Eternals Ending Explained: The Betrayal of Ikaris? Who Killed Ajak? Will There Be A Sequel To Eternals?

The nine Eternals star cast of the Marvel film directed by Chloé Zhao are a group of beings similar to immortal demigods, created by the Celestial Arishem to watch over the development of intelligent life forms on the planet Earth threatened by the Deviants. During the film, the protagonists wonder why their creator has not brought them back to their home planet Olympia, given that on Earth the threat of the Deviants seems to be over. A return of these creatures and the dramatic death of a key character unleash a dramatic sequence of events that fragments the compact front of the Eternals with respect to his loyalty to Arishem himself.

Although the film directed by Chloé Zhao has not fully convinced the critics and has split the Marvel fanbase with respect to its success – as already mentioned in the spoiler-free review dedicated to the film – Marvel Studios have already established that the Eternals will return to the MCU. In fact, at the end of the film, after the two extra scenes placed in the middle and at the end of the credits, an inscription appears along the lines of the traditional one that closes every James Bond film, already adopted also by the Avengers saga:

Eternals Ending Explained: Is Eternals Will Return?

It is therefore certain that we will review the group of superheroes introduced in this film, but it is not yet clear if they will appear in other films of the Marvel franchise or will have a second feature film entirely dedicated to them. A few extra assumptions can be made in light of the film’s conclusion, which reveals the fate of the Eternals, with some dramatic choices with no return. Below you will find the detailed explanation of the final scenes of Eternals including all the deaths of the film. Obviously, if you haven’t seen the film, the description is full of spoilers, so be careful!

The Final Battle Between Eternals

In the final stages of the film, the Eternals’ front splits in two with respect to the decision to save or not the Earth, which will be destroyed in the imminent birth of the Celestial that has developed within it. Ikaris and Sprite are of the idea that the Eternals should remain faithful to Arishem and watch over the birth of the Celestial, Kingo would like to remain neutral, while Phastos, Makkari, Druig, Thena and of course Sersi want to block the birth of the Celestial and save the planet.

Makkari manages to locate the volcano from where the birth of the Celestial is about to begin. Ikaris and Sprite leave the Eternals’ spaceship, going to the place of birth to defend the Celestial from former companions, while Sersi coordinates the other Eternals to face them. Ikaris destroys the spaceship with his laser sight, forcing the rivals to come out. Working together Phastos, Makkari, Druig and Thena manage to block Ikaris, while Sersi decides to try to use his powers not to put the Celestial to sleep, but to kill him, as done with the Deviant transformed into a tree.

Sprite tries to stop Sersi by stabbing her. The girl expresses all her hatred towards the other Eternals who can infiltrate humans for a long time because they are adults, explaining that she envies humans for all that is denied to her: the ability to grow, evolve and age. Druig easily knocks her out and allows Sersi to attempt the feat: to be able to kill the Celestial he will need the Energy of all the Eternals left, coordinated in a single entity thanks to the bracelets created by Phastos.

The Betrayal Of Ikaris

Meanwhile, Thena manages to defeat and kill Kro, the evolved Deviant who had absorbed the powers of Ajak and Gilgamesh, perished on the battlefield. Ikaris manages to break free despite the efforts of the other Eternals and flies to the site where Sersi is attempting to stop the birth of the Celestial. The Eternal seems sincerely sorry for killing Ajak, who had raised him for centuries by teaching him to be faithful to Arishem. Once he had learned of the terrible truth about the fate of the Earth, Ikaris had left Sersi precisely to keep what was happening from her.

After what Thanos plotted and the blip, Ajak begins to have doubts about the work of Arishem and the Celestials. Doubts that Ikaris sets aside, but he confesses that he is incapable of betraying a lord who for centuries had been trained to obey and serve. Ikaris kills Ajak by throwing her into the midst of the newly emerged Deviants from the Alaskan ice, then repositioning her lifeless body near the house in South Dakota.

Ikaris then lets Sersi also join his mind in the Unimente: with the energy of all the Eternals who survived, his beloved manages to transform the Celestial that is emerging from the ocean into a gigantic block of marble, saving the Earth.

The Fate Of The Eternals At The End Of Eternals

True to his name Ikaris leaves Earth, flying out of the atmosphere into deep space. The hero appears to have committed suicide by throwing himself into the incandescent material of a star (perhaps the sun itself, considering its name), but given its immortal nature, nothing is certain.

