How and why did the House of Usher fall? *WARNING – CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR ALL EIGHT EPISODES*
*WARNING – CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR ALL EIGHT EPISODES OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER*
Mike Flanagan’s latest horror anthology series, The Fall of the House of Usher, has landed on Netflix, joining his other shows on the streamer including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club.
Inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher follows Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the billionaire CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals and patriarch of the Usher family.
The Netflix show begins with the deaths of all six of his adult children – Frederick (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan), Victorine (T’Nia Miller), Napoleon (Rahul Kohli), Camille (Kate Siegel), and Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota) – and it’s the how and why of their deaths that’s explored over the course of the series.
Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The Fall of the House of Usher.
The Fall of the House of Usher ending explained: Who is Verna and what deal did she make with the Ushers?
Verna had been a mysterious figure all season, popping up throughout to herald the doom of Roderick’s children, as well as to haunt him and Madeline personally.
However, in the House of Usher finale it all became clear. Madeline and Roderick had killed Roderick’s boss Rufus Griswold, drugging him at a New Year party and building a wall in front of him, leaving him trapped in a basement.
They had then met Verna in the bar, and after the party had ended she offered them a deal – they could achieve everything they ever imagined, with Roderick being elected CEO, and they would never face legal consequences.
However, in return they would have to agree that just before they die – and they would die together – their bloodline dies with them.
They had taken the deal. Over the years, Roderick and Madeline had put this moment out of their mind, believing it to have been in their imagination. But this is why the Usher children had died.
It’s never clarified exactly what Verna was – it’s suggested that she could be death itself, or otherwise some other form of ancient demon, offering people the opportunity to become rich and powerful by giving her collateral.
Verna killed Lenore mercifully, admitting it was the part of the job she didn’t want to do because Lenore was truly good.
As some recompense, she told Lenore that her mother would recover and inherit a fortune from the collapse of Fortunado.
She would give most of this fortune away to charities but would keep the rest to start a non-profit called The Lenore Foundation, which would save millions of lives. She told Lenore that she is responsible for saving those people, before putting her to sleep.
The texts Roderick had been getting all night hadn’t been from Lenore – they had been from a sentient AI version of her, set up by Madeline, which only said “nevermore”.
What happens to Roderick, Madeline, Pym and Auguste?
After Lenore’s death, Madeline and Roderick met at their childhood home and expressed no regret for their lives and their choices. However, Roderick poisoned her drink, and used a knife to send her off like Queen Twosret, saying he was honouring her.
As we return to the present day, where Roderick was telling Auguste his story, the pair realised that the banging coming from downstairs must be being caused by Madeline, despite her having seemingly died. Roderick noted that their mother was the same way – Madeline had somehow been re-animated.
Madeline strangled Roderick as the house caved in around them – Auguste escaped but the twins were seemingly both killed for good.
In the aftermath, Juno inherited and dissolved Forunado, while recovering from her addiction.
Pym was offered a deal by Verna, but insisted he had no collateral to offer her – no one and nothing he truly loved. He was therefore arrested after Camille’s assistants turned over evidence against him. He was the only conviction from the Fortunado Pharmacuticals case, with Auguste saying he would die in prison.
Auguste retired and visited Roderick’s grave, telling him that because of his family, he was the richest man in the world.
The Fall of the House of Usher released on Netflix on Thursday 12th October. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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