Raised by Wolves: Toying with Faith
How Season 1 of Raised by Wolves discusses faith.
[Warning: This essay contains spoilers for Raised by Wolves season 1.]
Raised by Wolves is an interesting series, with plenty of layers to uncover.
Having only seen Season 1 at the time of writing this essay, I feel like I’ve only gotten a taste of what this incredibly fascinating series has to offer. Set on the distant planet Kepler-22b, Raised by Wolves follows two androids, Mother and Father, programmed by a “creator” named Campion, to use pre-packaged human embryos to reshape humanity. The first episode slowly reveals that Earth was made uninhabitable due to a war between two key factions: The Atheists and the Mithraic. With the planet decimated, Campion sent two androids to Kepler-22b with a mission of building humanity anew.
However, things go awry within the first few years of Mother and Father’s colony. While they are able to successfully produce six children—including one they name after their creator—one child, Tally, falls into a massive pit near their camp. Soon, four of the five remaining children succumb to sickness, leaving only the young Campion as the sole survivor. As Mother and Father do their best to protect their last remaining child, a group of Mithraic scouts finds their camp. Mother, however, is a reprogrammed Necromancer, a type of android used by the Mithraic against Atheists in the war on Earth. Because she is capable of blowing people up by screaming, she does so, killing all the Mithraic but one: Marcus, a man with a burn on his face.
Mother ends up flying up to the Ark, a ship the Mithraic had populated and set course for Kepler-22b during the war. Mother goes there and kills almost everyone aboard, causing the ship to crash into the planet. However, there are a few survivors, some of whom are children. Mother takes five children and returns to the colony, intent on raising the kids as her own. One of these children is Paul, the son of Marcus as his wife, Sue. However, unknown to anyone, Marcus and Sue are not actually his parents. In reality, “Marcus,” is Caleb, and “Sue” is Mary, two Atheist soldiers who used a medical procedure to look like the real Marcus and Sue, who they killed. However, in the 10 years they spent in a shared consciousness system with Paul, they grew to love him as a real son. Thus, they decide to go on a mission to stop Mother and save Paul.
There are many other details about Raised by Wolves. Writing them would be an essay-length task all on its own. So, I want to talk about the most interesting thematic element of the series so far: Faith.
One of the key attributes of Raised by Wolves is how faith psychologically changes a person, and what it means to have faith in something. This is first toyed with when Campion begins to believe there must be some kind of spiritual world following the deaths of his original siblings. This is revisited with Campion throughout the series, as he tries to appeal to the Atheistic beliefs of Mother and Father while experimenting with practices like prayer behind their backs. Campion struggles with the idea of appeasing Mother and Father while also tackling his own evolving belief system, influenced even more by his new Mithraic siblings. While the first half of Season 1 shows Campion not choosing a clear side, the fact he’s influenced by belief in the Mithraic God Sol at all underscores the difficulty he has with believing in nothing.
However, later in the season, the Mithraic soldiers led by Marcus take him hostage, overtaking Mother and Father’s colony as a base of operations. Due to their devout practices and their belief Mother has brainwashed Campion into becoming an Atheist, the Mithraic hold a ceremony in order to convert Campion to their religion. Despite still being conflicted about the idea, Paul assures Campion that he should just do it, even if he doesn’t fully believe in it. At the ceremony, however, Campion notices that some of the structures used were cut from the headstones of his first siblings. The Mithraic dismiss their meaning because the children were Atheists. In turn, Campion decides he would rather be a prisoner than become converted. The rest of the season doesn’t touch on Campion’s conflicted belief system, possibly because the conversion experience made him decide where his faith lay.
The lack of focus on Campion’s religious faith following this event underscores just how much the scene impacted him. Even if he were to believe in Sol, Campion doesn’t believe his siblings—people he loved—deserve to be disrespected in death simply because their belief system was different. Or simply because they were too young to truly believe in anything. Campion’s mindset is one not of lacking faith, but instead faith on an individual level. While his original belief system of Atheism is called into question by the presence and influence of the Mithraic, Campion isn’t willing to embrace their way of life after they disrespected his family. For Campion, that which is tangible is more important that the spiritual beliefs someone holds. Even if he were inclined to believe in Sol, Campion still values the people he knows for sure are real over whatever his own spiritual viewpoints may be. It’s simply in his nature.
