After Silo Season 3, Episode 4 ended with one of the series’ most jaw-dropping reveals, Episode 5, “Memory,” filled in some major gaps…

Silo Season 3, Episode 5 spoilers ahead.

For those who need a refresher, Season 3 opened with Robert Sims (Common) telling Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) that Bernard (Tim Robbins) didn’t survive their fiery airlock entrapment in Season 2’s finale. “Flames melted holes in his suit, and the poison got in. We couldn’t take a chance with a farm burial,” Sims said. “It took six porters six hours to get him down to the incinerator…I watched him burn.”  

That story changed when Sims talked to his wife Camille (Alexandria Riley) and confirmed that he lied to Juliette about what really happened. Silo flashed back to the aftermath of the tragedy and revealed that Bernard survived the blaze, only for Sims to suffocate him in plastic wrap. But the end of Episode 4 showed Bernard is still alive!

In Episode 5, we learn what really went down between Sims and Bernard, who had one of the most complex relationships in Silo 18, but are seriously strengthening their bond in Season 3. Turns out, after Camille encouraged Sims to “take care of” Bernard following his survival, Sims visited him in the infirmary and wrapped Bernard’s body in plastic, as we saw. What we didn’t see was Sims having a change of heart after Bernard said, “Robert. I know the voice wants me dead, but they can kill us at any time; the whole silo that’s what Lukas Kyle found out. That’s what he told me. But Juliette knows how to stop it.”

Before Bernard suffocated, Sims cut an air hole in the plastic so he could breathe through his mouth. He then transferred Bernard’s body to a remains bag, had him carried 140 levels down to the incinerator, and turned off the conveyor belt before Bernard’s body hit the flames. Sims then got Walker (Harriet Walter) and Carla (Clare Perkins) to help him make Bernard disappear, so she’s been caring for him in the Digger Void.

As Juliette digested the information and her close circle worked to help her get her memory back, Bernard and Sims shared a moving moment that showed how much they’ve both grown as a result of recent events.

“We can’t risk losing you, Robert. You are indispensable. I’m impressed with how you’ve handled everything. You would have been a great shadow, but I am glad I didn’t give you the job. Being head of IT is a brutal, thankless, impossible task. It’s no better for the shadow,” Bernard told Sims. “The things that fucking voice in the vault made me do. I thought the greatest risk was from some fool trying to open the door. Camille has it far worse. They had to tell her about the Safeguard, and she can’t speak about it to anyone. I imagine she’s burning alive from the inside.”

For Sims, who’d spent two seasons trying to earn Bernard’s approval and make him proud, Common said that moment meant the world to him. “Those words, man, they were like a father who hadn’t been there telling you that you matter. It meant a lot to Robert, because that had been one of his goals. One of the things he cared about most was to reach a certain level and do what he felt his purpose was in saving the Silo. And for what?” Common told Decider over Zoom. “His life was in shambles in many ways. But he still made some decisions that he felt were right. And to get that from Bernard, it was the world to him. It meant a lot.”

The Silo star also shared that the momentous scene between him and Robbins was the final scene they shot together in Season 3. “I remember doing that scene, and sometimes you’re in the scene, and it just feels electric. You’re just so present, and it was the last scene that Tim and I got to do,” Common said. “I was like, man, this is so great that I got to do this scene like this with him. And he told me something later that he discovered in that scene, about our relationship. And I was like, that’s so funny that he discovered it in our last scene.”

When chatting about Season 3, Robbins told Decider that he was most excited to play “a different Bernard, who has not only changed physically with the injuries he sustained from the end of Season 2, but he’s changed internally.” After Episode 4, Robbins teased that “His whole moral compass has shifted,” and this honest conversation with Sims was proof that he’s choosing a path of redemption.

“I can only speak for myself, but that’s like the first step for him: admitting you’re wrong. It’s a big thing to be able to say, ‘I screwed up.’ I think as you get older, there’s two paths you can go down,” Robbins told Decider. “You could go down the path of, ‘Everything I’ve done is right. I’m an expert in life. And people should revere me.’ Or you can go down the path of, ‘I’m still learning. I’m still a student. I don’t know that everything I’ve done is right. I want to still learn. I want to still grow as a person, and I want to be able to be in a situation where I’m not the expert, and I can say I’ve tried my best, but not sure everything I did was right.”

“For me, the people that have inspired me the most in my life have been that way,” Robbins continued. “Robert Altman. Dario Fo. Sam Fuller. Johnny Cash. All the great people that I have been able to and blessed to know and love that have taught me great lessons, they have approached life that way, that they’re still learning.”

In a previous piece, the Silo star also shared that Bernard’s Season 3 evolution reminded him of the work he’s done in prisons, emphasizing his belief that everyone is capable of positive change and redemption. Now that Episode 5 saw Juliette remember how Silo 17 disabled The Safeguard procedure, it feels like Bernard and Sims will have plenty of other chances to do good and help Juliette and her circle try to save Silo 18. So mark your calendars for Season 3, Episode 6 on August 7.

New episodes of Silo Season 3 premiere Fridays on Apple TV.