Hugh Howey is the author of the Silo Trilogy, a series of science fiction novels that later inspired the creation of the Silo TV series streaming on Apple TV. Howey served as an executive producer and recently addressed one of the changes made to the original material that fans quickly criticized. Not satisfied, Tim Robbins also tackled the shift for his character Bernard shown to audiences during Season 3, a move that again diverges from Howey’s novels.
Why Silo 3 Changed the Book’s Plot: The Author Addresses Changes to Daniel’s Story
In the novels, the name of Daniel Keene (portrayed by Ashley Zukerman) is actually Donald. And, on the page, Donald was actively involved in the Silo project while ignoring its crucial details. In the TV series, however, Donald becomes Daniel and discovers the project only after work has begun, eventually deciding not to take part. This detail quickly drew criticism from fans devoted to the books, but the author himself stepped in to comment. As Screen Rant reports, via Facebook Howey defended that change: “It’s an improvement over the books. We didn’t want Daniel to contribute willingly to a large part of the project. You’ll understand why in the next two episodes. It is essential for his evolution,” he teased, implying that the final two episodes of Season 3 will be pivotal for the development of the Silo story.
Yet it is Daniel who ends up offering an important piece of advise to Per Stensen. At dinner, he explains that to construct 50 Silos he would have needed 50 different drills, each one to be left at the base. As later shown in Season 1 by Juliette, the drill indeed lies at the base of the Silo, abandoned as Daniel had predicted years earlier.
Tim Robbins on Bernard’s Redemption in Season 3
Another change to the source material concerns the arc of Bernard Holland, played by Tim Robbins. Introduced in the first season as an adversary to Juliette, in Season 3 Bernard suddenly becomes a valuable ally to the resistance. In the novels, Bernard dies as a villain, whereas in the TV series he is a pawn manipulated by the artificial intelligence that survives the flames and even seeks redemption.
In an interview with ComicBook, Tim Robbins admitted his surprise upon discovering Bernard’s new direction beginning in Season 2: “Every person in a position of power or responsibility has an opportunity at a point in their journey. Either you endure, you don’t tell the truth and you survive, or you say, ‘I’m leaving, I can’t go on.’” By the end of Season 2, after sacrificing the person he cared about most for the Silo’s welfare, Bernard receives a shocking piece of information from Lukas Kyle that upends everything. He realizes that everything he has done over the last 30 years has been a lie, but his dramatic act is punished by fate: Juliette’s return ruins his plans, and both are swept away by the flames. Season 3 opens by hinting at Bernard’s death, but it quickly becomes clear that the former mayor is still alive, protected by Sims. The season offers Bernard a new choice: “So the big challenge of Season 3 was this destruction of the physical body, but also the destruction of every belief system he possessed. And so I had the opportunity, in Season 3, to portray a completely different Bernard. A Bernard who has been through hell and now faces a choice: to harden himself and seek redemption, or to let go and die, exit the stage. What I love about this choice is that the writers wanted to make him someone who resists, guided by the idea that ‘now that I know the truth I must tell it.’ Showing a courage he had never shown before,” the actor explained.
Bernard has sacrificed far too much for the system and now wants to see it collapse, becoming one of the most important and dangerous backers of Juliette, but his fate remains unclear for the moment. What will happen in the finale of Season 3?
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