Campion is an example of how someone whose faith is called into question can become even more hardened into their original beliefs by learning more about the belief systems they could adopt. However, he isn’t the only one impacted by faith in Raised by Wolves. While Campion is a central character—perhaps even the secondary protagonist—of the show, every other character has their faith toyed with in some capacity throughout Season 1. Sometimes it’s a more grounded faith, such as Sue trying her best to be a good, protective mother for Paul. However, quite often, Raised by Wolves tackles faith in a religious way, such as with Campion. Aside from Campion, though, there are three characters who stand out the most to me when it comes to the idea of faith. While ever major character deals with faith in their own way—and could be written about at length—I’ve chosen to talk about Campion and three other characters to illustrate how multifaceted the idea of faith can be in Raised by Wolves. And how different presentations regarding faith can impact either change, or, like Campion, the hardening of one’s beliefs.
One character that stood out near the end of Raised by Wolves Season 1 was Paul. The son of Marcus and Sue, Paul becomes quick friends with Campion despite being kidnapped by Mother and forced to be his brother. Campion is there as a reassuring figure for Paul, who helps him gather mushrooms instead of eating the creatures, and even lets Campion hold onto his pet mouse, Mouse. However, since Paul was coerced by Hunter, another child survivor, into giving Campion Mouse, Campion is quick to return him, solidifying the friendship between the young boys. However, this friendship quickly sours when Campion realizes Paul wants to kill the creatures for food, something Campion doesn’t want to do because he’s afraid they will go nowhere when they die. This is a belief similar among both Atheists and the Mithraic, but it’s one only Campion seems to take issue with. Paul even uses the mushrooms he gathered with Campion as bait, causing a rift in their friendship.
Even so, the pair remain allies throughout the season. Paul tries to get Campion to pledge his faith to Sol, not only to protect him, but also because he doesn’t think it will be a big deal if Campion doesn’t believe in it. Despite being taught the superiority of the Mithraic, Paul doesn’t think any less of Campion for having a different belief system. While some ideas they don’t share cause conflict between them, such as the morality of eating the creatures, they are never so torn apart from each other that their friendship fades. At first, it seems as if their story is one of brotherly acceptance regarding different faiths. That, so long as there is respect amongst people with different belief systems, common bonds can still be formed. However, while this idea is thematically prevalent in the early stages of Campion and Paul’s relationship, this soon fades as Paul begins to grow…different.
One major mystery throughout Raised by Wolves has been a strange presence on Kepler-22b that seems to be taking advantage of Mithraic belief systems to manipulate people on the planet. One of those manipulated is Paul, who tosses a stack of mysterious tarot cards into a fire. Tarot cards that seems to spell out an unknown fate for Campion, his android parents, and the children on Kepler-22b. Whatever force made Paul do this also showed him moving cave paintings, including one of a Serpent. The Serpent would turn out to be Mother’s naturally-born child, which seemingly connects everything happening in Raised by Wolves’ plot. However, in terms of the thematic importance of the Serpent, it opens Paul’s eyes to a devout belief in Sol. While we, the audience, know that whatever is messing with people’s minds on the planet likely isn’t Sol, Paul genuinely believes it is. This belief was likely strengthened by the entity’s knowledge that Sue is not Paul’s real mother, something Paul confronts her about in his last scene in season 1.
Presented with a voice in his head speaking things to him he doesn’t know, Paul believes the unseen messenger to be Sol. This strengthens his religious belief, making him do whatever the voice wishes because he sees it as proof of the Mithraic religion. Despite helping Campion for the vast majority of Season 1, such as when Campion was imprisoned, Paul ends up turning against everyone at the end of the show. After making a speech revealing he knows the truth about Sue, Paul runs off, never to be seen again during Season 1. His ending is left up in the air, as it’s unclear where he’s gone off to. However, his turn toward hardened religious steadfastness underscores the purpose of his character: How signs perceived to be of a religious origin can harden one’s faith in their beliefs.
