Director duo Joe and Anthony Russo’s newest movie The Electric State has now joined the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, following an orphaned teen’s quest to find her sibling in a twisted dystopian ‘90s America.
Based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State takes place after a robot vs human war sends all autonomous machines to live behind a giant wall, and sees Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) living in foster care after a tragic car accident ripped her parents and brother from her.
But her super-smart sibling Christopher may well still be alive when a robot named Cosmo breaks into her room to convince her to journey across the American West to find the real Christopher. With the help of ex-soldier-turned-smuggler Keats (Chris Pratt) and his electronic side-kick Herman, the four get to the bottom of what happened to Christopher.
However, the journey taken isn’t without its bumps, so you won’t be alone in wondering what actually went down in those last few scenes. Not to worry, that’s where we come in! Below you will find a detailed recap of The Electric State’s final scenes as well as answers to a bunch of questions concerning where key characters end up after that action-packed finale. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your robot pal and read on for The Electric State’s ending explained.
Warning, this article contains major spoilers for The Electric State, so make sure you have watched the new Netflix movie before reading on – but before you tune in, make sure to read our The Electric State review first.
The Electric State ending explained
Building up to the climax of the sci-fi adventure, our heroes, with a bunch of robots from the abandoned mall in tow, find Dr. Amherst (Ke Huy Quan) hiding out at a desolate fun fair. The doctor tells Michelle that after the accident, Christopher’s MRI machine alerted Sentre to his profound intelligence. Under tech mogul and Sentre owner Ethan Skate’s (Stanley Tucci) orders, Dr Amethyst took Christopher’s comatose body to Sentre where they used his mind to link the neurocasters to the drones, something that the company had not been able to do before.
However, a tape from Sentre shows Christopher waking up, but Skate orders him to be put back to sleep, so Dr. Amythest links the boy’s mind to the outside network so his mind can at least escape. This is how he was able to enter robot Cosmo’s mind and find his sister Michelle in the first place.
But then, Skate’s drones locate the group and attack the robots. Meanwhile Skate shoots the doctor dead, showing his right-hand man Bradbury (Giancarlo Esposito) just what kind of evil he is. In an attempt to keep the other humans safe, Bradbury abducts Cosmo to bring back to Sentre with him and end the battle. However, Skate only wants Cosmo so he can hook him back up to Christopher’s body and trap Christopher’s mind in his unconscious body once again, using his full brain power to supercharge the neurocasters.
After the drones take flight, Michelle, Keats, and co. devise a plan to head to Seattle and attack Skate’s tech company. But over at Sentre’s HQ, Bradbury brings the now imprisoned Cosmo to the Sentre tower, where he is just as surprised to see Christopher in the state he is in as we are. When he asks Skate what is going on, the tech mogul replies, “Christopher gives humanity the chance to leave all that suffering behind,” but when Bradbury points out that he is taking advantage of a young boy, Skate replies, “Who cares?”
Once Michelle, Keats, Herman, and co reach Sentre, the mall robots unleash their wrath on Skate’s drones while Michelle heads into the building and finds Christopher unconscious in a machine. Michelle and Christopher are able to communicate through Sentre’s virtual world. Christopher tells Michelle that his genius brain is powering the neurocaster system, which ultimately relies on him to exist and vice versa. As Michelle realizes that her brother and Skate’s system are one, she makes the ultimate sacrifice and lets Christopher die along with the VR system that is holding humanity captive.
After turning off his life machine, Michelle puts her hand on Christopher’s chest and feels his heartbeat slow down to a stop. It is clear that by turning off the Sentre neurocaster system, Christopher has lost his life. In turn, Christopher’s spirit also leaves his robot counterpart Cosmo’s body as his metallic hand drops from Michelle’s and falls down lifelessly.
Meanwhile, Keats and the robots battle the drones outside, with many of our new-found mechanical chums meeting their end. Then, right in the middle of the battle, the unthinkable happens, and Herman is shot down. As the little robot’s power is dying out, Keats pours his heart out to his friend, letting him know how much he means to him. But in true Herman fashion, the robot’s head opens up to reveal an even smaller (and positively adorable) Herman sitting inside, just as the original Herman would sit inside the head of the giant Herman. Keats is overjoyed when the tiny robot emerges, but not before he is teased over his emotional tribute.
