Alien: Earth ending explained: Who dies and how does it set up season 2?

A lot goes down during the Alien: Earth ending, so chances are you have questions, and we're bursting with answers.

The new show from Fargo creator Noah Hawley, Alien: Earth is set two years before the events of Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi horror. But instead of space-based terror, as the title suggests, much of the events of Alien: Earth take place on terra firma. With some major development for Alien lore and weighty philosophical questions around identity, there's plenty to dig into. Including what that cliffhanger means for a possible second season.

Below, we've dived deep to give you the Alien: Earth ending explained, so you can get up to speed on everything that goes down in the season finale. Inevitably, that means there are spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen episode 8 of Alien: Earth yet. For everyone else, scroll down to read our guide and to have all your lingering questions answered.

Alien: Earth Ending Explained *Spoilers*

The Alien: Earth ending opens with Wendy and the Lost Boys imprisoned in a Neverland cell, and the xenomorph still running loose around the island. Prodigy forces are hunting for the perfect organism, but they're running short of men as, in Atom Eins' words, "it keeps killing them". The other creatures, including the scene-stealing Eye Midge, are contained, for the time being.

Morrow and Hermit are also imprisoned in a separate cell, Morrow's cyborg arm neutralised by a metal sheath. Boy Kavalier is monitoring the deteriorating situation from his room, as he contemplates who to feed to the Eye Midge. It's then that Wendy makes her move, by disabling the cameras and communication systems, and opening the cell containing Hermit and Morrow. Morrow nearly kills the guard, unshackles his cyborg arm, and vows the burn Neverland to the ground.

While Hermit sets out to save the 'children', Morrow makes a beeline for Kirsh in the lab. The synth and the Cyborg fight, with Morrow gaining the upper hand by throwing Kirsh through a table, breaking the Synth's back. Unfortunately, Morrow starts monologuing, which gives Kirsh an opening to trip him up and choke him out.

Back in the cells, Boy confronts Wendy and the Lost Boys. He reveals that, as a 6-year-old child, he built a synth that killed his abusive father and served as a figurehead for his growing empire. Wendy and the Lost Boys aren't impressed that he's bragging about patricide, leading Nibs to pounce on Boy's guard and beat him to death. Wendy scares Boy away.

While the Lost Boys round up the adults on the island, Hermit is confronted by Boy's right-hand man, Atom Eins, while searching for Wendy. Eins tricks Hermit and traps him in Boy's room with the Eye Midge. Hermit just about manages to keep the Eye Midge from invasively relocating into his eye socket when Wendy shows up to save the day. Eins reveals himself as a secret synth during a confrontation with Wendy, but Wendy gets the upper hand by freezing Eins on the spot (he is connected to the network, after all), and coming into her power.

Elsewhere, Boy is cornered by the xenomorph, but is saved by Wendy, who directs the xeno to slaughter the remaining Prodigy forces instead. In the lab, we finally see what the plant creature (D. Plumbicare) is capable of when it scoops up and devours Siberian, one of Hermit's squad mates. On the beach, the Eye Midge inserts itself into dearly departed Arthur Sylvia's eye socket, having escaped the main facility, reanimating the deceased scientist.

The episode, and season, ends with Yutani forces arriving by air to "invade and recover" their biological weapons. While inside Neverland, Wendy and the Lost Boys have Boy, Kirsh, Dame Sylvia, Atom Eins, and Morrow secured in a cell. Wendy dresses down Boy – he's not Peter Pan, but a "mean, angry little man who decided to hate everybody", just like his daddy. No longer under Boy's thumb, the Hybrids are free to venture out on their own. "Now we rule", concludes Wendy, flanked by the Lost Boys, a worried-looking Hermit, and a pair of xenos – one fully grown, the other an adorable teen-omorph.

Who dies during the Alien: Earth ending?

Surprisingly for a cutthroat franchise, there's only one named character death in the Alien: Earth season finale, and not a particularly noteworthy one at that. Siberian is crushed to death by the long-teased plant creature during a sweep of the lab. The plant creature was able to escape due to its containment cell being damaged during the fight between Kirsh and Morrow.

Many of Prodigy forces are slaughtered over the course of the episode – most by the xenomorph, and one by Nibs – but every other named character survives to return in a potential second season. The final major character death of the season, it turns out, was dear old Arthur Sylvia in episode 7, though even he is back from the dead (sort of) now that the Eye Midge has commandeered Arthur's corpse.

Is Wendy really controlling the xenomorph?

Yes and no. Unlike her complete control of technology connected to Neverland's network (allowing her to access security cameras, unlock doors, and even freeze synthetics), Wendy isn't directly controlling the xenomorph. Rather, she has learned how to communicate with the xeno by using a series of whistles and clicks. The xeno, perhaps loyal to Wendy as a surrogate mother figure, listens to her every command, even if Wendy isn't totally sure what she is saying.

Whether the xeno will one day choose to ignore Wendy's commands, or even turn on Wendy, remains a distinct possibility. After all, they are a predatory species. But for now, both living xenos appear to be Team Hybrid. As for the other creatures, relationships remain hostile.

Is Atom Eins Boy Kavalier's father?

Biologically, no. Figuratively? There's a case to be made. During the Alien: Earth ending, Boy reveals that he built his first synth (presumably Eins) aged six, and that the synth killed his abusive father one day after work. "That night, we moved and the synth became my new daddy," says Boy. Though given that no one was likely to take a six-year-old empire-builder seriously, Boy made the synth Prodigy's figurehead, presumably until he came of age and could step into the limelight.

It's only later in the episode that Eins is revealed as a secret synth, much like Ash in Ridley Scott's Alien. The super-strong synth throws Wendy across the room during their confrontation, but is frozen on the spot by Wendy in a similar fashion to the robots in Westworld when they're told to "Freeze all motor functions." Wendy, however, is able to manipulate anything on the Neverland network with her mind alone.

Which creatures escape?

Only the plant creature and the Eye Midge are revealed to have broken containment, according to Slightly. That means the blood-sucking ticks and face-melting flies are still safely in their plexiglass cells. The plant creature is able to escape after its containment cell is damaged during the fight between Kirsh and Morrow, and the Eye Midge is intentionally released by Atom Eins, so it can find a new home in Hermit's skull. After being booted away by Wendy, the Eye Midge escapes through a vent in the floor and reaches the beach, where it finds a new host in Arthur Sylvia's limp body.

Why does the elevator have a self-destruct function?

Chalk this one up to the Hybrids messing with Hermit's old pals as they move around the Neverland facility in the elevator. Of course, it makes zero sense that an elevator would need self-destruct functionality, but they are children at the end of the day.

Will there be an Alien: Earth season 2?

This question is still very much up in the air at the time of writing. The season ends on an unresolved cliffhanger, with Boy and Neverland's adults restrained by the Hybrids, as Yutani's forces invade from the sky. Clearly, if the show does continue, we'll continue to follow Wendy and co.

Critically, the show has been a hit. Our own 4* Alien: Earth review calls it "arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens", and the ratings have been good, with some 9.2 million viewers worldwide watching the debut episode.

But, Alien: Earth was eye-wateringly expensive to make – reportedly north of $250 million. That's more expensive than this summer's Superman. We'll have to wait and see whether FX and Hulu will be willing to fork out for another season.

For more on Alien: Earth, read out our full list of Alien: Earth Easter eggs or check out our guide on how to watch the Alien movies in order.