Raised by Wolves: The Horned Serpent
Musings about religion and mythology.
[Warning: This essay will contain spoilers for Raised by Wolves seasons 1 and 2.]
After finishing Raised by Wolves, the aspect of the series that stuck with me the most was the Serpent.
It makes sense that it was the most memorable part of the series, as it’s a grand spectacle of CGI for a TV series every time it appears onscreen. However, what made it so interesting to me at first was the way it was introduced. Throughout Raised by Wolves Season 1’s final few episodes, it’s revealed that a program Mother had been plugging into periodically had also made her pregnant. Despite being an android that shouldn’t have been able to harbor life in a similar way as a human, Mother had somehow become impregnated thanks to the program. It is, obviously, assumed the baby will be human. After all, Mother’s programming is designed for the care and nurturing of human children. Which means her baby, aptly titled “Number 7” since it would be her seventh child, would have to be a human as well.
However, things noticeably seem like they’re going awry right away. The baby is growing in her stomach at an alarmingly fast rate, to the point where it’s already halfway through development after around a day or two. When Tempest finds Mother in a crashed spaceship in Season 1, Episode 9, Mother is noticeably pregnant despite only a day going by. But that’s not the only oddity. The baby seems intent on drinking organic fluids, and is a particular fan of the blood of the creatures that inhabit the planet. By drinking the blood of organic lifeforms, the child also seems to be turning it into a powerful energizer. This is evident when Otho, the prisoner with a dangerous bucket over his head, manages to reverse his blood flow from Mother’s womb, becoming notably stronger. Whatever is growing inside Mother, it’s clear by the end of Episode 9 that it isn’t a normal human child.
This gets confirmed in the Season 1 finale, when Mother finally ends up giving birth to the child. She does so near a long-defunct, seemingly organic object that may be connected to her pregnancy. Mother had previously been having visions of the object while pregnant, meaning it seems to have some unseen connection to her baby. Regardless, the baby ends up squirming its way out of her mouth. But, as suspected, it is no ordinary human baby. Instead, it’s a serpent. The Serpent. Not only is it a long snake, but it also flies and has a leech-like mouth. A mouth it uses to feed on Mother’s milk, growing at an incredibly fast rate. Mother discovers from the remnants of the program placed in her by her creator, Campion, that this was her designated purpose. Not raising human children, but bringing the Serpent to life on Kepler-22b.
Mother’s birth of the Serpent isn’t the first time the snake appears in Raised by Wolves. Throughout Season 1, the Serpent is hinted at as a major symbol on Kepler-22b, though there’s no designation as to why. It appears on a drawing on the wall in one of the tents at Mother and Father’s first settlement. It shows up again in a cave painting Paul finds, squirming and seemingly whispering secrets to Paul that he shouldn’t be able to know otherwise. Marcus begins to have visions when he’s near death in the Season 1 finale, one of which sees Hunter’s arm turn into a snake. The symbolism of the serpent has been present since the start of Raised by Wolves. But it isn’t until Mother finally gives birth to the floating snake that legend and hallucination become reality.
Mother recognizes the danger of the Serpent immediately. Briskly, she makes preparations to go down one of the many large pits in the planet, intent on traveling far enough to destroy herself and kill the Serpent. Father discovers her plan, listening as she explains the danger the Serpent may pose to their human children. Father decides to go with Mother, riding down into the core of the planet in an attempt to destroy the Serpent. However, their attempts at killing it are to no avail. Instead, their ship passes through the core of the planet and crash-lands in Kepler-22b’s Tropical Zone. There, the now-massive Serpent is able to slither its way out of the ship’s broken window, rising into the sky. This sets up the events of Season 2, of which the Serpent plays a large role.
However, analyzing Mother and Father’s decision to kill the Serpent together begins to unravel the biblical and mythological elements of Raised by Wolves, especially when it comes to the Serpent. Overall, the Serpent in the Abrahamic Bible means bad business. A Serpent tempts Adam and Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge, resulting in God banishing them from the Garden of Eden. A Serpent is also present in the Book of Revelation, becoming a multi-headed, horned dragon that battles Michael the Archangel in the War in Heaven. It seems that, from a biblical standpoint, Serpents are chaotic beings prone to bringing about suffering and destruction. As proven in Mother’s eyes by the Serpent’s initial lust for blood, the snake in Raised by Wolves gives off a first impression of mistrust. And, instead of allowing it to grow, Mother and Father decided it was best to destroy it. Like Adam and Eve trying to cut off the head of their own reptile.
However, the symbolism of Raised by Wolves’ Serpent begins to change as Season 2 comes into focus. While Mother’s child Campion is out on his own, he ends up running into the Serpent. Due to an accident that kills a crew of workers, the Serpent is considered dangerous, and hunted down by the Atheist Trust to prevent any more deaths. Mother hunts with them, intent on killing the Serpent to ensure the safety of her children and survival of the Atheist commune. But when Mother finds the Serpent and offers it a bird to eat, the Serpent declines. Mother realizes it’s an herbivore. A gentle giant that would be remiss to harm anyone if she brought it back to the Trust alive. And so, against the wishes of many, Mother cages the Serpent near her home, feeding it pumpkins and other such foods, making it into an almost docile pet. However, it’s a pet her programming cares for like a child, no matter what its actions may be.
