We look at the identity of Ciaran in 1899 on Netflix

1899: Trailer for period thriller series from Netflix

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Netflix series 1899 continues to baffle viewers with the series akin to opening up a Pandora’s box of mystery. Although the show offered up some answers after intriguing viewers over eight episodes, the final scenes very much left people with even more questions than before. One of the most perplexing things was Ciaran and who this person or entity really was.

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from 1899

Who is Ciaran in 1899?

Initially, Ciaran was presented as Maura’s brother who had gone missing while on board the Prometheus.

Maura Franklin (played by Emily Beecham) had been sent a letter supposedly from Ciaran calling on her to help him and so propelling the show’s narrative forward.

But as the show went on, Ciaran seemed to disappear into the background with the emergence of the Boy/Elliot (Fflyn Edwards).

In the finale, Daniel Solace (Aneurin Barnard) revealed to his wife Maura they were all trapped in a simulation run by her brother Ciaran.

Ciaran appeared to be some sort of puppet master controlling the simulation and everyone within it.

Previously, Daniel said Maura had created the simulation to escape the pain of reality with Elliot perhaps suffering or dying from an illness of some sort.

However, Daniel revealed Ciaran had taken over the simulation and locked them all inside it in an endless loop.

Daniel was trying to break the loop and Maura eventually appeared to escape the ship simulation and found herself on board a spaceship in 2099 with Ciaran sending her a message.

The message seemed to welcome her to reality but it was unclear whether Maura was in another simulation or had finally woken up.

Given there are questions over the very nature of reality, Ciaran too could simply be a construct rather than a person in their own right.

Many viewers have been speculating on Reddit, with user Psyychopatt posting: “Not sure what to do with this knowledge yet, but Ciaran is an Irish name that means ‘little dark-haired one’ which currently only fits the description of the kid who might or might not be Maura’s child.”

This would suggest Elliot is the one who is really Ciaran after all and is simply presented as a child – this would very much parallel with 1899’s sister series Dark in which a young child is the heart of the Knot.

Another user FantabulousBread had a very different theory, writing: “Exactly & they didn’t show Ciaran yet did they?

“I think its Daniel who’s running the whole Simulation s*** as he already mentioned they created it to begin with so possibly he is the mastermind behind all simulations and sent his dearie wife to future simulation 2099.”

Redditor viridian_ark said: “I hope that 2099 isn’t another layer, but feel like it might be.

“I’m not convinced that Ciaran is her brother in the conventional sense of the term. Feel like there’s more going on here with duality/reflections/mirror images.

“Maybe Ciaran is another side of her psyche. I dunno. Just thinking back to what I assumed Dark was in the first season and how that totally changed by series end.

“I think this first season will be similar, where later revelations will recontextualize this episode.”

BotherEnough8259 seemed to agree and said: “Ciaran being another side of her psyche is such an interesting theory! I love it.”

This was backed up by monikacherokee’s comment: “And an observation… Ciaran is an acronym for crania, the plural of cranium (the skull, containing and protecting the brain).”

Meanwhile, user diacewrb drew parallels to a video game: “It is the year 2099 but some how they are still using a computer with a CRT screen and what appears to be MS-DOS. Maybe Ciaran is a big fan of the Fallout series?

“I am guessing the simulation is to keep the passengers sane whilst sleeping for so long in space.

“Speaking of Fallout, there was one vault where the survivors were kept in a simulation but the guy in charge went insane and started torturing everyone inside it for fun. Perhaps Ciaran has also gone insane as well.”

Dsstar666 had a very different theory, saying: “Who says Maura was married to Daniel beyond the 1899 level? After all, why is it that Daniel, Henry and Elliot are allowed to know that they are in a simulation? Seems like a design flaw considering that Ciaran is the one pulling the strings and is benefitting from them being trapped.”

The user added: “Hell, Ciaran may not even be her brother and is just a pseudonym for the mystery string puller.”

For now, it looks like the jury is out about Ciaran’s identity but there does seem to be some consensus suggesting Maura could still ultimately be in control of the simulation and her brother is simply part of her consciousness.

1899 is streaming on Netflix now

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