When it comes to critique of religion, creatives trend into some difficult territory and risk offending a lot of people. One way to reduce this problem would be to use a fictional religion, but an interesting alternative might be to use a real, but ancient, system of belief. Ridley Scott's HBO series combines elements of both these tropes in its portrayal of religion and religious conflict.
Raised by Wolves is a complex work of science fiction that deals with a lot of complex questions. While much of it explores questions about humanity of artificially intelligent beings, its human characters remain embroiled in a seemingly eternal religious war. It was this conflict that left the planet Earth uninhabitable and drove what remains of humanity to Kepler-22b, kicking off the series. Yet, even on this distant planet, the conflict remains.
The History of Mithraism
In The Real World
Mithraism is, or was, a real religion that emerged throughout Rome during the 1st through the 4th century CE. The religion, like all native belief systems of the era, was viewed as an enemy of Christianity and was violently persecuted by the church, leaving no trace by the end of the 4th century. It featured a tiered initiation system and a variety of large feast ceremonies. Worshippers met in underground temples called Mithraeum, where they praised an Iranian sun deity called Mithras, who was honored as a patron deity to the Roman Emperor. Mithraism existed before Zoroastrianism, blending the Iranian and Mediterranean groups in a shared faith. There are over 1,000 pieces of antiquity depicting the iconic scenes of Mithras that remain present, but there isn't a single piece of written theology for the sect available today. This makes divining much of their worship difficult, but luckily, Raised by Wolves has chosen to take little aside from the name.
In Raised By Wolves
Most of what is known about the history of the show's Mithraic comes before the series, and is depicted in flashbacks. Since the show is set after the events of the war, leaving only a small detachment of Mithraic, the major events have to be back-filled in memory. Currently, viewers know that Mithraism rose to prominence in the 22nd century, somehow becoming the largest and most powerful religious group on Earth. The series does not go into any detail on how Mithraism toppled the world's other major religions, including the one that snuffed it out 1800 years earlier. The Mithraic waged war against atheists and won an unquestioned victory — but one that came at such a cost that the win was hollow. The Mithraic's greatest weapon was the Necromancers, indestructible murderous androids with the power of flight and the ability to instantly vaporize any natural life. Upon succeeding in defeating the atheists, they swiftly discovered they'd obliterated their home planet in the process. The Mithraic responded by loading up the Ark of Heaven to flee to Kepler-22b.
Once there, the Ark found its new homestead occupied by a pair of androids and their small family. The remaining Mithraic were introduced suddenly and disastrously to the power of their own weaponry as Mother, a reprogrammed Necromancer, single-handedly destroys the ship and slaughters its crew. Over the course of the rest of the show, the religious conflict continues on a comparatively tiny scale between the remaining Mithraic soldiers and the atheist Collective on the other side of the planet.
By the second season, the Mithraic are represented almost entirely by converted con-man Marcus Drusus and his vengeful former ally Lucius. The handful of remaining Mithraic fade in and out of faith, as characters regularly abandon or rejoin their belief in their god.
Mithraic Beliefs
The Mithraic in Raised by Wolves worship Sol, another sun god who is a combination of Mithras and Sol Invictus. Their belief system is extremist and eliminationist: they that believe all those who aren't members of the faith are deviant and must be purged. Marcus and company preach about "the light" and against "the darkness;" it's all focused on the sun and its deified power. Much of their belief system is built around prophecy, most of the worshippers are constantly interpreting one event or another as a sign. The main proclamation states that an orphan will wield a sword, lead others to eat from a tree, and then forge a city of peace. Viewers may have already seen the tree of knowledge, in all its extremely unpleasant glory, in the final episodes of season 2. Kepler 22-b continues to reveal new Mithraic artifacts, which both further the prophecy and continue to introduce new ideas to the small sect.
While the Mithraic are technologically advanced and committed in their faith, the series has continued to hint that perhaps Sol is something other than a deity. Characters have repeatedly referred to a signal from some unknown being, perhaps an alien somehow interfacing with the humans' minds. The series is keeping a lot under wraps, but whatever is out there is being interpreted by devout Mithraic as Sol's influence. The second season ends with a very new development for this idea. Raised by Wolves features a religious group with some classic traits and a very interesting mystery under the surface — perhaps in Season 3, viewers will get a clearer picture.