Silo season 2: Why is Solo hidden in the vault? Explained

Silo season 2 introduced Solo as the only survivor after the rebellion in Silo 17. And ever since Steve Zahn joined the cast to play the character of Solo, his backstory has been a subject of speculation for the viewers.

In Silo season 2 episode 3, Solo claimed that Silo 17's head of IT, Russell, put him inside the vault to guard it when the fighting started. He also claimed that he was the head of IT's shadow pre-rebellion. He has been in the vault for many years and took his duty of not opening the vault to anyone, ever, very seriously.

While Solo's story sounds believable on the surface, later episodes of the series revealed that Solo hasn't been truthful about his identity. It also puts the reason why he was inside the vault into question.

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Why is Solo inside the vault in Apple TV+'s Silo season 2?

Solo was first introduced in the final scene of Silo season 2 episode 1, although he wasn't named at the time. At the time, his character appeared as the eyes of a man hidden inside the locked vault in Silo 17. Juliette Nichols saw him at the small glass opening of the vault when she followed the music while exploring the abandoned Silo.

More about his character was revealed in Silo season 2 episode 3. During his conversation with Juliette, while Solo is still inside the vault, he tells her about the rebellion that happened in Silo 17 that led to all its citizens dying. Solo also told Juliette about why he was inside the vault—that the head of IT, Russell, put him to guard the vault when the rebellion started.

He claimed to be Russell's shadow, which would make sense as to why he was the one tasked to protect whatever was inside the vault. After all, only the head of IT and his shadow were supposedly the only people allowed inside. He also told Juliette that Russell instructed him never to let anyone inside the vault, ever, and Solo has been following that command ever since.

However, in Silo season 2 episode 5, Juliette learned that Solo wasn't very honest about who he was and his past. Early in the episode, Solo said that his real name pre-rebellion was Cole Myers. Juliette later found a directory of employees, where she confirmed that Cole Myers was the last shadow for the head of IT in Silo 17. However, the Cole Myers in the picture doesn't look like Solo.

Juliette also found a picture of Cole Myers, aka "Solo," and a woman named "Tiny," and again, the man didn't look like Steve Zahn's Solo. When Juliette confronted Solo about the discrepancy in his story, that he didn't look like the man he claimed he was, Solo became angry.

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Was Solo lying about his identity?

After Juliette's discovery in Silo season 2 episode 5, it becomes clearer that Steve Zahn's Solo character is not the same as Solo in Silo 17 pre-rebellion. One theory about his identity is that he was the little boy in the flashback story shown in the first episode of Silo season 2.

The episode kicked off with a boy named Timmy delivering a message to his father, and then his father told someone else to put Timmy somewhere safe before the fighting started. It could be that young Timmy was kept inside the vault because it was the safest place to hide him because the seal in the vault door would have kept the toxic air from entering.

If that were the case, then the pre-rebellion Solo would be his father, and Tiny would be his mother, who both died during the rebellion. Steve Zahn's Solo could have assumed his father's nickname and his job as the head of IT's shadow to justify why he was inside the vault.

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Solo's life in the vault in Hugh Howey's books explained

Silo was based on Hugh Howey's trilogy of novels, specifically the first book in the series titled Wool. While the show stayed true to the books, it deviated from the source material from time to time.

In Solo's timeline in Howey's books, he was 17 years old during the rebellion. He was the son of the head of IT, not the shadow of the head of IT, as mentioned in the series, and was asked to guard the vault when the fighting started. In the second book of Howey's trilogy, Shift, Solo's real name is revealed to be Jimmy Parker.

While the show may have deviated in terms of Solo's backstory from the books, his character remains a crucial one in Juliette's journey, especially in her quest to save Silo 18. In the books, Solo teaches Juliette how to communicate with other Silos, but whether the series will follow the same plot or not is yet to be revealed.

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Stay tuned for more news and updates on Silo season 2 as the year progresses.