Silo Timeline Explained

Although a lot of the plot of Apple TV+'s Silo has been kept a secret, the second season provides enough hints for viewers to put together a calendar of significant occasions. Seasons 1 and 2 of Silo, which are primarily based on Hugh Howey's first Silo novel, Wool, purposefully don't give away too much about the outside world and what happened to it before people were compelled to live inside the central silos. By delving into the past of another nearby silo and introducing a few new people, Season 2 expands on the overall lore.

The show's plot gains a lot of new depth from this investigation, but its chronology becomes even more muddled. The second season of Silo does a fantastic job of drawing viewers into the plot, but it doesn't reveal any specifics about the year it takes place in. Because of this, it is difficult to avoid focusing on a few minor advancements during the first two seasons of the sci-fi series on Apple TV+ and determining the precise time of its events.

Solo's Timeline Indicates the Date of Silo 17's Rebellion

Silo season 2 keeps the details of Solo's past and timeline vague for almost the whole duration of the show. The Steve Zahn character often tries to divert Juliette's attention or change the subject whenever she tries to delve into Solo's background. Juliette, however, makes the connection toward the end of Silo season 2 and discovers that Solo was only 11 or 12 years old at the time of Silo 17's uprising. She discovers his name, Jimmy Conroy, scribbled on a bench and remembers him talking about sitting next to a female in a Level B classroom.

Since the revolt broke out, a little more than thirty years have gone by in the show's timeline, as Solo was hardly even a teenager at the time. Solo appears to be older than forty, indicating that he has been in the vault for more than thirty years. The fact that the uprising occurred more than thirty years before the current timeline of Silo 17 is confirmed by the fact that its teenage characters, such as Hope, Rick, and Audrey, were not even born when it occurred, and even their parents were still children at the time.

Bernard has verified the construction date of the silos.

In Silo season 2, Bernard explains that the information database in the hidden chamber only offers a limited amount of information about the silos, just moments after granting Lukas access to the vault. Additionally, the head of IT attests that the silos were constructed 352 years before to the current chronology. This demonstrates how many human generations have lived in the silos and how the world has apparently been devoid of people for at least three centuries. It is difficult to avoid wondering what might have occurred to the outside world to render it uninhabitable for such a long time, especially because seasons 1 and 2 suggest that humans are still unable to leave their homes without sealed suits.

The Salvador Quinn Connection in Silo 18's Last Rebellion Verifies Its Timeline

Salvador Quinn served as the underground structure's mayor 140 years before to the current chronology, as confirmed by Silo season 2. It would make sense to argue that Silo 18 did not see any significant uprisings for nearly 140 years following Quinn's tenure, given that the last insurrection occurred during his reign and that he implemented drastic measures, such as erasing everyone's memories and destroying all trace of the past. Since the silos were constructed 352 years before to the current events, Quinn rose to prominence in Silo 18 about 200 years after they were constructed.

Almost every generation prior to Quinn's leadership began a rebellion in Silo 18, as the show verifies. But in order to end the cycle and stop history from happening again, Quinn added a memory-erasing substance to the water supply, which eventually caused the residents of Silo 18 to forget about their past while also destroying all traces of earlier uprisings. This would explain why the silo's residents hardly have any knowledge of the events leading up to the most recent uprising.

One Silo Season 2 Clue Indicates the Current Timeline's Year

In Silo season 2, just before she passes away, Meadows asks Bernard if she can go outside and briefly feel free. Despite having to turn down her request, Bernard gives her a virtual reality headset view of the outside world. It's interesting that the subtitles describe Bernard stating, "Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, 2018," as he leads her through her virtual reality experience. This minor fact seems to show that the apocalypse had not yet occurred and that the planet was far from being a wasteland in 2018.

It would be reasonable to presume that the show's silos were constructed concurrently with the current year in the real world, even though the precise date of the world-ending event is still unknown. The silos were probably constructed in the 2020s if everything was going well in 2018. The current year in the series should easily surpass 2370, considering that 352 years have gone by since the silos in the show were built. Because of this, Apple TV+'s Silo differs greatly from Hugh Howey's books. While the current timeline takes place in 2345, the construction of the silos is finished in 2052 in the source material.

The Timeline of the Final Flashback in Silo Season 2 Described

An interesting flashback featuring a conversation between a congressman and a journalist named Helen concludes Silo season 2. This flashback's timeline is unknown, however based on its imagery, it appears to be set in the actual world, most likely around the 2020s. The flashback appears to take place more than 352 years prior to Bernard's reign in Silo 18, given that Bernard affirms the silos were constructed 352 years before the show's current timeline.

It's interesting to note that in Silo season 1, the Congressman gives Helen the same duck Pez dispenser that Juliette later purchases from George Wilkins. This could imply that Helen eventually became one of the original inhabitants of Silo 18 and inherited the dispenser as a sign of defiance and optimism against the repressive regime of the silos. She might have been Wilkins' ancestor, as the flashback from Silo season 2 implies, and one of the original few Flamekeepers in Silo 18.