, took out a religious couple, using a bot to turn them into Marcus and Sue — all so they could head to a new planet, Keppler-22b, with their “son,” Paul.
Initially one of the Atheists, Marcus soon became corrupt with the Mithraic faith and a mysterious god, Sol. He waged war on Campion and the kids’ Mother and Father were raising away from both factions. However, while it seemed like Marcus lost everything, Season 2 kicked off by giving him a new family and purpose.
Marcus lost his mind trying to keep the disguise up, as he couldn’t let the Mithraic know he was an Atheist. Unfortunately, his crusade led to Mother turning into a war-bot, the Necromancer, and destroying most of the Mithraic fleet. Season 2 began with a vengeful Marcus commandeering a ship to try to go after the Atheist Colony in the Tropical Zone, convinced they should bend the knee to Sol. However, their A.I. known as the Trust took over the vessel, forcing Marcus out and into hiding. He ended up in a cave, on the verge of giving up, but he soon realized this was a Mithraic cave where holy relics existed. Marcus wanted to decipher the secrets of the tech, and interestingly, he found Decima, a Mithraic prisoner in the Atheist labor force, with her android “daughter,” Vrille. He rescued them in “The Collective;” although, he hated the bot because he thought it reminded him of a young Mother.
Decima admitted, though, the bot was modeled after her dead daughter, as she lost so much on the trip over. When the Atheists took over their ship, the Tarantula, Decima was one of the engineers who lied and said the ship could make the 12-year journey. It was part of her plan to thin the Atheists hijackers out, as they wouldn’t be able to hibernate, and would use up food and other resources. This worked against her own Mithraic, however, so she felt guilty, especially as those who were left alive were now slaves. This story warmed Marcus’ heart because he had scrubbed his old Atheist persona and believed in Sol fully, preaching the word to Decima, as well as redemption. As she and the bot slept, he envisioned them as Sue and Paul, with the latter reluctantly in Mother’s camp with the kids after finding out the truth about his parents.
Ironically, after spending valuable time with Decima, Marcus has let go of that era. Paul hates him for messing up his family, while Sue wanted to get away from religion, but this is a new and most welcomed direction. In addition, he rescued a prisoner from the Atheist slave group in “Seven,” glad to know that this Mithraic soldier is down for the cause.
Together, they all want to help Marcus find the “sword” to head to the “Knowledge Tree” his visions spoke of, with Decima indicating maybe the giant snake Mother let loose on the planet is that sword. Buoyed by finally finding an encouraging partner, Marcus wants to find the snake to fulfill his destiny. The problem is Vrille accidentally wandered into Campion’s team, so Marcus and Decima will have to free her to help locate the floating beast. However, as fate would have it, this would give Marcus a chance at rescuing new Mithraic recruits to bolster ranks in his new cult.
The first two episodes of Raised by Wolves Season 2 are now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes every Thursday.
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