Breaking Down the Ending of Netflix’s Eerie Sci-fi Series The Eternaut

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Eternaut

​On a summer night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a mysterious snowfall kills everything it touches instantly. Thousands of people become trapped in their homes, buildings, and businesses, further isolated by the lack of communication. The first question to arise: Is this a nuclear war or something even more unknowable? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

To survive outside, one must wear layers of waterproof clothing and use a gas mask. Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín) and his friends embark on a desperate struggle for survival—and to find Clara, Juan’s daughter—but everything changes when they discover that the toxic storm is just the first attack by a foreign army invading Earth.​

This is the premise of Netflix’s new sci-fi series The Eternaut. The production is based on the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Eternaut (El Eternauta), written by Héctor G. Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano López. The comics were published in installments from 1957 to 1959, then published as one volume in 2015.

According to director Bruno Stagnaro, who first read the work at age 10, the adaptation was a long and challenging process. “Narratively speaking, The Eternaut brings together very different elements that coexist,” he tells TIME. “It was also difficult because it’s a work with a huge legacy, a heavy weight, and high expectations, especially here in our country. I tried to protect myself from that by grounding myself in my experience as a reader of the work, from when I was really young, and then through the successive readings I did as I grew older. It’s a work that was hugely influential in my own development and a major influence on my career.”

More than a science fiction story about survival, The Eternaut became a landmark in Latin American culture—in part due to its plot, and in part due to its creator’s life story. Oesterheld was kidnapped during the Argentine military dictatorship in 1977 and presumed dead, which turned the graphic novel into a symbol of resistance. “That created a feedback loop between the story and the author’s life, where each one fueled the other. Today, it’s a cultural symbol loaded with meaning—some of it tied to the work itself, some to the author’s biography, and some that’s been layered on later, often for political reasons, both from those who revere him and those who oppose what he represents,” says Bruno.

Let’s break down the major plot points of the The Eternaut.

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The first alien encounter

Right after the snowfall begins, red lights fall from the sky like meteors. But viewers, like the protagonists, only get a clear look at the aliens starting in Episode 4. Juan Salvo and his friend Alfredo Favalli are driving to the capital in search of Juan’s daughter, Clara, who was with friends when it all began. On the way, they encounter a blockade of cars. Soldiers appear and warn them: “The capital is a restricted area until further notice.” Despite promises that help is on the way, Juan distrusts the military and decides to follow the soldiers.

They go through a tunnel and see the soldiers stopped ahead. As they approach, Alfredo says he’ll explain that they’re entering the capital to search for Juan’s daughter—but the plan changes when the army opens fire. They reverse the car, but a car falls from a bridge above, blocking their escape. That’s when it becomes clear the soldiers aren’t shooting at them—they’re shooting at aliens on the bridge. Alfredo speeds forward, but the car is hit and flips over. We then see insect-like aliens attacking the soldiers. One opens its mouth, and tentacles emerge, grabbing a soldier and wrapping him in spiderweb-like thread.

Juan and Alfredo’s car crashes into a tire repair shop. They hide near tires as the alien insects enter the building. After a while, silence falls and the aliens seem to retreat. They head back to the road and spot one of the creatures carrying a human wrapped in webs toward a lair. The two keep walking, but one bumps into a car, making noise that attracts the aliens. They shoot at the creatures and follow a figure waving at them. They try to enter a church, but it’s locked. Someone throws fire at the creatures from a second-floor window, and another person opens a side entrance. Once inside, they’re safe—but shaken by the encounter, still wondering what those giant insects are and what else is coming.

Clara’s mysterious return

Clara, Juan’s teenage daughter with his ex-wife Elena, disappears early in the series. She had been on a boat with friends Loli and Tati when a blackout hit the city. They decide to leave, and Clara heads below deck to check the GPS. She hears a noise and sees Loli lying dead outside the window. The door slams shut, trapping her, and Tati doesn’t respond to her calls—likely also dead.

Clara finally reappears in Episode 5, when Juan and Alfredo return to Alfredo’s home—the same place they were when it all started—after escaping the church. Clara is lying on her mother’s lap, and they all embrace. Juan asks Elena where she found their daughter, but the answer is surprising: Clara found them.

They don’t know how she got there—even though she knew they played cards at Alfredo’s on that night. According to Elena, she arrived freezing and could only say “Mommy, mommy, mommy.” They don’t question it further until later, when they’re in a trailer headed to another house Alfredo owns on an island. Inside the trailer, Alfredo sees a mask and some bags and asks where they came from. Elena says Clara had them when she arrived. Alfredo claims they’re his and were on his boat—but then he backtracks, saying it might be a coincidence.