But signs of religious origin can also make someone question the belief system they’ve held all their life. Such is the case with Marcus (formerly Caleb), Paul’s “father” who becomes embroiled in conflict with Ambrose, leader of the Mithraic survivors from the Ark. Much of this has to do with Marcus attempting to adjust to the Mithraic way of life, having to begrudgingly pretend he doesn’t hate a religious group that slaughtered tens of thousands, some of whom were his friends. At one point, an android is singing a war tune signifying victory for the Mithraic people. Marcus is visibly upset, as androids often sang the same songs when his former Atheist comrades fell in battle. However, Ambrose and others in their group point out the song is worthy of celebration, forcing Marcus to reevaluate the way he reacts to certain things.
All of this comes to a head when the group finds a mysterious object, which I’ll be referring to as the “Black Box.” The Black Box is seemingly part of a Mithraic prophecy about an orphan boy who will bring peace and unity to a new world—that new world being Kepler-22b. While at the Black Box, Ambrose grows suspicious of Marcus and Sue, believing them to be traitors to Sol. However, by sheer luck (or perhaps some other force), the Black Box heats up, allowing Marcus to burn Ambrose to death by pushing him into it. Marcus takes up leadership of the Mithraic, at first using this happy little coincidence to him and Sue’s advantage. While they may not believe in Sol, they can use the Black Box killing Ambrose as a way to claim Sol has chosen Marcus as their new leader. And, as Marcus leads the group toward the settlement where Paul and the rest of the Mithraic children are with Mother and Father, this is his mindset. He is not here as a religious leader. He is here to save the son he grew attached to over the last ten years.
However, Marcus soon begins to see and hear things that aren’t there. Visions of the Serpent, like Paul, but also whispers telling him to do certain things. While Sue believes these are side effects from the deep slumber they were in for ten years on the Ark, Marcus believes it to be something more. And, with all the mysterious happenings on Kepler-22b, it very well might be. As Marcus begins to follow orders of the voice in his head and visions before him, he begins to unravel. It comes to a head when he fights the “Caleb” version of himself in the forest, wrestling with the decision to throw an incapacitated Mother down a pit despite the voices telling him not to. When he returns to the Mithraic-controlled settlement, Marcus begins to consider the prophecy. The orphan boy who will bring about great peace in a new land. Because of his visions, the whispers in his ears, and the fact that he is, in fact, an orphan, Marcus concludes that he is the orphan boy spoken about in Mithraic prophecy.
From here, Marcus descends into what can only be described as madness. He swiftly becomes a devout believer of the Sol in his head. However, it scares Sue, whose only goal is to protect Paul. While she tries to plot an escape with her son and Campion, it quickly goes awry. Sue, Paul, Campion, and the rest of the children are finally able to get away near the end of the season, but Marcus’ mind has been made up. Despite losing his wife, knowing that their beliefs have drifted apart, Marcus is still intent on finding her. He leads his people to the Black Box, hoping to find some modicum of answers. However, all that’s waiting for him is betrayal. Eventually, Marcus’ inability to perfectly conform with Mithraic beliefs becomes his downfall. The real Marcus executed one of “Marcus’” followers fathers. While the real Marcus treated this in the same vein the Mithraic always have, “Marcus” did not. This slowly led his loyal followers to realize they had been duped. The end of Season 1, Episode 9 sees Marcus in a ditch, seemingly dying.
