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Siren enticed fans from the beginning, with its story about a unique mermaid who comes to land and the marine biologists, Ben Pownall and Maddie Bishop, who protect her. There’s also the mysterious Helen Hawkins, who knows more about mermaids than she lets on. In fact, she is part mermaid, a fact that is revealed to Ben and Maddie and the audience at the end of the first season. Though some clever fans figured it out before it was revealed.

Though the show has answered some questions, like the mystery of Helen’s origins, it has left fans with more. Especially after that intense and confusing season 2 finale. We may not have all the answers but it’s interesting to discuss the questions and speculate on what the answers could be.

How old is Ryn in ‘Siren’ Season 2?

Eline Powell from Siren season 2
Eline Powell discussing Siren | Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Mermaids most likely have longer lifespans than the average human. During season 2, Ryn, Ben, and Maddie visit a place where mermaids go to heal to help with the song affecting Ben and Maddie. While they’re there Ryn tells them that she was born there “long ago.”

So how old is Ryn, exactly? She could be hundreds of years old but maybe for a mermaid that’s not too old. She seems to get along just fine with Ben and Maddie who in human terms are young adults. So perhaps she’s in a similar stage of her life.

Or maybe, because mermaids age differently than humans do, there is not so much focus on age amongst them. And that’s why Ryn gets along so well with Ben and Maddie, because her focus is on their personalities not how old they are. Though all of the characters would be considered adults, Ryn is probably, in reality, a lot older than either Ben or Maddie.

Where are Ryn’s parents?

Though Ryn is definitely old enough to take care of herself, it seems strange that her parents have not been mentioned much. Ryn seems to care a lot about her family, especially since she came to land first to find her sister. So you would think we would have heard a lot more about Ryn’s parents. Which leads us to wonder: where are they?

Are they even still alive? Or did they die of mermaid old age? (What even is an old age for a mermaid?) Or worse, were they killed by human activities?

Though we may not find out the answers to these questions, they’re still interesting to think about. Especially as they relate to Ryn’s backstory and the broader mermaid mythology of the show.

How would Maddie or Ryn have reacted in Ben’s place in the season 2 finale?

According to the writers of the show, this question might be explored somewhat in season 3. They said that Maddie would have reacted differently, or at least believes she would have and that will affect her relationship with Ben — and probably Ryn as well —from now on. We also wonder how Ryn would have reacted.

Though she is becoming more human, the survival of her species is still the most important thing to her. So would she have really made a different choice than Ben did? It’s hard to know.

These questions have implications for Season 2 of Siren and beyond. So spend some time pondering them. You might just figure out where the show is going from here.

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