Explaining “Edge of Tomorrow’s” End
Posted on June 17, 2014 at 3:59 pm
A lot of people complained about the ending of “Edge of Tomorrow,” but I liked it. And I really liked this explanation of what it all meant from my friend Hamilton Whitney at FilmHamster. Here’s the highlight, but you should read the whole thing:
In the process of destroying the Omega, Cage was exposed to high concentrations of the creature’s blood. This time it was different than when he essentially took the place of the Alpha. He didn’t jump back either 24 hours or to the previous checkpoint. Rather, he jumps back all the way to what I am assuming is the beginning of the “backup period.” The earliest time in which the Omega was currently existing. Having absorbed the Omega’s blood, he also absorbed the elements that were in temporal flux – we’ll call them tachyon particles. As the Omega ceased to exist, in all times, the tachyon particles snapped back to their last starting state – the earliest point at which they stopped existing, pulling the consciousness of their new host with them. Cage wakes up with all the memories of the future timelines what will not happen intact, despite being at the earlier start time. The Omega and the tachyon particles have all ceased to exist at this point, leaving him “normal” and ready to continue on with the rest of his life.
I think it was more simple than this. Cage watched his peers die hundreds of times, so he simply chose the time to go back so that none of them perished. This was the coward’s transformation.
I like that answer, too! Thanks for writing.
I forgot to mention that he also got his rank back by going back to this place in time. A bit of a second to saving his friends as we see the scenes showing J-squad happy as mud and unaware of what Cage has done.
It really is almost fairytale like. Cage loses his title/rank/nobility for being a cowardly schmuck, and through his journey learns to be honest and determined and thus regains his title/rank/nobility.
Thanks 🙂
Beautifully put, Chachi! I hope this movie finds a broader audience. Many thanks.
I’m so tired of hearing everyone complaining about the
ending. It isn’t confusing at all, and
you don’t need a diagram with different colors representing different planes of
existence, or other crap. I’ve heard
people mention Omega blood being more potent so Cage jumps back further. I’ve heard people saying ridiculousness about
them existing in different times or something.
I’ve even heard people saying it was all a dream that Cage had while he
was in the helicopter. There are many
other ideas out there, and I disagree with all of them. Yes, I even disagree that the studio changed
the ending from the books ending so they can make sequels, or just quickly
finished it without thought. This angers
me the most. I LOVED this movie, and
after I watched it last night I spent the whole drive home explaining the
ending to my wife and she finally gets it….SO here it goes, for your reading
pleasure:
There are 2 things
that you need to understand before I write this:
#1. THIS IS WHY
EVERYONE IS CONFUSED WITH THE ENDING…When a person is tased they are not
unconscious for 24 hours…They are only unconscious for 2-3 hours at best. REMEMBER THIS, it’s common sense!!!
#2. When an
Alpha/Omega is killed and their blood is transferred to a human that
Alpha/Omega ceases to exist because the human takes that beings place. This is why the Alpha that Cage killed never
returns to the battlefield, AND why the Omega never returns…But I’ll get to
that later. Cage is now that Alpha and
when he dies the Omega resets time 24 hours (1 day) FROM WHEN THE ALPHA WAS
ORIGINALLY KILLED.
I will now give you a timeline of events. This will make it much easier for everyone to
understand. Please note that exact times
are not mentioned in the movie, so I will be giving the times listed:
7:00AM (Day 1) – Cage wakes up in the helicopter on the way
to meet the General
8:00AM (Day 1) – Cage is tased and labeled a deserter
following his meeting with the General
10:00AM (Day 1) – Cage is awoken on the base by being kicked
and called a maggot (PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS STILL THE SAME DAY)
9:00AM (Day 2) – THIS IS THE NEXT DAY. Cage is dropped from the plane and lands on
the beach
9:05AM (Day 2) – Cage stated “I die within 5 minutes of
landing on that beach” so this is when he kills the Alpha, and dies in the
process
Now every time Cage dies time is reset 24 hours FROM WHEN
THE ALPHA ORIGINALLY DIED. This is why
when he dies during PT by being ran over he is reset to 9:05AM (DAY 1) AND when
he dies much later at the German Dam due to drowning himself he is still reset
to 9:05AM (DAY 1). Also notice that
9:05AM is while he is unconscious due to being tased, and rather than the movie
showing us Cage sleeping for 55 minutes they just skip to where he is awoken by
being kicked and called a maggot.
Now I will explain the ending for all of you:
10:00AM (DAY 1) – Cage is awoken on the base by being kicked
and called a maggot
2:00PM (Day 1) – Cage and Rita meet with the General and get
the device that Cage shoves into his leg
5:00PM (Day 1) – Cage wakes up after receiving a blood
transfusion and losing his ability to reset time
10:00PM (DAY 1) – Cage and Rita convince J-Squad to help
them
6:00AM (DAY 2) – Cage kills the Omega, and all of the Mimics
die along with it. The Omega’s blood is
transferred to him and he becomes the Omega, resetting time 24 hours because
the Alphas died
6:00AM (DAY 1) – Cage is now sleeping on the helicopter but
just like before, rather than the movie show us 1 hour of him sleeping they
just skip to where he wakes up on the helicopter. NOTE that at this time the Omega ceases to
exist because its blood was transferred to Cage
7:00AM (Day 1) – Cage wakes up. When the helicopter lands he realizes
everything has been reset and his friends are all alive once again. Instead of meeting with the General at 8:00AM
he sees on the television that the General no longer requires his assistance
because all of the Mimics are being easily handled. The “Disturbance” that the General is
referring to that happened under the Louvre in Paris is the Omega ceasing to
exist because Cage now has his blood.
Once you understand that the end is NOT resetting time 2
days, and it’s actually only resetting it a few hours prior to when it was
previously resetting, AND when Cage resets the Alpha/Omega that he got his
ability from ceases to exist it’s pretty easy to wrap your head around
everything.
They can now easily do a sequel (Cage is the Omega/There is
more than one Omega/Another asteroid brings more aliens/Whatever), or easily
not do a sequel (They live happily ever after)
Great explanation, Kyle, thanks!
I’m picking up what your putting down Kyle .
I must admit at the end of the movie I initially thought that he reset 24 hours and killed the Omega by himself , but the times didn’t match up so I thought the ending was flawed.
I’m glad I googled “The Edge Of Tomorrow Ending Explained” and read your explanation.
And for an alternate ending , Bill Murray wakes him up saying “it’s ground hog day MAGGOT !!” (just kidding)
exactly what I thought!
I was wondering why some people thought there were 3 days.
It’s just the same day, he just wakes up in the base after his meeting with the general.
“As the Omega ceased to exist, in all times” — nonsense. If the world had reset; EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD HAD RESET. If Cruise was alive again, so was Omega.
The real explanation is simple: it has to happen so Tom Cruise can get the girl and live happily ever after.
No better explanation from that is possible! Thanks, AlanHK!
because the Omega isn’t something human, it’s a “thing”, a power, that doesn’t have got a stable existence. If someone else takes its power (Tom) so it can’t exist. It only exist through Tom. So, it dies when Tom goes back in the time.
(maybe lol)
Otherwise, Omega’s still alive but it is hiding from them.
I like your theory, fanfan! Thanks for writing.