Warning! SPOILERS for Into The Night season 2

The ending of Netflix's Into The Night season 2 addresses many of the season's biggest questions while adding several others into the mix - here's an explanatory breakdown of the show's season 2 finale. The multilingual Belgian apocalypse story had a close-knit first season following the passengers of an ill-fated commercial flight, but the show's second season expanded things significantly, with multiple groups of people, each with cryptically unclear objectives and moralities. Netflix hasn't confirmed the show's return in 2022, but the streaming service has announced a spin-off called Into The Deep - a Turkish language series that directly ties with the ending of Into The Night season 2.

Into The Night follows a small and mismatched group of survivors trying to navigate a global apocalypse with only one rule: the sun will kill you. Inspired by Jacek Dukaj's 2015 science fiction novel, The Old Axolotl, the first season mostly takes place on an airplane as the passengers flee from the sunrise, finding their way to a hidden NATO bunker. Season 2 shows the group trying to make a home for themselves amongst a group of soldiers, while experiments are underway to find a way to survive the sunlight.

Related: Into the Night Season 2 Cast & Character Guide

Into The Night joins other European Netflix shows like Dark, as a story in a fantastic setting which asks deeply human questions. One of those is how people from disparate backgrounds cope under pressure and in confinement, and Into The Night season 2 piles on the tension right away between soldiers and passengers. Things flare up as an unprovoked missile attack destroys their airfield, with the accidental deaths of Zara and her son, Nicolas, and with the soldiers discovering that Sylvie was responsible for Terenzio's death. Where the first season ended with the group finally reaching a place to take refuge, the second season turns everything upside down. All sense of certainty is now gone, with the group scattered and half of them fleeing for their lives once again. Here's how everything stands after the chaotic season finale.

Into The Night Season 2's Cliffhanger Gives The NATO Soldiers A Way To Survive

Into the Night survivors doing experiments to learn how to survive the Sun

In Into The Night, the sun is deadly, even indoors. Reminiscent of 10 Cloverfield Lane, the NATO bunker provides a refuge from the surface, deep underground below a reservoir. Into The Night, season 2 began by showing a group of the passengers experimenting on rats, trying to find a way to survive the daylight. In the closing scene, a couple of NATO soldiers discover that a single rat survived the experiments, showing that they now hold the key to survival. What isn't clear is what they can do with this, if anything. With their only expert, Horst, fleeing to the Arctic, they may not have a way to use this knowledge. What's more, without any surviving leadership or any remaining aircraft, the remaining NATO soldiers currently have few options.

How Will The Helicopter Crew Reach The Arctic In Into The Night Season 3?

Into the Night escape from the NATO bunker, led by Sylvie

After the NATO soldiers turn out to be villainous (a recurring trope from the first season, as well as a homage to apocalypse fiction like the movie 28 Days Later), Sylvie and the passengers still at the bunker manage to escape, heading for the airfield and commandeer the helicopter left by the Russian soldiers. To help them escape, Rik sacrifices himself, killing the villainous NATO soldiers in charge and the Russian soldiers in the process. While Sylvie's group may have gotten away, they're anything but safe. Their helicopter only has a limited range, and while it can use easily available low-grade fuel, it's uncertain where or how they'll find any. To reunite with their friends, they need to travel all the way to Svalbard before sunrise. Their only certainty right now is that the night ahead will be a difficult one.

What Happened To The Soldiers In The Russian Bunker?

Rik, from Into the Night, in his final scene

To boost their supplies, the NATO leaders plan to head for Svalbard, and the global seed vault located there. Discussing their plans over the radio with a group of Russian soldiers in a different bunker seemingly led to the missile attack, which the NATO soldiers blame the Russians for. They're proven wrong when Ines, cast out by herself, follows a helicopter and finds some Russian soldiers. However, they're seeking revenge on whoever attacked their own bunker and destroyed their planes and communications. Ines tricks them into helping her back into the NATO bunker, leading to a confrontation which kills Gerardo. After the situation de-escalates, the leading Russian soldier implies that their bunker is mostly destroyed, and at least some of their people were killed. Realizing both bunkers were attacked, the soldiers speculate that whoever launched the missiles must be somewhere nearby, but know nothing beyond that. It's never revealed where the Russian bunker is and whether there are other passengers. The fate of the cosmonaut from Netflix's Into The Night season 1 is still uncertain.

Related: What To Expect From Tribes Of Europa Season 2

Are The Seed Vault Survivors Safe In Into The Night Season 2's Ending?

Thea and Matthieu arriving at the seed vault during Into The Night

Led by Matthieu and Ayaz, a group of passengers together with the German soldier, Markus, make their way to Svalbard, but find the seed vault in disarray, damaged by a researcher named Gia, who's suffering from a psychotic break after her medication ran out. Soon afterwards, they receive a radio message from Ines at the NATO bunker, calling for help. They make plans to fly back immediately, but Gia locks herself in the cockpit and destroys the plane's controls. Stranded in Svalbard with few supplies, and unaware of what happened to the others, Matthieu summarizes their situation by saying, “When you're lost but you won't admit it, all you can do is scream. I think It's time to start screaming.”

Into The Night Ending's New Group: What Do The Submarine Crew Want?

A brief glimpse of one of the submarine crew at the end of Into The Night season 2

The big reveal at the end of Into The Night season 2 is the realization that there's another group of people aboard a submarine. Hiding deep underwater (à la Sean Connery's Red October), it's likely that this submarine can remain mobile even during the day, but who they are and what they want are still unknown. It's implied that they're responsible for the missile attacks, though their presence in Svalbard confirms they heard the radio communications. In the final moments, the submarine lands and several people hurry onto land. Unfortunately, their timing is inopportune. Ayaz, still wracked with grief after losing Zara, confronts Markus. Held at gunpoint, Markus confesses that he was directly responsible for the deaths of Zara and Nicolas. At the same time, the submarine crew arrive at the seed vault, with one man rushing inside. All he reveals is that he and the others from the submarine are Turkish, before a gunshot and a cut to black. What happened in those moments and what will come next are anyone's guess.

What Into The Night Season 2 Is Really About

Théa searching for a reason to keep going, during Into the Night season 2

Into The Night gives a fresh take on the apocalypse survival trope, exploring themes of bravery, the will to live, and how sometimes the bravest choice is not about survival. It differs from many other apocalypse stories, like The Walking Dead, in that the core message is not about defending yourself with weapons, but about finding strength in those around you. Each time a character chooses direct conflict, it has serious consequences with deep repercussions.

More than anything, Into The Night emphasizes the importance of having people to survive for. The characters find their strength from each other, and they only start to falter when they start to lose that support. The characters' stories underpin this theme. Laura loses her confidence as she loses Horst's affection. Ayaz never stops trying to save Zara and Nicolas, even when he knows there's nothing he can do. The self-confessed coward, Rik, makes the bravest single act in the entire story in a scene which feels almost like an Independence Day homage, specifically to save the others. The underlying message is one of finding purpose through solidarity. As Théa says, “There's only one way to survive, and that's with the people you love.” The darker flipside to this is given by Théa's neighbor in a flashback, “It's better to be alone than in bad company.” Ayaz adds to this though, pointing out that all anyone fundamentally wants is to simply to survive, regardless of any reason. This, perhaps, is the most central theme of Into The Night. It's certainly one that's likely to recur both in the announced spin-off and in any prospective future seasons.

Next: Blood Red Sky Ending & Plane Hijacking Plot Explained