Netflix's dark new Archie Comics adaptation The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a wild ride of dream demons, Satanic rituals, evil curses and botched necromancy - and it all spins towards a dramatic ending with the town of Greendale under siege from an Angel of Death. The series begins with Sabrina on the verge of her sixteenth birthday, faced with the difficult decision of whether to receive her Dark Baptism and leave the mortal world behind, or embrace her mortal side and miss out on slowed ageing and immense power.
Sabrina decides to run away from her Dark Baptism after the promise of free will turns out to be false advertising. However, the Mother of Demons - in disguise as Sabrina's teacher, Ms. Wardwell - secretly plots to sabotage Sabrina's life and drive her to the dark side. Ultimately this effort proves successful, and the season ends with Sabrina forced to leave her mortal friends and school behind. However, that doesn't mean that all hope is lost.
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Meanwhile, Aunt Zelda makes the impulse decision to take Father Blackwood's newborn daughter away, fearing that he would have the baby girl killed so that his son could be his heir. However, this only deepens Father Blackwood's belief that the Church of Night has become too progressive, and he pledges - to a group of male students - that they will restore the old ways. All that and more happens in Sabrina's shocking finale - so let's break down the major events and what they mean.
- This Page: Sabrina's Difficult Decision
- Page 2: Ms. Wardwell's Evil Plan Explained
- Page 3: Aunt Zelda and Father Blackwood's Heirs
What Happens in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Finale
As the season finale begins, Ms. Wardwell runs down a list of omens, all of which tie into a some kind of prophecy about Sabrina - a half-witch/half-mortal, with immense potential power. When Sabrina's friends have decide to stick by her side, even after finding out that she's a witch, Ms. Wardwell hatches a new plan to sever Sabrina's attachments to the mortal realm. She summons the ghosts of the thirteen witches who were hanged in Greendale, and abandoned to their fate by the Church of Night. The witches unleash their wrath upon the town, summoning the Red Angel of Death, who will ride through the town killing every firstborn.
The witches attack Ambrose and Luke in the woods, telling them to take a warning to the Church of Night. When the coven gathers, they decide they will hide in the Academy of Unseen Arts, using their collective magic to hold off the undead witches and the Angel of Death. However, Sabrina, Ambrose, Hilda and Zelda decide to stay behind and protect the mortals, and summon a tornado to force the whole town to gather in the school's basement.
The plan quickly goes awry. Father Blackwood forcibly summons Zelda to attend to his wife's birth, and Luke teleports Ambrose to the Academy as well. Ms. Wardwell tells Sabrina that her friends aren't at the school, and that a more aggressive approach is needed to stop the Angel of Death. Sabrina leaves with Ms. Wardwell, leaving Hilda behind to defend the school alone. Meanwhile Nick Scratch - at Sabrina's behest - goes to Harvey's house to protect him, and Susie and Roz decide to stay and try to protect Roz's grandmother.
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Ms. Wardwell takes Sabrina to the woods, where there is a lectern surrounded by candles with the Dark Lord's book on it. Ms. Wardwell tells Sabrina that the only way to save the town is to sign the book and receive her full powers. Sabrina reluctantly agrees, signing the book in her own blood, and uses her newfound power to burn the undead witches with Hellfire - releasing their souls, ridding the world of their wrath, and sending the Angel of Death away. Afterwards, Sabrina astral projects into Harvey's room for one last goodbye, and then leaves the mortal world behind. The season ends with Nick seeing Sabrina at the Academy, having now become one of the Weird Sisters.
Can Sabrina Ever Rejoin The Mortal World?
The Sabrina we see in the final moments of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 1 doesn't appear to be too grief-stricken about leaving her mortal life behind. In fact, she looks comfortable marching along with the other Weird Sisters, and even smiles and winks at the camera. It's possible that this was just down for the purposes of style, but it also seems like Sabrina may have already been somewhat corrupted by the power she received from the Dark Lord.
As part of the deal she made, if Satan calls upon Sabrina she has to respond and bend to his will. However, it's unclear if the outcome of Sabrina's trial earlier in the season - when she was given permission to keep one foot in the mortal realm - still applies, or whether it's been overwritten by her signing the book (she should probably have talked to her lawyer first). Either way, Sabrina's plan to defeat the Dark Lord seems to have been thoroughly scuppered... but there is still hope. Finding loopholes in demonic deals is possible (just ask John Constantine), so it's possible that Sabrina might still get her friends back in season 2.
