Spoilers for episode 1, but anything up to episode 4 is fair game.
First off, she died.
However, what exactly killed Helen?
My interpretation is that Helen joined the hive mind, but her body/mind ultimately rejected it causing her death.
Helen’s joining process was slightly different than most people we saw. When people were first infected they largely seized in place and did not fall over. As Carol is exploring the bar everyone (that I can remember) is standing or maybe squatting, but maintaining their balance. The same is also true when Carol arrives at the hospital. The doctor she tries to talk to us standing and maintaining their balance.
Helen however, fell over. Did the fall onto the pavement kill her? Is the reason she fell/couldn’t maintain her balance the same reason she couldn’t join? Was/is Helen’s inability to join a hint of how to unjoin? (Although I don’t know what that hint is yet.)
The hive mind didn’t make any distinction about those who died the day of the joining. If their death was caused directly by the joining or if it was an accident as a result of everyone being unable to move.
To add to this, when we first see people joining the hive it is the result of direct contact, specifically saliva. However we later see airplanes spraying cities, implying that it is airborne. The hive also talks about working on making the virus compatible with Carol. While they may have started after hive day, did they perhaps also start before?
If no one died during the initial joinings, but people died during the mass joining, how can they be sure they won’t kill Carol when they force her to join?
Intra cranial bleeding. In her last moments you can see the blood clots spreading under her eyes. The attention to detail is astonishing.
So is that caused by the fall, or by the joining?
I’m guessing by the fall.
The deaths caused during (and after) the outbreak have only been shown so far to be coincidental injuries caused by people suddenly having seizures at inopportune times.
Helen is standing when she is infected, and is shown falling and hitting her head hard. In her last moment of lucidity, she appears to have that same sense of bliss as the other infected, indicating that the infection itself was successful, but she likely died from the head trauma caused by the fall.
I think I missed the part, but how exactly did Helen get infected? Was it the drink she had at the bar? I don’t remember exactly when or even if this was ever explicitly mentioned.
It was the planes in the sky dumping aerosolized virus across the country (and presumably world).
Right before the outbreak happens, there is a news story in the background at the bar they’re at showing a story about an air base being in lockdown. Not long after, when they go outside for a smoke, Helen points out the conspicuous formation of jets flying over, which are leaving a cloudy trail in their wake.
Technically we don’t know.
We do have a scene a little before of ~5 airplanes flying in unison with some spray/liquid coming out behind them.
My interpretation is the hive spreading the virus into the air.
The hive also seemed to have a method of delayed activation, given that Carol goes into the bar, and drives to the hospital and everyone is mid-seizure.
Which also means Helen could have been infected any number of ways over the roughly 30 day period between the hive beginning and the mass activation.
I’d have to go back and rewatch (ok, you twisted my arm), but maybe Helen’s reaction was “standard” for the portion of the population where joining was fatal. I don’t recall any other failed joinings on screen so don’t have anything for comparison.
In ep 2 when Carol had a tantrum at Zosia and all the joined went into a coma (and many died as a result), it may be similar to Helen’s case. (Thinking out loud with that one). If it was similar, then that could be another hint.
If no one died during the initial joinings, but people died during the mass joining, how can they be sure they won’t kill Carol when they force her to join?
I don’t think they can be sure but also it may be an acceptable risk considering force-assimilating and the risk of death during assimilation are both loopholes to their “do no harm” ethos (I haven’t seen ep 4 yet so if anything revealed there contradicts that, I apologize)
I’m also guessing the majority of early joinings, like those we saw at the lab, were better controlled cases of direct person-to-person exposure. Easier to prevent injury that way.
The aerosolized mass infection was less controlled, happening when people are up and moving around, driving cars, in airplanes, etc.
I believe that was the biggest cause of death and is the scenario that the hivemind was initially looking to avoid, but it made the calculated decision that the mass infection was less fatal than the possibility of mass extermination/prolonged violence after the military became aware of the infection.
She hit her head. That’s more or-less the accepted reason for her death.
If no one died during the initial joinings, but people died during the mass joining, how can they be sure they won’t kill Carol when they force her to join?
The initial joinings were conducted more safely. I don’t think its the seizure that kills people. It’s what they’re doing that can kill them during it.