The docile nature of the Serpent at the start of Raised by Wolves Season 2 has no direct parallel between any major biblical or mythological ideas the series typically pulls from. Instead, Mother’s trust in the Serpent was reminiscent of the parable about the old woman and the snake. The parable goes as follows: An old woman is walking down the street and sees a poisonous snake has been injured. She takes the snake home and nurses it back to health. The pair become friends and live together for many, many months. Then, one day, while carrying the snake in her arms, the snake bites her. The old woman drops the snake. “Oh God!” she screams. “You’ve bitten me, and now I will surely die! Why did you bite me when I saved your life?”
The snake looks up at her and says, “You knew I was a snake when you first picked me up.”
While the Serpent begins with a docile nature, hints of its impending treachery are littered throughout its time in the cage. This includes its jealousy over Campion, who appears to be Mother’s favorite human child. Campion is the one Mother selects to be the next leader of the Trust when he grows old enough, putting the weight of that responsibility on his back at a young age. Even so, Mother trusts him because of her love for him. A love the Serpent is able to detect, and seems to get jealous at Campion for. This includes attacking him at one point when Paul and Sue are attempting to open a box containing a seed for the Tree of Knowledge. Not only does this scene indicate the Serpent and the Tree are connected—much like the Serpent in the Bible’s connection to Eden’s own Tree of Knowledge—but it also underscores how it sees Campion as a human threat.
Surprisingly, this idea of a conflict between Campion and the Serpent is hinted at as early as Season 1. During an exploration of the crash site of the Mithraic Ark, the group finds a tooth that seems to belong to Romulus. In particular, the group discusses the story of Romulus and Remus, the two brothers in ancient Roman mythology that fought each other for leadership and dominance. This is much like the conflict between Campion and the Serpent, albeit more one-sided since Campion has no ill will against his sibling. It appears the Serpent is jealous that Campion has been chosen as Mother’s next leader of the Trust, even though the Serpent was born and bred for the role. It was, after all, the meticulous work of the creator Campion that tasked the Serpent with bringing a level of balance to Kepler-22b. To have that taken away from it makes it feel like there is no other option but to kill his brother Campion.
This becomes an easier task for the Serpent because of its connection to the Tree of Knowledge. By the start of Season 2, Episode 7, Sue has successfully opened the box containing its seed by singing a Mithraic hymn. The seed enters her palm, turning her into the Tree. Bearing fruit that Paul distributes to the Trust in hopes it will convert them into belief in Sol, the Tree is a clear parallel to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The Serpent is also an obvious contender as a symbol for the Serpent itself. However, in the Bible, the Serpent tempted Adam and Eve into eating from the Tree. But in Raised by Wolves, the Serpent eats the entire tree itself. Paul and Marcus are forced to watch on in horror as the Serpent engorges itself on the Tree Sue has become. When it does, the Serpent becomes imbued with some sort of power from the Tree. It grows horns, tentacles, and wings, as well as an armored outer layer and the ability to shoot lightning and scream deathly screams like Mother.
It has, in essence, become an unstoppable force of technology and nature combined.
While the Serpent and the Tree of Knowledge have clear biblical parallels, I believe the Serpent’s final transformation may have had some inspiration from Norse mythology. Ancient Nordic beliefs involved a tree of its own: Yggdrasil. Considered a sacred tree in Norse cosmology, Yggdrasil holds the Nine Realms together. And, much like the Bible, a serpentine figure is associated with this particular tree too. The Serpent here is known as Nidhogg, a snake-like dragon at the base of Yggdrasil. Nidhogg gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil in hopes of tearing it up, disrupting the Nine Realms if it were to ever succeed. This feels similar to how the Serpent in Raised by Wolves actually did tear the Tree of Knowledge off its roots, consuming it to become more powerful. Perhaps this decision is a parallel to Nidhogg, and the darkest outcome of the Serpent deciding to use the power of a legendary tree for its own gain.
However, the Serpent is not interested in the subjugation of everyone in the Trust despite the power it now wields. Instead, it’s trained its attention on Campion and his future fate as the Trust’s leader. The Serpent sees Campion as a threat to the power it’s destined to have over the planet, and wants to ensure nothing can stand in its way. Screaming deathly screams and flying across the planet in a storm of lightning, the Serpent begins hunting for Campion. While the parallels between the two of them and Romulus and Remus are there, it’s clearly a one-sided ordeal. Campion tries to hide with the help of Vrille, but the Serpent wants to find him and destroy him using the power it gained from the Tree of Knowledge. It’s an ultimate act of greed, for the Serpent to turn its own brother into its final enemy. But, for the Serpent, it’s about controlling the planet. For Campion, it’s about saving his own life.
