All eight episodes of Netflix’s sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem, including the Season 1 finale “Wallfacer,” are streaming on Netflix. Read on to explore the anticipated ending of 3 Body Problem, including what happens to Saul, the outcome of The Staircase Project, and more.
Released on March 21, 3 Body Problem is currently Netflix’s No. 1 series in the U.S. From Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and True Blood writer Alexander Woo, the adaptation is based on Liu Cixin’s popular Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy and primarily focuses on the first book of the same name.
The mind-bending show starts during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s before taking viewers across different continents and timelines, eventually settling on a group of scientists present day. Known as the Oxford Five, these brilliant minds must come together to stop the greatest threat to humanity: an Alien invasion.
3 Body Problem Ending Explained
If you’ve made it to the final episode of the science-heavy series, you likely have questions about the conclusion, from why Saul was chosen to be a Wallfacer, what happens to Will’s brain and the meaning behind those bugs. (Warning: Spoilers ahead for 3 Body Problem on Netflix.)
Who Is Trying To Kill Saul in 3 Body Problem?
At the start of Episode 8, Saul almost dies in a car accident that kills his one-night stand, Nora. Clarence “Da” Shi brings Saul in for questioning (he was the last person to talk to Ye Wenjie, who was killed in China with another officer). Da Shi tells him that the self-driving cars involved in the accident were hacked and were trying to kill him. At the time, who is behind the attack on Saul was unknown, including whether the San-Ti were involved.
Saul is whisked away in a private jet with a military escort to the United Nations headquarters in New York City. They walk into a Planetary Defense Council meeting led by Secretary General Lilian Joseph, who talks about how sophons (the tiny spy machines designed by the San-Ti) seem to know everything, but can’t read minds.
“We are at war. The battle might be centuries away, but the enemy has declared war upon us and we must defend ourselves,” the Secretary General says. The Sophons can see whatever they want, “every meeting, every conversation, the memory of every computer,” she continues. “The Sophons have vast power, but they are not all-powerful. They cannot read our minds.”
What Is The Wallfacer Project in 3 Body Problem?
Secretary General Lilian Joseph (CCH Pounder) announces the Wallfacer project, a group of people who “will formulate and direct strategic plans to fight the San-Ti but will not share anything with anyone until the time is right to carry them out,” according to Netflix. Derived from the ancient Eastern name for mediators, the Wallfacers consist of three individuals who will be granted the powerful authority, but they must never explain their actions.
“We know that the genesis of the Wallfacer Project comes from Wade [Liam Cunningham], because we saw him make the phone call in Episode 7,” Benioff explained to Netflix. “The reason the term was chosen references staring at the wall, trying to achieve a state of enlightenment and not interacting with the outside world. And it’s a pretty damn lonely existence.”
The group chosen to be the Wallfacers include General Hou Bolin (Clem Cheung), a military historian, and Professor Leyla Ariç (Salem Murphy), a Kurdish war hero who fought ISIS. “Two who are chosen are more expected choices: a Chinese general and war historian who’s written extensively about military affairs, who spent his life thinking about military conflict, and a Kurdish war hero who’s had success in asymmetrical conflicts,” said Benioff. However, the third member is revealed to be Saul. “Saul Durand… doesn’t make any sense to anybody except for Wade,” Benioff added.
Saul is super confused about why the Secretary General chose him for the project. “Let’s just say, the enemy knows why,” is her vague answer. It’s clear that Saul doesn’t want to be a Wallfacer: “I reject all of the powers of the Wallfacer. I won’t do it, OK?” he tells her.
Who Shoots Saul In 3 Body Problem?
Just as Saul leaves the United Nations and refuses security, he’s shot by a sniper. Thankfully, he’s alive and only has a broken rib, thanks to his bulletproof suit. At the hospital, he asks the shooter to come to his room so they can chat. The sniper identifies himself as “a soldier in the army of the Lord.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t aim for your head,” the shooter tells him, “then my mission would be complete, and you’d be free of yours.” Saul is doesn’t understand what makes him so special to the San-Ti, and why the aliens care if he lives or dies.
Saul asks to go home, and Kent comes by to arrange it. Saul eventually returns to the Secretary General to confirm his resignation. “I’m not sure it matters whether you truly are a Wallfacer. What matters is what people believe — and non-people,” she says. “A Wallfacer’s work is carried out in secret, in the solitude of the mind.”
