Spoilers are ahead for the ending of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem.
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Summary
Countdown in
3 Body Problem
is a message from the Trisolarans (San-Ti) to stop scientists from empowering humanity with discoveries.
Wade’s involvement in the Staircase Project threatens the San-Ti’s arrival, leading them to give him a countdown.
Sophons create the countdown to scare scientists into abandoning research, thus preventing Earth’s technology from surpassing that of the San-Ti.
From the start, Netflix’s latest sci-fi series unspools several mysterious threads, prompting viewers to wonder about the real meaning of 3 Body Problem’s bizarre countdown. The numbers, which appear as days, hours, minutes, and seconds, flash before main character Augustina “Auggie” Salazar (Eiza González) — and even the talented scientist can’t understand why. Based on the Hugo Award-winning novel by accomplished Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin, 3 Body Problem was translated to the screen by Alexander Woo and Game of Thrones collaborators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.
Although the series straddles multiple timelines, it opens with a visceral and disturbing execution during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. A young Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) witnesses her father, who is a professor and scientist, get beaten to death. Later, she’s conscripted by the military because of her aptitude for astrophysics. Working on a remote military base, Ye Wenjie eventually makes an incredibly ambitious, fateful decision — one with ramifications that echo across time to the story’s present-day thread. As a result, contemporary physicists begin inexplicably dying, including Ye Wenjie’s own daughter.
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The Countdown In 3 Body Problem Is A Message From The Trisolarans
A Warning That’s Meant To Aid The San-Ti
Image via Netflix
In the first episode of 3 Body Problem, viewers are introduced to the Oxford Five — a group of friends who all studied physics at the titular university. One of them, research assistant Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), has a dark realization one night. Saul tells his boss, physicist Vera Ye (Vedette Lim), that “Science is broken.” Although Vera tries to be more encouraging, the pair deduce that the last 60 years of physics has been upended by a recent discovery. That night, Vera dies by suicide in the lab’s cavernous reactor, marking yet another mysterious death of a world-renowned scientist.
Sophons are proton-sized 11-dimensional supercomputers created by the San-Ti.
Meanwhile, two other Oxford Five members, Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) and Auggie, discuss the anomalies in their fields of work. When Auggie glances over at a TV screen in the bar, her vision seems to glitch. Although she tries to blink away the strange orange static, it forms numbers: a countdown. While outside Vera’s funeral, a mysterious woman approaches Auggie, telling her to, “not let the countdown hit zero.” Later on, it’s revealed that the countdown appears thanks to sophons — proton-sized 11-dimensional supercomputers created by the series’ alien race, the San-Ti, to spy on humans.
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Why Wade Sees The Countdown At The End Of 3 Body Problem
Auggie Sees The Countdown For A Specific Reason
The mysterious woman asks Auggie if she’s ever seen “the universe wink,” and tells her to watch the sky at midnight. Still dealing with the countdown, Auggie does as the woman instructs. Seemingly, the night sky and its stars flash on and off — though it’s something everyone on Earth is able to witness. Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is full of bizarre happenings, generally stemming from the San-Ti. The alien race is headed to Earth, though they won’t arrive for 400 years. Using sophons, they try to send a warning. However, these warnings are more for their own benefit.
…certain research could lead to discoveries that empower humanity…
3 Body Problem’s countdowns are designed by the San-Ti to stop certain scientists from continuing their research. They know that certain research could lead to discoveries that empower humanity, and they don’t want Earth’s technology exceeding their own. At first, Auggie, who runs a company that designs self-assembling synthetic polymer nanofibers, is the target, but at the end of 3 Body Problem, Wade (Liam Cunningham) sees the countdown. While it’s not entirely clear, Wade was overseeing the Staircase Project to intercept the San-Ti fleet. Clearly, the aliens know Wade is on to something that could obstruct them.
What Happens When The Countdown Hits Zero?
The Countdown In 3 Body Problem Is More Of A Disruptive Threat
Image via Netflix
The appearance of any kind of countdown, especially one of unknown origin, implies that something terrible is bound to happen. Since the San-Ti and the sophon are limited in the ways they can interact with humans, the countdown that appears in front of individuals’ eyes is the best resource they have for frightening them. By playing tricks on Auggie and others scientists, the San-Ti hope said scientists literally won’t believe their own eyes. In turn, they might be too scared to continue their all-important research or fail to develop tech that’s as capable as the San-Ti’s.
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The sophons, and the countdown they cause, essentially create rather meaningless phenomena. By running interference, the phenomena distract, scare, and manipulate Earth’s leading scientific minds into abandoning their projects or, even more tragic, the countdowns result in their deaths due to all the mental duress. It’s not made clear what would happen if the countdown reached zero, but it’s likely the San-Ti and their sophons couldn’t do much more than threaten humans and hope these empty menaces play out in their favor in the contemporary-set timeline of 3 Body Problem.
3 Body Problem
season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
3 Body Problem
3 Body Problem is a Netflix original series from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with Alexander Woo. Based on the novel of the same name by Liu Cixin, 3 Body Problem centers on a detective who joins forces with a group of scientists after an unknown force begins killing scientists around the world.
Cast Saamer Usmani with Shailene Woodley , Jess Hong , Jovan Adepo , Benedict Wong , John Bradley , Eiza González , Liam Cunningham , Sea Shimooka , Tsai Chin
Release Date March 21, 2024
Seasons 1
Writers David Benioff , D.B. Weiss , Alexander Woo
Directors Minkie Spiro , Derek Tsang
Creator(s) David Benioff , D.B. Weiss , Alexander Woo