NÃO PERCA: 13 Burning Questions Ahead Of Season 2 🍿

What Is The Joining’s Endgame?

Naturally, this is still one of the biggest! A radio signal holding an RNA sequence came from Kepler-22b. The Others can’t hurt a fly, let alone a fellow human. They consume HDP — literal human protein — because they can’t even pick an apple. The population is expected to starve to death within a decade. So what the heck is the endgame? Why was the signal sent? Why this specific biological imperative? Why is the hive working so hard not only to link everyone on earth, but spread their ~gift~ via antenna? I don’t care how long I have to wait to find out, but I DO hope we get answers to the big overarching questions at some point.

How To Reverse The Joining? And What Happens If You Do?

Also up there? How to reverse The Joining, especially now that the clock is ticking for Carol! We’ll dive deeper into the radio signal in a bit, but another related question is if The Joining is undone, what happens next? What does that other new, forever changed world look like? Do The Others effortlessly return to their human lives with no memory of the unprecedented event? Do they remember their experiences and long to part of the hive mind and feel that happiness again? Can society recover? Will they be grateful to have been saved? Will their brains even function? And how does an un-Joining impact Zosia, who left her life behind completely to be Carol’s chaperone? Is there any possible happy ending for her and Carol?!

Was Zosia’s Individuality Actually Peeking Through?

While viewers were curious about the possibility of individuals breaking free from the hive mind throughout the course of Season 1, Episode 8 took related questions and theories to new heights when Carol and Zosia spent some crucial quality time together. Zosia started using “I” and “me” pronouns, showed a developed personality, she initiated a kiss with Carol, the two slept together, and the next morning she recalled a happy memory from pre-joined Zosia’s life about her love of mango ice cream.

As Karolina Wydra herself confirmed, there are a lot of ways to look at Zosia’s Episode 8 actions, and while they may have been manipulative and/or born from real love for Carol, Wydra also said, “Maybe Zosia is moving herself out of the collective a little bit, and [with the kiss], you’re seeing a different side of Zosia, and her personality, and more of her individuality… You see this shift. Even the croquet scene, you all of a sudden see Zosia having a banter with Carol and just giving shit to her,/ They have this moment where you haven’t seen Zosia behave this way, she’s got a bit more spice and personality. So the question is, again, is that who Zosia is? Or is Zosia performing?”

With such a huge focus on the collective versus the individual throughout Pluribus it’s such a compelling thought that perhaps there’s a way to access and isolate a hive member’s pre-Joined self (as Manousos was trying to do in the finale). So were flickers of the real Zosia peeking through? What would happen if her individuality was probed in greater depth, or say, she were to eat mango ice cream? Is separating one individual even possible? And if so, could it be a key to undoing the collective?

What Made The 13 Old Schoolers Immune?

There’s a chance we’ll never know why Carol and the 12 others like her were immune to the virus, and there are certainly viewers out there who don’t want to find out or feel it’s better for the story if it remains a mystery. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. Does it ultimately matter why? If it’s a rare gene mutation or some other very specific anomaly, will knowing matter much to viewers? Maybe not. But I’m just so damn curious about every detail of this world that YEAH, I admittedly would like to know what brought these 13 incredibly different individuals together and set them apart from the rest of humanity.

How Long Until The Others Tailor The Virus To Each Old Schooler? And How Will They Force The Joining?

The Season 1 finale confirmed what fans feared for weeks: Zosia and The Others are using the eggs that Carol froze in 2011 with Helen to access her stem cells. They’re actively working on tailoring the virus to her and plan to turn her against her will in one to three months time. So the question now is how far along are they with the other Old Schoolers?

We saw Kusimayu (Darinka Arones) join the hive by inhaling her tailor made virus. And we assume if any of the remaining Old Schoolers had joined, Zosia would have used them as examples when trying to convince Carol how great it is. So now that we’ve confirmed the hive doesn’t need consent to turn people, they just needed consent to do the invasive needle-in-hip extraction procedure because they can’t harm people without permission, every Old Schooler has reason to fear. Have The Others found ways to access anyone’s stem cells besides Carol’s yet? And if so, how much time do they have? Am I the only one worried about the blood Manousos lost in the hospital?! And how will The Others force those who aren’t as willing as Kusimayu to turn? AHH!

How Much Power Does Wycaro Hold? And What Does “339” Represent?

Since the start of the series, when Carol’s book reading drew a line of passionate readers, Pluribus stressed the importance of Carol’s writing and the fictional world she created. But does Wycaro hold more power than even she knows in the show? On one hand, The Others are obsessed with her books. They nearly foamed at the mouth when they learned she was writing again, and they’re desperate to read something new. So is there a world in which Carol uses her writing skills and the new Wycaro book to craft a beneficial narrative and pass along specific information that speaks to them on a deeper level? We saw how excited Zosia was to read Carol’s new pages and plot twists — to learn new information, beyond what’s instilled in the collective conscience. As Carol told Diabaté in Episode 6, “I am a professional writer and I can come up with shit like robots all day long.” So perhaps there’s power in writing as a tool to teach or open The Others’ eyes to new ideas down the line.

