Wednesday ending explained: Who is Garrett Gates? Why did Laurel Gates want Wednesday?

25 November 2022, 22:12 | Updated: 19 April 2024, 09:58

Watch this inside look at Wednesday Addams from the mind of Tim Burton

By Katie Louise Smith

Garrett and Laurel Gates are central to the main mystery in Netflix's Wednesday.

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Netflix's Wednesday is an absolute rollercoaster from start to finish, Jenna Ortega goes through the absolute ringer as our titular heroine, and as viewers, we're still trying to process that finale plot twist.

As soon as she arrives at Nevermore Academy, Wednesday discovers that there's a deadly monster on a killing spree. Her investigation and her visions lead her down several paths, including one involving her own parents, Morticia and Gomez, and a normie called Garrett Gates.

The ending of Wednesday involves the Gates family in a big way. Here's a breakdown of what happens to Garrett, and why Wednesday finds herself at the front and centre of the finale's big showdown with someone very unexpected.

Who is Laurel Gates? What happened to Garrett Gates?

What happened to Garrett Gates? Why did Laurel Gates want to kill Wednesday? Picture: Netflix

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR WEDNESDAY'S FINALE EPISODE!

WARNING: Wednesday spoilers ahead! Picture: Netflix

Who is Garrett Gates in Wednesday?

In episode 5, Wednesday learns that her father Gomez was once accused of murdering a man named Garrett Gates. During Parents' Weekend at Nevermore, she finds out the truth about what happened.

Garrett is the son of Ansel Gates, and the Gates family are descendants of Joseph Crackstone. After Goody Addams killed Crackstone and took the outcast's land back from him, the Gates family set out to exact their revenge.

32 years prior to the events of Wednesday, in 1990, Ansel planned for Garrett to break into Nevermore to kill all the outcasts by spiking the punch with poison nightshade. However, Garrett (a normie) was in love with Morticia (an outcast) to the point of obsession.

On the night of the Rave'N Dance, Garrett broke in, found Morticia and Gomez and tried to attack them. After a brief fight, Garrett was stabbed with a sword and killed. (It was actually Morticia that killed him. Gomez took the fall for her.)

But, it turns out that neither of them were to be blamed because during the fight, Garrett accidentally broke the bottle of poison nightshade and effectively killed himself.

After Garrett's death, his parents died and his sister Laurel was believed to have drowned overseas. She hadn't been seen in Jericho since. But Wednesday soon realises that's not the case... In a vision, Goody Addams points Wednesday in the direction of the Gates house, and she discovers that someone still appears to be living there. Wednesday then realises that Laurel Gates is alive, and discovers body parts in the basement of the house linking her to the Hyde killings.

Wednesday: Garrett Gates' death and mystery explained. Picture: Netflix

Who is Laurel Gates?

In the final two episodes of the series, Wednesday theorises that Laurel Gates is alive, living in Jericho under an alias and is controlling the Hyde monster as it does her bidding.

At first she accuses Dr. Kinbott of being Laurel and Xavier of being the monster. But she soon realises through a vision that Tyler is the monster. A brief chat with Eugene, who survived the Hyde attack, also reveals that he saw a pair of red boots that night in the forest.

Wednesday quickly realises that Thornhill is actually Laurel Gates, the very much alive sister of Garrett Gates. Laurel's plan? To resurrect Joseph Crackstone so they can finally carry out his plan and get rid of the outcasts.

Why did Laurel Gates and Joseph Crackstone want to kill Wednesday?

When Goody Addams killed Joseph Crackstone, she sealed his tomb with a blood lock. In order to open the tomb and resurrect Crackstone, Marilyn/Laurel needs to spill the blood of a direct Addams family descendant on the night of a blood moon.

So, once she'd collected all the body parts she needed from Tyler's Hyde murders, she knocked Wednesday out, brought her to Crackstone's tomb, sliced her hand open and used her to open the lock. Once Crackstone is resurrected, he immediately stabs Wednesday, believing her to be Goody Addams.

Unfortunately for him, the actual Goody Addams appears to Wednesday as a spirit and saves her life. Then, Wednesday faces off against Crackstone and stabs him in the heart, killing him once and for all.

Laurel attempts to shoot Wednesday in retaliation but Eugene saves the day by setting the swarm of bees on her.

Wednesday: Laurel Gates identity and fate explained. Picture: Netflix

What happens to Laurel Gates at the end of Wednesday? Does Laurel Gates die?

Well, Marilyn/Laurel's fate is left up in the air at the end of the season. The last we see of her is when Wednesday kicks her in the face, knocking her unconscious in time for Sheriff Galpin to arrive.

It's assumed that she is arrested but we'll have to wait and see whether or not she returns in season 2, and whether or not she'll manage to reunite with Tyler who appears to have escaped the van he was being transported in after transforming back into the Hyde.