The Fall of the House of Usher ending reveals the truth about what Roderick and Madeline did in 1979 that has caused Verna to reign terror on them throughout the series.
On top of this, we learn more about what the deal actually was, and how Roderick sentenced his entire family to death on one fateful night. The twins had to face the consequences of their actions sooner rather than later.
Finally, we learn what happened to the entire Usher legacy, and there were some big twists ahead.
Here's The Fall of the House of Usher ending explained...
The Fall of the House of Usher ending explained: What did Roderick and Madeline do?
Throughout the series, we've had references to this New Year's Eve party in 1979, and clearly, something went down. But the series hasn't given us the answer easily, dropping little clues here and there.
But if you weren't able to piece it together, here's a reminder. Madeline and Roderick murdered Rufus Griswold, the then-CEO of Fortunato. They snuck a paralytic and cyanide in his drink, leading him down to the basement where they buried him alive behind the brick wall, still dressed in his Halloween costume.
Their motivation is clear; they want Roderick as the new CEO. And that's guaranteed in the event of Rufus' absence, considering Roderick is now a celebrated figure within the company.
This also explains why Roderick has been tormented by a brick wall throughout the series, constantly being drawn to it and hearing things, implying he feels some level of guilt about what he did.
What deal did the twins make with Verna?
Following the murder, Madeline and Roderick head to a local bar to build up their alibi. The bar clears out, and the twins are left talking to Verna who is also present. However, it doesn't take long for her to reveal her true identity.
Verna knows what they did to Rufus, and also knows that they're desperate for money and power. She tells them she can promise them that their crime will never be discovered, and that they'll get away with murder, but there's a hefty cost to this.
She says that the price for their arrangement will be "deferred", and that the "next generation can foot the bill". You guessed it; Roderick's future children. She adds that the Usher bloodline will die with Roderick as a result.
Verna makes it clear that Roderick will live a pretty long life, but stresses that the twins have to die together, and assures them that up until the point where everyone dies, they’ll live a life of privilege. It’s also up to them to decide what to do with the company; Verna simply wants to watch.
Roderick agrees to the deal surprisingly quickly, and the three drink to the new arrangement. But when the twins leave the bar, they look back to see it never existed, and it was just a boarded-up building. Just another display of Verna's power.
Concluding the story of how he doomed his children to death, Roderick tells Dupin that over the years, it felt more like a dream and they'd forgotten most of the details.
What happened to Roderick's granddaughter, Lenore?
Lenore was arguably the only innocent Usher. While everyone around her was surrounded by corruption, and her father was torturing her poor mother, Lenore was just a normal teenage girl.
In fact, Lenore was so kindhearted that even Verna has a hard time killing her. But she has to go through with the deal she made, ensuring that the Ushers will die out. Because of this, Lenore's death is a lot more subdued then some of the other grisly ones!
Verna makes sure Lenore knows that because of what she did for her mother, Morrie will recover and go on to do good in the world, creating a nonprofit called the Lenore Foundation, which will end up saving millions of lives.
This is Lenore's legacy. Even though she has to die, her name will be remembered. Verna simply touches Lenore's forehead, killing the last Usher heir.
The series then drops quite the bombshell. If Lenore died too, who has been texting Roderick? The answer to this is pretty eerie: it's a sentient AI bot Madeline had been working on, and it had finally activated.
The Lenore bot has a glitch; it’s been sending him one word over and over again: Nevermore.
What does Verna do after Lenore's death?
Verna continues her torment of Roderick, really illustrating just how evil he's been as Fortunato's corrupt CEO.
Roderick heads over to the Fortunato offices. There, sitting in the chairs facing him, are all the dead Ushers, a haunting reminder that Roderick is responsible for all of this.
Verna shows up and, like Lenore, decides to show him what his legacy looks like. Of course, it's nothing like his granddaughter's foundation which does good in the world, it is far more monstrous.
To really illustrate this, she makes corpses rain from the sky, and he's forced to witness the millions of people he's killed with his drugs, greed, and power-hungry attitude. Then, she tells him to call Dupin and meet him at his childhood home, taking us full circle.
Do Roderick and Madeline die?
Yes, and it's pretty dramatic! During their final chat, where Madeline attempts to convince Roderick that they should be "proud" of who they are, she realizes he has poisoned her drink. But it's too late. He decided to mummify his sister so she'll "live forever", cutting out her eyes and replacing them with sapphires so she's buried with treasure.
But Roderick didn't check that she was actually dead when he put her in the basement. After Roderick gives Dupin his final confession, Madeline bursts through the door of the basement and strangles her brother to death, the same way their mother killed their father.
Their childhood home finally crumbles around them both, so the fall of the house of Usher is both literal and metaphorical.
How does The Fall of the House of Usher end?
Dupin closed his case on Fortunato and retired. Pym refused to strike a deal with Verna, was arrested, and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Roderick's wife Juno inherited Fortunato and the Usher fortune and, after weaning herself off the dangerous drug Ligodone, dissolved the entire company and used the money to fund addiction recovery services.
Dupin visits the graves of the nine dead Ushers and bids Roderick farewell for good. He leaves his recorder behind with the whole confession, deciding that there's nothing he can do to fix things.
Meanwhile, a raven sits atop the tombstones watching. Verna visits each grave and leaves each Usher one last trinket: A mask, a cell phone, a cat collar, the heart mesh device, a gold scarab, a bag of coke, a feather and flower, Twosret’s sapphires, and a drinking glass, mirroring the way they all died.
Oh, and speaking of ravens, if you hadn't worked it out already, Verna is an anagram of Raven, one of the most famous Edgar Allan Poe poems and a common omen of death in superstitious circles. Pretty fitting, don't you think?
