Silo Episode 7 The Flamekeepers Explained- Can Bernard Be Trusted, Who Is Sims, And What The Flowers Meant

The truth has a way of coming out. You can’t keep the truth from catching fire, whether it be #Scandoval or a greater conspiracy like on Silo. Silo Episode 7 shows just how deep the rabbit hole goes as Juliette begins piecing together the layers of the betrayal below ground. Some know too much, and those who hold all the secrets. Unfortunately, Juliette is on Sims’ radar. She is dangerous to them, and that makes them very dangerous to her. Her days in the Silo are numbered. Here’s everything you need to know about Sims, The Flamekeepers, Juliette’s Dad, and if Bernard can be trusted.

Silo Episode 7 opens with Gloria Hildebrand having a memory or a vision of a family and the beach. It’s a lovely dream until she is jolted back to reality. She is in Long Term Care and being pumped full of meds designed to make her docile and forget. It all ties back to Alison and Holston. When Juliette recognizes the name in George’s book with the name in Holston’s file, she knows she has to investigate. She visits Gloria, but the nurse refuses to let her visit or take her out. She tells Juliette she is under orders from Judge Meadows, who turns out to be another frustrated cog in the wheel.

While this happens, Deputy Billings is forced to deal with a bar brawl in the mids by himself. He manages to control the fight and cover up her absence, but fear is taking hold. These two have the basis of a relationship forming. Juliette doesn’t trust easily, but she is learning to trust Billings. When he tells her he lied for her, she tells him about the investigation into George’s death. He reminds her to be careful pulling on threads connected to so many deaths, but she is in too far. Billings tells her where to find Judge Meadows, and Juliette arrives at her door with her breakfast and an attitude.

Is Judge Meadows a threat?

It appears Judge Meadows is no more a threat than anyone else, scared and controlled by Sims. When Juliette barges into her apartment, she finds a decidedly less put-together Judge Meadows. She is drunk and nursing a hangover. She is surrounded by relics and lost in her guilt. Meadows tells Juliette to stop searching for answers and asking questions before it is too late. She seems genuinely afraid of someone. For someone who supposedly has so much power, she is terrified. Likely, she is a figurehead like Jahns and Holston. Whether she is controlled by Bernard, IT, or Sims, we will have to wait to see.

What did Holston’s notes about the flowers and the vase mean?

At the end of Silo Episode 7, we finally learn what “Double the flowers in front of the mirror” meant. Holston knew the mirrors had cameras behind them like the one that Walker now has in her workshop. He put large flower arrangements there so his actions were at least partially hidden from Sims and his staff. The vase that Maitenance supposedly broke in her apartment and the missing flowers from Gloria’s room tipped Juliette off, and she now knows everyone is being surveilled. Unfortunately, Sims knows she knows. That makes her public enemy number one. They will try to remove her from the Sheriff’s office and have her sent out for cleaning for her knowledge.

Can Bernard be trusted?

Bernard does an admirable job trying to convince Juliette he is on her side. He points the finger at Judge Meadows and says she wants Juliette gone, but the intoxicated woman locked in her pain hardly seems capable of that kind of treachery. She even alludes to being controlled like everyone else. Bernard tries to align his and Juliette’s mission by explaining that her generator made the power, but his computers ensured it went where it was needed.

He claims Judge Meadows wants the power literally and figuratively for herself and is coming for Juliette. He tells her to help him protect themselves from her before it is too late. None of this jives with what we saw in Meadows’ chambers, though. That woman has no more free will than Juliette’s father, who has some explaining of his own to do.

Is Juliette’s father part of it all?

Juliette’s father, a doctor, helps Juliette break Gloria out of Long Term Care. He also helps Gloria wake up from her sedative to talk with Juliette. Gloria is the woman who convinced Allison in Episode 1 that the Silo lied about fertility. She becomes very agitated when she realizes Dr. Nichols brought her to the nursery, and he is forced to leave, but not before Juliette realizes the significant role he plays in the Silo’s machinations. He is just like Allison’s doctor, who lies about removing women’s implants so they can get pregnant.

He tells Juliette he was told he had to lie for the population’s safety. Dr. Nichols claims he was told the women he lied to would have propagated diseases and infected the Silo. Considering he is a man of science and should understand the way disease and genetics work, it is unlikely he believed them. He went along with it, though, probably to keep his family safe and potentially to ensure he would be allowed to have kids. Maybe he made a deal to help them if he was allowed to have children. He was scared to ask questions and told Juliette it always felt like someone was punishing those who were lied to.

Who are the Flamekeepers?

The Flamekeepers were those in the Silo who knew what it was like outside before the silos. None of them lived during the time before the silos, but they had knowledge of what the Earth was like. Gloria was one. George and his mother were both Flamekeepers, and it is implied that Juliette’s mother was at least peripherally attached to the group. Their knowledge and natural curiosity made them a threat to the power structure inside the Silo. There is something Judicial, Janitorial, and IT doesn’t want everyone to know. Even if you didn’t know the previous time, if you questioned authority and refused to accept everything you were told, you were punished.

Most never knew, and their genetic line ended with them. Others, like Gloria and Allison, put parts of the puzzle together. The Flamekeepers are in direct conflict with Sims and probably Bernard. Now that Juliette knows about the cameras, the fertility, and the book, Sims will not stop until she is silenced one way or another. Juliette is not good at mindlessly following orders. She will not be controlled like her father. Let’s hope she doesn’t end up like her mother. Fans of the book know she is on a collision course with a shocking secret that will propel the plot lightyears ahead.

Is Sims the Man Who Knows Everything?

Sims sure appears to know everything. He is the man behind the cameras and the keeper of all the relics. He is after Juliette now that Juliette knows about the cameras. The only thing we don’t know is if he is working with or against Bernard. His work would dovetail nicely with IT, but his character isn’t as developed in the Wool series. He could be an amalgamation of characters like Lukas and Sims. In the book series, he is Bernard’s henchman, but in Silo, he has more autonomy and power.

There is also one final critical character in the books that is introduced later. Sims could be that pivotal player, which makes him more powerful than almost anyone. I personally would love to see Bernard and Sims on opposite sides, as Common has been fantastic as a menacing, quiet presence. He is a perfect foil to Tim Robbins’ slimy Bernard. Both men are playing everyone around them. We just don’t know if they are working together or separately.

Another tense episode has Juliette on the run. In Silo Episode 7, revelations were revealed, and the elusive hard drive was found. Lukas and Juliette share a brief, if uncomfortable, kiss, and his stars will factor in soon. Pay attention to his comment that he saw something bright flit across the sky instead of remaining fixed like a star. That will become very important later.

Sims is after Juliette, and it is only a matter of time before he finds her. Can the last of the Flamekeepers keep hope alive? Information is power. Robert Sims has it with his endless cameras. Bernard wants all of it. Beofer Juliette runs. Gloria asks her one final question about her mother. She asks her if she knows why her mother killed herself, and Juliette looks shaken. Those who read the Wool series know there is more to Juliette’s mother’s death than she knows. As I said, the truth always finds a way. Find all our Silo coverage here.