Who caused the apocalypse? 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 braces to answer show's biggest mystery

Season 1's unanswered questions are likely to be addressed in finale season of 'Snowpiercer' streaming on AMC+
The identity of culprit behind the freeze is likely to be revealed in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)
The identity of culprit behind the freeze is likely to be revealed in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)

Contains spoilers and speculations for 'Snowpiercer’ Season 4

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Premiered amid Covid-19, 'Snowpiercer' Season 1 on TNT had the immediate attention of fans with its post-apocalypse setting. Earth has frozen due to an experiment gone wrong and an engineering marvel is carrying the last few survivors of the planet.

For three seasons, the show focused on the new life on the wheels, navigating through revolutions and wars over the years to end the class divide. Amid all the chaos, the creators of the show sidelined the show's biggest mystery- Who caused the apocalypse?

'Snowpiercer' Season 4 will reveal the identity of its ultimate villain

Katie McGuinness and Daveed Diggs in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)
Katie McGuinness and Daveed Diggs in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)

As Season 4 will mark the end of the show, it's time for the big reveal. Until now, we only knew that a team of scientists were trying to reduce global warming and thus, they launched a compound called CW7 into the atmosphere. Did it reduce the Earth's temperature? Yes, but at huge cost. The entire planet came to a freeze, wiping out the entire population, except a few, who took shelter on Melanie Cavill's (Jennifer Connelly) train, and a few others whom we discovered in 'Snowpiercer' Season 3 and Season 4.

The show's creators cleverly steered our attention away from the major mystery, making it seem insignificant—until Season 4, when it suddenly takes center stage. 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 Episode 7 will likely reveal the identity of the man behind the apocalypse, adding a new dimension to the ongoing chaos.

Is Admiral Anton Milius the true villain of 'Snowpiercer' Season 4?

Mystery around Admiral Anton Milius and his men in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 continues to captivate viewers (@amc+)
Clark Greg as Admiral Anton Milius in  'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)

Clark Gregg joined the cast of 'Snowpiercer' in Season 4. He plays Anton Milius who hijacks Melanie's train, abducts Andre Layton's (Daveed Diggs) daughter, and holds Andre in captivity. While he makes a formidabble antagonist, he may not be the true villain of the show.

For all we know, he has been trying to reverse the impact of CW7 at all costs. He has gathered a team of scientists under his watch, prompting them to find a solution. As their experiment with New Eden succeeds, he goes to greater lengths by hijacking Snowpiercer to launch more missiles that could create other warm spots of Earth.

The next obvious guess is Joseph Wilford (Sean Bean). We all know that he wants to be the cult-god in the train. He, along with Melanie built a gigantic 1001 car train with an eternal engine. It's a project that could take years, if not decades. Which brings us to the questions how he was able to build this life on wheels in a limited duration while the world was coming to an end. One possible explanation is that he is the one who orchestrated the apocalypse to gain power over the last survivors of the Earth. But he seems too obvious to be the ultimate villain, a mystery the creators have kept hidden for so long.

This brings us to our third suspect- Dr Nima Rousseau (Michael Aronov), a lead scientist working under Milius. This character was also introduced in Season 4 and his recurring appearance makes us speculate that he has a far bigger role in the entire mess than it appears to be. 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 Episode 6 revealed that he was conducting experiments on his fellow scientists, who became victims of a chemical leak at the Silo. This hints at his ruthlessness when it comes to making scientific discoveries.

Michael Aronov as Dr Nima Rousseau in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)
Michael Aronov as Dr Nima Rousseau in 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 (@amc+)

Even in an earlier episode, we saw Milius blaming Nima for the chaos at the military facility. It would make perfect sense if he is the one whose experiment caused the freeze, and now he only could reverse it.

Moreover, there's a floating theory that he could also be Alex's father, which has been another unaddressed mystery of the show. He and Melanie knew each other from MIT. Melanie was raising Alex with the help of her parents and she never mentioned the identity of Alex's father. Speculations aside, there's a lot to be unpacked in the few remaining episodes of the show and we can't wait to see if the survivors will get a happy ending.

Six episodes of 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 are now streaming on AMC+

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