‘Rebel Moon Part 1’ Ending Explained: The Meaning of That Sinister Final Scene

Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire begins streaming on Netflix today, much to the delight of Zack Snyder fans everywhere.

Described by Snyder himself as his “rejected Star Wars pitch,” the first part of this two-part fantasy sci-fi space epic will definitely give you strong “galaxy far, far away” vibes. Most of the movie’s two-hour-and-14-minute runtime is spent introducing viewers to a sprawling cast of characters. There is some plot hidden in there, but you’ll have to dig it out between extraneous fight scenes, and too many planet and alien names to track.

Now, normally when I write these ending explained articles, I spend a few hours rewatching and rewinding the movie to provide the most thorough summary possible. Unfortunately, Snyder was on a mission to get critics to the theaters for his new streaming film, and so Netflix declined to provide journalists with screeners. Because I wrote this piece in advance, the below summary and ending explained is based solely on my memory of watching the movie in a screening room. I apologize for any inaccuracies or vagueness. This movie is confusing, y’all! I did my best.

Rebel Moon spoilers ahead, obviously.

Rebel Moon plot summary:

A voiceover narration read by Anthony Hopkins informs viewers that this movie is basically Star Wars 2.0: A tyrannical ruler named Regent Balisarius from the “Motherworld” is attempting to quash the rebel forces threatening to usurp his rule. The Motherworld, also called the Imperium, was once ruled by a King (who was maybe good?) but he and his daughter were murdered by insurgents, and Balisarius took over.

With that in mind, we meet our hero Kora (Sofia Boutella) living among farmers on a peaceful moon settlement. She hasn’t been on the Moon known as Veldt for long, and, apparently, crash-landed there. She’s definitely hiding from something, or someone. Her peaceful hiding place is soon disrupted by the arrival of a Motherworld ship, helmed by Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), a sadistic, high-ranking leader on a mission to hunt down rebels. Atticus demands that the farmers supply his Army with food while they search for the rebels. He gives them nine weeks to come up with an impossible amount of grain, and leaves. A group of soldiers stay behind to set up camp in the settlement. One of the soldiers activates a robot named Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), who served the now-dead king, and to whom he still remains loyal.

Kora plans to flee, but on her way out she witnesses a group of soldiers attempting to rape a young village girl. Demonstrating remarkable fighting skills, she kills them all. Oops! Now when Atticus returns to collect his grain, he’s going to kill all the villagers in retaliation for these dead soldiers. Kora promises she will help the villagers fight back. They just need to recruit some folks to fight with them. Like, for example, the rebels that a farmer named Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) sold surplus grain to the year before.

Gunnar and Kora go off together. A lot of little space adventures happen while they are gone, which doesn’t matter much for the overall plot. They recruit a team of fighters: Tarak (Staz Nair), a former nobleman paying off his debt by working as a blacksmith; Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a roguish bounty hunter; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman with a cyborg arm; Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a former army general turned drunkard; and Darrian (Ray Fisher) and Devra (Cleopatra Coleman) Bloodaxe, brother and sister rebel fighters who once bought grain from Gunnar.

Over this journey, we learn more of Kora’s backstory: Her entire family was killed by Imperium soldiers, but she was spared as a young child. She was recruited by the former Imperium King (played by Cary Elwes) to be his top soldier. Later, she acts as a personal guard to the king’s daughter. Kora says she observed the king’s daughter demonstrating supernatural abilities. No doubt this will come up again in Part 2.

Before the newly recruited team can return to the moon of Veldt, Kai the bounty hunter insists on making a stop to tie up some loose ends on his shady business. He swears after this, he will leave the criminal world behind him. This turns out to be a lie: Kai betrays the team. He was always planning to sell them out to Atticus Noble and the Motherworld.

A big fight ensues. Kora and her team ultimately are victorious over Atticus Noble and the Motherworld soldiers. In the battle, Darrian appears to die, giving him a grand total of two scenes in this franchise… unless he comes back to life in Part 2. Kai also dies, so you may not see Charlie Hunnam in the next movie.

Rebel Moon ending explained: Who is Kora?

After Kora successfully defeats Atticus Noble, she returns home to the moon with her team. Woohoo! The battle is won!

But not so fast. The final scene of Rebel Moon reveals that the Motherworld soldiers retrieve Atticus Noble’s body and revive him. They do this by hooking him up to a weird neural link machine that sends his soul to a frozen lake in the spirit world (or something), where he speaks to the big man in charge, Regent Balisarius. Noble reveals that Kora is Balisarius’s daughter. Is she actually his daughter, or does he mean that she’s like, his adopted daughter? It’s not clear, but, for all intents and purposes, Kora is a space princess and a wanted fugitive. Balisarius orders that his daughter be brought to him alive, so he can make her pay for her betrayal. Atticus Noble wakes up in the real world, and with that, Part One ends.

Is there a Rebel Moon end-credits scene?

There is no Rebel Moon post-credits scene, or mid-credits scene, at the end of Rebel Moon Part One. Go ahead and take that bathroom break, and we’ll see you on April 19, 2024, for Rebel Moon Part 2.