Season 3 is a game changer for the show, and contains many important story arcs that expand the mythology and scope of the series. One of the biggest changes over the first 2 seasons is the introduction of new alien tech. In this case, we are talking about a lot of alien tech thanks to our newest arrivals, the Volm. The Volm are no the only ones bringing in new tech, the Espheni not only employ tech we saw in season 2, but new and disturbing tech that will leave the 2nd mass and Charleston reeling from the consequences of fighting back. Lets break it all down and discuss what each piece of tech means to the fight.
EMP Bomb
Right at the start of the new season, we are introduced to a new weapon being deployed by Matt Mason, thanks to the Volm. Each bomb is placed in different locations to create a pulsating net of electromagnetic disruption which disables and disorients the mechs. This allows the 2nd mass fighting group to come in and save the harnessed children being used as slave labor. Each bomb appears to be magnetic, attaching to metal objects with little effort and is remotely detonated. It is not clear if these are reusable and what their overall distance is but they work and the mechs go down. One thing is for sure, they are handy to have around but you must be careful. If they are set off with the 2nd mass in range, even our electronics would go down, leaving us open to attack.
Volm Modified Pulse Rifles
After the 2nd mass was forced to give up mech bullets due to the inability to take the equipment needed with them, they were in desperate need of a weapon that could easily take down a mech. The Volm stepped in and provided them with a modified version of their standard assault rifle. The bullets appear to be pulse style ammo that is armor piercing. Right now, only the military has access to these modified weapons, as Pope will opine about. They are highly effective.
De-Harness Machine
The most heart breaking thing about the alien invasion is the capture and enslavement of the children. The harnesses embed themselves on to the children’s back and are nearly impossible to remove. Over the course of season 1, many children died as they attempted to remove them. A doctor came up with a way to do it using a touch and some drugs but for those like Rick and Ben who had been harnessed for so many months, the spikes and the biological changes did not stop. In their cases, they gained super human strength, agility and alertness but at what price? The Volm arrived with the ability to remove the harnesses without any side effects or ill effects later on. However, we have been down this road of promises before. Although it can remove the harness from these kids, are they truly free of the Espheni? Does it leave some effects that put them under the influence of the Volm? What about kids like Ben or Denny, can it help them? We don’t yet know the effects this machine will have but on face value, its a much needed miracle.
The Mega Mech
The Mega mech is an advanced terrain machine, typically only used in fights with technologically advanced forces. However, the 2nd masses string of successful attacks against the Espheni have forced them to resort to their use. Much larger and more dangerous than their inferior smaller mechs, these Mega Mechs pack a very large punch and do not go down as easy as the standard mechs. The 2nd mass showed success in taking them down with their Volm modified pulse rifles, but as the nuclear power plant mission showed, the Espheni are producing them in huge numbers. They won’t be able to handle them alone. Checkout the detailed specs of the Mega Mech.
The Harness
The harness is a parasite that attaches to its hosts back and embeds itself into the hosts spine. Once that occurs, the host is under the control of the Espheni and begins to change biologically. We have seen what happens to some who remained harnessed too long. But we have also seen what happens to those who had their harness removed manually in Ben and Denny. Karen however has evolved into a hybrid species unlike anything we have seen. It appears that while some are nothing more than pawns, others are evolutions in nature that the Espheni are trying to use to some end. Should Ben ever get captured by the Espheni, it is very likely he would end up like Karen and not like the kids at the nuclear plant.
The Eyeworm
First seen in season 2 with Tom, the eyeworm finds its way into its victims through the eye and ear. Once inside it acts as a probe for the aliens allowing them to gain information from the subject, track them and as seen with Hal, control them. The mole even used the eyeworm to scan the plans for the mission to the nuclear plant and let it fly away to the Espheni to inform them of the 2nd masses plans. Watch this video about how these creatures work.