From a standpoint of symbolism, the Serpent appears to represent the harsh truth of Mithraic beliefs, which are linked to the nature of Kepler-22b. It’s established during the final episodes of Season 2 that “Sol,” which some characters claim to have heard as a voice in their heads, is actually a signal coming from deep within the planet, psychologically altering listeners’ perceptions of what it is. Sol is not a God, but instead a voice in the core of their new home. Just as the Serpent is not tempting survivors to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, the real Sol doesn’t align with pre-established religious beliefs. The religious symbolism is still present, and persists throughout the show. Especially when it comes to the Serpent. However, the actual presentation is twisted, as the Serpent eats the Tree, possibly referencing Norse mythology despite the clear biblical symbolism of a Serpent and a literal Tree of Knowledge.
The Serpent’s existence appears to extend the idea of truths in the world twisted for religious purposes. While the Serpent in the Bible told Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, the Serpent in Raised by Wolves takes these ideas and twists them into something familiar yet unrecognizable. This idea of rewriting reality for religious purposes is reflected in the Tree of Knowledge itself. As revealed in the Season 2 finale, the seed that turns Sue into a tree is one of many scattered in boxes across the Tropical Zone. While Sue, Marcus, and Paul believed their box to be the only one, as would be connected to Mithraic beliefs, the reality was much harsher and much less special. The Serpent also ate the tree to gain more power, even though the Tree of Knowledge in Mithraic belief is supposed to usher in a wave of new believers. But the Sue Tree never lasts more than a day before the Serpent consumes it. While the Serpent and the Tree hold familiar characteristics of real religions and Mithraic values, their application to Raised by Wolves’ reality is far different.
The special nature of the Serpent is also put on its head during its climactic final battle with Mother. Donning a veil that inhibits her emotions, Mother takes the Serpent to the edge of Kepler-22b’s ozone layer. High above the planet—and Campion, who watches from below—Mother screams at the Serpent, weakening it, causing it to plummet to the ground. There, with an unceremonious precision, Mother reaches into the Serpent’s eye, pulling out its brain. The Serpent is now dead, dying in a way that seemingly reflects Revelation, with the Serpent as the Dragon and Mother as Michael. But the context behind it is linked to other biblical and mythological ideas, hinting at the Serpent’s ultimate purpose.
While the Serpent has its connections to Kepler-22b and, to some extent, Mithraic beliefs, it was truly an individual being driven by its nature. A nature that, while it can be interpreted through a religious lens, ultimately follows that of an animal within a natural environment. However, since it’s something humans aren’t able to understand, like how it grew armor, tentacles, and wings from eating someone who turned into a tree, it’s easier to analyze the parallels of the Serpent’s behavior with religious stories. Ultimately, though, the Serpent was crafted for a purpose not fully understood, both because of its death, and because of Raised by Wolves’ untimely cancellation. The Serpent’s connection to religion feels unfinished, as we, the audience, haven’t seen the full consequences of its demise and how religious symbolism plays into what would have been its ultimate, final purpose.
However, one interesting thing does happen to the Serpent in the Season 2 finale. Its body breaks apart, and a Tree grows from it. While the Serpent is no longer alive to gnaw at its roots, the fact the new Tree’s roots were created from the Serpent may have inspiration from Norse mythology once again. The Serpent is now under the tree, much like how Nidhogg sits beneath Yggdrasil. It’s on this tree that Marcus is crucified upside down by Lucius, who has begun to hear the message from inside the planet and believes Sol is speaking to him. However, the very last shot of Raised by Wolves season 2 shows Marcus free of his crucifixion, hanging upside down above the Tree. Whatever power of the Serpent may have been in the Tree, it seems to have been imbued into Marcus. Which could mean the Serpent’s role in Raised by Wolves is far from over.
What truly makes the Serpent an interesting part of Raised by Wolves is its multifaceted connection to religion and mythology. Abrahamic, Norse, and even Roman beliefs and mythos are captured within the Serpent’s behavior and relation to things in its environment. The many layers of religious inspiration associated with the Serpent could make it difficult to parse its true meaning. However, I personally believe that’s the point. The Serpent is the embodiment of the mysterious forces on Kepler-22b that have been fitted into religious roles. In reality, though, these forces are wildly unpredictable, and sometimes even contradictory to Mithraic values. And yet, those forces are still tied to Sol, even if not everything lines up exactly with how the scriptures say things are. The many religious ideas orbiting the Serpent could be contradictory to show the hypocrisy of religion when trying to fit it into an observable reality. Or those religious ideas could be complex renditions of story and myth bolstered by context the first two seasons of Raised by Wolves weren’t able to show all at once.
The Serpent takes very clear inspiration from real religions and mythologies. But that meaning isn’t always succinct with the way those stories have been told for hundreds of years. Much like the contradictory nature of Mithraic beliefs and Sol, the Serpent takes our preconceived notions of religious symbolism and twists them, creating something uniquely itself. The Serpent does not need Eve or Yggdrasil to tell it how to symbolize itself. The Serpent simply is. And we can only use the tools at our disposal—the symbols throughout our own human history—to try to understand what it means.
Which is why the Serpent is, to me, the most interesting symbolic aspect of Raised by Wolves.
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