With the energy advanced by the Unimente process, Sersi transforms Sprite into a human: the girl, heartbroken by the death of her beloved Ikaris, will be able to grow and age. Sprite will go to school like any normal Earth teenager and will live with Kingo and his butler Harish Patel. Phastos returns to his family, to whom he introduces the rest of the Eternals.

Sersi resumes his love affair with Dane Whitman. Just as the human is about to confess something surprising about her family, Sersi disappears. To summon it was Arishem, angry for the killing of the Celestial that was to be born from the Earth. The god takes hold of Sersi’s memories and promises to evaluate them to understand if his Eternals have done well or not in trying to save the Earth from destruction. Druig, Makkari and Thena will use the Eternals ship repaired by Phastos to travel into space and find other Eternals to reveal the truth to, trying to join them in their crusade. In the two extra scenes you will discover further details on what happened after the killing of the Celestial: to find out more, you can read the dedicated in-depth study.

Is Emergence Stopped?

The emergence begins, marked by the explosion of a volcano and the sight of Celestial Tiamut seeming to emerge from the center of the planet. The moment his hand and part of his head begin to emerge, he is turned to marble. At this point, it would be generous to say that the Eternals are hardly united in solidarity. Ikaris revealed his cruel intentions, and Sprite let nascent love take over, joining Ikaris in his quest to help the Celestials end humanity. In the meantime, the conflicted Kingo has backed down and, along with another recently deceased Eternal, only Sersi, Phastos, Druig and Makkari are left to fight the good fight.

Meanwhile, Thena grapples with the deviant Warlord Kro, presented in this film as the most powerful of the Deviants. Of course, she also struggles with issues with her mind and memory, as she has been for most of the movie. However, the public now understands that their memory problems are not so much an inability to remember as an inability to forget.

Kro has a weapon that other Deviants cannot master: he can talk, which means he can wield. At the end of their confrontation, Thena is enveloped in Kro’s tendrils, about to be drained of her energy, like Ajak before her. At the last moment, Thena activates the golden spear she wields throughout the film and cuts Kro into several pieces.

Explanation Of The 2 Post-Credits Scenes Of Eternals

After only having a small role in the film itself, the post-credits scene from Eternals shows Dane acquiring the Ebony Blade after watching Sersi mysteriously disappear. Now, it looks like Dane is planning to use the power of the Ebony Blade to try and find a way to save Sersi. What he didn’t expect was to hear Blade’s voice asking him if he’s ready to pick up the mighty sword to become a Dark Knight and live with all that the title entails.

The Eternals mid-credits scene also included the introduction of another important new character in the MCU, as Harry Styles appeared as Eros aka Starfox, Thanos’ brother and Prince of Titan. Thena and Makkari then hear a strange noise on the ship, a portal opens and Pip the Troll storms out. Pip immediately introduces his powerful partner in the fight against cosmic crime and uses his teleportation powers to bring Starfox to the ship.

Starfox is a charismatic womanizer who spent much of his younger years traveling the galaxy in search of pleasure and love. Now that Harry Styles is playing Eros in the MCU, he might not get the chance to fight Thanos, but he should have a big role to play in the shared universe sequel.

Sersi and the rebellious Eternals manage to save the Earth, joining in the Unimente and killing the Celestial unborn.  

Ikaris leaves the planet and launches into the Sun, probably committing suicide. Druig, Makkaris and Thena will travel aboard the spaceship of the Eternals to seek out other beings like them and reveal the truth to them.

Phastos returns to live with his family, while Sprite is transformed into a human by Sersi with the residue of energy released by the Unimente. 

Sersi is summoned by Arishem, who collects her memories to decide whether or not the Eternals did well to kill the Celestial and save the earth. 

• Ajak is killed by Ikaris to prevent her from betraying Arishem.
  • Gilgamesh falls in battle with Kro, protecting Thena.
  • Kro is killed by Thena
  • Ikaris leaves the planet and launches into the Sun, presumably committing suicide

Ikaris killed Ajak to prevent her from rebelling against Arishem. 

Yes. The sequel is made official at the end of the film, when the message appears: the Eternals will return.