Horror Season 1 Ending Explained

The Terror The first season's finale came in 2018 and, years later, many viewers still revisit the moment when the villainous Cornelius Hickey and the jaded Francis Crozier finally faced the Tuunbaq – the spiritual monster that was hunting them. Based on the novel of the same name by Dan Simmons, which in turn was based on the true story of the ill-fated Franklin expedition The Terror spent 10 gripping episodes mixing horror and fantasy with the harsh truth of the 19th century voyage that claimed the lives of 129 men.

After abandoning the Terror and Erebus to embark on a long and difficult journey back to civilization, things went from bad to worse for Captain Crozier and his remaining crew. Hickey led a mutiny that divided the survivors into two groups, and the spoiled cans of food began to take their toll on the men. Hickey forced the men in his camp to resort to cannibalism to survive, and in the penultimate episode, he sent some of his followers to kidnap Crozier. In The Terror In the end, the true nature of Hickey's plan finally came to light.

What was achieved by Goodsir's sacrifice

Harry Goodsir poisons himself to thwart the cannibals' plans

Resigned to dying on the tundra at the end of The Terror, Harry Goodsir decides to come out on his own terms and find a way to make his death have a purpose. He tells Crozier that when Hickey and the others have a meal with him, "eat only from my feet" if he has no other choice, and to eat from the soles of his feet if possible, where the skin is toughest.

Later, Goodsir mixes a poison and rubs it on his skin. Then he also drinks a bottle of poison, to make sure that his “meat” is completely spoiled. So that Hickey and the others do not suspect that he poisoned himself, Goodsir then slits his wrists with broken glass. He dies shortly afterwards.

Hickey takes the bait, declaring that Goodsir "made a gift of himself" and ordered Crozier to eat his corpse with the rest of the men. Crozier refuses, and Hickey orders one of the remaining men to stand up - clearly implying that he will be killed if Crozier continues to refuse. Crozier relents, but following Goodsir's instructions, he cuts the sole of his foot. Hickey is satisfied and the rest of the men eat the poisoned meat.

Hickey Ritual Explained

Hickey's deception leads to his brutal death by Tuunbaq

In the final episodes of The Terror, the men drag the lifeboat to the top of the hill, on Hickey's orders. They believe they will kill Tuunbaq, but Hickey has other plans. He finally reveals the truth: he is not really Cornelius Hickey. He murdered the real Cornelius Hickey after hearing about the expedition and deciding it would be worth a year's journey to get to the other side of the world. He stole Hickey's identity to join the expedition and declares that after three years in the icy Arctic, he has no intention of returning to London.

Hickey begins shouting the hymn "God Bless Our Native Land" at the top of his voice to attract Tuunbaq, while all around him men begin to vomit, succumbing to the poison. The Tuunbaq arrives and despite the sailors' attempts to fight it off, they are slaughtered one by one until only Crozier and Hickey remain. As the Tuunbaq kills the men, Hickey cuts out their tongue – part of the Inuit ritual through which a person can tie themselves to the Tuunbaq and become a shaman. Hickey brought the men with him not to kill the creature, but as sacrificial offerings to it.

The last man to be killed is Hickey's fellow mutineer Tozer, who is chained to Crozier. Tuunbaq swallows Tozer, the chain stuck in his throat. Hickey then holds out his hand, with his severed tongue in his palm, clearly expecting a reward for all his offerings. However, Hickey is not fit to become a shaman: his soul has been spoiled by the sin of cannibalism and his body has been spoiled by the poison Goodsir used. Instead of accepting the language, Tuunbaq bites Hickey's arm and then rips it in half, teaching us all a valuable lesson about the dangers of cultural appropriation.

How Tuunbaq died at the end of the terror

Tuunbaq dies from injuries and poisoned food

Tuunbaq is already ill when he arrives at the end of The Terror. In a previous episode, The Terror'Ice Master Thomas Blanky revealed that his amputated leg had become gangrenous - a death sentence. He decided to sacrifice himself to give others a chance to escape the beast and tied cutlery all over his body. so that when Tuunbaq swallowed him, his entrails would be torn out. The creature found Blanky shortly after he discovered the Northwest Passage – the entire purpose of the expedition.

