Seven
In the beginning of episode 2, Raised by Wolves Season 2 starts with Mother’s children debating over who left the sigil on the ground. Mother refuses to use violence though, shrugging off the suggestion of using guns and reinforcing that she’s a peaceful android now.
Mother’s dedication to this cause is soon challenged by the colony. She’s given a new task away from teaching the kids. Instead, she’s granted the role of “Punisher”, complete with a menacing mask and metal suit to boot. She’s given the unenviable task of hurting Tamerlane, who happens to be the culprit for leaving the Sol symbol outside her house. It’s something Mother’s not particularly happy about, but does so with minimum fuss. ..
Mother tells her kids that she’s sorry, but she had to do what she had to do to save them. She knows that Campion will be a great leader one day and she wants him to know that she was there for him.
A battered and bruised Tamerlane soon shows up at Mother’s house that night, expressing an apology on behalf of the Trust. While Father is all smiles, claiming there’s justice in the colony, Campion and the other kids exchange worried glances. Tamerlane’s beating causes him to grow disillusioned with the colony and following his beating, decides to join Marcus instead. A cheeky “come with us, if you want to live” line is thrown in for good measure here!
Mother encourages Tamerlane to take the egg back to its mother.
When Campion returns to the tree, he is stalked by a strange eel Mother gave birth to. It is monstrously big, much larger than when we left it and the two exchange a prolonged, uncomfortable look. ..
A mother eel finally arrives to help the colony after being absent for a while. The mother’s stomach begins to leak white liquid, the same place where the eel suckled on her originally. As the eel flies into the colony, it dives into the acidic ocean and with it, latches onto a military station and drags it into the water. ..
The Trust brief everyone the following day that they have decided to launch a mass-hunting trip to find the monster and kill it. However, will Mother be able to do that? Given the creature is technically her own child, we shall see!
For now, the protagonist tasks a teammate with sealing up their wounds and decides to go after the creature and kill it herself, armed with a monstrously large gun for company. Given her history, Mother deduces that she can do far more damage on her own away from the colony. Father however, decides to use the Mithraic captives as bait in his own campaign.
Marcus decides to sabotage the colony. Tamerlane offers himself up to disrupt the tank heading out, while Marcus joins him as they kill the soldiers inside. All except a guy called Santos, who Marcus tries to talk around. Unfortunately he tries to shoot Marcus, leading him to think quickly and shoot first.
Marcus is not happy with the decision to convert not kill these souls, but takes the time to praise Santos for Sol as the soldier passes away.
When Decima hears about the soldiers’ hunt for the monstrous Biotech eel, she believes it is a sign from the gods and decides to go after it herself. Meanwhile, Vrille is injured in the skirmish and runs into Campion who agrees to take her home. ..
As the episode ends, Mother stumbles upon the shed skin of the eel and decides to kill it. This monstrous eel is a killer of children and as such, deserves death. She burns the skin and continues on.
The Episode Review
In the second episode of Raised by Wolves, the development themes are tightened a bit as Father and Mother’s faith is tested while Marcus continues his crusade of recruiting followers of Sol. This is well sprinkled throughout the episode, with the show doing a great job of showing how faith affects family life.
The flying eel sets up a nice dynamic for the upcoming episodes, with the threat of the eel adding an extra dimension of threat and an extra layer of depth in the form of motherhood. This links back to the first episode’s question about how all living things deserve love – so why should this eel be any different? It’s certainly an intriguing idea and one I’m sure this show will explore more in the upcoming episodes. ..
At the end of the episode, it appeared that Mother had made her choice and decided to do what was right for the colony. However, this may not be what she truly believes. It remains to be seen how this will play out in the grand scheme of things. ..
The finale of this episode sets up nicely for next week’s follow-up, which is scheduled to drop with one episode at a time rather than last season’s continuous double-bill.
