MovieChat Forums > The Descent: Part 2 (2009) Discussion > My theory for the ending *Spoilers*

My theory for the ending Spoilers

posted 15 years ago by jmca_2005
84 replies | jump to latest

Having loved the first movie, I decided to watch this one with high hopes.

Thought it was a decent enough movie but definately no where near as good as the first, the re-appearance of Juno was a great twist but up until that point, I thought it was just another basic horror.

So watched it through, watched as Rios finally escaped (in the same kind of shots that we saw Sarah 'escape' with in the first movie ;) ) and all seemed fine until the old guy (can't remember his name so he will be known as OG in this post) hits Rios and leaves her right over the hole for the mutants to get her. It got me thinking back to the first movie.

OG must have been in his late 50's? maybe early 60's, and if you remember from the first movie, the team found old equipment from a previous exploration (I can't remember how old they said it was so it may make my theory invalid) which means that a previous team had been down there (obviously!)

What if the previous team never escaped...except for one...OG!

He may have ventured into those caves years before the first movie, could have gotten seperated and found a way out of those caves and waited for his team to return, but they never did, so he goes back to the cave and finds these mutants, which obviously wouldn't have been there when his team was lost. This gets him thinking and then maybe realising that his team could have evolved into these things (which would explain their Human appearance) and OG would do anything to keep them alive, since a team is not just that, it is a friendship that would have been built up for years (like with Juno and Sarah's team in the first movie) so he will feed them and protect them at any cost, even if it means murder.

I've probably opened up more questions than I've answered with this but what do you all think?

[–] asamarcos 15 years ago

I'm sorry but this makes no sense at all.

[–] generaldilvry69 14 years ago

I liked your connection with the first movie, but I am afraid, your theory is still flawed. It is not your fault, though, it's just the premise of the film which doesn't make any sense! How could a human evolve after 60 years? Evolution takes tens of thousands of years to work its forces out via natural selection. This leads to flawed premise. The earliest evidence of humans on North America is a foot print found near the Barring Straight. Carbon dating analysis found the foot print to only be 14,000 years old. So how could a human evolve after only 14,000 years to such an extreme degree? Perhaps its a case of co-evolution on North America. This leads to problems too because no fossil record has ever indicated that apes, monkeys or any humanoid-type species ever resided on the Americas. I think its a clan of radiative hick retards personally.

[–] Synetech 13 years ago

How could a human evolve after 60 years? Evolution takes tens of thousands of years to work its forces out via natural selection. This leads to flawed premise.

You have obviously not watched The Cave then. In that movie (also from 2005, like Descent 1), a parasite exists in the caves which causes people to mutate into winged “demons” in very little time. The original team at the start of the movie got stuck down there 30 years earlier and were fully transformed by the time the next team went down in the “present day”. Plus, Jack and Kathryn went through some transformations in the day or so that they spent down there.

So while conventional evolution takes a long time, genetic mutations could occur with the help of a virus or some such (evolution of pea-plants, insects, rodents, and such notwithstanding). Besides, it’s a horror movie; obviously there has to be something to make the story work, (radiation is a classic favorite).

--
Synetech

[–] NewJack90 15 years ago

Your theory isn't that far off, but remember before they entered the shaft, the old man, told the story of his grandfather. He was miner that went down into the caves and never came back. So possibly, he thinks that his grandfather evolved into one of the crawlers. Now to further explain, if you remember in the movie they show a huge deposit of gold dust in the caves behind Rios and Sara sparkling. This brings the idea that many of the people back in his grandfather's day up to the present, had been searching in the caves possibly, for the gold,or exploring and got trapped.(thus creating more of the evolved creatures and they had children which explains how there are so many of them and the different kinds of crawlers)the deeper into the caves they were trapped,the more radical the evolution adaptations. Now this being said, the old man feels as though his kin are down there and is feeding them in order for them to survive and to protect the caves from people who are curious enough to search inside for the gold dust or just to explore. He had to prevent Rios from getting back to civilization, and bringing more attention to the cave. IE more police involvement to discover that the people weren't missing, but murdered by the creatures. Smaller scale search teams as opposed to larger scale, full police involvement. So he was protecting the gold dust and family secret at the same time. This is just in theory but, thats how it plays out in my mind. anyways, Hope I could help.

