The Haunting Of Bly Manor was a slow burner, but that didn't mean it wasn't full of shocking moments. It captured audience members with its foreboding and mysterious atmosphere and satisfying conclusion.
It gave viewers intense moments as episode after episode revealed twists, insights, suspense, and layered character arcs. Some reveals were so disturbing, horrifying, surprising, and distressing that it was hard not to think about them after an episode's end.
The Answer To Why Henry Avoided Bly Manor
Unless someone was in the hospital, Henry refused to go to Bly Manor. It didn't matter that Flora was persistent in contacting him or that Hannah sent word, he stayed in his office. But when Henry's alter ego forced him to recall his memories, viewers learned the truth. Henry had been having an affair with his brother's wife. His brother learned the truth and confronted Henry. Henry and viewers learned at the same time that his "niece" who arrived early was actually his daughter.
Peter Quint's Outburst
Peter Quint and Rebecca Jessel's relationship was the wrong kind of love. Peter was possessive and manipulative. When Owen shared his cake batter with everyone in the household to poll the amount of strawberry versus lemon needed for flavor adjustment, it was a light moment of family bonding.
But Peter Quint didn't see it that way, his eyes followed Rebecca as she tasted the batter given by a cheerful Owen. He packed his things and when Rebecca appeared in the bedroom, he lost all control.
The Events In The Attic
It was the moment Peter's plans were finally revealed and everything started to come together. It was the moment Dani and viewers first heard the loaded words "it's you, it's me, it's us," and things were never the same. Dani tied up on the attic floor, Peter and Rebecca dream jumping and coming back, Peter trying to convince Miles to give permission, Rebecca saving Flora, and all that was to come.
Henry's Brush With Death
After it was revealed that Henry was the prank caller, viewers wanted him to stand up to his alter ego and to go to Bly Manor. And he did. Considering the events, his time couldn't have been better for the residents of Bly Manor. The clock had struck and every second was crucial. The Lady In The Lake carried Flora down to the lake. Henry tried to stop her, and at that moment, his decision to return appeared to have lead him to his death.
The Lady In The Lake Reveal
"She would sleep, she would wake, and she would walk." This was the moment viewers were waiting for. This was what was going to explain the events of the entire season. The answer to who, what, where, when, and why. It was shocking because it explored grief. It was a tragedy, a haunted past of difficult human relationships, detachment, and a material obsession that eventually lead to human possession. How Viola's actions caused her own purgatory and a gravity well for all others who died on the grounds of Bly Manor.
The Sudden Death Of Dani's Fiancé
From the very first episode, something was haunting Dani. Viewers could see a tall man with fiery glasses standing behind Dani in the reflection of a passing car. Wherever she stayed, Dani's mirrors were covered. A bloody hand appeared on her sheets and a pair of glasses held associations she wished would go away.
So it's fair to say that when Dani and her finacé Edmund's past was revealed, everyone was invested in what was going to happen. Dani broke off the engagement and an angry and betrayed Edmund opened the car door only for him to be struck and killed by a truck.
How Peter Quint Died
Dani saw Peter Quint on the grounds of Bly Manor. But Peter Quint is missing, gone, disappeared, said to have apparently left with stolen money. But that wasn't the real story. Peter Quint planned to run away to America with Rebecca Jessel, but then he left her. Except he had never really gone anywhere. He was murdered by The Lady Of The Lake after he unknowingly crossed her numb and repeated path. He was just another person in the wrong place at the wrong time, another victim of Viola. She dragged him down the stairs and across the dirt until his body was lost to the lake.
How Rebecca Jessel Died
It was said that Rebecca Jessel drowned herself in the lake, that she was found floating in the water. The location was right, yes, but the circumstances were not. Rebecca was murdered at the ghostly hands of Peter Quint. However, no material evidence could attest to this. The two had wanted to be together, but they discovered that Peter couldn't leave the grounds. Instead of accepting that this could not be, he abused Jessel's trust and tucked her away. He took control of her actions and walked into the lake. There was nothing she could do, only suffer. Her ghost screaming at her body in the water.
How Hannah Grose Died
In the episode dedicated to Hannah's perspective, "The Altar Of The Dead," viewers finally learned the truth. Hannah had been seeing a crack on the wall that no one else could see. She had been touching the back of her head. She had known things that were odd to know. She never ate food. Hannah Grose was a ghost of Bly Manor, killed at the hands of Miles who was being possessed by Peter Quint.
She was pushed into the old well. The act was extremely sudden and the image of Hannah's form falling and hitting the bottom, her head facing a crack in the well's stone wall, was engraved in viewers' brains.
When Dani Sacrificed Herself
When Dani tried to get Flora to leave the grounds she fell right into the path of Viola. The Lady Of The Lake reflexively grabbed hold of Dani's neck and walked into the house, up the stairs, and to where she hoped she would see her daughter. And there was Flora, but Flora's life was now in danger and no one could stop Viola. Hannah was a ghost, Henry was incapacitated, and the only thing Rebecca Jessel could do was offer to take Flora's pain in the moment of her death. But before Viola and Flora were fully immersed in the water, Dani said the words "it's you, it's me, it's us," and gave Viola permission to inhabit her mind. Years later, Dani drowned herself in the lake of Bly Manor to protect innocent lives from the wrath of a surfacing Viola Lloyd who no longer lay dormant in her mind.