Ares Bell


 * This page includes spoilers.*

Ares Bell is one of the main characters in the series The Boy from the Bunker and is portrayed by Nick Robinson in the books. He made up one of the 18 members of Bunker Clan that were living in an underground shelter at the time of its evacuation by Sol Riverly and Basilisk. He was the oldest of all the children to have been living inside of the Bunker.

He is the oldest child of Martha Bell and Kane Bell and has three younger siblings. He has a younger brother named Wynnlow Bell, a younger brother named Quill Bell - who was adopted after he brought up the suggestion to their parents after finding him smuggled - alone - in their Bunker, and a younger sister named Elara Bell. He also has an adoptive niece named Isobel Kady, two other nieces named Story Zora and Hope Zora, and a nephew named Ares Zora through his sister and Kodiak Zora - who became his brother-in-law after his marriage to Elara. Fenn Jakson is also considered a part of his family due to their romantic relationship at the time of Ares' death and because of this, Fenn took on a responsibility to watch out for Ares' siblings after his passing. Sol Riverly and Aeryn Ives are his sisters-in-law. He has two more nieces named Eden Riverly Bell and Veer Bell, and three more nephews named Reign Riverly Bell, Atlas Bell, and Theo Bell.

Season 1

When his Bunker is invaded by Sol Riverly and her team of people, Ares is initially loaded up onto the bus with the rest of his family until its journey is intercepted by Blood Riders. Ares is one of the survivors from his family to end up at Basilisk along with both of his brothers, however, his parents and sister are no where to be found. Upon learning about the opposing clan which has taken the rest of their family, Ares and Wynn take initiative to find a way back to the others and end up sneaking out of camp one night. Due to their lack or preparation and experience to the brutal, unforgiving ways on the ground, Ares ends up captured by someone from Blood Riders and after the sounds of a shootout, is presumed dead by Wynn and Sol - who had left camp to find them. When Ares is taken to Blood Riders' camp, he is reunited with his little sister, Elara, as well as Fabian and Harlow who are also being kept prisoners within the clan. To Ares' surprise, his mother - Martha Bell - and extended family member, Lyra Blackwood - are working with Blood Riders to keep them inside the camp and eventually, bring the rest of their family to Blood Riders. However, Ares quickly realises the significant differences between Blood Riders and Basilisk and after having experienced both of their clans, decides that Basilisk is a much safer, welcoming place for his family. Knowing that Wynn, Quill and the rest of the survivors at Basilisk are planning to get everyone out of Blood Riders, Ares does what he can from within the camp and eventually manages to help Fabian, Harlow and Elara escape from their captors, but the danger doesn't end there. His mother manages to capture him and his sister and whilst it allows Fabian to make a dashing escape with Harlow, it leaves the two siblings to face the delusion rage of their mother. Already injured from escaping Blood Riders, Ares once again finds himself seriously hurt as he jumps in Elara's way to take the attack from Martha as they both tried to escape their mother's capture. Despite his life hanging on the line, Ares manages to convince Elara to run and try and catch up to Fabian and Harlow, leaving him alone in Martha's fatal company until the weight of her actions finally catches up to her and causes her to enter a brief craze. The next thing Ares knows, Wynn and Sol have located him after being able to listen in on Riders' conversations with the master radio that Wynn had stolen from camp, and they managed to carry him through the forest towards Basilisk's side of the dams. Here, the trio soon hear a voice they recognise calling out for help, and it's Elara. When Sol leaves to try and find her, the two brothers are discovered by Martha who in her delusion, can't make sense of anything that has happened, let alone the fact that she is the reason Ares is so deeply hurt and barely able to move. Within minutes, Lyra - who has also been working against their family - makes her way into sight with a chained up Elara. She holds a gun up to the young girl's head and warns her family that she will shoot if they don't agree to follow her back to Blood Riders. As Wynn panics and desperately tries to reason with Lyra, two gun shot go off and one fires in the direction right behind him - Lyra having aimed for Ares instead of Elara. As Wynn turns around, expecting the worst for Ares, he is horrified to see that their mother had jumped in the bullet's path and taken the hit for Ares, leaving her lying on the ground with her life counting down by the seconds. Ares is joined by Wynn and Elara as they surrounded their mother, hoping that there is a way for her to survive as behind them, Dreea arrives with Aeryn and Quill - who is heartbroken and completely unprepared for the sight he has stumbled into. The four siblings sit with their mother as she succumbs to her injury and her murderer - none other than Lyra, herself - is no where to be seen after the second gun that went off was one fired by Sol and struck Lyra straight in the shoulder. After a brutal loss, the season ends with a return to the Bunker and Ares and the survivors of his family (excluding Azha, Bas, and Lyra) decide on living in their shelter instead of either clan, hopefully allowing themselves time to heal and recover from all the tragedies they have faced in such a short time.