[–] StrontiumAE 15 years ago

Remember at the beginning of the movie they state that the girl group is the second group to vanish in the caves in the space of a year?

I just thought I would point out that random fact, coz it is as random as the old guy sneaking up behind the last survivor and shovelling her in the head.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] nameless_joe1500 15 years ago

No, the group that dissapeared a year before were in another cave. I think Boreham or something. Remember at the beginning of the movie they were searching the wrong cave. That's where the reporter lives. I alson think it's fairly impossible that the creatures were groups that got lost in the caverns. It takes generations to become different species. It doesn't happen over night, or over a century. It takes a really long time.

[–] brucecarson2008 15 years ago

It might happen fast in horror movie world though.

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[–] DavidC641990 15 years ago

But that is not thousands of years. It takes over thousands of year for evolution!

[–] lemonwetgood 15 years ago

If I remember correctly, in the commentary for the first one, Neil Marshall said that they were cave men that didn't evolve in the same way as the rest. I am fairly certain that is what they are. As for why the old guy knocks Rios out, I am at a loss. He must be incredibly stupid if he thinks that that is his family down there.

[–] jhames-4 15 years ago

My problem is why did he bring Sarah to police at all...

[–] CiniDent 15 years ago

As I stated above -

"Maybe he saved Sarah because she made it to the road and he didn't want to risk being seen hitting a woman in the head with a shovel or risk being seen putting a missing woman into his truck. After he lay Rios by the tunnel he looked around for any spying eyes so it was obvious that he was extremely careful."

Hope that helps. It's the only thing I could think of.

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[–] firesoul99 14 years ago

I really am surprised at all those ideas about this mysterious ending.
Why did he drag Rio back to the cave entrance where she surely would (and now most likely had been) dragged down again to get eaten?
Those creatures were down there for several thousands of years to being able to have adapted to the dark surrounding. No marvel-dc instant turning into another species in just several minutes (or years).
I dunno, but the motive of the redneck can only be that of friendship, fear, obedience or just economy.

Case Friendship:
Maybe the king of crawl (or alpha-male) is mr. redneck himself, had been able to fight them off, so they accepted him (let him get away), or he tamed them down to be his children, because he had never had the luck of being a father (or to have a wife to begin with). So he cares about them, playing the garcon.

Cape,..erm, Case Fear:
I don't think those creatures are capable of blackmailing or threatening him in any thinkable (professional) way. Also, I don't think those creatures had taken hostages (those former cave explorers, of which mr. redneck was one of them who escaped) and now are forcing him to bring them food.
The fear he might is having is the one of big attention by the media and police like someone here mentioned before. But this theory is a little too hardcore.

Case Obedience:
There might be a way of manipulating mr. redneck by some kind of hypno-wave...nah. Forget that. No one could ever think of such a thing now...or can one?

Case Economy:
He made a deal with them. They gather the gold, he delivers the meat. A sweet deal!

All in all I am happy with this sequel, which made me come to imdb to check out possible solutions to the rather strange ending scene. The first movie that did that to me. Also, I cannot await the 3rd part to finally solve the mystery...don't they dare running off and let us standing there with this ending (then the sequel would have been a really bad idea indeed).

[–] gregstar 14 years ago

The old guy is from West Virginia. Of course he is stupid!

[–] RDRogers 14 years ago

There is one glaring problem with the theory that the crawlers are some offshoot of human evolution. This takes place in the Appalachian mountains. No people, or any type of primate for that matter, have been in North America long enough for this to happen. The earliest people here showed up 10-12 thousand years ago, after the ice age, in the Pacific Northwest. It took even more time for them to migrate to the east coast. There is just no time for the evolutionary process to turn people into crawlers. The crawlers have to have evolved from something else. Anyway, who cares? Its just a movie!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] deathsrequiem07 13 years ago

If it makes a difference to this discussion... if you read up on the movie, the director or the writer one or the other clearly states that the Crawlers are cave men that never came out of the cave... so there was more than enough time for evolution.

