All the Light We Cannot See Ending Explained: What Happened to Marie and Werner? Where Was the Sea of Flame Hidden?

All the Light We Cannot See is available on Netflix from November 2, 2023. This is the miniseries, which represents the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Anthony Doerr. The story is about Marie-Laure, a blind French teenager, and Werner, a German soldier. Their paths cross when France is occupied. Both try to survive the events of World War II. The cast is made up of well-known actors, such as Mark Ruffalo and Hung Lawie. The protagonists are Aria Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann. Let’s now see together how the miniseries directed by Shawn Levy ends and if it is based on a true story. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr (published in Italy by Rizzoli) All the Light We Cannot See is a four-episode Netflix miniseries starring Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie.

As we already told you in our review, the real protagonist of the story, however, is the teenager Marie-Laure, a blind French girl who, in the last days of the Second World War, uses the 13.10 radio frequency daily to look for her father Daniel. Four years earlier, it was he who helped her escape from Paris and hid her in the coastal village of Saint-Malo, before setting off again in a desperate attempt to throw her pursuers off track. The Germans are on the trail of the Sea of ​​Flame, a priceless diamond that Daniel stole from the natural history museum to avoid letting it fall into the hands of the invaders. According to an ancient popular legend, the owner of the gem will be able to enjoy eternal life, on the condition, however, of seeing all those he loves to suffer.

Devoured by an incurable disease, the ruthless Nazi officer Reinhold von Rumpel believes that the myth has some truth, and he is certain that Daniel entrusted the gem to Marie before falling into her hands. Meanwhile, Werner Pfenning, a young Wehrmacht radio operator, tries in every way to keep Marie’s frequency hidden from his superiors. In the past, the boy has listened on the same channel to the precious forbidden teachings of a mysterious “professor” who, during the episodes, discovers that he is the girl’s brilliant great-uncle, Etienne. However, his search for him leads him to meet a man very different from the voice he had met on the radio, forced by circumstances to turn into a partisan. But how does it end? Let’s find out in this explanation of the ending of All the Light We Cannot See.

All the Light We Cannot See: The Story Plot

France, August 1944: the Allies lay siege to the coastal town of Saint-Melo, and the Nazis barricaded themselves inside together with the civilian population. Every evening a blind girl, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, uses radio frequencies 13 and 10 to launch an appeal in search of her father Daniel, and her great-uncle Etienne, both of whom disappeared in the fury of the war. After her invitation, the young girl always reads a few pages of her favorite novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In the meantime, the German commander, noting that the bombings are becoming more targeted every day, realizes that someone is communicating the strategic positions of the Nazis to the enemy. Determined to find the mole at any cost, he orders the young radio genius Werner Pfenning to intercept any illegal transmission, teaming up with a sneaky newcomer.

However, the boy tries to keep frequencies 13 and 10 hidden from his superiors, because since childhood he has always followed that distant French channel, from which a mysterious “professor” transmitted to his young listeners his love for science, knowledge, and freedom. Forbidden interests which, as the years passed, allowed him to keep his humanity alive, even during his stay in the infernal Institute of National Political Education. After a long period of silence, Marie’s voice has now appeared on the same frequency, and Werner discovers that the source has always been right there in Saint-Malo. Meanwhile, while the town prepares for the final assault of the Allied forces, a sinister Nazi officer also makes his appearance in the town: his objective is to find the Sea of ​​Flame, a magnificent diamond that Marie’s father allegedly stole from the national museum of Paris to take it away from the invaders. According to an ancient legend, the owner of the gem can enjoy the gift of eternal life, but at the cost of seeing all those he loves to suffer…

The story is set in the heart of the war, in occupied Saint-Malo, but its core is the story of Marie-Laure, a young blind Frenchwoman, and her father Daniel LeBlanc, who flee Paris with a legendary diamond to prevent ending up in the hands of the Nazis. This is just the beginning of a story that develops in the same place but across eras and memories, following different points of view, which should be those of enemies. The escape of Marie and her father is marked by the constant pursuit of a cruel Gestapo officer, Von Rumpel, who wants to take possession of the precious stone for personal purposes. This conflict is the main driving force of the action, which however sees its best light in other aspects.

The beating heart of the story is divided in half, between the young Marie, who despite her blindness has an iron will and a pure heart, and Werner Pfennig, a young German enlisted to track down illegal broadcasts, a true radio genius, who however tries in every way to remain human, himself, in a context whose sole purpose was to empty the souls of its followers. Their unexpected connection is the key element of the plot and brings to light the central theme of the narrative: the strength of human bonds, the power of sharing, and the constant search for beauty in the world. The performances of the young actresses Aria Mia Loberti and Nell Sutton are very intense and pure and give depth to a character who, although on paper she should be the heroine of the story, doesn’t seem very well structured in the writing phase.

All the Light We Cannot See Ending Explained: What Happened to Marie and Werner?

The last episode of All the Light We Cannot See puts an end to a story made of drama but also of love, sadness, loneliness but also human bonds, and hope. The Americans are arriving at S. Malò but just before their arrival, Etienne’s sister dies, passing command of the resistance to him. Werner, the German radio genius officer, is captured by members of the resistance who, however, want to kill him but Etienne recognizes his goodness and chooses to protect him and save his life. The boy had recognized him shortly before as The Professor who had changed his life as a child with his teachings on the radio, and after the explosion of some missiles that killed the members of the resistance present on the site, Etienne is finally life, but Werner manages to save himself and promises to protect Marie-Laure. Just before dying, Etienne, who has finally managed to leave the house with the help of his granddaughter, admits that “a tiger is happier dead than in a cage” and so, he dies.