The fight outside Sentre HQ ends straight after Michelle pulls the plug on her brother, as Skate’s telecaster system dies and leaves the drones powerless. We then see telecasters all across the nation lose their power, freeing humanity from Sentre’s addictive system. With the US offline and without their VR systems to rely on, the humans and robots start to make peace as the press and police go after Skate for what he did to Christopher. Skate attempts to flee but is subsequently arrested in Miami while trying to board a plane to Ecuador.
After the chaos dies down, Michelle, Keats, and Herman reunite in the Robot Exclusion Zone where they broadcast her message of peace and solidarity to the public. We then see flashbacks of Michelle’s memories of her brother when he was alive as she grieves for her dead sibling. However, at the very end of the movie, Cosmo is lying at the bottom of a scrapheap, where a stray dog drinks some water from a tray nearby. Then, in the reflection of the water, we see Cosmo sit up and turn his head before the credits hit the screen.
Who wins the final battle?
With so much going on with Michelle and Christopher’s emotional reunion inside, outside it can be hard to tell who exactly won the battle between Skate’s drone army and Keats’ robot comrades. Although a few robots end up broken and in pieces, Keats’ team ultimately comes out on top. As Michelle lets her brother go, the drones ultimately lose power and fall to the ground, leaving Skate ultimately powerless.
What was Ethan Skate doing with Michelle’s brother?
Earlier in the movie, we learn that Christopher was brought to Sentre after his accident so that Skate (Stanley Tucci) could use his brain to power his neurocaster system after failing to do so himself. He does this under the guise of wanting to mend the war-torn nation, but what he really seeks is power.
For more on Ethan Skate and his real world connections, see our interview with Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito on how the film relates to our society.
Does Michelle’s brother die? Is Cosmo alive?
After turning off his life machine, Michelle loses her brother Christopher and his robot counterpart Cosmo too. However, that very last scene where we see Cosmo sit up in the scrapheap, suggests that pulling the plug may not have been enough to kill Christopher. Now, we can’t be certain that Cosmo is alive with Christopher’s spirit inside of him, or if he is just simply an ordinary Kid Cosmo robot now. But with Christopher’s unprecedented level of intelligence, it wouldn’t surprise us if he had found a way to live on in the robot’s shell.
For more, see our interview with the Russos’ on The Electric State’s emotional core.
What happens to Keats and Herman?
After taking part in the robot vs drones final battle, Herman and Keats come out victorious and are seen reuniting with Michelle in the end. With the gang back together, it looks like Keats and Herman will continue standing for a world where robots and humans can live harmoniously. However, as we see his little metal body filming Michelle’s final message, it looks like tiny Herman is here to stay. Aw.
What happens to Ethan Skate and his telecasters?
After Michelle reveals Skate’s wrongdoings to to the world, Skate attempts to escape the US but is caught and arrested. We then see clips of the press slamming the ex-tech king, calling him a “sicko” adding “I don’t want to waste another word on this guy,” turning their attention to the hero of the story, Michelle.
For more, see our interview with the Russos’ on why they wanted to direct a movie that explored timely technology fears.
How does the movie ending differ from the novel?
In short, the answer is yes, the ending of Stålenhag’s work does differ from the movie. At the end of the novel, there is no big battle between the robots and Skate’s drones (called the Hive Mind in the book), but the siblings flee to the edge of the nation after Agent Walter (Bradbury) is attacked by the Hive Mind. From there, it’s left pretty open with the final illustrations showing Michelle’s car abandoned near the ocean, with the kayak it had been carrying now missing from the roof. As for Cosmo (called Skip in the novel), the robot’s limp body is found on the ground alongside Michelle’s brother’s neurocaster.
With such an ambiguous final scene, we can guess that Michelle and her real brother fled on the kayak, but did he survive his neurocaster being taken off? Much like how Christopher’s brother’s spirit may well still be alive in the movie, Michelle’s real brother may have survived in the novel.
For more on the novel, see our interview with Giancarlo Esposito on how adapting the darker novel into a family-friendly movie was the right decision.
The Electric State is out on Netflix now. For more on the movie, see our guide on The Electric State’s post-credits scene. Or, check out our list of the best Netflix movies and keep up with upcoming movies heading your way.