Raised by Wolves Information

Raised by Wolves is an American science fiction drama television series created by Aaron Guzikowski that premiered on HBO Max on September 3, 2020. The first two episodes were directed by Ridley Scott, who also serves as an executive producer for the show. In September 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.

The series' first season has received generally positive reviews.

Premise

Raised by Wolves centers on "two androids"?Father and Mother"?tasked with raising human children on Kepler-22b after the Earth was destroyed by a great war. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task."

Cast and characters

Main

• Amanda Collin as Mother / Lamia, a powerful war android known as a necromancer, reprogrammed to raise human children on virgin planet Kepler-22b to establish an atheist colony.
• Abubakar Salim as Father, a service android reprogrammed to protect and support the colony's children.
• Winta McGrath as Campion, the youngest of six children born from embryos brought to Kepler-22b by Mother and Father, and that group's only survivor.
• Niamh Algar as Sue / Mary, an atheist soldier/medic and Caleb's partner. On Earth, she and Caleb had killed a Mithraic couple, Sue and Marcus. Mary and Caleb altered their appearances to resemble the couple to get onto the Ark. Sienna Guillory portrays Mary with her true face.
• Travis Fimmel as Marcus / Caleb, an atheist soldier and Mary's partner. Jack Hawkins portrays Caleb with his true face.
• Jordan Loughran as Tempest, a survivor of the Mithraic mission with reasons to hate them.
• Felix Jamieson as Paul, the biological son of Marcus and Sue, raised by Caleb and Mary as their own child.
• Ethan Hazzard as Hunter, one of the surviving Ark young adults.
• Aasiya Shah as Holly, one of the surviving Ark children.
• Ivy Wong as Vita, one of the surviving Ark children.
• Matias Varela as Lucius, a loyal Mithraic soldier and survivor of the Ark crash.

Recurring

• Cosmo Jarvis as Campion Sturges, a former Mithraic scientist who changed his faith, fought for the atheist cause, and created Mother. He is the namesake of one of the colony children.

Guest

• Steve Wall as Ambrose.

Episodes

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|ShortSummary    = In the 22nd century, two androids, Mother and Father, escape an Earth devastated by war between militant atheists and a religious order known as the Mithraic to colonize the planet Kepler-22b, bringing with them human embryos with which to begin a new civilization. Twelve years later, only one child, Campion, has survived. As prospects for the future of the colony appear grim, the three are shocked to discover they are not the only refugees from Earth in this part of the universe.
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|ShortSummary    = After destroying the Mithraic vessel, Mother brings five surviving Mithraic children"?Tempest, Paul, Hunter, Holly, and Vita"?to the colony to raise along with Campion. Marcus, having survived Mother's attempt on his life, reunites with the remnant of the Mithraic as they struggle to adapt to life on Kepler-22b. Campion grows concerned about Mother's behavior and begins questioning her intentions.

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|ShortSummary    = When the Mithraic children begin exhibiting signs of illness, Campion, now openly distrustful of Mother, becomes convinced the android is trying to poison the new members of the settlement and leads an escape attempt. Desperate to save their son, Paul, from Mother's clutches, Marcus and Sue grow increasingly frustrated with Ambrose's indecision and his refusal to authorize a rescue mission. Father finds all of the escaped children except for Paul, who became separated from the group. While Mother searches for Paul, he falls down a shaft.

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|ShortSummary    = Concerned for their prospects for survival after he and Mother eventually cease to function, Father attempts to teach Campion and the Mithraic children to hunt the strange creatures that have suddenly appeared near the settlement. Tempest grows increasingly hostile toward Mother over the android's obsessive interest in her pregnancy. Tensions between Marcus and Ambrose come to a head when the Mithraic discover an ancient relic, believed by them to be the fulfillment of a Mithraic prophecy, and dissension arises among the order as to whether the group should remain at the artifact or rescue the children.

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|ShortSummary    = Now leader of the Mithraic, Marcus leads Sue and the rest of the order on a rescue mission, encountering a surprising new ally along the way. Campion and Paul grow to trust one another as they discover a potential new food source for the colony. While Mother discovers hidden memories within her memory banks that reveal the full import of her mission, Tempest's despair reaches the breaking point. As the Mithraic draw close to the settlement, Marcus is haunted by a series of bizarre visions.