The Season 1 finale doesn’t feature Marcus heavily. However, what few scenes he has illustrates how consumed he has become with the idea of being Sol’s prophetic leader. It also connects to Paul’s Serpent visions and Mother’s child, as Marcus sees a vision of Hunter, whose arm becomes a snake. While there is no clear connection between Marcus and the Serpent just yet, the vision illustrates how Kepler-22b is using Mithraic ideas to plant notions of prophecy in Marcus’ head. By being presented with visions no one else is having, the entity on the planet is appealing to Marcus’ ego. This causes him to shift beliefs, relinquishing the Atheistic ideas that could get him persecuted in favor of embracing Sol with open arms.
However, it’s clear much of his religious fervor is influenced by the idea that he is the protagonist of the Mithraic movement. If Marcus didn’t think himself a prophet, then it’s unlikely his dedication to Sol would be so strong. His story underscores how religious ideologies can sometimes turn people toward them not because of genuine belief, but because they appeal to egocentrism. While the voice Marcus is hearing is likely real, the voice is most certainly not Sol. Yet, for Marcus, it is, becoming a sign that he and he alone is special within the context of the Mithraic religion. Even if this isn’t the case, for Marcus, it provides an outlet he’s never had before. A chance for a leadership position he’s never been able to achieve. And it reflects how belief systems can sometimes appeal to those who want power more than those who truly believe in something. Taking advantage of a set of beliefs for personal gain. Marcus may even think he believes in Sol. But the fact that he could only truly embrace the religion by way of becoming its prophet speaks to the egoist angle more than it does his genuine belief.
Genuine belief can be difficult, though, even if someone is presented with ideas contradicting what they’ve been programmed to believe. This is most true for Mother, one of the more interesting case studies involving faith that Raised by Wolves presents. As an Atheistic Necromancer reprogrammed to be a caregiver, Mother does not stray from her hardwired beliefs in Atheism. She does not think Sol is real, nor that the Mithraic hold some sort of religious power over Kepler-22b. Instead, Mother thinks of the world in calculating ways. While Raised by Wolves Season 1 illustrates her becoming more in tune with human emotion—sometimes even feeling it herself—Mother doesn’t consider the possibility of prophecy being fact. Instead, she tries to process the events she experiences through reason and rationality. However, these notions are soon tested when Mother decides to plug herself into an abandoned system, unlocking memories of the Creator Campion.
Mother spends a good amount of time in the middle of Season 1 plugged into the system, learning more about her early life as Campion’s experiment. His attempt to reprogram a Necromancer from a high-tech killing machine to something that could help raise humans in a new, off-Earth environment became a success. However, it seems Campion also fell in love with her. Mother replays the memory of their goodbye over and over, somehow infatuated with the idea of falling in love with Campion. However, these notions of romantic love seemingly go against her programming. Even so, Mother ends up consummating her love with Campion, all thanks to the love she feels for him that she’s not programmed to feel. Mother spends the next few episodes seemingly wrestling with this idea while trying to maintain a matter-of-fact feel to her exterior. However, it’s obvious her time with Campion in the system has taken a toll on her. And, soon, it’s revealed to have taken one that nobody could have anticipated.
In Season 1, Episode 8, Mother realizes that, somehow, her time with Campion in the system has caused her to become pregnant. Despite not knowing she was able to harbor organic life inside her, Mother was somehow impregnated by the Campion she interacted with in the system. However, the pregnancy is not like that of a human. In fact, it progresses much faster, as Mother is in need of constant organic sustenance for the child growing inside her. At first she takes it from a still-living android aboard the wreckage of the Ark, where she went to try and figure out why her internal system was acting up. She then siphons blood from a creature after killing it, as it seems the baby inside her is more keen on getting organic material. Mother’s need to care for the unborn child is so strong that, when one of the Mithraic children, Tempest, comes to find her, Mother tells her to stay back. She doesn’t know what she’ll do to Tempest in the name of protecting her new baby.
For the rest of the season, Mother’s primary focus is on the coming baby. However, there is also a slight focus on her knowledge that her getting pregnant makes very little sense according to her programming. Somehow, her mechanical body has been crafted to house organic life. It’s something that confuses her, yet it’s also something she comes to accept. As an android, it seems Mother is able to process events more steadily than the human characters in the show. However, it doesn’t stop her from wondering what will happen. For Mother, the care of her unborn child is of the utmost importance, even though she still wonders how it happened. Her portrayal creates a blurred line between programming and processing. She knows what’s happening to her is strange. However, she’s also willing to accept it because she trusts Campion’s programming capabilities. This is, after all, what he wants from her.
