Warning: This article contains spoilers for We Were Liars

When the 2014 novel We Were Liars came out, readers were immediately hooked. Whether that was because of the romance between main character Cadence and family friend Gat, or the sweet friendship between Cadence, Gat, Johnny and Mirren (aka the “Liars”), nothing could’ve prepared readers for the shocking twist ending.

And now, on June 18, the gripping novel will be officially released as a TV series on Prime Video.

For those of you who haven’t yet read the book, let’s backtrack a bit. We Were Liars, both the book and the new show, follow protagonist Cadence Sinclair Eastman and her tight-knit group of friends during their summer escapades on her grandfather’s glamorous New England private island, Beachwood.

As we follow the Liars through the summer when they were sixteen years old, aka Summer 16, viewers/readers also follow Cadence returning to Beachwood in Summer 17, trying to solve the puzzle of the accident that happened to her at the end of Summer 16.

Then, the infamous twist occurs.

If you’ve just seen the TV show finale and aren’t sure of what just happened, or are looking to jog your memory, follow our breakdown of the We Were Liars finale below.

We Were Liars Ending, Explained:

What Happened to Mirren and Johnny?

As Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind) pieced together the clues of what happened at the end of Summer 16, she remembers that the Liars had come up with a plan. After so much fighting over money and inheritance between her granddad Harris (David Morse) and his daughters Carrie (Mamie Gummer), Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), and Bess (Candice King), the Liars decide to set Harris’ house (aka Clairmont) on fire. By doing so, they’d eliminate one of the biggest sources of tension and, in a way, make them more humbly rebuild their lives.

The plan was as follows: Cadence, Mirren (Esther McGregor), and Johnny (Joseph Zada) would set each of the Clairmont floors on fire while Gat (Shubham Maheshwari) awaits at the boat for their escape.

Sadly, however, their plan quickly backfires. Cadence, who’s tasked with setting the first floor on fire, ends up being the first to start the fire. And as the flames get out of hand quickly, Mirren and Johnny get trapped upstairs with no way of getting out.

What Happened to Gat?

While Gat waiting at the beach meant that he was safe from the flames at first, that quickly changed when he ran back into the house when Cadence, who was looking for her grandma Tipper’s (Wendy Crewson) black pearls, was taking too long to return. As he comes into the house, he is also engulfed by the flames and can’t escape.

What Happened to Cadence?

Cadence is the only Liar who survives the fire. She runs to their meeting point at the dock and only then realizes something is wrong. That’s when the gas main explodes behind her, eliminating any chance the Liars still make it out, and knocking Cadence into the water. In the water, she knocks her head onto some rocks and continues to hold a tight grip on her grandma’s pearls.

When she wakes up in the hospital, her family agrees, per the doctors’ recommendations, not to tell her what happened to avoid triggering her migraines. But as she returned to Beachwood in Summer 17, Mirren, Johnny and Gat were still there as hallucinations, or ghosts.

After she comes to terms with what happens, they say goodbye, and Cadence apologizes to Gat for being the reason he came back into the house.

What Does the World Think Happened?

When Cadence finally realizes what happened, she has a candid conversation with her granddad. As it turns out, while he’s been able to convince the rest of the world that the fire was caused by faulty wiring from a member of his staff, he knows what really happened.

Their talk ends with Harris telling Cadence that he’s planning a media interview to announce Cadence as the heir to his fortune. For her to accept it, she’ll have to agree to keep the Liars’ involvement in the fire a secret.

In the end, Cadence refuses to follow her granddad’s threat and decides to make her own future independently of her family, fortune or not.

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