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|ShortSummary    = Mother's prolonged absences from the settlement, spent interacting with a digital projection of her creator in the Mithraic simulator, threaten the safety of the colony. Marcus's plan to destroy Mother while she is plugged into the simulator goes horribly wrong. When Sue leads a Mithraic assault on the settlement, each of the Mithraic children are forced to reveal their true loyalties, culminating in game-changing consequences for Mother, Father, and Campion.
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|ShortSummary    = With Mother held captive and powerless by the Mithraic and Father reprogrammed, Campion is forced to choose whether to resist the Mithraic or ally himself with them. Marcus is disturbed to discover that Mother is aware of his true identity. Campion begins experiencing visions of Tally. As he attempts to destroy Mother once and for all, Marcus finds himself grappling with a tenuous hold on his leadership of the Mithraic, his relationships with both Sue and Paul, and his own sanity.
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|ShortSummary    = Marcus' erratic shift towards devotion to Sol starts to push away Sue and Paul. Mother believes she is experiencing a malfunction but is confronted with shocking news that she is carrying a child. The Mithraic children make their own choices. 
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|ShortSummary    = Hunter digs further into Father's programming as the Mithraic grow increasingly concerned over Marcus' behavior.  Mother searches for a safe place, and ends up confronting Sue. Tempest confronts her demons. Marcus is left alone to meet his fate.
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|ShortSummary    = Mother, Father, Sue and the Children search for a more inhabitable place for the Mother's baby. Paul continues to hear a voice like the one that drove Marcus insane; it reveals to him that Marcus and Sue are impostors so Paul shoots Sue. Mother finally gives birth and finds it's not a humanoid but a leech-like flying snake. She is disappointed and acknowledges her pregnancy did not have anything to do with her creator's programming but by infection. Mother and Father discover that there were humans on the planet and suspect that the creatures they have been hunting are "devolved" humans that were somehow introduced to Kepler-22b. A deranged Marcus kills a scouting team of Atheists as an Atheist ship arrives. Father and Mother attempt suicide with the snake-like baby to protect their human children. However, they crash on the other side of the planet in what seems to be the planet's Tropical Zone; the fast-growing snake baby escapes and flies away.
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Production

Development

On October 8, 2018, it was announced that TNT had given the production a series order. Executive producers were expected to include Ridley Scott, Aaron Guzikowski, David W. Zucker, Jordan Sheehan, Adam Kolbrenner, and Robyn Meisinger. Scott was also set to direct the first two episodes from Guzikowski's screenplays. Production companies included Scott Free Productions, Studio T, and Madhouse Entertainment. The series was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa. On September 17, 2020, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season to also be produced in South Africa.

Casting

In January 2019, it was announced that Travis Fimmel, Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Winta McGrath, Niamh Algar, Felix Jamieson, Ethan Hazzard, Jordan Loughran, Aasiya Shah, and Ivy Wong had been cast in starring roles. In March 2019, Matias Varela was cast in a starring role.

Podcast

On August 26, 2020, an official companion podcast produced by iHeartRadio was announced with the first episode premiering on September 3, 2020, in tandem with the launch of the series. The podcast features Aaron Guzikowski and invites "innovators from science and technology to discuss the most fascinating questions raised by the series."

Broadcast and streaming

On October 29, 2019, it was announced the series would be moving to WarnerMedia's HBO Max streaming service. The series premiered on September 3, 2020.

In Canada, the series premiered on September 3, 2020, on CraveTV and CTV Sci-Fi Channel. In Australia, the series premiered on September 3, 2020 on Fox Showcase. In the UK, the first three episodes were shown on Sky Atlantic on December 5, 2020.

Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of 49 critic reviews were positive, with an average rating of 7.13/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Bristling with imagination and otherworldly imagery, Raised by Wolves is a bloody exploration of artificial intelligence and religious belief that will stimulate the eye and mind"?if not the heart." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B- and wrote a review saying, "I've seen six episodes, and worry that the momentum drags. This is the kind of show where two sides fight, and then spend half a season preparing to fight again. The eccentric performances are intriguing, though." John Anderson of The Wall Street Journal said, "The storyline is involved, but keeps a viewer off-balance in a good way. It looks great. And Mother... is the most memorable female/female-like space entity since Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Alien." Writing for RogerEbert.com, Nick Allen gave the series a mixed review, lamenting that, "intellectual exploration of this story ... is incredibly cold" and comparing it to Scott's 2012 film Prometheus.