On the other hand, is there a chance that Wycaro‘s existing text holds clues for viewers about where Pluribus is headed? Apple TV recently made a chapter from Carol’s Bloodsong of Wycaro, the fourth book in her Winds of Wycaro trilogy, available through Apple Books. So give it a read to learn more about Lucasia and Raban’s story. I frequently think about a Reddit from Specialist_Jaguar815 that explores Bloodsong‘s possible ties to the real-life events and direction of Pluribus. So give that a read, too, and ask yourself: Could there be more to Wycaro‘s role in the series than meets the eye? And before I forget, we still don’t know what the heck the 339 in Wycaro 339 (Pluribus‘ code name for secrecy) stands for, so I hope one day we find out!

What’s The Deal With The Radio Transmission?

Like Manousos, we already knew it in our hearts, but the Season 1 finale confirmed that the 8.613 radio frequency Manisos heard mysterious sound waves on is directly connected to the hive mind. As noted in our finale recap, while The Others seize, the sound of that frequency changes. We learned in Episode 8 that The Others communicate via “the body’s natural electromagnetic charge,” and Manousos tries to disrupt those waves and speak to the individual. While his initial method was unsuccessful, the end of the episode shows him reading about electromagnetic fields, crystallography, and other complex subjects to better understand how to undo the Joining and interfere with that frequency. Could they try blocking the signal by isolating one of The Others in a cave (another Wycaro reference) or type of Faraday box? Could they broadcast over 8.613 if they figure out the source? We’ll have to wait and see, but Gilligan has confirmed that the shortwave signal Manousos is picking up on Earth isn’t the same signal from space that led to The Joining. So at least we know that for sure!

Can We Learn More About Backstories, Non-English Speaking Old Schoolers, And Other Day 1 Journeys?

More of a personal question to please me, specifically, but I’m desperate for more information on the other Old-Schoolers. I love how much time we’ve spent with Carol, but seeing Kusimayu’s village and talking to Samba Schutte about Mr. Diabaté’s compelling backstory reminded me how badly I want to learn more about the Old-Schoolers, their lives before the Joining, their Day 1 reactions, and what they’re up to now. Give us more Laxmi (Menik Gooneratne), show us Manousos on Day 1 (especially considering The Others didn’t know about him for the first 33 hours!), bring back Otgonbayar!, and what’s going on with the other non-English speaking Old-Schoolers out there?

What Else Has Vince Gilligan Already Told Us?

Fans of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul know that the brilliant Vince Gilligan is a masterful foreshadower and loves a good Easter egg, and we were reminded of those facts on numerous occasions in Season 1. From surprising fans with delightful voice cameos to dropping hints about the big frozen egg twist, the man is dedicated to details. So what else has Vince already told us or hinted at in Season 1 that may prove relevant in future seasons? Will “the girl saves the mouse from the trap” gain deeper meaning? Will the mentions of volcanoes amount to something more? What’s up with the ACEBABY license plate? Tell us what other curious details or potential clues you catch on your Pluribus rewatches.

Is Creativity Dead?

While we’re on the topic of Carol’s writing, lots of viewers have been wondering if The Joining marked the end of creativity, art, and new ideas and creations in the world, be it not for the Old-Schoolers. We know that the hive has the memories and knowledge of 7 billion people stored and can recall already known facts, but are they capable of creating new inventions, music, math equations, art, ideas, or writing fresh original thoughts of their own? They can learn new things, but they can’t seem to figure out how to save themselves from starvation, so how limited are The Others? If an Old-Schooler were to request they create something wholly original, could they? Truly, what a nightmare.

What’s Up With The Animals? And The Babies?

In Episode 2, Pluribus revealed that The Others let animals loose from zoos, and that holding them captive, along with killing them is a big no in their books. Since then, we’ve got eyes on wolves, a rabbit, and even a lone bison on a golf course. And in Episode 8, when Carol met a dog that stayed close to its former owner, Zosia revealed animals weren’t impacted by the virus either. So where are all the animals in the world? And why are they immune?! While we’re here, let’s check in on the children, too. We saw Carol’s young neighbors in the pilot, but since then children sightings have been scarce. And where are the babies? Are they geniuses? Can they speak fluent hive mind?!

Will We Get More Iconic Cameos?

From Jeff Hiller and John Cena to real Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, Pluribus Season 1 featured its fair share of surprise guests, including delightful voice cameos from Better Call Saul stars Patrick Fabian and Tony Dalton. So fingers crossed the fun celeb cameos and nostalgic nods to Gilliverse shows past continues in Season 2! Jonathan Banks. Carol Burnett. Giancarlo Esposito. The possibilities are endless. And of course, Bob Odenkirk x Pluribus when?! Better Call Carol!

How Many Pluribus-Related Calls Has Rodmor Automotive Received Since Episode 8?

Speaking of that scene with the dog, I’m curious how many Pluribus-related calls Rodmor Automotive, a real-life Albuquerque business, received after Gilligan featured an add and a real phone number in the Rio Rancho Events Center scene of Episode 8 — especially after the callable phone number they set up for Carol (and viewers) in the pilot.