 Season 2 

After having spent the past 5 months living in the Bunker and recovering from the sudden, violent losses of their family, Ares, his siblings, and the rest of the survivors from his Bunker return to Basilisk after Sol re-extended her offer to Wynn for them all to enter her clan. However, when they arrive at Basilisk, Nobel Sovereign Sol Riverly is nowhere to be seen and they are instead met with an irritated Eryx Riverly who attempts to challenge their entrance into Basilisk. After Sovereign Kodiak and Sovereign Dreea allow them inside, they learn that Sol has been missing for the past few days and they eventually piece together that Wynn was the last person to see her. With their future looking uncertain and a fear about their family's safety if they are unable to enter Basilisk, Ares follows Wynn's lead on a search for Sol and enters the unforgiving DeadLands with a small team from Basilisk - including Sovereign Kodiak - to find Sol. When a vicious sandstorm strikes, Wynn becomes separated from everyone and their search for the Nobel Sovereign becomes a search for Ares' brother, as well. With no other choice but to take an extreme risk, Kodiak decides to work together with Noah Rule - upcoming king of Basilisk's enemy clan - to help find Sol (as Noah and Sol have had a secret friendship since when they were younger). After hearing a message on their radio channels from Sol - who hid inside of the Bunker to contact the others and inform them that she is alive - the group decide to head back into the DeadLands where they believe Wynn is still lost after the sandstorm, not knowing that Sol has returned there, too. After having being separated for days on end, Ares and the group finally reach Sol and Wynn - who is on the brink of death - and they take them both back to the Bunker where they can recover safely before they all figure out their plans to return to Basilisk. Once Sol and Wynn have regained their strength, they lead everyone (excluding Noah) to Basilisk where Sol overthrows her father and rightfully resumes her position as Nobel Sovereign. The season ends with Ares and the survivors of his Bunker being announced as official members of Basilisk and welcomed "unconditionally" into the clan.

 Fun Trivia: 

Ares is the second character named in the series, and the second to be introduced.

He is the first character to have dialogue in the series.

He was 9 years old when he moved into the Bunker with his parents and Wynn.

He is the legal gaurdian for all three of his siblings after their evacuation from their Bunker when they become seperated from their parents (Martha and Kane). Later on in Season 1 when Ares and Elara are at Blood Riders, Ares fights Martha for authority and gaurdianship over Wynn, Quill, and Elara over fears that she is putting them in danger and willing to have them seperated. After her death at the end of the season, and with their father missing and presumed dead since their evacuation from the Bunker, Ares is their guradian. However, this role is once again challenged when their father Kane Bell makes a grand return in Season 3 and tries to get the four of them (Ares, Wynn, Quill, Elara) to return with him to The City of Targo (so Elara can become the Commander of The City), in spite of their protest. When Kane tries to force Elara into the position of Commander and attempts to separate her from her brothers and take her with him, Ares fights for his sister's right and consent, eventually laying down his life to successfully save Elara from their father. Despite Kane and Martha's attemped control and authority over their children after leaving the Bunker, Wynn, Quill, and Elara make it abundantly clear that the person they feel is their guardian - or, most parental to them - is Ares. And in their eyes, Ares has always and will always be their upmost guardian.

The episode of his death, entitled "Never Let Me Go" is paralleled to an episode in Season 7 where Wynn tries to save Quill from Hannah and the flood (and from losing another brother). This episode is entitled "Never Let You Go" in homage to Ares, and to reflect on Wynn's heroicness at having fulfiled Ares' request at protecting their younger siblings.

All three of his siblings gave a tribute to Ares in the naming of their children. Elara named her son - Ares Zora - after him, leaving Wynn and Quill to resort to the use for a middle name. Both Reign (Wynn's son) and Atlas (Quill's son) share the middle name 'Ares'.

Two of his nieces/nephews are adopted: Izzy Kady Zora and Theo Bell.

After his death in Season 5 (S5x03), Ares makes two more apperances in the books - both times in Elara's visions (one shared with Wynn). The first time he appears is in 'No Maps of the Past' (S6x06) where Elara is induced into a vision outside of The City of Targo to save Sol, and the second time is in 'Life Support' (S8x07) where he appears to both Wynn and Elara - who have been killed as a result of Neptunum (but are under the influence of the combination or resusitation) - and demands them both to fight for their life and stay alive for Quill. It is the last time he is featured in the series, but he is mentioned numerous times following, and in both the final chapter and the epilogue.

Ares was undenibaly close and protective of all three of his siblings, but felt the most protective over Quill given the circumtances in how he joined their family, how young he was at the time, and Quill's anxious yet gentle demanor - which often made him seem younger than he was due to being sheltered so much by his brothers.

One year in the Bunker when Elara was nine and it was concluded that she had epilepsy, Ares greatly assisted his mother and Emlyn Blackwood (the dubbed "Medic" of the Bunker) in taking care of her, specifically during many of her seizures when they were still new to her. It was a signifcant role for Ares, epecially as Wynn and Quill weren't told about their sister's condition until months later (as Martha and Kane didn't want to worry them until they had more information on her condition).

Ares was a big fan of reading (which was a major pasttime in the Bunker) and a big part of what influenced Elara's love of books and storytelling (which she passed down to her children).