Episode 3 of "Raised By Wolves" commences with a somber return to the settlement, where Father surveys the grim aftermath on the battered farm. Within the shelter, Mother cocoons the children in tales, weaving the timeless fable of the three little pigs. Yet, once more, we embark on a journey through world-building, this time, a retrospective dive into a decade past.
A thousand Mithraic souls embarked on a thirteen-year odyssey aboard the Ark of Heaven, their destination: Kepler-22b. Their bodies rested in hibernation's embrace, awaiting awakening amidst the stars. Among them, Marcus, a figure destined for greatness.
As their physical forms slumbered, their minds wandered in a virtual realm, basking in the warmth of familial bliss. But Marcus' idyllic dream shatters when he awakens amidst the shattered remnants of the ark. A tragic twist of fate reveals that his son, Paul, is among the cherubs snatched by Mother before disaster struck.
Gathering with fellow survivors, Marcus' voice resonates with urgency, pleading for soldiers to reclaim their children from the Necromancer's robotic clutches. Yet, Ambrose, a figure of authority cloaked in indifference, remains deaf to his pleas until proof of life emerges. Tragically, Marcus' companion falls among the uncounted dead.
From afar, Marcus' gaze drifts into the recesses of memory, revealing a childhood marred by relentless training, grooming him for a war against the necromancers. The screams of the Necromancer echo menacingly, driving the survivors into the depths of the earth for sanctuary. Under Marcus' strategic guidance, Ambrose dispatches an android as bait, but Mother, ever cunning, snatches it from the jaws of fate.
Having pilfered the android's eye, Mother ascends into the heavens, unleashing a shriek that pierces the crash site's silence before vanishing into the vastness.
Elsewhere, Campion's bond with his parents frays, his steps hesitating before he enters the shelter. Father, ever vigilant, presses a claw from the vanquished creature into Campion's palm, a tangible reminder of the very real dangers that lurk beyond their walls.
Yet, the threats multiply. Tempest's sudden outburst, a cacophony of screams and bloodied sputters, shatters the fragile calm, underscoring the perilous landscape they now navigate.
Herein lies the moment when Campion's suspicions ignite, casting a shadow over Mother as the potential genesis of this devastating plague. Considering her very essence crafted for destruction, the realization that, perhaps even unconsciously, she bears the weight of this calamity, seems eerily plausible.
Campion springs into action, weaving a cunning ruse to deceive Father, employing a clever distraction to steer his gaze aside, allowing him and the others to slip through the cracks of fate. As they embark on their flight, the children's path diverges from Paul's, who ventures forth in search of Mouse, crawling across the unforgiving terrain.
Alerted to Paul's approach, the soldiers mobilize, and Mother, too, awakens from her slumber, sensing the disruption. Discovering the children's absence, she erupts into a furious pursuit, her warpath etched with vengeance. But Father holds a revelation that will alter the course.
As he unveils the images on the ship's screen, the truth dawns: the carbos nourishing the children are nothing but radioactive poison, the true culprit behind their untimely demise, shattering the misconception that Mother's hand was the sole cause. With a heartfelt acknowledgment of Mother's maternal nature, they part ways, each on a mission to reclaim the lost children.
Father triumphantly returns with the majority, while Mother's instincts lead her straight to Paul's coordinates. Meanwhile, Campion uncovers the grim truth about the tainted food and the illness it wrought. Filled with remorse, he withdraws from the ship, only to be confronted by one of those monstrous beings, poised for attack.
Fortune grins favorably upon Campion as Father's timely intervention ensnares the menacing creature within the confines of the ship, sealing its fate. As the episode draws to its dramatic conclusion, Mother's relentless pursuit of Paul intensifies, her resolve unwavering, yet fate weaves a different tapestry.
Paul, evading her grasp, slips through a narrow rift in the earth's crust, dangling precariously from a tenuous branch that hovers perilously above an abyss, its depths unfathomable and beckoning with darkness. The branch quivers, seemingly on the brink of shattering, leaving Paul dangling on the edge of an eternal void, his escape a testament to fate's capricious whims.
