‘True Detective’: Who Did Tsalal Scientists Find, Who Is “She”? Theories Explained

Episode 3 of ‘True Detective’ just aired, and it shed some light on the ongoing mystery for the season: the disappearance and murder of the Tsalal research station scientists. One of the scientists in question, who managed to survive the ordeal, Lund, has finally woken up from a coma and managed to give some cryptic clues before his apparent gruesome death. He mentioned that they “woke her,” and now “she’s out there.” So, what on Earth did the scientists find?

The mystery of Tsalal research station & how mine connects to it

Ever since the first episode of ‘True Detective,’ we have been aware that the Tsalal Research station wasn’t your typical arctic research that focuses on climate change, flora fauna, and other similar things. Instead, they were looking for the origin of life and were looking for some kind of microorganism with properties to stop cellular decay. That sort of discovery would practically stop death in its tracks; it would stop aging as we know it and cure several diseases that we are struggling with as a civilization.

But where does the mine fit into this mystery? The mine is obviously doing something to the nearby land; it’s poisoning the waters and the ground itself, which is clear by the fact that a lot of people around Ennis and in Ennis itself have died of cancer. There’s also the fact that the local native town has an increasing number of stillborn babies, and when Liz Danvers visits the wake for the recently stillborn child, the tap water does not look like water at all; it looks like grey poisonous sludge.

Whatever the mine was doing was also affecting what Tsalal station was doing. We also can’t ignore the fact that people in Ennis are weird. Several townspeople mentioned that they see dead on the regular, and besides polat night-induced psychosis, there doesn’t seem to be any logical explanation for it besides there being something in the water…

Theory #1 – the scientists uncovered some kind of virus or bacteria

The first theory connects both the research station and the mine quite neatly, and that is the theory that the scientists have run into some kind of virus or bacteria that causes mass hallucination and psychosis and that is capable of making your heart stop with fear. This would also explain why the local people around Ennis are seeing dead people since the activities of the mine are probably worsening the effects of climate change and are leaking something from the ice and the mine into the local water supply.

In episode 3, Peter’s vet friend explains that Tsalal scientists were actually dead before they had frozen. He came to the conclusion that their heart most likely stopped due to sheer terror of something they had seen. I mean Pete and Liz already came to the similar conclusion, the scientists had to have been crazy to strip their clothes off and start gouging their eyes out. Both Pete and Liz assumed that this was due to hypothermia since it can sometimes cause delusions, psychosis, and paradoxical undressing.

But, if Pete’s veterinarian friend is correct, the scientists must have seen something before they ventured onto the ice. It’s possible that they uncovered the sample of something, and after being exposed to it, they went insane, their hearts stopped, and they died, followed by being frozen. Whatever the scientists found, it’s connected to the same thing that Annie has found while exploring the ice cave, which also left her in hysterics by the end of the video.

The only thing that cannot be explained by this theory is the presence of Annie’s tongue at the Tsalal station; I mean, it’s always possible that Clark has killed her due to Annie discovering something that she shouldn’t have related to his work.

This is just a reminder that Clark was the first of the research men who showcased the symptoms of being psychologically unstable, so whatever he was exposed to, he was exposed to it before anybody else. But as I’ve said this is just a theory and you’re welcome to correct me and poke some holes in it, I’m sure there are a lot of them.

Theory #2 Ancient native deity or demon

The second theory is the most obvious one and the one that the show keeps pushing onto us. The activities of the Tsalal research station woke up some kind of ancient native deity, and now she is out for revenge. It’s also possible that the deity is agitated by the presence of the mining company, but why would Annie be killed as well?

There’s also the fact that several characters by now have heard whispers, “She’s awake.” Prior to the deaths of the scientists, Clark also had a breakdown of how “she is awake.” There are a lot of supernatural undertones, as is usual for ‘True Detective,’ and as I’ve said, for now, the clues point in this direction, and every single person in Ennis is seemingly connected to the supernatural, either directly or indirectly. Before he died, Lund also messed with Navarro, calling her by her name like he was possessed. But this is also the most obvious theory, and I doubt that the mystery will be so easy to crack.

What are your theories? Let us know in the comments below!