Tron: Ares is out now on the big screen, 15 years after we last logged onto the Grid in 2010's Tron: Legacy. In the threequel, Jared Leto plays AI supersoldier Ares, who's brought out of the Grid and into the real world by tech-CEO-turned-arms-dealer Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters). However, Julian doesn't account for Ares developing a mind of his own – and teaming up with rival tech mogul Eve Kim (Greta Lee), Kevin Flynn's successor at ENCOM.
Like any Tron movie, there's a lot to wrap your head around in Ares. The world of programs and users is a complex one, after all, and we can't all be tech whizzes. That being said, we've done our best to give you a complete guide to the Tron: Ares ending explained right, as we recap the movie's final act and endeavour to break down all your biggest questions about the sci-fi sequel.
But be warned: there are major Tron: Ares spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know what happens!
Tron: Ares ending explained
The final act of Tron: Ares kicks off in earnest with Athena returning to the real world in order to complete her mission: capture Eve Kim (Greta Lee) and secure the permanence code by any means necessary. Unfortunately, the rogue program's interpretation of that directive is to steamroll anything in her path, including Elisabeth Dillinger (Gillian Anderson), who is killed by Athena after the Dillinger matriarch tries to put a stop to Julian's (Evan Peters) reckless plan.
While Julian cradles his dying mother, wondering where it all went wrong (well, duh), Athena laser-prints a whopping great Recognizer for the final assault. Meanwhile, back at Encom HQ, Eve and Seth (Arturo Castro) are in the process of rebuilding their laser in order to bring Ares (Jared Leto) back from his Kevin Flynn side mission when Athena's Recognizer appears on the horizon.
Eve decides to run for it to draw Athena away, while Seth and Ajay (Hasan Minhaj) work to take down Dillinger's servers and prevent Athena from returning to the real world when her 29 minutes are up. Athena and a surprisingly small backup force make quick work of a military jet. A second manages to knock the Recognizer out of the sky, but not before Eve is caught by a barrage of missiles that encircle her with red light barriers.
Eve is captured, and loaded into a tank (previously housed in one leg of the Recognizer) by Athena. But Ares returns in the nick of time – now with glowing white trim replacing the Dillinger red, to signify that he has been made mortal by the permanence code. Ares takes down the tank with single throw of his disc, but is knocked back in the ensuing crash. Ares and Athena, the latter flanked by two backup programs, face off. Ares is initially outmuscled, but gains the upper hand and takes down the red shirts.
Athena once again gains the upper hand and is about to land a killing blow on the newly mortal program, but Ares is saved by Eve when she tosses Ares his glowing white disc. Ares turns the tables on Athena and severs the programs' right hand. Just about then, Ajay manages to hack Dillinger's servers and delivers a destructive payload, meaning that once Athena times out, it's game over.
Athena disintegrates and, back at Dillinger HQ, a distraught Julian is about to be apprehended by the authoririties. But before they can breach the hangar, Julian fires up the reverso-laser and transfers himself to cyberspace. Cue the finale montage, where we learn that Eve didn't quit her position as CEO at Encom, instead using the permanence code to grow crops and develop cancer-resistant drugs. Ares, meanwhile, is living off-grid in Mexico (dressing much like the actor Jared Leto…) and searching for Tron: Legacy's Sam Flynn and Quorra, who we only see in picture form.
Roll titles… and a brief mid-credits scene in which Julian wakes up in the ruined digital frontier. Storms rage, structures are razed to the ground, Julian is wondering if he made a big mistake. Just then, a plinth rises out of the ground, housing a retro-looking disc. Julian grabs the object and throws his head back in agony, as a headpiece starts to form in a familiar shape - that of original Tron villain, Sark.
Does Ares use the permanence code?
In short, yes. After Athena destroys Eve and Seth's laser, Ares has a chat with Kevin Flynn while stuck in the old school grid. The two share a sweet moment about music, and what it means to have real human feelings. While Flynn is content with staying in the grid and far away from the real world, Ares explains that he likes all of the things that come with being human. Flynn gives him the permanence code, and he is able to exit the grid and save Eve from Athena. After Athena is defeated and Dillinger Systems is destroyed, we see a flashforward to Ares living in Mexico, dressing in some non-villainous clothes, and sifting through photos of Tron: Legacy's Sam Flynn and Quorra. He sends Eve a postcard to let her know what he's been up to.