Again, Saul has no clue why he’s tasked with this, and he notes that the San-Ti aren’t arriving for 400 years. “We owe it to our descendants to fight for them,” the Secretary General replies, adding that no one knows why Saul was chosen. However, viewers do learn that there is an “indirect direct” reason that Saul will find out at the right moment.
In the finale, we also see Tatiana, who returns home after killing Ye in China. She discovers a VR headset in her van, with a note card that says, “If one of us survives, we all survive.” She puts the headset on, but viewers don’t see the world she enters.
What Is The Staircase Project?
As part of The Staircase Project, Will Downing (one of the members of the Oxford Five) has his brain is removed from his body, put on ice, and is about to be launched into space at Cape Canaveral in Florida. “The launch of the staircase mission project, it’s a really important sequence in the finale of the show,” the episode’s director Jeremy Podeswa told Netflix. “It was a really intricate, interesting thing to shoot. We built a mission control here. That’s a really spectacular set.”
Before the launch, Jin expresses guilt to Raj about what happened to Will. She believes she stole the last few weeks of his life for the project. She cautions that even if Will makes it to space, the radiation sail must open at the precise moment and pass 300 atomic bombs. “It’s like threading a needle 300 times in a row, all while traveling hundreds of kilometers per second,” she explains. Raj clarifies that it’s not Will anymore and he’s dead, but Jin says that’s not true. “He’s a living brain, being kept at negative 150 degrees,” she says, noting that if the San-Ti find him, they can revive him. “I love him. He’s still alive,” Jin says.
Saul arrives just in time to watch Will’s brain blast into space. The capsule deploys and leaves Earth’s orbit as planned. The radiation sail opens and flies past the first nuclear bomb, which explodes and sends the ship to the next bomb, which detonates on time, launching the rocket even faster. However, things take a devastating turn.
What Goes Wrong With The Staircase Project?
One of the cables holding the sail to the capsule snaps off, veering the capsule off course. Will’s brain goes into the depths of outer space, and the mission is deemed a failure.
“Part of the reason I really feel Jin’s despair when Will’s brain capsule goes off course, I think, is that she’s finally recognized… now it’s too late,” Benioff tells Netflix. “If you still believe he’s alive as a frozen brain, maybe the aliens can bring him back. Well, that’s not going to happen now because he’s just veered off millions of miles in the wrong direction.”
How Does 3 Body Problem On Netflix End?
In the aftermath of The Staircase Project, Wade receives a message from a Sophon on the TV who tells him that the San-Ti would have liked to meet Will. “We’re sorry the Staircase Project failed,” she says. “We would have liked to meet Mr. Downing. We hope to meet you, if your hibernation technology works. Human beings are so fragile.”
She also ominously tells Wade that he is part of their plan, too. “Yes, you’re a strong leader. We want you to know there will be a place for you when we arrive. You are part of our plan.”
Then, the avatar actually appears on the plane and says, “We’ll always be with you. Every room you enter, we’ll already be there waiting for you. Whatever we want you to see, you will see. Until the day you die.” Wade then has a vision of a countdown and an apparition of his body — with his eyes gouged out — appears next to him.
After that extremely eerie scene, viewers see a sad Jin and Saul drinking at a motel pool. Da Shi shows up and tries to cheer them up. He points out that the capsule traveled faster than any man-made object in history. “We’re slow, we’re dumb, and we die easy,” Saul responds, “We’re bugs.”
Da Shi takes them to a marsh where there are swarms of cicadas. “People hate bugs, been trying to get rid of them forever,” Da Shi says. “Look around, they’re not going anywhere.” The cicadas symbolize that it’s okay to be bugs because they are resilient and are hard to kill in the long run.
“It’s really a tragic moment for Jin and tragic moment for Saul, who is one of Will’s best friends, and they’re despondent at the very end,” Benioff says about the ending. “And the one person who doesn’t really have patience for their despondency is Da Shi, whose attitude is: We’re at war, have your moment to grieve, but now it’s time to get back to work.”
In the final scene, Da Shi acknowledges they have work to do. “Let’s get back. We’ve got work to do,” he says, ending the series on an open-ended note. This sets up a potential Season 2 of 3 Body Problem, which the show’s creators have already started working on. (Read everything you need to know about 3 Body Problem Season 2 here.)
The first season of 3 Body Problem is streaming on Netflix.
