‘All The Light We Cannot See’ Ending Explained: All The Bonkers Changes From the Book

All The Light We Cannot See is Netflix‘s super expensive-looking four-part adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s 2014 novel of the same name. Doerr’s book is not only an international bestseller, but earned the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for literature. Needless to say, the novel has quite a few fans, and many of them might be scratching their heads in confusion after watching Netflix’s version of All The Light We Cannot See. Sure, our heroine, Marie-Laure LeBlanc (Aria Mia Loberti), is a blind Resistance fighter holed up in an attic in Saint-Malo during the final days of World War II. And our male protagonist, Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann), is a talented Nazi radioman stationed in the same city, making the risky choice to hide the fact that Marie-Laure is broadcasting secret radio transmissions from his superior officers. Oh, and there’s a really mean Nazi named von Rumpel (Lars Eidinger) looking for Marie-Laure because he believes she’s hiding an enchanted/cursed jewel called the Sea of Flames. That stuff all checks out. However, it’s how director Shawn Levy and writer Steven Knight choose to wrap the story up that might be confusing to book fans…

**Spoilers for All The Light We Cannot See, now streaming on Netflix**

Netflix’s version of All The Light We Cannot See follows the parallel tales of French teenager Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, but it eschews Doerr’s short, poetic chapters taking us into the characters’ psychology for over-the-top action set pieces. Major characters, like Werner’s friend Volkheimer, are reduced to cameos in flashbacks. The final episode is a tense, violent stand off that kills off a character who survives the novel, reveals that Marie-Laure can use sound to aim a gun, and crescendos with the bad guy dying and the boy getting the girl in the end.

If you haven’t read the book, All The Light We Cannot See‘s final episode might feel a bit bombastic, and if you have read the book, you might be thinking, well, that’s not quite what I remember happening. So what parts of Anthony Doerr’s book does Netflix’s adaptation of All The Light We Cannot See get right? And what are the most bonkers changes director Shawn Levy and writer Steven Knight made? Here’s everything you need to know about how Netflix’s version of All The Light We Cannot See ends…and how it changes a lot from Anthony Doerr’s beloved book.

All The Light We Cannot See Ending Explained: What Does Netflix’s Show Change From the Book?

The final episode of All The Light We Cannot See opens with von Rumpel arriving at Marie-Laure’s Uncle Etienne’s (Hugh Laurie) house, the place where she and the Sea of Flames have been holed up. The Americans have begun bombing the city, with one of explosions destroying the Resistance base where a gun-toting Etienne had previously brought Werner for “trial.” The mean French Resistance fighters who wanted to kill our one good Nazi died in the explosion and Etienne dies under a press of rubble…but not before telling Werner he is a good boy.

In the book, von Rumpel does arrive at Etienne’s house, in pursuit of Marie-Laure and the jewel. However, Etienne doesn’t die. In fact, Werner is trapped under rubble with his Nazi pals Bernd and Volkheimer for a huge bulk of the book. It is only when the Allies start bombing the city that Volkheimer encourages Werner to use a grenade to blow up the rubble to free them both. Having listened to Marie-Laure’s broadcasts, Werner goes in pursuit of her.

In the show, we watch Werner racing through a city under bombardment, while von Rumpel closes in on Marie. She blockades herself in the attic, but von Rumpel says he has a gun and a hand grenade. Von Rumpel attempts one more try at “diplomacy” with Marie, using the story of how he captured her father (Mark Ruffalo) and tortured him to learn the location of the Sea of Flames. He reveals that he died rather than give him an address. Nevertheless he found her. She says she will not go until her Papa is gone, explaining he is still there as long as she remembers him. She produces a gun and says Uncle Etienne taught her how to use it — something we never see. She shoots off a few rounds, causing von Rumpel to decide to blow up the door to the attic. The sound of the explosion will render Marie-Laure deaf for just long enough for him to shoot her. You see, he’ll be able to see her even if she can’t see or hear him.

In the book, Marie just hides in the attic while von Rumpel manically looks for the gem in the house. As he gets closer to the end, von Rumpel begins to imagine his daughters. There’s no grenade. No gun in Marie-Laure’s hand. In fact, besides playing a record, she doesn’t really make a sound at all.