Page 2: Ms. Wardwell's Evil Plan Explained
Ms. Wardwell's Job Was To Recruit Sabrina
Fortunately, "Ms. Wardwell" a.k.a. Lilith a.k.a. the Mother of Demons a.k.a. Madam Satan is the kind of villain who engages in detailed exposition of her plans and motives, so her whole agenda is laid out in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's finale (to a tied-up Principal Hawthorne). Lilith was sent to Earth by Satan to ensure that Sabrina signed his book and came into the Church of Night -presumably because the prophecy dictates that Sabrina could either become a powerful champion of Hell or a powerful champion of the mortal world. Throughout season 1, Lilith was manipulating Sabrina's life from behind the scenes, trying to alienate her from her mortal friends and drive her towards becoming the Dark Lord's servant. In return, Lilith herself will be crowned the Queen of Hell.
Sabrina was a lot more stubborn than Lilith gave her credit for - and her friends were far more loyal. This led to Lilith's plan to force Sabrina to sign the book in order to save the mortal realm, and ultimately the Dark Lord's lieutenant proved to be successful this season. However, at the end of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's finale, Lilith's familiar, Stolas, suggests that the Dark Lord is actually planning to make Sabrina his queen, and leave Lilith in her current position as a foot soldier. As Stolas' broken neck will testify, Lilith does not respond well to this suggestion.
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Does Satan Want Sabrina To Become Queen Of Hell?
Sabrina shows off some serious magical power in the season finale. It's mentioned that only three witches in history have ever been powerful enough to summon Hellfire, and Sabrina becomes the fourth - incinerating the thirteen witches and the tree where they were hanged with relative ease. Earlier in the season, she organized the first ever successful witch exorcism, demonstrating that she has clear skill even before signing the book and receiving her full powers. And while the Weird Sisters may mock Sabrina as a "half-breed," her rare half-witch, half-mortal status seems to be more of a benefit than a handicap - allowing her to venture into mortal Limbo and use her witch magic to escape.
With all that in mind, there's serious merit to Stolas' theory that the Dark Lord is grooming Sabrina to be his queen, not Lilith. After all, Lilith has been around for a long time without ever being given a throne, and it's hard to imagine Satan himself handing out such an esteemed position as a "thank you" gift, rather than giving it to someone who can aid his rise to further power. Either way, with the seeds of doubt now planted in Lilith's mind, it's possible that she'll stop being an obedient servant and instead start hatching her own agenda in season 2 - which can surely only mean more trouble for Sabrina.
Page 3: Father Blackwood's Heirs
How Will Aunt Zelda Raise Father Blackwood's Daughter?
Lady Blackwood sadly passes away during childbirth, which means that she doesn't get to find out the shocking news: that rather than having twin boys, as the omens indicated, her firstborn daughter was actually a girl. This isn't exactly joyous news; Zelda knows that Father Blackwood wanted a firstborn male heir, and a daughter complicates that. To protect the baby girl, Zelda tells Father Blackwood that he only has one child, because one of his twins absorbed the other in the womb (something that he's pleased to hear, believing it denotes strength).
After spiriting Father Blackwood's daughter away from the Academy, Zelda eagerly explains to Hilda that they can raise the baby in secret - just like they did with Sabrina. However, Hilda is still giddy from her first kiss with Doctor Cerberus (who, incidentally, seems to be some kind of supernatural creature), and declares her intention to move out... of her and Zelda's shared bedroom. Well, it's a first step towards independence, but it leaves Zelda (who, as we discovered in the dream episode, is secretly terrified of losing Hilda) looking pretty devastated. It seems that she'll have to raise the young baby without relying on her sister's help.
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Interestingly, we aren't shown either of the babies' feet. This is interesting because when Sabrina was taking a milk bath in Episode 1 to wash away the Weird Sisters' curse, she had a vision of twin babies - one with human feet, and one with cloven hooves. It's unclear whether these were supposed to be Lady Blackwood's babies or whether they're set-up for a future plotline (perhaps involving Sabrina discovering that she had a twin). However, if one of Blackwood's children does have cloven hooves, that could mark them as the true destined leader of the Church of Night.
Father Blackwood Wants A More Patriarchal Church Of Night
While Sabrina's father, Edward Spellman, was a comparatively progressive leader of the Church of Night, Father Blackwood seems more interested in trying to restore traditions - in particular, a rigid patriarchal structure in which witches are on a lower rung than warlocks. This is apparent in his obsession with siring a male heir, and his dismissal of Prudence as a possible heir. His determination to cement the Church of Night as a male-led organization is so strong that Zelda was likely wise to save the baby girl; it wouldn't be out of character for Father Blackwood to kill his daughter in order to secure his son's legacy.
However, Zelda's action has the unintended effect of giving Father Blackwood the ammunition he needs to lead the warlocks of the Church of Night into a campaign to restructure the coven according to Blackwood's whims. So far the only people who know that Blackwood has a daughter are Zelda, Hilda, and Prudence - but if he ever finds out that the Spellman's are secretly harboring his firstborn child, the baby's life could be in serious danger.
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All told, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's season 1 ending sets up many exciting plot threads for season 2, and leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Let us know what you thought of the finale in the comments below.
More: Read Our Review of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
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