The eyeless man has been lurking in Yellowjackets since the show began. In fact, he’s been in almost every episode—in a fashion. All things considered, Yellowjackets‘ man with no eyes might actually be one of the scariest parts of the show to date. And yet, he remains a huge mystery to the characters and fans. The eyeless man appears to connect to Taissa and perhaps has something to do with Yellowjackets‘ concept of death. But beyond that, his origins and the reasons for his appearance remain unclear. Still, his presence is one worth considering. Hopefully, Yellowjackets will give us some more tasty details about him soon as season two progresses. So, who is the man with no eyes on Yellowjackets, what does he want, and what do we know about him so far? Let’s break down the details.
Yellowjackets‘ Man with No Eyes in Season One
In Yellowjackets proper, the man with no eyes only appeared twice in the first season of the show. The eyeless man was played by Brahm Taylor in this season of Yellowjackets. The first occasion of the eyeless man occurred in episode three of Yellowjackets season one. The series flashes back to a young Taissa experiencing her grandmother’s death. Taissa’s grandmother, knowing she is close to her passing, is at first seen praying to God. She comforts child Tai and tells her that death is nothing to be afraid of, a simple calling of the soul back to God and the angels.
But later in the episode, Taissa’s grandmother seems to see a vision in the mirror. She asks the invisible man with no eyes, “Who are you?” before going into a panic. In the scene’s final moments, it seems Tai, too, can see the eyeless man in the mirror, and she screams. Taissa’s grandmother indicates that the eyeless man wants to take her eyes.
Interestingly, just before the man with no eyes appears in this chilling Yellowjackets moment, Taissa asks if an angel is there. The question seems to indicate that the eyeless man is tied in with the supernatural and, quite possibly, death in some fashion, although not necessarily a heavenly one.
The second time Taissa sees the man with no eyes is when she is meant to withdraw from her political campaign. Although Taissa intends to concede the election, she instead delivers a rousing speech affirming her intent to win the election. As she speaks, she seems to go into a sort of fervor, and at its height, the figure appears in all his eyeless glory, standing behind a crowd of journalists. It isn’t clear if Taissa can see the man with no eyes before her at this point of Yellowjackets.
Other Eyes of Note in Yellowjackets
In the same episode of Yellowjackets where Tai first meets the man with no eyes, she also finds her son’s doll broken to pieces with its eyes gouged out. We now know, of course, that Taissa herself likely committed this action while taken over by her other identity. A further flashback also reveals that Tai’s grandmother did, in fact, lose her eyes, which were removed in death.
In addition, Tai’s son Sammy, who seems to sense something is not right with his mother, makes creepy drawings that heavily revolve around either eyes or the lack of them. It seems likely all these eyes lead back to the man without them.
Yellowjackets‘ Eyeless Man in the Opening Credits
Though the man with no eyes has only appeared in a handful of scenes in Yellowjackets proper, he has at the same time appeared in every episode. In both Yellowjackets season one and season two, the eyeless man appears in the opening credits sequence. Notably, though some credits shots remain the same between seasons, a new shot of him appears in season two.
This indicates that the eyeless man’s presence is one we should absolutely note as he looms over every moment of Yellowjackets. The credits, after all, set the tone for the entire show.
Yellowjackets Man with No Eyes in Season Two
So far, the man with no eyes has made one big appearance in Yellowjackets season two. In episode two, a sleepwalking Taissa, overtaken by her other personality, follows the eyeless man out into the snow… And almost off the edge of a cliff. As the camera pans, we also see that, nearby the cliff, there sits a tree marked by the wilderness. But whether the man with no eyes was leading Tai toward her death or toward Yellowjackets‘ mysterious symbol remains to be seen.
In episode three, Van follows Other Tai into the woods again and she references the fact that she is following a man with no eyes. Once again the eyeless man leads her to a tree marked with Yellowjackets‘ mysterious symbol. But why he’s leading Tai to these places or what he wants remains unclear.
Yellowjackets Creators Share More Details of The Eyeless Man
Yellowjackets‘ creators know that figuring out who exactly the man with no eyes is remains a top priority for their fans. In a recent Yellowjakets panel at Paley Fest LA, they took on the question of the eyeless man and his identity.
Showrunner Ashley Lyle had this to say:
All I’m going to say about the man with no eyes is that we see in the first season [of Yellowjackets] that Tai has lived as this person who’s based her life on pragmatism. I personally believe that she would define herself as an atheist, if not, an agnostic. And yet as a young child, she had this incredibly informative, traumatic experience when her grandmother, who she was very close to, was close to death and had this sort of terrifying moment where she was anticipating, you know, the transition to the next life and expecting sort of angels and trumpets and instead had a terrifying vision.
Lyle further notes that for Tai, the man with no eyes represents death. She adds:
I think that for Taissa, who’s very much not in touch with her spiritual self, and very much not in touch with her ability to believe, or, her faith, there’s this sort of symbolic character of, you know, you could look at him as death incarnate. I think what he [the man with no eyes] represents is ‘the unknown’ and the unknown is something that Taissa is very uncomfortable with as a character.
Actress Tawny Cypress, who plays Tai, also shared that Yellowjackets‘ eyeless man has “been cut out of scenes.” We wonder which ones… And if we’ll see him again soon.
Just Who Is the Man with No Eyes?
So what does this all mean for the man with no eyes on Yellowjackets? We can still only guess. The man appears to Taissa before she ever arrives in the wilderness, and yet, does seem to have some connection to its strange mark. In addition, though he mostly appears in times of great peril for Tai, he also visits her on what appears to be a relatively ordinary night in season two.
There also seems to be a connection between Tai’s other, more evil personality and the man. When Tai sees him during her speech, she appears to be her “normal” self. Yet, in that moment, Tai leans into a savagery that’s unlike this version of her. Perhaps in that scene, the two Tais are melding together, and so the man with no eyes becomes visible. In season two, he clearly connects with Tai while she is not herself.
The eyeless man also carries an angel of death connotation, as the showrunners shared. He comes to Tai’s grandmother on her deathbed and visits Tai moments before she potentially falls from the side of a mountain. His spectral presence and, of course, his lack of eyes suggest something fantastical and not of this world. Though, like in the case of Tai’s other personality, he could simply be a manifestation of madness. But we think it would feel far more interesting if they were both actually demons.
With any luck, season two of Yellowjackets will reveal more about who exactly the man with no eyes is and what he’s really after… We just hope it’s not Tai’s eyes.
