Horror stories aren't really known for their closure, but as far as horror goes, the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor ties up most of its loose ends for a perfectly splendid and surprisingly romantic finale. Yet, with so many ghosts parading around as alive people, we shouldn't take everything at face value... which means, we've got some questions about that Bly Manor ending. Spoilers ahead for all of The Haunting of Bly Manor.
The penultimate episode very helpfully explained how Bly Manor came to be haunted and who all of its ghostly inhabitants were. It all started back in the 1600s when Viola Lloyd, the artist formerly known as the Lady in the Lake, was murdered by her sister. From there, everyone who died at Bly Manor — whether killed by the Lady in the Lake or not — became a faded faced ghost like Viola. To put an end to the haunting, Dani invites the ghost into herself, freeing Viola and all of the other spirits from their Bly Manor purgatory.
Season 2 of The Haunting anthology doesn't necessarily end happily since Viola's ghostly grasp eventually consumes Dani and she faces a watery grave as well. But as displayed by the tidy retelling of it by Carla Gugino's narrator, it's satisfying as far as any story goes — let alone a ghost story. But here are some lingering questions about The Haunting Of Bly Manor ending that may still haunt you.
How Did The Kids Forget?
At his restaurant, Owen tells Jamie and Dani that he recently saw Flora, Miles, and Henry Wingrave and that the two children had no memory of how they were once haunted by ghosts at Bly Manor. What he says is true since, on the eve of her wedding, Flora doesn't recognize the older Jamie's story. That's great the kids aren't scarred by the horrors of their summer home, but it seems that with Jamie's extensive retelling, they may have been triggered. But they weren't. So, did everything at Bly Manor (name changed in the retelling by Jamie, of course) really happen, or did Owen and Jamie experience some hallucination?
Perhaps the bigger questions are: If Flora and Miles don't remember what happened, then why are Jamie and Owen such VIP guests at Flora's wedding? And how the hell did Flora lose her adorable British accent upon moving to America at 8 years old?
Did Jamie Die?
The season starts with older Jamie looking disappointed when she wakes up in her hotel room with the door ajar. By the end, we realize the door being left open and the tub and sink stopped with water are her invitations for ghost Dani to visit her.
In the final moment of the season, the ghost of Dani does place her hand on Jamie's shoulder. This could mean that Dani's spirit always visits an unknowing Jamie. But another interpretation could be that after finally sharing their ghost story, Jamie has joined Dani in death. Either way, the ending is still pretty damn romantic.
What's Up With Henry Wingrave's Ghost?
Lord Henry Wingrave has a ghost of his own that's not attached to Bly Manor. This spirit is identical to Henry Thomas and needles Wingrave about his affair with his brother's wife. But in the end, Wingrave isn't dead. He arrives in the climax of the story to be attacked by the Lady in the Lake and once Owen saves his life, he can no longer talk to the ghost of Mrs. Grose. He's even there to dance with his (secret) daughter at her wedding.
So, most likely, this doppelgänger ghost was a manifestation of his alcohol abuse and now that he's not drinking anymore, no longer exists. But could it have been somehow related to the dead brother he betrayed? This season established that siblings who betray other siblings don't get away with it. And since the story didn't follow Henry in the future, we can't know for sure that it's still not haunting him?
Could The Bly Ghosts Really Leave?
Hannah establishes that Peter can't leave the property in her body, yet, he was able to be in Miles' body while the boy was at boarding school. But for the switch to be permanent, the words, "It's you. It's me. It's us," need to be said. With them, Peter believes he'll be able to not fade away at Bly and escape the grounds in Miles' body.
Because Peter apologizes and leaves Miles' body in the end, we can't know for sure if his plan would have worked. But we can look at Dani as an example since she uses the words on the Lady in the Lake. But rather than Dani assume Viola's personality like Miles did with Peter, she is still herself for many years until the ghost of Viola takes over. So was Viola's ghost really inside her then? Or was it a psychosis that made her believe that the Lady in the Lake was still haunting her all those years later?
Did Dani Drown Herself In the Lake?
Dani eventually leaves Jamie because the spirit of the Lady in the Lake has consumed her. So when Jamie returns to Bly, she finds Dani's body drowned. Does that mean Dani chose to end her life there to stop the haunting? Or did the Lady in the Lake force Dani to return her to her watery grave?
If you believe Jamie's narration, Dani would never take anyone else's soul down with her. "In fact, no one would ever be taken again," Gugino's Jamie says. And as final as that is, she also adds, "No one has been taken to this day." Could that imply that the lake would take others in the future?
If this season is anything like Hill House, don't expect for the story to be revisited in a potential third The Haunting season. But thanks to the Lady in the Lake episode and Jamie's narration, this season leaves viewers seemingly with more answers than questions.
Images: Eike Schroter/Netflix