However, in the Season 1 finale, Mother finally breaks free of accepting her programming once she realizes what her child truly is. Inside a cave, Mother discovers a mysterious, possibly organic device that she has been having visions about since her pregnancy began. Being close to the device causes her child to be born. However, the child emerges from her mouth, and is neither android nor human. Instead, it’s a flying serpent with a leech-like mouth that she begins to nurse. Not only is nursing the Serpent painful, but Mother realizes that, due to its need for blood when it was in her stomach, the Serpent may become deadly for the children. However, the creator Campion arrives in her head, telling her the Serpent was her real mission. That the Serpent is what will bring about a new era for life in the universe, and on Kepler-22b. This is Mother’s real mission. This is what she was programmed to do.
However, Mother decides to reject her programming. It has nothing to do with the religious symbolism of the Serpent as established in Paul and Marcus’ visions. Nor does it have to do with her sub-mission of maintaining Atheistic belief amongst the children. Instead, it is an emotion-based ideal, as Mother doesn’t want to see her human children harmed by the Serpent that had been growing inside her. So, together with Father, Mother boards the small ship they arrived on the planet in, intent on driving down a pit into the center of the planet, killing themselves and the Serpent as well. Things don’t go as planned, though, as Mother and Father end up coming out the other side of the planet, where the now-massive Serpent escapes into the sky. But what’s most important about Mother’s decision isn’t how the Serpent survived. Instead, it illustrates the notion of faith from a scientific perspective instead of a religious one.
While Campion, Paul, and Marcus are interesting case studies into faith through religion, Mother’s programming doesn’t allow for the consideration of Sol or Mithraic beliefs being true. Instead, she relies on the trust she has for creator Campion and his programming, which she believed was meant to prioritize taking care of the human children she had been raising this whole time. However, upon discovering she’d been tricked by him into giving birth to the Serpent, Mother decided to override his intentions. Campion may have built Mother to give birth to and raise the Serpent, but her attachment to her child Campion and the other children overrode her purpose. Mother’s decision to try and kill the Serpent shows how she is rejecting the intentions of her creator, doing away with what she was built for in order to forge her own path. Therefore, Mother’s story in Raised by Wolves Season 1 is a tale of self-sustainability. Of realizing that ascribing to one belief system can be detrimental in some circumstances, and following one’s individual morality can often be the best course of action you can take.
Campion, Paul, Marcus, and Mother all reflect very different lenses one can look at faith through. Some, like Campion, question their belief system, until something drives them to embrace it more fully. Others, like Paul, can be swayed toward a stronger conviction toward what they believe through perceived images of the divine. Marcus is a case of someone who, when presented with seemingly spiritual contact, dives headfirst into his belief system, motivated by the idea of being the center of it all. And for Mother, it’s not about the system of religious belief, but rather the morality at the core of all things. While they are not the only characters in Raised by Wolves Season 1 to experience journeys of faith, they are—to me—the most interesting, and the ones who best establish the many lenses through which the series explores faith.
Faith is a big part of Raised by Wolves, for both its characters as well as its settings. Given the multifaceted ways in which the series has displayed faith through its characters in Season 1, I’m interested to see where the series will go thematically in Season 2. It seems that Campion is now a viable candidate for the Mithraic prophecy as well, given that Mother and Father are on the other side of the planet, making Campion an orphan boy. How this possibility will mesh with Campion’s current belief system is unknown, but it could lead to contention between him, Paul, and Marcus, all of whom qualify for the candidacy. No matter what transpires in Raised by Wolves Season 2, I think it’s safe for me to anticipate even more interesting, unique ideas regarding faith.
I’m looking forward to continuing the journey.
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