The Descent 2: Ending & Sarah's Fate Explained

The Descent Part 2 is a very thrilling follow-up to the phenomenal horror film, but the ending raises many questions. 2009's The Descent 2 focuses on claustrophobic horror, following on from the events of The Descent, which saw a team of female friends on a spelunking expedition that turns into a fight for survival after a species of subterranean monsters called Crawlers are discovered in the caves. The group end up fighting for their lives while fighting with each other. While the premise is straightforward, The Descent 2's ending is much more ambiguous than its predecessor.

Director Jon Harris's sequel to The Descent sends a rattled Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) — who returns after surviving the events of The Descent — and a rescue team descend back into the caves to find out if any of her friends are still alive. It’s not long until Sarah’s repressed memories rush back, as do the deadly Crawlers. The Descent Part 2 makes clever use of space and uses this claustrophobic environment in new ways. However, The Descent 2's ending throws a lot in the air, and much like when in a subterranean labyrinth, it can be easy to get lost.

What Happens At The End Of The Descent 2

Sarah Kills The Crawler Leader, But It Does Little Good

The Descent 2's ending isn't a happy one. Now that Detective Vaines and Cath are both Crawler food, Rios (Krysten Cummings), Juno (Natalie Mendoza), and Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) try their hardest to find an exit. Unfortunately, the exit is blocked by a hoard of Crawlers and t heir assumed leader, who is the biggest out of the bunch. Greg is slowly dying nearby after sacrificing himself for Cath (Anna Skellern), and he spots the three remaining survivors.

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While Sarah, Juno, and Rios attempt to sneak around him, he grabs onto Juno's leg in a last-ditch effort to save himself. Juno lets out a scream, attracting the Crawlers to the group immediately. The team manage to fight off the Crawlers, but at this point, Greg (Josh Dallas of Thor fame) is completely gone and Juno is facing off with the leader alone. Sarah tries and fails to save her, and Juno is fatally slashed in the stomach by the leader.

Sarah is able to kill the leader at the end of The Descent 2, and then attracts the rest of the Crawlers to her so Rios can escape. Rios does manage to leave the cave, but she's thrown back in by Ed and wakes up with a Crawler standing over her.

What Happens To Sarah In The Descent 2's Ending

Sarah Was More Than Likely Killed At The End Of The Descent 2

The Descent 2's Sarah overcomes so much to survive in Neil Marshall’s original Descent, so it’s especially tragic to see her get so close to death in this sequel. Sarah is the most experienced against the crawler threat, but she also has a strong sense of honor and family, which eventually gets the better of her here unlike in The Descent's ending.

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After Juno’s death, Sarah makes a noble gesture by attracting the crawlers’ attention for long enough to secure safety for Rios. It’s certainly implied that Sarah, as well as Rios for that matter, don’t survive this adventure. However, Sarah’s death isn’t explicitly shown; this somewhat open conclusion was likely done intentionally with the hopes of making a third installment of The Descent a possibility. The Descent 2's Sarah is a real warrior, but since The Descent 3 hasn't happened, it's mostly likely that she died.

Sarah's Rescue Team Ultimately Fails

It's Unlikely Any Of The Team Survived In The Descent 2

Before The Descent 2's ending, the rescue mission to find Sarah's friends turns sour very quickly, and Dan and Cath — two of the trained spelunkers who have been assembled for the mission — are the first to meet their ends by the crawlers. Sheriff Vaines, who believes that Sarah killed her friends in the first place, is handcuffed to Sarah to ensure she won't abandon him. After he becomes literal baggage, his hand gets cut off so that he and some crawlers will fall to their deaths, but Sarah can survive.

Sarah, Juno, and Rios reach the exit of these caves in The Descent 2's ending, but it's blocked off by a group of crawlers. Their cover gets blown after Juno screams in fear when a dying Greg grabs at her in an effort to save himself. Greg is taken out by the Crawlers, and the rest of the team are left to fight off the monsters.

