5 burning questions Pluribus Season 2 needs to answer after the open-ended Season 1 finale

A still from the show (Image via Apple TV)
A still from the show (Image via Apple TV)

Pluribus Season 2 will have to unpack many plots after the dynamic finale. Pluribus just dropped its season finale on Christmas Eve, and "heartwarming" is the last word any fan would call it. The Apple TV+ show has a way of turning viewers' brains inside out, making them question everything they thought they understood about humanity, individuality, and the infected collective.

The Pluribus finale leaves viewers with several burning questions, which feels like a deliberate move by the show at this point. Carol Sturka at last chooses a side and resorts to an atomic bomb. Carol joins hands with Manouss, and nuclear weapons play a crucial role. Pluribus Season 2 absolutely needs to address some unfinished storylines when it eventually arrives.


5 burning questions of Pluribus finale that need to be addressed in Pluribus season 2

Is the alien RNA actually supporting humanity or destroying it?

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Pluribus has a habit of leaving the audience uncomfortable with its apparent answers. From the beginning, that collective looks suspicious. A radio transmission from Kepler-22b gets turned into an infection that spreads across the world without permission. However, the show throws viewers off by portraying the infected people as genuine and sweet, as opposed to what is usually shown in such storylines. They often smile and seem more content than they have ever been.

But the contentment comes from a dark side. The infected stopped creating crafts, advancing science, and doing anything that does not serve the alien agenda. They are saving Earth's resources, but only to build a huge antenna for spreading the infection to other planets.

The infection turns people into workers for a goal, and that is happiness, which seems like an ominous but effective way of communicating extreme danger. For instance, Kusimayu from the ninth episode smiled when she joined but immediately stopped caring about her goat or her village.

The most terrifying moments in the Pluribus finale came when Zosia revealed they had gotten Carol's frozen eggs. They are creating stem cells to tailor the infection specifically for her. Pluribus Season 2 will likely reveal whether they succeed and, if so, how Carol manages to escape getting infected.


Will Carol and Zosia's relationship continue through the chaos?

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Carol's sudden romance with Zosia was manipulation from the beginning, but the hive mind was not being intentionally mean. They were simply trying to follow the program. The hive-mind knew exactly what kind of woman Carol would fall for and sent Zosia. What makes this even more chaotic is that viewers know very little about pre-infection Zosia. Who was she before joining? Would he have even liked Carol before getting infected?

Carol experienced real happiness for the first time in years. She is compelled to give it all up for an atom bomb in the Pluribus finale. That is a considerable sacrifice. Pluribus Season 2 will definitely continue to progress their relationship. Zosia remains the face of the hive-mind when approaching Carol. But what if Carol actually finds out how to pull someone out of the hive? Eventually, it would have returned to Zosia.


How exactly will Carol and Manousos save humanity?

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Manousos remains mysterious primarily, which honestly works accurately for his character. He is immune to the infection and employs a strange radio transmission before anyone understands what is happening. He was even willing to commit genocide in the Pluribus finale without guilt because he believes the ends justify the means. That is shocking, even if he is technically correct about needing to adjust the radio frequency to maintain the hive's cohesion.

This is where Carol's perspective holds importance in Pluribus Season 2. She understands the hive-mind in ways Manousos never can. He requires empathy to balance his ruthlessness. Together, they might actually figure out how to separate humans from the hive without creating catastrophic damage and death.

Pluribus Season 2 will, most importantly, focus on Manousos and Carol trying to work as a unit despite having completely incompatible personalities.


What's the actual origin story behind this infection?

The series establishes that the infection came from Kepler-22b through a radio transmission. However, the information is not supported by any other evidence. The hive-mind might not even realize the truth about its own origin. Maybe Kepler-22b was just another victim planet, which had already been infected before Earth got it.

The infection appears to be specifically designed to spread across the entire universe, transforming individual species into workers that form antennae to infect other planets. Pluribus Season 2 may provide viewers with a backstory for Kepler-22b. Finding the actual source will become critical for Manousos and Carol because fighting an enemy means knowing where it came from and what its purpose was.


Can the infection actually be reversed without killing everyone in Pluribus Season 2?

This might be the biggest question around Pluribus Season 2. Manousos discovered that disrupting the radio frequency influences the hive-mind, causing seizures that kill most infected people. That is not exactly an established cure. If the duo figures out how to pull individuals out of the hive, they need to do it without causing a lot of deaths.

The infection fundamentally changed human biology. There has to be a softer method, but finding it will not be easy. The show also needs to address whether individuals who have been reversed would even want to come back. The hive-mind is genuinely happy every time. Would someone like Kusimayu seek independence again?

The show also needs to address whether individuals who have been reversed would even want to come back. The hive-mind is genuinely happy all the time. Would someone like Kusimayu want independence again? Pluribus has always been brilliant at refusing simple answers, and this moral dilemma is perhaps its biggest yet.

Edited by Sangeeta Mathew