The Ending Of Knives Out Explained

Rian Johnson's deliciously twisted whodunnit Knives Out is finally… well, out. Even if you paid close attention all throughout the hilarious caper, you may be left with some questions. We're here to lay out everything you need to know about the ending, and what really happened to Harlan Thrombey.

To understand the ending of Knives Out, it's important to first understand each character in the film's sprawling cast, and how they're all connected to one another. At the top of the family tree is Harlan's wizened mother, Greatana Wanetta, who doesn't say much, but sees a lot. Then there's Harlan, and his two surviving children, Linda and Walt.

Walt ostensibly runs Harlan's publishing house, while Linda is a "self-made" businesswoman who built her business from the ground up.

In reality, Harlan is still the one pulling the strings at the publishing house, and Linda got her start with a handy million-dollar start-up loan from her father — of course.

Beyond them, there's Joni, an Instagram influencer whose husband, Harlan's son, died 15 years earlier. She's been living off of Harlan's generosity ever since.

Linda is married to Richard, and they have an adult son, Hugh, although the family calls him by his middle name, Ransom.

Walt is married to Donna, and they have a teenage son, Jacob.

And Joni has a college-aged daughter, Meg, from her marriage to Harlan's son

Also in the Thrombey family's orbit are Harlan's housekeeper, Fran, and his personal nurse, Marta Cabera, who also became his close friend and confidante. Although the Thrombeys often say they consider Marta "part of the family" — a claim that's constantly undermined by their inability to remember what country she's from — the only one she's really close to, other than Harlan, is Meg.

Watch the video to see the ending of Knives Out explained!

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Character connections | 0:17
How did Harlan die? | 1:39
Marta's misconception | 2:28
What actually happened? | 3:25
The slayer rule | 4:33
Who hired Benoit Blanc? | 5:41
What was Ransom's plan? | 6:32
What happened to Fran? | 7:23
How did Blanc discover the truth? | 8:39
What happened next? | 9:32