When Tuunbaq tries to eat the top half of Hickey's body, the chain is already lodged in his throat and he begins to choke. He is already dying from eating crew members who were sick from the contaminated cans, from the damage caused when he ate Blanky, and most recently from eating the men who were poisoned by eating Goodsir's body. It doesn't take much more to finish. Crozier violently pulls the other end of the chain, causing even more internal damage to Tuunbaq. Finally, he collapses, vomits and dies – a symbol of the damage caused by the attempts of invading British explorers to tame his lands.

Although the creature has followed in the crew's footsteps throughout the series The Terror avoided direct exposure of his true nature. Simmons based the monster on Inuit myths of the tuurngaq, known collectively as tuurngait — spirits that can be helpful or harmful. Tuunbaq may be connected to Inuit shamans through the ritual Hickey tried and failed to perform, which involves a person cutting out their tongue and Tuunbaq eating it.

This then allows the shaman a measure of control over Tuunbaq. Lady Silence's father was one of the shamans linked to Tuunbaq, which is why the creature began massacring the crew after they accidentally killed him. Ultimately, however, revenge against the expedition ended up killing Tuunbaq as well.

The Departure of Lady Silence

Lady Silence goes out alone

Lady Silence is traveling the tundra with one of the other shamans linked to Tuunbaq, searching for the creature, when the shaman senses that Tuunbaq has died. Resigned, the shaman returns, but Silence decides to continue searching. She passes a crewman who fled when Tuunbaq arrived, but ignores his pleas for help and leaves him to die. She finds Crozier and Tuunbaq and spends a moment mourning the great spirit, pouring the last drops of water from her skin onto his tongue.

After discovering that Crozier's wrist cannot be freed from the chain,Lady Silence cuts off his hand and takes him away, setting up camp and tending to his wounds. Crozier insists that they look for his men and travel across the tundra in search of them. Unfortunately, there isn't much to find: camp after camp filled with corpses, with the final camp revealing that the men have eventually given in to cannibalism.

The only man alive is Edward Little, the officer who tried to get the men to rescue Crozier. His face is adorned with piercings and gold chains – a detail based on the real-life discovery of a Franklin expedition officer whose body was similarly adorned. Little dies shortly after Crozier arrives.

Lady Silence and Crozier return to the Inuit camp. Crozier learns from his leader that Lady Silence's real name is Silna. We see her leaving in the early hours of the morning, and when Crozier emerges from his tent at the end of the day, he finds her gone. He asks the Inuit leader where she is and hears: "She lost Tuunbaq. Alone is the way for her now." Crozier asks why and is told: "This is the way. Everyone accepts this." Crozier wants to go after her, but no one will tell him in which direction she left. Ultimately, he has to accept that she is gone.

What is Crozier's fate at the end of the horror?

Crozier stays with Inuit and tells rescuers he is dead

Crozier is asked where he wants to go, but can't find an answer. He was told he can stay with the Inuit over the winter and decide what he wants to do in the spring. In the end, he decides to stay with the tribe. In September 1850, two men from the rescue team searching for Terror and Erebus arrive at the camp - as they did in the series premiere. Crozier lifts his hood and tells the Inuit leader to tell the rescue team that he is dead. along with everyone else on board the ships, that the ships have disappeared and that the Northwest Passage does not exist.

Afterwards, Crozier goes out onto the ice with some of the other Inuit. The series ends with a photo of him positioned near a fishing hole with a spear, an Inuk child sleeping beside him. After everything Crozier has been through and burdened with the guilt of losing his men, he is unable to return to England. The novel ends on a similar note, except that Tuunbaq does not die and Crozier decides to leave with Lady Silence rather than stay with the rest of the Inuit.

The true meaning of the end of terror

There are several themes at play

The end of The Terror There is no shortage of moving parts in its complex narrative. Each of them carries its own themes and meanings. However, the overall message behind the 2018 miniseries is that for the many truly "doomed journeys" that The Terror is inspired, there is no one answer to the question of "what went wrong."

There are many reasons why the expedition fatally failed. If any of them existed in a vacuum, then the crew might have been able to overcome it. The fact that all of the present obstacles happened more or less simultaneously, however, meant that the crew's ultimate fate was more or less a foregone conclusion.