Is Kevin Flynn still alive?
The man, the myth, and the legend that is Kevin Flynn is still very much alive and living inside of the original Tron grid. His fate at the end of Tron: Legacy does imply that he didn't make it out alive after he essentially sacrifices himself to stop Clu and close the portal. That bright light at the end of Legacy suggests that Flynn has integrated himself into the portal (whether intentional or not), and is therefore unable to return to his human form.
In the third installment, Ares enters the old school Tron grid and meets up with a rather zen, chilled-out Flynn who has accepted his fate and seems pretty content with living far from the human world. He has no intention of attempting escape, and is more than happy to help Ares obtain the permanence code.
Where are Sam Flynn and Quorra?
The short but rather unsatisfying answer to this question is, "we don't know" – but it's pretty obvious that if and when they make a Tron 4, we'll eventually find out. Much like its predecessors, Tron: Ares opens with an aesthetically-pleasing exposition dump, in which various newscasters and channels explain that Sam Flynn, Garrett Hedlund's character from Tron: Legacy, has stepped down from ENCOM. The company is now being run by solo CEO Eve Kim, following the death of her tech whizz sister Tess. (Over at Dillinger Systems, Julian, Ed Dillinger Sr's grandson, is in charge).
And that's, well, all we really hear about Sam, despite Ares finding his way into Kevin Flynn's Grid and conversing with his destined-to-be-digital dad.
As for Quorra, she isn't mentioned at all, though right at the end of the movie, Ares is seen looking at a photo of her. She's got longer hair and isn't wearing a program-esque suit, which suggests she's really found a life for herself outside of the Grid. Now, some may be wondering why she didn't disintegrate after 29 minutes, since that was the whole reason Ares was so desperate to find the permanence code in his movie, but director Joachim Rønning seems to have found a loophole...
"Quorra is made different. She comes from the Grid," he told a fan at a special footage screening, referencing that Quorra was the last known ISO. "She's different than Ares, in regards to the minutes they can live in the real world..."
The last few moments of the movie suggest that Ares is trying to find Quorra, which goes some way to setting up a possible sequel. More on that below…
What happens to Julian Dillinger?
At the end of the movie, the authorities catch wind of Julian's cyber crimes and realize that he's responsible for the destruction all over the city. With that, he zaps himself into his own Grid in an attempt to avoid capture – and, presumably, to escape a world where his mother was just murdered by his own creation. Inside, he finds himself presented with a stand containing a unique-looking Identity Disc, which he picks up and starts being encompassed by a digital suit.
It's quite obviously setting up a fourth Tron movie, given how dramatic it all is but many may not immediately realize how or recognise Julian's new look. With its pointy-eared helmet and red-orange 'V' symbol on the forehead, the suit, as it happens, looks almost identical to that of Sark's from the original movie. In the 1982 flick, Sark was a program created by Kevin Flynn's rival Ed Dillinger, and known to be the "brutal and needlessly sadistic" overseer of the Grid's games. In the film's final act, Sark relentlessly pursues Kevin, Ram, and Tron across the Grid after they escape his games, and winds up getting killed by the latter after he… destroys Sark's disc and chops the top of his head off. Eek.
All that considered, it seems safe to assume that Julian unwittingly adopted the role of Sark 2.0 when he removed the mysterious disc from its plinth.
Will there be a Tron 4?
At the moment, Tron 4 is still unconfirmed – whether we get another sequel will depend on how well Ares does at the box office. Considering there was a 28-year gap between Tron and Tron: Legacy and a 15-year gap between Legacy and Ares, we may have to wait a while before any potential four-quel, anyway. Still, Ares definitely left some loose threads to pick up in another installment. Namely, what happens to former Dillinger Systems CEO Julian now that he's zapped himself inside the Grid to evade law enforcement, as well as the fate of Jared Leto's flesh and blood AI Ares as he ventures into the world. If Tron 4 does get announced, though, we'll be the first to let you know.
Tron: Ares is out now in theaters. For more, check out our guide to the Tron: Ares post-credits scene explained or catch up with our verdict in our Tron: Ares review.
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