Unfortunately, Sarah is unable to save Juno, who ends up being fatally sliced open by the main crawler. Sarah tries to draw the rest of the crawlers' attention to herself so at least Rios can escape. Sadly, in the final moments of the horror movie, Ed Oswald, the mineshaft's operator, catches Rios and throws her back into the mine.

While Rios' execution doesn't explicitly happen, the first thing that she witnesses after she regains consciousness is an angry crawler. The Descent 2's ending shows that the rescue team clearly failed in their mission, and everyone is presumed dead.

Ed Feeding The Crawlers Explained

His Betrayal May Have Been An Attempt To Ensure The Crawlers Stayed Underground

One of the more harrowing aspects of The Descent 2's ending is when Ed decides to throw Rios back into the caves where the Crawlers live — just after she made it through all of that to get to safety. The final gut-punching twist is confusing, to say the least, but it leaves possibilities open for a sequel which was probably the intention behind this act. Ed Oswald (Michael J. Reynolds) only appears in The Descent 2 to lead the rescue team down to the caves via a mine shaft.

Based on his actions in the claustrophobic horror movie, it's clear that Ed knows what exactly is hiding down there. He probably decided to feed Rios to the Crawlers in an effort to keep them happy and away from the light in general, or perhaps there was something even more sinister behind his actions. Either way, audiences won't find out as The Descent 3 isn't in the works any time soon.​​​​​​​

The Real Meaning Of The Descent 2’s Ending

It's Implied That Ed Oswald Has A Connection To The Crawlers

The Descent 2's ending goes out on a real gut-punch of a conclusion where a happy ending is quickly snatched away from the characters and the audience. It’s revealed that Ed Oswald is much more than a creepy old man, but actually functions as an aid to the crawlers. Great horror movie endings are rarely happy, and The Descent 2 is no different.

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Oswald tries to feed Rios to the creatures in The Descent 2's ending, which implies some level of ownership here. Oswald has a connection to these monsters and cares more about their survival than the rescue team. In fact, his entire effort to help the team out with access to his mineshaft is more than likely all a scheme to get his creatures fed. He never wanted to help Sarah and company in The Descent Part 2.

How The Descent 2 Ending Was Received

Most Fans & Critics Hated The Final Twist At The End

When looking at things like The Descent 2 ending, opinions will always vary based on whether it is horror fans or mainstream audiences who watch the tragic ending. Horror fans often love dark endings, but mainstream audiences prefer to see something more positive with a glimmer of hope. That is likely why the overwhelming response to this ending was poor, with a low 34% rotten score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and only a slightly higher 49% from critics.

When looking at what the audience on Rotten Tomatoes didn't like about the series, reviews indicated the ending pulled it down. One positive reviewer gave it four stars but counted off one star because they "also didn’t care for the ending." One other audience review hated the entire twist with Oswald, writing, "the idea that they are being fed by people is so far fetched and offensive to the viewer." Another reviewer didn't mind the ending, but wishes it was explained better, writing:

" The ending was very action packed and emotional, the one thing that holds it back from me is a twist involving the guy who owns the mine or whatever. It's not really explained, and it was dumb, but other then that, still a pretty good horror sequel in my opinion. "

A Reddit thread was also set up discussing Oswald's role in the final moments of The Descent Part 2. The OP tried to make sense of the final betrayal, wondering what his motive was. However, one Redditor thinks they came up with the reason, writing, "I think he does it to keep the creatures a secret from the rest of the town/government/world. He knows the deputy will go tell everyone what really happens down there and he doesn't want that to happen."

The Descent: Part 2 is the follow-up to 2005's horror thriller. In the sequel, Sarah Carter (Shauna Macdonald) goes spelunking again to follow authorities back to where she was attacked by terrifying cave-dwelling creatures. While theatrically released in the UK, The Descent 2 got a straight-to-DVD in the US in 2010.

Director Jon Harris

Release Date December 9, 2009

Cast Shauna Macdonald

Runtime 94minutes

Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures , Lionsgate