1899 Ending Explained, 1899 Netflix Finale Explained
by A Maria | Updated Mar 10, 2023
1899 - TV series
The television series "1899" is a period mystery-science fiction show that originates from Germany and features multiple languages. It was created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar and debuted on Netflix on November 17, 2022. Despite receiving a mostly favorable critical reception, with acclaim for its cast, direction, cinematography, and performances, the show was discontinued in January 2023. The story is set in the year 1899 and follows a collection of European immigrants who are journeying from Southampton, UK on a steamship named Kerberos in order to begin new lives in New York City, US.
1899 ending explained
In the final episode of the series, Henry acquires the key and the lock, which he believes will allow him and his loved ones to escape the simulation. He blames his daughter for the pain caused to those trapped in the virtual world and decides to reset her memory, sending her back to the beginning of a new boat journey. However, the key fails to work because Daniel altered the Kerberos code to wake up Maura, causing the program's structure to collapse and destroying the latest iteration of the simulation.
Within the simulation, objects represent different pieces of code, with the black syringe being used to reboot memories, and the key and pyramid being the two pieces of code necessary to wake someone up and return them to reality. When Daniel changes the simulation code, he changes the syringe to transport Maura to the first iteration of the simulation, a simple room where the family once extended their lives together. He also changes the key to Maura's wedding ring and the pyramid to a toy found in the first iteration's room, telling Maura that it is imperative for her to wake up and work in the real world to free everyone else.
While it's unclear why Cirian decided to trap everyone inside the simulation and make their fake memories so traumatic, it's revealed that all the people on board the Kerberos chose to be there at some point. Additionally, there's a computer virus spreading through the simulation that might corrupt passengers' consciousness, and it's uncertain where it came from. Lastly, Maura wakes up to an unexpected reality, leaving room for a potential future season to explore the unresolved plot points.
The 1899 Netflix finale explained
The second-to-last episode of 1899 concluded with the Kerberos and its surviving passengers passing through a whirlpool to enter the simulation archive, known as the ship graveyard. Here, Eyk, who had previously been isolated on the Prometheus, reunited with Maura and the other passengers aboard the Kerberos. Only seven passengers remained: Jérome, Clémence, Ramiro, Tove, Li Ying, Mrs. Wilson, and Maura. Eyk questioned Maura about their situation and was informed that Daniel is her husband, Elliot is their son, and Henry Singleton is her father, despite her lack of memory of them. Maura then questions the passengers about their memory of boarding the ship, and none of them can remember. She reveals that everyone received letters, but the origin and significance of these letters are not revealed in this finale. Maura reveals the key from her letter and suggests it's the way out, but the other passengers are skeptical. Eyk and Maura attempt to return to the mental hospital from Maura’s memory but find that the trapdoor is no longer there. They instead use the trapdoor in Daniel’s cabin and explore his memory, where Maura suggests that all passengers' memories are connected. Meanwhile, Daniel hacks into the mainframe in the ship’s engine room, causing the black metallic substance, which is the virus designed to delete the simulation, to accelerate and corrupt the entire simulation. The Kerberos and its remaining six passengers are deleted as a result of the simulation's total collapse. However, since this is a simulation, the passengers' actual fate remains unknown.
The plot of the series 1899
Maura, who once lived in the real world with her husband Daniel and son Elliot, turned to a simulated reality when her son fell ill with a mysterious disease that brought pain and grief to her family. She transferred Elliot's consciousness to the simulated reality, where she and Daniel could still spend time with him in a small playroom even though he had passed away in the real world. The show, 1899, does not reveal how the simulation evolved from a child's playroom to a complex system, or how Henry became involved, but it is clear that multiple parties became involved in the technology over time and escalated it into chaos.
Henry missed his daughter's technology by creating more simulations inside his primary simulation to study the darkest depths of the human brain, taking advantage of it. Maura describes his descent into madness to Eyk, explaining that her mother's Alzheimer's gradually destroyed her ability to recognize family members. After her death, Henry became obsessed with studying the human mind, hoping to find answers for his wife's illness.
Over time, he took this too far by making his daughter and her family victims of his experiments. Although Maura intentionally erased her memories to cope with her son's traumatic death, it proved both a boon and a curse for Henry. It allowed him to manipulate her technology for his benefit, but he found himself in trouble when he realized that only Maura knew the code to escape the simulations.
About the 1899 TV series
SPECIFICATIONS
DETAILS
Genre
Period drama
Mystery
Supernatural horror
Science fiction
Created by
Jantje Friese
Baran bo Odar
Written by
Jantje Friese
Dario Madrona López Gallego
Emma Ko
Jerome Bucchan-Nelson
Juliana Lima Dehne
Emil Nygaard Albertsen
Directed by
Baran bo Odar
Starring
Emily Beecham
Aneurin Barnard
Andreas Pietschmann
Miguel Bernardeau
José Pimentão
Isabella Wei
Gabby Wong
Yann Gael
Mathilde Ollivier
Jonas Bloquet
Rosalie Craig
Maciej Musiał
Clara Rosager
Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen
Maria Erwolter
Alexandre Willaume
Tino Mewes
Isaak Dentler
Fflyn Edwards
Anton Lesser
Theme music composer
Grace Slick
Opening theme
"White Rabbit"
by Eliot Sumner
Composer
Ben Frost
Country of origin
Germany
Original languages
English
Spanish
French
Polish
German
Danish
Portuguese
Cantonese
No. of seasons
1
No. of episodes
8
Executive producers
Jantje Friese
Baran bo Odar
Production locations
Germany
United Kingdom
Cinematography
Nikolaus Summerer
Running time
50–62 minutes
Production company
Dark Ways
Distributor
Netflix
Original network
Netflix
Original release
17 November 2022
1899 ending explained - FAQs
"1899" is a television series that combines period mystery and science fiction genres. It was created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar and was released on Netflix in November 2022.
"1899" is a German television series, but it features multiple languages.
"1899" was released on Netflix on November 17, 2022.
The story of "1899" is set in the year 1899 and follows a group of European immigrants who are traveling on a steamship named Kerberos from Southampton, UK to New York City, US.
"1899" was discontinued in January 2023, but the reason for its discontinuation has not been officially announced.