When Clara wakes up from a nap, she discovers that they are going to Alfredo’s house on an island and asks about her friends, saying she promised to return for them, and her mother tries to calm her down by saying that they will be fine. Elena tells her daughter that she and her father looked for her all over the city and, in the end, she was on the boat. Clara’s reaction is to ask “what boat?” and Alfredo says it was his boat, but the young woman says she went to her mother’s house and before that, she was with Loli and Tati—not on Alfredo’s boat. Things get stranger when Juan asks about the mask Clara was wearing. She replies, “What mask?” and denies ever having brought it.

Though they don’t bring it up again, it’s clear something isn’t adding up with Clara’s return. How did she leave the boat? How did she know to wear a mask? And why does she deny being there? The answer they ultimately come to learn: she’s being controlled.

What’s happening to people?

Clara’s not the only one exhibiting odd behavior. On the road, Juan and his friends find a family killed by gunfire—not by aliens, but by other humans. Later, they reach a mall filled with survivors organizing the parking lot. Juan mentions the dead family and is told, “It’s not the first time we hear about something like that” and “people are going crazy.”

Elsewhere, their friend Lucas goes looking for beer. As he searches, a noise draws his attention. Meanwhile, the snowfall ends and everyone runs outside to celebrate. After realizing Lucas is missing, Juan and Alfredo look for him and find a broken bottle. Suddenly, three masked people arrive by car and open fire on the celebrating crowd.

Juan and Alfredo team up with other armed survivors to shoot back. Two masked attackers die, while one escapes. Soon after, army vehicles arrive—with Lucas among them. He explains that soldiers found him on the road and took him in. He says he drank too much and blacked out after finding beer in the mall, only to wake up surrounded by soldiers.

Clara, Lucas, the attackers—all behave strangely, and Juan takes note. At the end of Episode 5, we see what happened to the third masked shooter: he walks into a sewer, encounters an alien insect that doesn’t harm him, and continues. Other creatures step aside as he passes. He’s clearly being controlled—and collaborating with the aliens.

How The Eternaut ends

Juan, Alfredo, Lucas, and some soldiers and volunteers go to an abandoned building in the city center to try to send a message to other survivors via radio. The mission is successful, and they spend the night in the building. Juan and his friends are drinking and playing cards in one of the apartments when, at some point, Lucas has a breakdown and says he won’t play anymore. Omar tries to calm him down, but Lucas grabs a sharp object and stabs Omar in the stomach before running off. Omar, just like Lucas and Juan, was at Alfredo’s house when it all started. Despite his questionable character at first, the character evolves throughout the episodes into the kind of you’d want to have on your side during an alien invasion.

Juan goes after Lucas and finds him standing on the edge of the building’s rooftop. He tries to talk to him, but Lucas starts rambling, saying things like “be careful what you say,” claiming the phones are tapped, and that someone wants to harm “the foundation.” A light coming from a nearby stadium catches their attention, and Lucas smiles, says there’s lightning, and throws himself off the rooftop.

Juan and Alfredo—who arrives just afterward—don’t have time to mourn their friend’s death and hurry to leave after seeing people with flashlights heading toward the building. They regroup with Omar and another volunteer and leave. They call out to another volunteer when they spot him in the building’s courtyard, but the man alerts the others to their location. The group manages to reach the locomotive that brought them to the city center and tell the train operator what happened, stressing that they need to go to Campo de Mayo and warn the army and others about the events. But Juan insists on investigating the light coming from the stadium.

Juan and the train operator decide to investigate, while Alfredo—who will operate the locomotive—Omar, and the other volunteer head to the army base. On the way, Juan and the operator hear gunfire and find a street filled with people and creatures walking around normally. They enter a building to get a better view of what’s happening. The people under mental control are forming lines, like an army. A light begins to shine from a bandstand nearby, and both the people and the giant bugs stop to look.

The silhouette of an alien appears—one with many fingers—and Juan is convinced this being is the one controlling everyone. He looks at a young girl in the line, and then the scene cuts away. Clara, Juan’s daughter, is at Campo de Mayo learning to shoot, a serious expression on her face. At that moment, Juan closes his eyes, understanding why his daughter had been acting so strangely. Now, he knows the real problems are only just beginning.

Will The Eternaut have a second season?

The series adapted only the first part of Juan Salvo’s journey in his fight against the aliens, so there are still other comics left to be adapted. Although Netflix has yet to announce new episodes, lead actor Ricardo Darín has already hinted in an interview that the second season is on its way. 
“We still have the second part of The Eternaut ahead of us,” says Darín. “I believe we’re going to aim higher!” he tells Forbes.