Why Marcus Has To Become Raised By Wolves’ True Villain

HBO Max’s Raised By Wolves is a science-fiction epic that features a number of morally grey protagonists, notably, Marcus; however, in season 2, Marcus needs to become the main villain. Raised By Wolves tells the story of a religious conflict between the Mithraic and the militant atheists. This war has destroyed Earth and the remnants of mankind have fled to Kepler-22b (which is a real planet). There, new conflicts arise between Mother and Father, two atheist androids tasked with raising human children, and the newly arrived Mithraic.

Caleb is an orphaned atheist soldier who, with his partner, Mary, decides to murder and steal the identities of two Mithraic soldiers named Marcus and Sue. Aboard the Mithraic Ark, the couple must now raise Marcus and Sue’s orphan child, Paul. Tensions arise between Caleb/Marcus and his family once he starts truly believing in the Mithraic religion and becomes convinced that he is, in fact, the savior from Sol’s prophecy.

With the birth of Mother’s snake baby, it seems likely the horror elements of Raised By Wolves will come to the forefront. However, rather than making this new offspring the primary antagonist, the series needs a great human villain. Given the show’s affinity for moral complexity, it’s improbable that the story will simply be about humans banding together in order to defeat an alien threat (i.e., the snake). Rather, the series will presumably continue to develop its themes of human conflict and morality. As seen in the character’s descent into madness in season 1, Marcus is the perfect candidate for a human villain. Although, at first, he is shown as a loving partner and good father to Paul, as soon as he becomes drunk on power he starts to become violent and emotionally distant. This leads to Sue running away with Paul. Without Sue and Paul, Marcus will most likely continue down this dark path.

Raised By Wolves does a really good job of humanizing both sides of the religious conflict. While the Mithraic are the dominant faction, and the series demonstrates how certain characters take advantage of their position within this religious structure in order to do evil, the atheists are equally flawed, shown using children as soldiers. Both sides are morally problematic in various ways, as are Raised By Wolves‘ protagonists. Even Mother is shown as morally grey: she temporarily kills Father when he disagrees with her, and then goes on a violent rampage using her Necromancer powers, destroying the Mithraic ark and everyone on board except for the five children she decides to save.

The characters portrayed as antagonistic are always those who sacrifice their humanity in the name of a greater ideal. For Mother, it was in order to protect Campion and her dream of an atheistic society, but this is also seen in the Mithraic camp. Ambrose, for example, takes advantage of his position in many ways, even having soldiers carry him about rather than walk like everyone else. There’s also the sadistic cleric who explains away his crimes as Sol’s will. It seems clear, then, that Marcus’ actions line up with those of the evilest characters in the series. He, too, uses Sol’s prophecy and his position as savior as an excuse to mistreat Sue and Paul. He is certainly losing his humanity in the name of a greater purpose.

However, it is still possible for Marcus to redeem himself. If he begins to reckon with the consequences of his actions and realizes that he is losing his family, he may still be able to return to Sue and Paul and give up on his hopes of being the fate prophet. That being said, given the events of season 1, it remains clear that if Marcus stays committed to Sol’s prophecy he will continue to alienate his family and shed his humanity, making him Raised By Wolves‘ true villain.

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