Here Are All The Details You Might Have Missed In 'The Haunting Of Bly Manor's Ending
The biggest surprise to come out of The Haunting of Hill House wasn't the scares, but actually the unexpectedly warm and heartfelt way the season wrapped up the Crain family's story — and the same can be said for The Haunting of Bly Manor. Much like its predecessor, the new season leans much more into the emotional family drama genre than horror, and its final moments echo the sentimental farewell of Season 1. The conclusion is a bit more complex this time, though, so some viewers might be left wondering what the Haunting of Bly Manor ending actually means. Here's how the story ended for all the manor's inhabitants.
Rather than focusing on a biological family like Hill House, Bly Manor centered on a makeshift family of domestic workers who are responsible for raising two orphaned children, Flora and Miles. When Dani arrived as the children's new au pair, she quickly formed strong bonds with everyone at the manor, but the residents soon realized they had to contend with several ghosts haunting the country home.
Spoiler alert: The rest of this post includes spoilers from throughout The Haunting of Bly Manor, including its finale. The most formidable specter lurking in Bly Manor is the Lady In The Lake, the spirit of a 17th century aristocrat named Viola who was murdered by her sister after barely holding on to life amidst a debilitating disease long after doctors predicted she would die. Because of her otherworldly tenacity, Viola's spirit created a field around Bly Manor, trapping the spirits of all who died there. It was not until Dani invited Viola to possess her in order to save Flora from death that the ghosts of Bly Manor were finally free to pass over.
Despite her possession, Dani managed to live out a happy several years with Jamie, as the two moved in together and even made plans to get married. Unfortunately, though, when Dani felt Viola's spirit was beginning to overtake her, she left Jamie and returned to Bly Manor, where she walked into the lake and drowned herself at Viola's resting spot.
That wasn't the end of the season, though. The true ending came when the story returned to the 2007 rehearsal dinner in California where it began, with a mysterious woman telling the story of Bly Manor. The zooming out revealed the storyteller was actually Jamie all along, and Flora, whom had forgotten all about her childhood at Bly Manor, was the bride. Jamie's glances around the wedding party revealed Owen, Henry, and Miles were all also in attendance, looking older and slightly different from the embellished versions in her story. It's a heartwarming revelation, since it shows even though Flora and Miles have forgotten about Bly Manor, the rest of the people involved are still connected and close with the grown-up children.
The final moments of the season depict Jamie's heartbreaking nightly ritual of filling up her sink and bathtub with water and sleeping by her slightly ajar door in hopes Dani will somehow return to her someday. It's a sad ending, but there is a touching moment at the very end when a hand comes out of nowhere and rests on Jamie's shoulder as she sleeps. It looks like Dani was able to reconnect with Jamie after all, even if Jamie didn't know it.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is on Netflix now.
