Here's What You Need To Remember About Jerlamarel From See Season 1
Things took a turn.
The concept behind the sci-fi epic See is the idea of what vision means to humanity. What would it mean if a sightless society suddenly were to have vision suddenly reintroduced after generations? This point is embodied in the character of Jerlamarel, the character bringing vision back into the world. But what happened to Jerlamarel in See Season 1 that has led to the person he is when fans rejoin him in Season 2?
Warning: Spoilers for See Season 2, Episode 2 follow. When See Season 1 started, the only people who have sight are Kofun and Haniwa, the children of Maghra. How did this happen? Are they a miracle? As the season progressed, fans discovered they were not the children of two visually impaired people but rather had a father who has sight, the mysterious Jerlamarel. He only appeared when he wanted to, using people’s inability to see him to make himself seem magical.
It took nearly the entire first season before Baba Voss managed to get Kofun and Haniwa to their father in the House of Enlightenment, the city he runs. But when they arrived, Jerlamarel turned out not to be a magic man or the hero the three of them assumed. He’s a megalomaniac. His experience as the only sighted man has turned him into someone who sees himself as utterly superior to the rest of humanity, and he has created a cult around him of those who believe it too.
Moreover, Kofun and Haniwa discover they are not his special children. He’s created an army of sighted children to follow him, impregnating dozens of women, claiming it’s God’s plan for him to bring sight back to the world.
Not only are Kofun and Haniwa merely two of dozens of sighted byblows, but expendable. After all, he didn’t raise them, and they aren’t loyal to him. So when General Edo Voss offered up money for them, he was happy to sell.
Betrayed, Kofun attacked Jerlamarel, earning a death sentence from the cult members. To save Kofun, Baba struck Jerlamarel, and the accomplished warrior proved that he was a better fighter unsighted than Jerlamarel ever was, even with his eyesight advantage. In taking him down, Baba blinded Jerlamarel, leaving him just like everyone else.
When fans finally saw Jerlamarel in Season 2, he was no longer a “god” and had to learn to navigate the world in a way everyone else already does. And he couldn’t take it. Jerlamrel was deep in denial of his situation, unable to accept that he was now like everyone else.
Meanwhile, those like Wren, who were also spontaneously born with sight, are proof Jerlamarel was never the chosen one he believed himself to be. He was just one of a growing number of humans who were once more able to see.
See Season 2 continues with new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.
