Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher is a horror story that thrills from the first episode to the last. The classic tale is from the writings of Edgar Allen Poe about the rise and fall of Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) and his powerful family and empire. Usher is the CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals and has six very different children. He takes them all in and cares for them, not wanting to be set aside as his father did to him and his twin sister, Madeline Usher (Mary McDonnell).
Each episode sees the death of one of Usher’s six children at the hands of Verna (Carla Gugino). Roderick and Madeline try their best to stop the deaths, but all six children are gone within the week. The Ushers face their inner demons and actions as they unravel what’s happening in their family. Seeing his demise, Roderick Usher offers to confess all his crimes to the assistant U.S. attorney Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), who had been mounting a case against them for years. To understand what happened at the end of the series, here is the ending of The Fall of the House of Usher explained.
What Happened at the New Year’s Eve Party?
The New Year’s Eve at a bar party plays a more significant role than fans were aware of in earlier episodes. A younger Roderick and Madeline Usher sit at the bar of a restaurant, seemingly anxious about their surroundings. What have they done that makes them so nervous? Madeline tells her brother to ensure he kisses someone and makes it memorable, which sounds like a plan to get an alibi. Why did they need an alibi? Because they had just killed a man by tying him up and hiding him behind a brick wall in a Joker costume. Throughout the series, Roderick keeps seeing the ghost of a man in a similar outfit. But he wasn’t just any ordinary man they killed.
Another flashback revealed that Roderick and Madeline were working with the police, specifically a younger Dupin, to bring down Fortunato, who forged Roderick’s signature on essential documents. To the surprise of many, Roderick betrays Dupin during the deposition and denies any accusations of forgery. This action earns him goodwill at Fortunato, especially from his boss and CEO, Rufus Griswold ( Michael Trucco). Sacrificing himself for the company gives Roderick a promotion, bonus, and status, but it’s not enough. Madeline comes up with the idea of drugging Griswold during the party and trapping him in the wall.
After cleaning up, they leave the building and find another party to help them solidify their alibi. When the bar clears, Roderick drinks with his sister and a beautiful bartender named Verna. In the final episode, viewers discover that Roderick and Madeline made a deal with Verna.
What Deal Did Roderick and Madeline Make at Verna’s Bar on New Year’s Eve?
The final episode of The Fall of The House of Usher reveals what happened at the bar. Verna knew what the twins had done hours before, so she offered them a deal. They could achieve their wildest dreams and become wealthy, but just before their death, their entire bloodline dies with them. The deal wasn’t a tough choice for Madeline because she had no children. On the other hand, Roderick already had two children, but he agrees. Verna and the twins seal the deal with a drink. Over the years, the Ushers tried to convince themselves that what happened at the bar wasn’t real, which was easy to do, considering the bar disappeared the moment they walked out.
Who Is Verna?
While viewers never get to know who Verna is by the end of the series, what’s evident is that she isn’t human. Whether she is a god or the Grim Reaper, it’s apparent after the offer she gives Pym that her primary purpose is to tempt humans into giving in their wildest desires no matter the cost. Verna seems to have been alive for centuries, hanging out with presidents and other prominent people who’ve changed the course of history. She is supernatural, can appear anywhere, and can transform form into other creatures like crows. She doesn’t age and has stayed the same way since cameras were invented.
Verna also knows everything about the Usher siblings, even giving them a glimpse of what their lives could have been like if they weren’t paying the price of Roderick’s wishes. When Frederick is about to die, Verna shares that he would have been a dentist in another life. She seems to exist beyond time and space, as seen when she kills Lenore and tells her what happens after her death. Verna tells her that saving her mother and showing bravery will help many other people. Because of this, millions of other women are rescued under the Lenore Foundation, run by her mother and the inheritance she received. By the end of the series, fans still don’t know who Verna is or her goal, but she is on to her next victim. While Roderick was always in denial, his sister Madeline knew that it was their past coming back to haunt them.
The Fall of the House of Usher: The Ending Explained
Throughout the series, Dupin can hear thumping noises from the basement. Roderick keeps saying it’s just Madeline working on her next creation, which seems weird considering everyone dying around her. However, after Roderick reveals that he buried his sister like a queen, it becomes evident that he buried her the same way they did their mother. But just like their mother, Madeline isn’t dead yet and has been trying to dig her way out of the coffin Roderick put her in. Their childhood home collapses around them as Madeline claws her way out and starts strangling Roderick. Just when the house is sinking to the ground, Dupin rushes out with the recording of Roderick’s confession. The twins were the last two Usher family members to die after Lenore’s death, just like the deal they made. The House of Usher has fallen.
Arthur Pym, their resourceful fixer, ends up in prison after he refuses the same offer Verna made to the Usher twins. Without family members or the greed for wealth, Pym declines Verna’s offer, having lived long and in comfort for 70 years. With Roderick and Madeline dead, Pym is the only one indicted for the crimes of the Ushers and those related to Fortunato. As narrated, this is the only conviction of this case because everyone else is dead.
Juno Usher (Ruth Codd), Roderick’s wife, inherits the remaining wealth and splits it into parts to create a foundation to help the millions of people addicted to opioids because of Fortunato. Dupin gets to return to his family and live a peaceful life now that the case that haunts his waking hours is over. Although Roderick and his sister lived the life they always dreamed of, in the end, they were never happy. He had an empty void he sucked all his children into, eventually leading to their death. With a legacy of death and suffering, would they have made a different decision at that New Year’s Eve party?
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