At this point, Marie-Laure is in the attic of Etienne’s house and is about to be captured by the German commander who is looking for the precious stone that could save his life. He, however, reveals to Marie-Laure that he killed her father after capturing him because he did not want to reveal to him where the stone was and so, Marie-Laure is destroyed by grief. After placing a bomb to open the attic door and make the girl deaf, the commander manages to enter the attic, but Marie-Laure is holding a gun. A fight begins between the two and the girl, in the end, manages to shoot him in the head thanks also to the help of Werner who rushes to save her. The commander, thus, will fall to the ground with the stone which he will discover is right inside the model that Marie-Laure’s father had built for her, but he doesn’t have time to touch it. Marie-Laure and Werner discover they are connected by Etienne who they both listened to on the radio as children and who changed their lives. Aware of this bond, the two kiss and promise to see each other again after he turns himself in to the Americans who are now in the city and have defeated the Germans.

Does Werner Save Marie?

After telling his entire story to Werner, he orders the latter to find Marie and protect her until the Americans arrive. This happens in the finale, when Reinhold Von Rumpel enters his house and finds Marie, from whom he wants to know where the precious jewel is. After that, the explosion occurs, and all the other resistance members die. Werner gets up and sees Etienne bleeding and is now certain that he is the professor he has listened to for years. At this point, Etienne remembers what happened four months earlier. Meanwhile, Von Rumpel tells Marie what happened to her father and a flashback occurs. It turns out that Daniel was on his way to Paris but was stopped by the Gestapo at the station. Here he was tortured by Von Rumpel for the ‘Sea of ​​Flames’ until he killed him after not obtaining the information. Werner runs to Etienne’s house to find Marie, who is now holding a gun and threatening Von Rumpel, who attaches a grenade to the door. It explodes, but in the meantime, Werner arrives but is hit. He then tries to strangle Von Rumpel but fails. And here in the end Maria shoots Von Rumpel.

Where Was the Sea of ​​Flame Hidden?

During their stay in Paris, Daniel created a wooden model of the entire city to help the girl deal with blindness by orienting herself by touch and memorizing all the streets of the French capital. Having fled to Saint-Malo, he replicated the same work for the small coastal town, measuring every single street in the town center in steps and then reproducing them on a scale with meticulous precision. During the final battle with Reinhold von Rumpel, it is discovered that the diamond was set right inside the model: Daniel had wanted to give it to her daughter, leaving her an inheritance of inestimable value. For his part, Daniel never believed in the curse of the diamond and chose to give it to his daughter to keep it safe. The evil Reinhold von Rumpel, after destroying the model in his scuffle with Werner, actually comes close to taking it, but after having exhausted all the shots of his Walther PPK he is killed with a shot to the head by Marie-Louise, who demonstrates that I have learned the most important lesson: “Everything has a voice: you just have to listen to it”.

Is the Legend of the Diamond True?

Even after the credits, the question does not find a clear answer. During the final battle, Reinhold von Rumpel narrowly failed to catch him and prove the effectiveness of his theories. What is certain is that Daniel has long been the possessor of the Sea of ​​Flame, and this curiously coincided with the blindness of his daughter, the arrival of the Nazis, the escape to Saint-Malo, and the loss of hope for Etienne, blinded from the horrors of the First World War. After leaving her in Marie’s custody, Daniel fell into the hands of Reinhold von Rumpel and lost his life due to the Nazi officer’s brutal torture.

While the gem is in Marie’s possession, in the same way, first the benevolent Madame Manec loses their lives, then Etienne himself and all the other members of his partisan band. The girl, however, miraculously survives every assault of the ruthless Reinhold von Rumpel, even when her hopes seem to have vanished. But perhaps we too are starting to be influenced… When in doubt, however, Marie decides not to follow in her father’s footsteps, prevents Werner from touching the gem, and then hurls it into the depths of the North Sea. Daniel has always been an unshakable rationalist, but sometimes some legends are best not put to the test…

The Series and the Book: A Change in the Name of Hope?

The final act of the Netflix miniseries radically revolutionizes the book’s epilogue. Here the protagonist’s great-uncle Etienne LeBlanc does not fall victim to a bombing but survives and is released after a brief imprisonment. Werner’s fate, on the contrary, is much more tragic than that seen on the small screen: the boy not only fails to contact his sister Jutta in Germany but is taken prisoner by the Allies and becomes seriously ill. Feverish and delirious, one night he leaves the field hospital and steps on a mine, losing his life. Her personal effects are returned to Jutta many years later by her friend Volkheimer, who tells her how her brother’s love story with Marie had been nipped in the bud.

In the Netflix series, screenwriter Steven Knight instead chooses to send a message of hope: using Marie’s radio, Werner lets his sister Jutta know that he is still alive, and he tells her that he is next to a beautiful girl. After reluctantly separating from Marie, he promises her that he will continue to listen to her radio, and one day he will return to France to visit her. After handing himself over to the American soldiers, we know nothing else about him: the ending is open, but we like to think that his fate may have been very different from that of his paper counterpart.