Story so far
Paul Thurman, a Georgia senator and war veteran, recruited Donald Keene to adapt an architectural design into an underground facility, admitting that he had helped elect Donald for that purpose. He compartmentalized the work and pursued regular nano treatments. He warned Donald of weapons that could selectively kill people by ancestry, presenting those threats as claims supporting his contingency plan, and gave him The Order to study. At the convention he kept Donald near the Georgia stage and coordinated an evacuation after the blasts.
After the catastrophe, Thurman maintained that destroying the old world had saved it, claiming humanity was already infected with a potentially universal killing mechanism. According to Erskine, Thurman’s alternative to escaping Earth was to move humanity through time. He woke Donald when silos were being lost and brought him into the investigation involving Anna Thurman and Victor. Though he initially spoke of reluctance to gas Silo Eighteen, Thurman later admitted that its reset had begun when Donald was awakened. He manipulated its shadow’s anger during questioning and subsequently appeared outside in ordinary white coveralls without a protective suit.
Thurman was eventually stored in a pod labeled Troy while Donald occupied his position. When Donald woke him at gunpoint, Thurman acknowledged the plan to release one silo’s population and kill the others. He argued that releasing everyone would lead them to kill one another and that dangerous knowledge must die with those who possessed it. Donald shot him in the pod, apparently killing him, but Thurman later survived to identify himself to medical staff and accuse Donald, also known as Troy, of shooting him.
Frail and requiring support, Thurman repeatedly kicked the captured Donald. He told Donald that untreated exposure would kill him within days and that he could cure him, but intended instead to put him back under. He investigated missing drones, bombs, and the means by which Donald had assumed his identity, describing revolt within the leadership as the system’s greatest weakness. On a call to Lukas, he threatened the silo, recognized Sims’s impersonation of Bernard Holland, and ordered it shut down. Later he admitted trying unsuccessfully to kill Donald and reported sabotage of the gas feeds. Most recently, Thurman approaches the wounded Donald with two armed Security men.
Appearance
Thurman has white hair, a square jaw, and a once sturdy, military bearing. He has become frail and needs support; Charlotte most recently finds him slimmer and older. He has worn white coveralls.
Role
A leader and architect of the silo project, he defends controlled survival and suppresses challenges to its authority.
Relationships
Donald Keene — Once treated like a son, Donald became his impostor and armed opponent; Thurman survived the shooting and later beat and imprisoned him.
Anna Thurman — His daughter, whom he had awakened for her expertise in the silo crisis.
Victor — A collaborator whose death Thurman struggled to explain and whose position influenced his decision to reset Silo Eighteen.
Charlotte — He had been like a second father to her; she later accused him of destroying the old world and attacking her brother.
Lukas — He threatened Lukas’s silo and ordered its shutdown after detecting the attempt to impersonate Bernard.
Earlier in this series
Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:
Sources — 43 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 18
- The wounded cryopod occupant identifies himself as Paul Thurman, formerly addressed as Senator.
- Thurman was sedated after waking and insisting that his name was not Troy.
- Thurman identifies Donald as the man who shot him.
- Thurman confirms that Donald and Troy are the same man.
- Thurman claims to be one of the Heads of the silo and demands release from his restraints.
- Thurman denies ever having been called Shepherd.
Chapter 27
- A frail white-haired man arrives supported by a younger man.
- The frail white-haired man orders the men beating Donald to stop before approaching him.
- The frail white-haired man repeatedly kicks Donald while a younger man supports him.
Chapter 31
- The man with white hair repeatedly kicked Charlotte’s brother during the attack she witnessed.
Chapter 32
- Thurman tells Donald that untreated exposure to the outside air will kill him within days.
- Thurman says he could cure Donald but chooses to put him back under instead.
- Thurman plans to put Donald under the following morning.
- Thurman reports missing drones and bombs.
- Thurman has awakened recently frozen personnel to investigate Donald’s activities.
- Thurman wants to learn how Donald assumed his identity so it cannot happen again.
- Thurman considers revolt from the leadership the greatest weakness of the system.
- Thurman claims cryopods and shifts solve succession by keeping power among the same few people.
Chapter 33
- The caller from Silo 1 claims to have devised the World Order.
- The caller initially asks for Bernard Holland as the head of the silo.
- The caller gives Lukas fifteen minutes to produce Bernard and threatens everyone in the silo.
- The caller recognizes that Sims is impersonating Bernard.
- The caller tells Lukas that Bernard is dead and demands to know how he died.
- The caller says his side has no feeds from Lukas’s silo.
- The caller claims to have a machine that detects Lukas’s lies.
- The caller apologizes and orders the silo shut down.
Chapter 38
- Thurman appears slimmer and older to Charlotte when she encounters him.
- Thurman lets Charlotte continue after she says she is checking a power drain.
- Thurman speaks with the guard after passing Charlotte.
Chapter 45
- Thurman suspects an accomplice disguised as a reactor technician came looking for Donald.
- Thurman initially rules out Donald as the attacker because Donald is not covered in blood.
- Thurman gives Donald a clean rag and takes away his bloodied one.
- Thurman admits he tried unsuccessfully to kill Donald.
- Thurman tells Donald that he will be put under that day.
- Thurman reports sabotage of the gas feeds between Medical and Population Control.
- Thurman says he rescued Donald after an alarm because intervening was an instinctive response.
Chapter 47
- Charlotte accuses Thurman of attacking Donald and destroying both the old world and Juliette’s people.
Chapter 52
- Darcy recalls supporting Thurman while Thurman kicked his impostor.
Chapter 53
- Donald says Thurman told him that other people had previously tried to help a silo.
- Donald says Thurman implied that more silos were added to the original plan for redundancy.
- Donald recalls Thurman saying that the shutdown of Silo Eighteen corrected someone’s interference.
Chapter 57
- According to Donald, Thurman told him he had only a day or two left to live.
Chapter 62
- Thurman approaches the wounded Donald with two armed Security men.