However, people may be right with their ideas-he could have assumed that it was his family, or his team... just because the imagination does strange things.

But... I honestly think that it was just a hastily shot ending because something happened during production that stopped them from having the ending that they originally intended. It's a damn shame, too... because up until those last 30 seconds, I thought it was a pretty decent film for a sequel-props for bringing Juno back.

[–] kidrock-4 15 years ago

Terrible theory. Evolution of that magnitude would take thousands of years, possibly through hundreds of generations. You may as well say that a guy that lives in the wild for a few decades would de-evolve into a chimp.
Awful ending given that no explanation was given.

[–] XandraB 15 years ago

When they stated that the group was the second to go missing I thought that the reporters were talking about the caves that Juno had originally told everybody that they were going to and were currently searching (since Sarah had no memory to tell them the proper entrance to the caving system that they really went to)?

[–] d-d-daniel 15 years ago

Evolution don't happen in a day.. It takes millions of years to see a differnce.

[–] Phroggy 15 years ago

Exactly. Besides, it is shown that the crawlers do venture outside for foraging. So why would they let themselves devolve ? (Not to mention that in the outside world, they would make sorry-ass predators, since they obviously have no sense of smell either.)

[–] NewJack90 15 years ago

True as that may be, that it would take thousands of years to evolve. who says that some of the crawlers haven't been down there for that long. remember the cave painting that holly found showing the exits in the first one. Remember the old miner gear. Remember in this one the way Juno was shown when they found her? It is a decent into madness. evolution may have taken time but, madness doesn't take that long.

[–] johnthedogg 15 years ago

All of these theories are pathetic. The old guy is linked to the monsters and lets the girl live when he finds her? Only reason for that would be if she made up an absolute cock and bull story, but that wouldn't be possible. Seeing as she came from the woods covered in blood, shaken up, scared, probably talking nonsense about caves and monsters...he'd of finished her off there and then rather than taking her to a hospital. It's a horribly executed ending with absolutely no explanation what so ever. Still, decent enough movie even if it was just the first one repeated.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] firesoul99 14 years ago

No, just a cheap excuse for a third part.

[–] kittoo4202004 15 years ago

Indeed! I found it very hard to believe that those creatures killed a bear or a dear! What the hell? They cant run really fast, dont have that much power either, cant see and can hardly smell. LOL they would be mauled outside!
And also, if they were going outside, they wouldnt have devolved to blindness. But if they werent going outside and its just that the old guy was putting freebies outside for them to eat, the why was he doing so? Cause he thought that those were his kin? But then again, such evolution/devolution takes millions of years to happen. And if they were indeed the mine workers, then why not anybody did anything when apparently hundreds of mine workers went missing inside?
LOL this movie doesnt make any sense at all.

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[–] kittoo4202004 15 years ago

I agree. Such evolutions dont happen within few generations, let alone years. It was stupid ending and waste of a movie. I find it rather strange that you sacrifice one character, who sacrifices himself/herself to save other, and then you kill the saved one a few seconds later? (that happens twice in the movie) What *beep*

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[–] leeboyoellis 15 years ago

Good reasoning there bycruelworld - I was thinking something very much similar to that.

There is an issue, though, that the crawlers are warm blooded creatures. How can they survive down there more-or-less naked? It would be very cold, very damp, they have no body hair to keep warm, and they are basically naked. If they had evolved to be lightless cave dwellers, I'm sure that they would need coats of hair for warmth like a monkey - how would the first of many generations of human survive in there while adapting to their environment?None - its too quick an environmental change before their bodies can adapt - the first generation would die. The creatures would have to be cold blooded to survive down there.

[–] Silversteinzero 15 years ago

You are hinted that the old guy is in on it in the beginning. When he winks at them going down the mining shaft

[–] solidturtle 15 years ago

byecruelworld definitely has the best answer

[–] brucecarson2008 15 years ago

Agreed. Another vote for byecruelworld.