Show Marie is left disoriented by the blast, despite the fact that she shields her ears with headphones. While she grasps for the gun, pointing it wildly, von Rumpel enters the attic. Werner runs into Etienne’s house at that exact moment, calling for Marie, explaining Etienne sent him. As Marie recovers her hearing, she fires off two more shots von Rumpel’s way. It is then that she hears Werner, professing he is a friend. Von Rumpel tells Marie since she only has one bullet left in her revolver, he will deal with the “traitor” first. Von Rumpel shoots at Werner, who takes refuge in a parlor. Marie uses her memory of the sounds of the house to tell Werner where Werner is in the house. Werner disassembles a radio to take wire out. He hides and jumps von Rumpel from behind, choking the bad Nazi with the radio wire. In the scuffle, von Rumpel and Werner smash the model city of Saint-Malo to bits, revealing the Sea of Flames. von Rumpel fires off bullets manically and throws Werner off. He then rounds on the boy, points his gun, and realizes he is empty. We then hear a gun cock behind Werner. It is Marie. She shoots her last bullet, killing the bad guy dead.

Uh, yeah, in the book, Volkheimer gives his buddy Werner his rifle. Werner arrives at the house. He and von Rumpel exchange a few words. Von Rumpel believes Werner is also there for the gem and attempts to kill the boy. However, they hear a brick — a piece of rubble — fall behind them. Von Rumple looks back and Werner takes the moment to lunge for Volkheimer’s rifle. He kills von Rumple, not Marie-Laure.

After defeating von Rumpel in the show, Marie-Laure shows Werner his beloved Professor’s attic. Werner reveals Etienne is dead, but that Marie freed him. The two then bond over the line, “The most important light is the light you cannot see.” They literally say it in tandem. It’s cheesy. Werner says she looks hungry, she says she’s not. He says he is. She asks, “Do you like peaches?” They open a saved can of peaches and share it. When Werner sees the Professor’s radio, he uses it to send a recording to his sister Jutta (Luna Wedler) in Germany, letting her know she is safe. She hears it. Then as “Clair de Lune” plays, Marie-Laure and Werner dance and kiss.

Okay, so the two do talk about the shared impact Etienne, aka the Professor, had on both of them as children. However, Marie-Laure is hungry. They both are. After commiserating over food they miss, she finds a last dented, unlabeled can of food she was saving. It’s peaches. They talk about the Professor’s recordings, but they do not kiss.

After the big show kiss, Marie-Laure suggests that she sneaks out of the city with Werner. After all, she knows all sorts of secret passageways. Werner can’t have this because if they are discovered, she will be shot as a collaborator. He promises they will meet again. They’ll meet on their special broadcast channel until they can reunite. Marie suggests to Werner that if he surrenders to the Americans who now hold the city, they will take care of him instead of killing him as the French would. He agrees and is placed under arrest. Marie then joins the joyous celebrations in the streets. The final shot of the series is of her throwing the Sea of Flames into the ocean. That’s it!

In the book, Werner is captured by Americans, but he contracts a fever in the POW camp. Delirious from the fever, he walks out into the night and dies when he steps on a landmine buried by Germans. Uncle Etienne lives and returns to Marie-Laure. Thirty years later, Volkheimer tracks down Jutta to return Werner’s belongings to her. He tells her that the last time he saw Werner was in Saint-Malo. Volkheimer adds off-handedly that he thinks Werner might have been in love. When Jutta goes through Werner’s things, she finds a model house from Saint-Malo. There’s a whole thing where she tracks Marie-Laure down to return it to her. The idea is the jewel inside the house, but what’s actually in the model house is just a key to the cage under the city where Marie-Laure hid the diamond. The final chapter sees Marie-Laure talking to her grandson in Paris 2014.

So, yeah, the end of Netflix’s All The Light We Cannot See is very different from the book!

Is All The Light We Cannot See Based on a True Story?

Nope! I mean, World War II happened, but none of the events outside the historical occupation of Saint-Malo did. Marie-Laure, Werner, and the Sea of Flames are fictions created by novelist Anthony Doerr in the novel, All The Light We Cannot See.