This article contains spoilers for The Midnight Club season 1.The Midnight Club episode 7, aptly titled "Anya," reveals whether the Paragon ritual was successful in healing Anya of her cancer. Co-creator Mike Flanagan sticks to his tradition of shocking plot twists in this episode, as Anya's reality is revealed to be a delusion where characters from other Midnight Club tales begin to come to life. While this episode is the first to feature no new Midnight Club stories, it is the first to honor them all.
The Midnight Club episode follows directly from episode 6 of The Midnight Club, "Witch," featuring Ilonka finally learning of the Paragon ritual, which cured Julia Jayne of her cancer. Using this information, Ilonka convinces the rest of the Midnight Club to perform the ritual in the basement of the Brightcliffe Home hospice. Anya, who had collapsed earlier in the episode after developing sepsis, becomes the focal point for the ritual, the club wanting to do everything they can to save their friend.
However, as the Midnight Club sacrifice their blood and a personal item, the living shadow from other The Midnight Club episodes rises from the fire and reaches out to Anya. Ultimately, the episode's cliffhanger left viewers wondering whether Anya had survived the ritual or if the mysterious shadow had claimed her life. Episode 7 provides an answer regarding Anya's fate, but not before leading viewers astray.
What Happens To Anya After The Ritual
The first half of The Midnight Club episode 7 is set 3 years after the Paragon ritual, the year now 1997, and Anya has seemingly been cured of her cancer. Now physically healthy, Anya has started a new yet mundane life and has a prosthetic leg, still holding the same love for ballet despite being unable to return to it. It's revealed that when Anya is not working at the grocery store, she spends time alone at home and attends support group meetings. At the support group, she discusses her time at Brightcliffe and the Midnight Club, expressing her discontent with her current life and self in the aftermath of her recovery. Anya describes her recovery as spontaneous regression, miraculously improving from a severe disease.
However, as the episode proceeds, it becomes clearer that Anya's new life is not what it seems. Anya expresses cynicism towards the ritual, claiming that if magic were real, the rest of the Midnight Club would be alive today, expressing her loneliness in life without them. As Anya returns to work, it becomes more evident that her new life is not real and instead a delusion as other Midnight Club stories begin merging with her own. The arrival of all these characters, who do not recognize her as a friend, turns the episode into chaos. As she tries to escape to her apartment, Anya is shot by Sandra's character and lands in bed, where she continues to be haunted by the shadow.
It is then revealed to viewers that the surrealist nature of Anya's world is due to the fact that she is in a coma and dreaming. The world is her own subconscious, and the voices through her alarm clock are the Midnight Club members still telling her stories. Ilonka visits Anya and apologizes for the ritual not working, assuring her everything will be okay, which prompts Anya to pass to the other side. Anya leaves her possessions to Ilonka and the Midnight Club scatters her ashes.
Anya's Dream Combined Everybody's Stories - Why?
As mentioned, The Midnight Club episode 7 features characters from each of the previous stories, such as the screaming girl from Natsuki's story, the detective from Kevin's, Dusty's mother, and even Dana from Anya's own story. Another link to the Midnight Clubs story-telling is that every night Anya's alarm goes off at midnight, with the alarm clock playing a recording of a Midnight Club meeting. As the twist of the episode is revealed, viewers learn that Natsuki is telling a story of all eight of them recovering and living in the same apartment complex, spending the rest of their lives as friends. This means that essentially, Anya's dream is a story within a story that's also a story.
For example, Natsuki telling Anya one last Midnight Club story full of hope and recovery allowed her subconscious to fill in the gaps about what recovery would really look like to her. As Anya still hasn't fully grappled with the idea of death, her dream shows a story of recovery where she is the only one of the Midnight Club members to survive, despite the reality being quite the opposite. Additionally, the fact that deep down she knew she was being told a Midnight Club story, despite her anger towards the alarm clock reminding her, is what allowed the other stories to bleed through into her dream.
Each of the Midnight Club stories reveals more about the member telling them, with morale attached to each one. Through these stories, Anya learned more about her friends and, ultimately, about herself. It is through parts of these stories appearing in her dream that she finally accepts the fact that she is in a coma and dying, allowing her to pass away peacefully at the end of The Midnight Club episode 7, knowing that her loved ones are alive and well.