Editor's note: The below contains major spoilers for 1899.
Showrunners Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar have a knack for creating mind-bending stories that explore the limit of human comprehension, and 1899 is no different. The series, streaming now on Netflix, follows the passengers of the Kerberos, a ship that leaves Europe to cross the ocean and get more than one thousand people to New York. However, as episodes go by, we learn the Kerberos is not a regular ship, and all its passengers are part of some bizarre experiment. As if this wasn’t intriguing enough, we soon discover there is no ship, and everything is part of a computer simulation.
While 1899 is not shy in answering some of our biggest questions, that doesn’t mean there isn’t some mystery left after the series finale. We’ll only fully understand what happened at the Kerberos after Netflix renews the series for a second season and allow Friese and bo Odar to wrap up their thrilling sci-fi story. While we wait for Season 2 of 1899, here are the unanswered questions that will prevent us from sleeping.
Why Did the Simulation Take Place in 1899?
Season 1 of 1899 makes it abundantly clear the ship is part of a simulated reality. Not only does the ship not exist, but all the passengers and crew members had their memories altered so they would believe the illusion. It’s easy to wonder why someone would trap people’s consciousnesses inside a machine, as it gives a special kind of control over life. However, what’s more puzzling is why the people responsible for handling the simulation have chosen to create a construct set in 1899.
While one could argue that the Kerberos' journey in the ocean is similar to Project Prometheus's journey through space, there’s no apparent reason to take the prisoners on the spaceship back 200 years into the past. Maybe the temporal distance makes it easier to alter people’s memories, as there would be fewer similarities with their actual lives. But why not go even further in the past if that's the case? When 1899 hopefully comes back to Season 2, we hope to learn more about this creative decision inside the series’ world.
What Is the Simulation Virus?
The Kerberos is just the last iteration of the simulation of a ship that repeated the same journey the passengers of Project Prometheus underwent dozens of times. As the simulation gets close to shut down, a virus begins to spread on the ship. This virus is dangerous for anyone who touches it, but we never learn where it came from. Daniel (Aneurin Barnard), one of the few people aware he’s inside a simulation, tries to avoid the virus at all costs. But Henry’s (Anton Lesser) crew also steers away from the corruption paths.
So, it’s safe to say this virus is dangerous to human consciousness. But did the virus show up as a consequence of the simulation loop? Was it introduced by an external force? Was it caused by Daniel meddling with the simulation? Above all, what happens to people who touched the virus? We know Virginia (Rosalie Craig) was consumed by the virus when the Kerberos simulation was destroyed. Does that mean she’ll change somehow in the next loop? Season 2 of 1899 needs to explore the simulation virus better.
Did the Surviving Kerberos Passengers Retain Their Memories?
When a passenger on the Kerberos dies, their memory gets reset, and they are ready to join a new iteration of the simulation, unaware of what happened in the past. The fate of all people aboard the Kerberos is death, a cycle that ensures their consciousness remains trapped inside the machine and their bodies asleep and docile inside Project Prometheus.
However, at the end of Season 1 of 1899, Daniel changes the simulation architecture, causing a shutdown while there still were people alive. That leads us to wonder if these survivors will remember what happened inside the Kerberos once they are back inside a new simulation iteration. Will they retain their memories? Will they fight to awaken and come back to reality? Or worse yet, are these people’s consciousness in danger in real life? Let’s hope some of our favorite characters didn’t meet their final demise.
How Much Control Did Henry Have Over the Simulation?
While Henry was also a prisoner inside the simulation, he held a special place inside the computer as he watched each iteration of the ship go on a journey and fail to reach its destination. To a certain point, Henry also altered the Kerberos’ simulation, contributing to its disastrous destiny. However, if Henry didn’t build the simulation, nor he controls it, how much did his actions matter for the Kerberos and all the ships that came before? Was Henry just watching someone else’s experiment and trying to find his exit? Or did he build the loop inside the bigger simulation for his own purposes? Season 2 of 1899 has to explain how much Henry controls the virtual world.
Is Elliot Alive?
We know Maura (Emily Beecham) built the first iteration of the simulation to preserve the consciousness of her son, Elliot (Fflyn Edwards), who was dying from a mysterious disease. We also know that Maura wiped away her own memories to forget some painful events. Finally, we see a grave in Maura's memory room inside the simulation, a grave that ultimately leads to a child’s room where Elliot hides.
Everything points out to Elliot being dead in the real world. But what would that mean for the boy’s consciousness? And if Maura had already saved Elliot’s mind inside the computer, why did she erase her own memories? Season 2 must give a definite answer about Elliot’s state in the real world and explain exactly why Maura did what she did.
Why Did Ciaran Take Control of Maura’s Simulation?
While Maura is the simulation's Creator, she’s also a prisoner inside the virtual world. And as 1899’s season finale reveals, Daniel is trying to wake Maura up so she can take control of the simulation back from her brother, Ciaran. Ciaran never shows up, but his father, Henry, describes him as someone who doesn't seek answers. So, why would he take control of everything? And why would he run a simulation that alters people’s memory, so they all have a traumatic past? At the end of Season 1 of 1899, Ciaran is the most enigmatic figure of the show, and Season 2 needs to spend some time in the real world, so we get to understand his motivations.
Where Is the Spaceship Going?
While Season 1 of 1899 has its fair share of surprises, none is as shocking as the revelation that Maura and the other passengers of the Kerberos are inside a spaceship in the real world. The ship, Project Prometheus, is part of a “survival mission” going to the coordinates “42.043240 - 44.375760.” Unless some astrophysicist fans of 1899 out there could enlighten us, we still don’t know where Project Prometheus is going. As a matter of fact, we don’t know what this survival mission is about. Season 2 of 1899 needs to explain what happened on Earth that people had to leave the planet, where the spaceship is going, and why they plug in all the spaceship’s passengers into a simulation.
Who Are the Passengers of Project Prometheus?
We have some idea of who Maura, Elliot, Henry, and Daniel are in the real world. Unfortunately, though, we only had access to the fake memories of every other Kerberos passenger. We don’t know if their fake memories relate to their real-world lives or if they are even from the countries they are inside the simulation. Most importantly, we don’t know why these people are part of Project Prometheus. Henry and Daniel give us some clues, saying that every passenger of the Kerberos chose to be there and have their memories wiped out. That doesn’t explain why so many people would volunteer for this bizarre experiment, and Season 2 needs to explore the real-life past of 1899’s characters.
1899 is now available to stream on Netflix.