‘Silo’: Who Is Juliette Nichols?

Apple TV+’s Silo defies many people’s opinion of a typical dystopian TV series by having the last 10,000 people on Earth fight for life in a giant silo clouded in mystery. To make it more interesting, their lives are in the hands of Juliette Nichols, introduced as a troubled alcoholic and a thief. She has since proved everyone wrong, especially after nearly drowning, to give mechanics more time to repair the generator. Juliette is the gift that keeps giving, and many fans in love with the character wonder who plays Juliette Nichols in Silo and what happens to her in the end.

Introduced as the lead character in Apple TV’s Silo as well as in Hugh Howey’s Wool Trilogy, on which the show is based, Juliette Nichols is a 34-year-old mechanic who worked in The Silo’s Down Below. Her life changed when she refused to accept her boyfriend’s death as a suicide, making her the only witness interviewed by Sheriff Holston, who later nominated her to become the sheriff before he was sent “To Clean.” Nichols inherits the sheriff’s badge at a difficult moment, but she proves to be a selfless leader and up to the task.

Nichols became the sheriff at a critical time as more people sought to uncover the mysteries surrounding their home, with her ex-boyfriend’s findings giving her the clues. With a string of mysterious murders and a conspiracy to solve, the rookie sheriff came into office with a heavy burden on her shoulders, making hers truly the most important job in The Silo. So, who plays the spectacular role, and what happens to Juliette in Hugh Howey’s books? Let’s delve into it.

Who plays Juliette Nichols in Silo?

Juliette Nichols is portrayed by the Swedish actress Rebecca Fergusson, famous for playing Ilsa Faust in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

She remains one of the most famous actresses in the world since 2013 after her breakthrough role as Queen Elizabeth Woodville in the 2013 miniseries The White Queen.

She is also one of the executive producers of Silo, a position that allowed her to know the fate of each character in the show and also have a big say in what happens to Juliette.

Having played the demanding role of Ilsa in Mission Impossible, for which she had to undergo six weeks of fitness and stunt training, it is fair to say that she has all the talent and experience needed for the role of Juliette.

“… she’s such a cool character. The character offered up so many different emotions and feelings, and I loved the arc. That was enough.” Fergusson said in an interview while explaining why she loves the character.

To portray Juliette, Fergusson had to put lots of intensity in every scene because Juliette is a strong woman, but with a troubled past and, therefore, tends to take a combative approach even when handling regular-looking problems.

Juliette lost her mother at a young age and chose to change her career from being a delivery nurse to a mechanic because she believed the old machines at the hospital were responsible for her mother’s death.

Having lost her mother and brother, Juliette chose to work in the Down-Below as a distraction, staying there for 20 years without visiting her father, who works just a couple of levels above her.

The pain of all these losses has built up inside her over the years, creating a lump that she tries to suppress by working extra hard, drinking heavily, and visiting her friend Martha occasionally to talk about her problems.

Immediately after signing the papers to install Juliette as the sheriff, Mayor Jahns fell to her death, seemingly poisoned; her murder investigation made Juliette’s first case as mayor, which didn’t help her confidence.

However, she has the confidence and clues left by Holston and her boyfriend George to guide her through the tough job, and her commitment to keeping everyone in The Silo alive is undeniable.

Fergusson’s ability to maintain Juliette’s intense emotions in every scene, bringing together all the complicated characteristics of Juliette while keeping her likable, has received praise from many fans.

She expresses Juliette as this strong female leader able to make big sacrifices as she focuses on the most important issues, even in tough times, while just bottling in her own struggles and putting everyone else’s needs first.

What happens to Juliette in Hugh Woley’s books?

In Hugh Woley’s books Wool, Shift, and Dust, Juliette Nichols becomes the mayor before being sent out To Clean, but she survives outside and finds another silo.

However, the show doesn’t follow the order of events as they occur in the books, so there are bound to be big variations on how Juliette’s story turns out in Silo.

The books reveal that there are other silos in the area, with only Silos 1 and 2 having access and control over the events in the other silos.

The rules imposed by the higher-ups are designed to keep people from knowing the truth about the control forced on them by IT, just like the show suggests.

Before Juliette is sent out to clean, Mechanics led by Knox realizes that parts of the suits given to her by IT are bound to fail and, therefore, replace most of them with material that can survive the toxic world.

She manages to walk beyond the hill on which Holston and Allison collapsed to their deaths and out of the field of view to the Silo’s cameras, leading to cheers in the Silo.

Juliette later comes back and encourages people in Silo 18 to cooperate with their fellow survivors in 17 who aren’t coping as well as their Silo-18 counterparts.

The subsequent coordination allows them to dig a connecting tunnel into 17 just before Thuram (the tyrannical leader of Silo 1) destroys Silo 18.

“Heroes didn’t win. The heroes were whoever happened to win. History told their story – the dead didn’t say a word,” is the quote that concludes the events around the uprising against IT in the books.

Why Did Holston nominate Juliette Nichols as Sheriff?

The details of what Juliette and Holston discussed before he was sent to Clean are still a mystery, but Holston clearly trusted her to uncover the truth surrounding the mysteries of The Silo.

Despite arguing with Juliette during the interrogation over her boyfriend George’s murder, Holston actually ends up liking her.

He saw her as the only person not connected to the higher-ups that would achieve Allison’s ambition of getting to the truth.

On the sheriff’s badge inherited by Juliette, Holston inscribed the words TRUTH, which was his first clue to Juliette that he had discovered something.

Holston’s endorsement aside, Juliette was qualified to be the sheriff, as she proved her leadership skills and mind to discover the truth while still working in Mechanics.

Mayor Jahns also noticed her leadership capabilities before choosing her as sheriff against the advice of IT.

However, it is unclear whether Hoplston knew about other silos or the secret killings perpetrated by IT.

He believed Juliette was the right person to uncover the mysteries and keep the people safe.