The Terror did a great job of mixing the fantastic with realism inspired by historical events. The inclusion of Tuunbaq, for example, not only made for a great narrative, but also took advantage of the gaps in understanding left when real-life expeditions into unknown territories went wrong. With no one else to tell the story, rumors of monsters or supernatural happenings often became part of the rumors surrounding tragic voyages, such as the Houghton expedition of 1791, or Franklin's lost expedition of 1845.

The other central theme The Terror, of course, are the comparisons between the native Inuit and the crews of the Erebus and Terror. The crew members quickly show that they are capable of doing much worse than the barbarity that their prejudice led them to believe the Inuit were capable of due to their inherent prejudice and ignorance. Ultimately, it is the invaders on Inuit land who prove to be the immoral group, and their behavior provokes a response of disgust from people like Lady Silence.

How The Horror Season 1 Finale Was Received

A solid finish with room for improvement

Overall, the end of The Terror Season 1 was well-received by fans and critics alike, which was probably the main reason why Season 2 was picked up and arrived a year later. The first season of The Terror is currently sitting Rotten tomatoes with a 94% Tomatometer score (critic rating) and an 89% Popcornmeter score (audience rating), which gives an idea of ​​how well-received the supernatural horror anthology was when it arrived on AMC in 2018. The initial success of the previous episodes continued right up to the end of episode 10, "We Are Gone", with fans and critics praising it as a strong and chilling ending to the story of the HMS Terror.

However, although the end of The Terror The first season was mostly seen as strong, but it was not without its criticisms. As much as it was a solid way to end the first chapter of the horror anthology, there were those who felt that the final moments weren't as climactic and drama-filled as they could have been. For example, Jonathan Saavedra writing to Geek's Lair opens his review with the following:

The Terror doesn't quite nail the season finale, opting for an hour full of action and gore rather than a more thoughtful conclusion to this survival story. That being said, even the weakest moments of this series were a real delight and “We Are Gone” is far from a failure.

Saavedra's comments echo much of the general sentiment regarding the end of The Terror season 1. It was by no means a bad ending. It ticked all the boxes viewers expected. However, there was also a feeling that the final episode of The Terror The first season could have been better. It was a fun and fascinating watch, but not as strong as many of the previous episodes.

The Terror season 1 finale compared to season 2

A stronger conclusion to a less memorable story

When The Terror Returning in 2019 for Season 2, the horror anthology told an entirely new story. The Terror: Infamy was set on the West Coast during World War II. The supernatural horror this time was the Japanese folklore figure Bakemono, who is said to haunt the Japanese-American community. As The Terror the 1st and 2nd seasons featured 10 episodes, with the finale coming in "Into The Afterlife".

The stories of The Terror Seasons 1 and 2 are completely different, which makes comparison difficult. However, the Season 2 finale was generally seen as a better ending to their story than "We Are Gone" was to The Terror season 1. Once again, the overall reception to the season 2 finale of The Terror was summarized incredibly well by Jonathan Saavedra of Geek's Lair:

"The Terror: Infamy ends its story in a very satisfying way, as Chester, Luz and their families face a determined Yuko in the final days of World War II. “Into the Afterlife” is at its best when it focuses on the real-world horrors that make up this season’s historical backdrop. The episode ends with powerful reflections on how these characters were forever changed by their hospitalization. It's in the cathartic moments at the end of the episode, and the many ruminations on what it means to be Japanese American, that this final hour hits home."

However, although the end of The Terror Season 2 may have been stronger in its story than Season 1, many critics (including Saavedra) indicate that Season 1 was stronger overall. In your review of The Terror Finishing the 2nd season, Saavedra points out that the second chapter of the horror anthology was satisfactory, but not the peak of its narrative:

"The Terror: Infamy This show may not have been at its best, but it is the most honest and ambitious series. When His Mix of Historical and Supernatural Horrors Worked Infamy It was stunning television"

Horror is returning for season three

The anthology horror series returns in 2025

The Terror Season 1 was followed by a second batch of episodes in 2019, this time set in World War 2. A third season was confirmed a year later in 2020, although news about its development quickly fell silent. However, in early 2024, AMC revealed that work in The Terror season 3 has been resumedand it would be subtitled Devil in Silver.

The Terror Season 3 will consist of 6 episodes and is based on the novel by Victor LaVelle, who will also co-write the script. While no specific release date has been set, the upcoming season of The Terror is expected to arrive in 2025.