Ouroboros

Season	3
Episode	7
Overall	27
	March 7, 2022
	Renée St. Cyr & Tina de la Torre
	Christoph Schrewe
	44 minutes
Episode Guide
← Previous	Born to Bleed
Next →	Setting Itself Right

Ouroboros is the seventh episode of the third season of Snowpiercer. It is the twenty-seventh episode of the series overall. The episode aired on TNT March 7, 2022 and then streamed internationally on Netflix the next day.

Synopsis

TNT's: As the train grapples with Layton's status, he's discovering that some dreams aren't worth having; Wilford makes a shocking discovery.

Netflix's: Layton dreams of a fantastical alternate reality after he falls ill. Wilford's sudden recollection sparks a wild theory.

Plot

SPOILERS AHEAD

TBA

Cast

Main Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton Mickey Sumner as Bess Till Alison Wright as Ruth Wardell Lena Hall as Miss Audrey Iddo Goldberg as Bennett Knox Roberto Urbina as Javier De La Torre Steven Ogg as Pike Katie McGuinness as Josie Wellstead Sheila Vand as Zarah Ferami Mike O'Malley as Roche Rowan Blanchard as Alexandra Cavill Annalise Basso as LJ Folger Chelsea Harris as Sykes Archie Panjabi as Asha Sean Bean as Joseph Wilford

Guest Starring Sakina Jaffrey as Mrs. Headwood Karin Konoval as Doctor Pelton Kandyse McClure as Tail Boss Co-Starring Emma Oliver as Winnie Kwasi Thomas as Z-Wreck Fiona Vroom as Miss Gillies Nickolas Baric as Toothy Agent Jaren Moore as Greasy Agent

Quotes

“	Hey, buddy. You gotta get your shit together. You're not dreaming, you're dying.	”
	— Dream Till to Layton

“	I made it up.	”
	— Layton realizes the truth about his vision

“	What if, I was so desperate to give everyone a future that I made one up? I can't lead this train if all I have is a lie.	”
	— Layton's faith in himself is shaken

Wilford: "After our trains separated, I followed your trail, trying to guess intentions, near-term destinations versus long-term trajectory. I couldn't catch you, I had to intercept. See?"

Alex: "Whoa, ok."

Wilford: "So, about three months in, I -- I thought I caught a break -- a track switch signal near Marseilles. We followed it there but found no sign of you."

Alex: "Well, yeah, because that was the wrong continent. We were nowhere near France."

Wilford: "So the question is, if it wasn't you, who was it?"

Alex: "A signal error?"

Wilford: "No, I don't think it was a malfunction, Alex. I believe it was your mother. That Melanie is alive."

―  Wilford comes to a startling conclusion

Trivia

• An ouroboros is "an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail". It made it's way into Western culture from Greek magical tradition and ancient Egyptian iconography. The symbol is noticeably present in Hermeticism, Gnosticism and alchemy. The ouroboros is commonly used as an interpretation of a cycle of life, death and rebirth (eternal cyclic renewal). The snakes does a kin-sloughing process which symbolizes the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is in some religions a fertility symbol, and the tail of the snake is a phallic symbol, where the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol.
  • In Layton's dream, Snowpiercer itself is depicted as an ouroboros on Zarah Ferami's map. Liana suggests that a train, due to its cyclical nature, is an ouroboros.
• This episode lacks an opening monologue for the first time in the series.
• Together with The Show Must Go On and A Beacon for Us All, these episodes are the only ones what never mention the episode's name or a variant of it in it's script.
• Despite his death, Pike appears in the form of a wrapped corpse and in Layton's dream as a priest.
• Most of the cast only appears in the form of Layton's dream.
  • The only chracters who appaers in the flesh are Andre Layton, Z-Wreck, Bess Till, Doctor Pelton, Miss Audrey, Zarah Ferami, Josie Wellstead, Bennett Knox, Alexandra Cavill and Joseph Wilford.
• Zarah encourages Josie to pursue a romantic relationship with Layton and makes peace with her, telling Josie that Zarah and Layton work better as co-parents than an actual couple.
• Layton discovers that his vision of the dragon's blood tree came from seeing a picture of it in a calendar in the North Korean bunker while he was near death from the power loss in his suit.
• Wilford reveals to Alex that, based on a signal that he picked up while tracking the Pirate train, he thinks that Melanie Cavill is in fact still alive.

Body Count

• 2 unnamed men (shot by Javier De La Torre and Ruth Wardell; dream)
• Around a dozen people (shot by Jackboots, Miss Gillies and each other; dream)
  • Miss Gillies
  • Javier De La Torre
  • Sam Roche
  • Ruth Wardell
  • Alexandra Cavill
  • 1 unnamed Jackboot
• Joseph Wilford (shot by Jackboots and later bled out; dream)
• 1 unnamed marauder (shot by Andre Layton; dream)
• 1 unnamed marauder (beaten to death by Asha; dream)

Gallery