A Minor Addition
Ed might have developed some "partnership" with the cave creatures. The creatures actually mine some gold for him. In return he keeps their secret and brings them food (no reason it must be humans, they seem quite happy eating animals as well). They wouldn't have arrived at this arrangement through negotiation, rather very simple bargaining. He goes into the cave with a bunch of meat, lays it there. Then does the same thing the next day until he develops trust with them. I'm sure they have a keen sense of smell so they could identify him just by that (dogs can tell the difference between humans based on smell). Perhaps he started down this path trying to save his family who were lost in the mine. He realized there are to many to fight, so tried an alternate approach.

It need not be religious at all. This is my preferred explanation:
Ed might feel some sympathy for the creatures as a unique form of life. He knows that if the outside world discovered them, they'd be wiped out. Furthermore it would be a bloodbath. A lot more people would die once the creatures are stirred up. Better for everyone just to let them be.

Is ed related to them?
No. The creatures have been down there for quite a long time, there's no way Ed is actually related to them (nor would he believe he is). They are an alternate evolutionary path. Notably, they need not have diverged of 500,000 years ago. Species separated on Islands shrink and become radically different in just a few thousand years.

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[–] daytonaflyer 15 years ago

Are you guys all 15 years old?

[–] Ellhound 15 years ago

The creatures(they are actually called Hadal) predate humans. They are the remnants of an ancient civilization gone wrong. For more info read the books.

[–] schudder 15 years ago

The movies are not based on the books of similar title.

[–] moviemoose-1 15 years ago

"The Descent" movies have no relation whatsoever to Jeff Long's book of the same name. The creatures are not Hadals.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] WolfyLarsen 13 years ago

Yep that is a ridiculous explanation and the best one yet. Of course it isn't logical....but it sounds like a Hollywood screenplay. Forget how they fed themselves for the thousands of years before the miners broke into their cave system. Now they have evolved into hand fed pets because of religious ignorance. Sounds like the best explanation to me. Good job CruelWorld....

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[–] BittenSmitten 15 years ago

Here is what I think:

If Rios came back to her station, talked about the things she saw down underground... Don't you think other people would go look for them? Scientists? Explorers? Gawkers? How many people would die in order to see the side show in the caves?

Here's the big question... Why would the old guy rescue Sarah but kill Rios? Well, Sarah didn't remember anything at first. She could have told him she has no memory of it... which is why he lets her live. The VERY FIRST thing the old guy sees Rios do is take out her cell phone. He has no idea it's to call her kid... he could have very well thought she was calling media, police, everybody.

[–] jmr1909 15 years ago

I've got a simple explanation as to why Ed whacks Rios and leaves her as a 'sacrifice'. She's just that. Ed wants the creatures to leave him, his neighbours and their livestock alone, so he gives them one of the troublesome visitors that they want.

It might well be a silent arrangement just like that. Leave me alone, and I'll hunt the occasional creature - bear, elk, human - for you to feed on instead of me.

[–] Smeikle82 15 years ago

The problem with that jmr is that then they (the dwellers) would have to have to have some sort of intelligence. In the movies, you see them only act out of animal instinct, there is no real intelligence to their stalking or anything else.

There is also the fact that the creatures are blind and have no sense of smell, therefore, how would they recognize the other "end" of the silent deal?

[–] jerebear-1 15 years ago

The ending is simple, as has been pointed out here: it's a shock ending that makes no sense whatsoever. I am sure some convoluted crap will be piled on in Descent Part 3 that ties the old man to the critters, and it won't make any sense either.

Maybe they were trying for a "Wrong Turn" connection. Who knows?

[–] redhook4u 15 years ago

Don't any of your remember the USMC tattoo in the first one? Hello?! C'mon guys, I come here for intelligence, not crazy speculation! LOL

I am just kidding - but I am curious if any of you remember the tattoo from the original? I don't think this movie is about evolution, but rather a special ops team left to die.....they simply adjusted to the environment. However, speculation is WAY more fun! :)

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