⚠ Spoilers ahead
The ending of Wednesday solves its central mystery in two reveals at once: the Hyde is Tyler Galpin, and his master is Marilyn Thornhill, whose real name is Laurel Gates. Together they explain the murders around Nevermore, the attempt to resurrect Joseph Crackstone, and why Wednesday — a girl who claims to need no one — ends the season surrounded by people she has finally let in. The finale is not just a monster reveal; it is the payoff for every friendship Wednesday spent the season resisting.
The Hyde Is Tyler Galpin
Tyler, the seemingly ordinary boy from Jericho who works at the coffee shop and flirts with Wednesday, is the Hyde: a monstrous creature that can be awakened and controlled by a master. That is why the attacks always seemed to follow Wednesday’s investigations, and why Tyler always seemed to be nearby without quite being guilty. He is not a villain who chose evil in a simple sense; he is a Hyde who has been manipulated, and his affection for Wednesday makes his reveal genuinely painful. Wednesday trusted him, in her own guarded way, and that trust is what Thornhill exploits.
When Wednesday confronts Tyler, the fight is personal as well as physical. She must accept that the boy she liked was also the monster she was hunting, and that her famous ability to read people failed her where it mattered most. The show does not let her off the hook for that, which is why the reveal lands harder than a simple jump scare.
Marilyn Thornhill Is Laurel Gates
The master behind the Hyde is even more surprising. Marilyn Thornhill, the cheerful botany teacher who seems to be Wednesday’s only adult ally at Nevermore, is really Laurel Gates, a descendant of Joseph Crackstone, the pilgrim who founded Jericho and persecuted outcasts centuries earlier. Laurel’s plan is revenge dressed as restoration: use the Hyde to kill outcasts, gather Wednesday’s blood, and resurrect Crackstone so he can finish what he started.
That motive reframes the whole season. The attacks were never random, and Thornhill’s kindness was never innocent. She befriended Wednesday precisely because she needed her — a descendant of Goody Addams, the witch who defeated Crackstone in the past. Wednesday’s visions, her connection to Goody, and her very presence at Nevermore were all part of a plan older than the school year.
Crackstone, Enid and the Final Battle
The climax brings all of these threads together. Crackstone is resurrected, Wednesday is wounded, and the battle seems lost — until Enid, who has spent the season unable to transform into a werewolf, finally wolfs out and saves her best friend. It is the season’s most satisfying payoff, because Enid’s transformation is not just a special effect; it is the proof that Wednesday’s friendships have changed the people around her, just as they have changed her.
Wednesday then defeats Crackstone, with Goody’s help and her own refusal to give up, and Thornhill is stopped. The immediate threat ends, but the show is careful not to tie everything up neatly. Tyler is taken into custody, still dangerous, and the Hyde inside him is not gone. Victory, in Wednesday’s world, is always temporary.
What the Ending Means for Wednesday
By the final scenes, Wednesday leaves Nevermore changed, even if she would never admit it in those words. She has a best friend in Enid, a complicated bond with her family, and a new understanding of her own visions and her mother’s past. The last twist — a series of threatening messages from a stalker on her phone — also makes clear that her story is not over. Someone is still watching her, and the mystery that began with the Hyde has simply changed shape.
That is why the Season 1 ending works as both a conclusion and a beginning. The Hyde’s master is unmasked, Crackstone is defeated, and the school is safe for now. But Wednesday has learned the lesson the season kept teaching her: she cannot solve everything alone, and the people she tried to push away are the reason she survives.
For another Netflix story about a gifted outsider who learns to trust others, see The Queen’s Gambit. For the full story, cast and where to watch, see the complete guide to Wednesday on DuloTV.
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