The Red Tablet

At age sixteen you are given your third and final tablet — the red tablet.

You cannot take the red tablet unless an Official tells you to. Higher-ranked Officials keep red tablets on them at all times (like Cassia's Official), and Cassia suspects they may even take them. There have always been rumors that the red tablet kills you, but the Officials have always denied it. When Ky was being taken away at the end of Matched, the Officials had the entirety of Mapletree Borough take the red tablet. As Cassia finds out, the red tablet erases all memory for the past twelve hours.

Apart from Ky's abduction, there has been one other time in Cassia's lifetime that required citizens take their red tablets. Xander knows what happened, but will not tell Cassia.

Red tablets are taken after traumatic events. The Society picks and chooses which events they want you to remember, removing memories that may cause a citizen to begin doubting in The Society. However, some memories that are particularly traumatic may be kept as an example. For example, after Matthew Markham "died", no tablet was required to be taken. This was so each member of Society would remember that an Anomaly will kill you and that if the Society were to fail, you would be in danger. However, when Patrick Markham began to tell the truth about the War, he was silenced. Each member of Mapletree Borough who was on the street watching Ky being taken away had to take their red tablet, so that they would forget about the War and why Ky went.

Many people are immune to the effects of the tablet, however, and only pretend to forget so as not to get into more trouble. If you are immune, it is most likely because The Rising swapped the disease-proofing pills for a Rising version that looks identical and gives you immunity, either because your family members are part of the rebellion or because you could be valuable to them. It is also possible to retrieve your memories from the ones you lost from the red tablet, such as the case of Cassia, but nobody else is known to have been able to do this.

Notable people with an immunity

 * Ky Markham
 * Xander Carrow
 * Indie Holt