We Were Liars Ending Explained: Are the Liars Ghosts or Real?

At the end of Prime Video’s ‘We Were Liars,’ a bombastic revelation flips the script on the entire narrative, as Cadence finally understands the truth behind the accident that left her with no memory. While it has shocking implications for every major character in the story, it also prompts further questions about the ambiguity in the show’s other parts, particularly as the mystery and family drama elements intertwine in complicated ways near the latter stages. As such, the fate of the Liars (Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat) depends on how the protagonist perceives her past and tries to make sense of it all without losing hope and belief in herself. However, the bubble of uncertainty only grows as the nature of the final revelation comes to the fore at the end, leaving Cadence in a state of freefall. SPOILERS AHEAD.

We Were Liars Plot Recap

The show begins with a series of flashbacks, most of it stemming from Cadence’s damaged memories following a mysterious accident. Although it leaves her with no remembrance of what happened to her, she recalls that the incident took place near the end of Summer 16, the last summer vacation she had on Beechwood Island. Every year, Cadence’s wealthy family, the Sinclairs, hang out at the privately owned island off the coast of New England owned by the family patriarch, Harris. Her memories of the island are pure and idyllic because it is the place where she can spend her summers with her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and her best friend, Gat. In Summer 16, she reunited with all of them and had fun for the most part. However, things went awry when an accident rocked their worlds and Cadence was left with amnesia.

As she recuperated from her injuries and frequent migraines, Cadence headed back to the island for Summer 17 to gain answers about what happened to her during the previous vacation. However, upon returning, she realizes that things are not the same on the island because her grandfather’s mansion, Clairmont, has been rebuilt from its original classical architectural style into a modern structure named New Clairmont that feels cold and disdainful. More importantly, the Liars (Johnny, Mirren, and Gat) refuse to tell her what happened to her during Summer 16 or why they never contacted even a single time during her recovery process since the accident. After pressing them on the matter incessantly, they finally tell her that they were expressly ordered not to divulge information because it might trigger traumatic memories.

Determined to learn the full truth, Cadence teams up with the Liars to piece together what she does not recall, even though they are reluctant to help her fearing it might cause her further pain. Still, the more time she spends on the island, the more the memories start flooding back, most of it involving her relationship with Gat, who plays a pivotal role in her past and present. Their blossoming romance remains at the center of the narrative, especially in an emotional sense. However, as the memories come back, Cadence also realizes that Summer 16 was plagued with drama, secrets, lies, and deception, a lot of it stemming from the dysfunctional nature of her family itself. As such, it all leads into what really transpired on the night she lost her memory, a night that changed her life for better or worse.

We Were Liars Ending: Are the Liars Ghosts? Is Cadence Dreaming?

After navigating several trials, tribulations, and falsehoods throughout the story, the truth behind the accident is finally revealed at the end of the season when the gaps in Cadence’s disjointed memory are filled up. On the night of her accident, the protagonist convinced the Liars that the main reasons behind the disagreements and petty in-fighting within the Sinclair household largely stemmed from Harris’ influence over the entire family, especially how he uses the prospect of inheritance to keep everyone in control. As such, they set fire to the Clairmont mansion, hoping that by destroying it, they could stop the familial drama. However, the plan backfired because all the Liars except Cadence ended up dying, a tragedy that left a deep psychological scar in her brain, making her forget how her actions led to the death of her loved ones.

While the revelation about the Liars’ fate is a startling one, it prompts a bigger question – how does Cadence meet the Liars in Summer 17 if they died a year ago? The answer arrives in the final parts when we learn that Cadence has been imagining them, either as a natural defense mechanism by her mind to stop her from finding out what happened or that they are simply ghosts. Although the second explanation takes the story into supernatural territory, the ending seems to suggest that there is an overlap between the psychological and spiritual realms. As Cadence’s brain has been trying to protect her from the fallout of her actions, which likely extends to the fabrication of a reality where she imagines Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are still alive, it could also be a way for them to help her move on, either through a figment of her own imagination or a manifestation of the spirit.

All throughout Summer 17, Cadence has been all alone even though she believes she is interacting with the Liars all the time. In the ending, we are shown a flashback of all the scenes during Summer 17 where Cadence is having conversations with either Johnny, Mirren, or Gat. In reality, there was no one around her at the time. The subtle signs had always been present either implicitly or non-implicitly that things were not as they seem, even going into the small hints dropped by the Liars when speaking to her. Neither of them want her to figure out the truth because they know what transpired on the night she lost her memory, which was a minor quibble when compared to what she actually lost that night. Yet, at the same time, she also needed to know the truth to have any chance of moving on.

Does Cadence Reconcile With the Liars?

Once Cadence comes to grips with the fact that the plan she made with the Liars ultimately cost them their lives, she mourns their loss as the truth finally sinks in. During all her previous attempts, every time she learned about the Liars’ death through social media posts, online, or through her relatives, her brain effectively wiped her memory clean, leaving her with no recollection about what happened. However, having gone through the process of organically remembering everything that happened in Summer 16, she is able to digest the information more permanently. Yet, it still leaves a gaping hole in her heart because the consequences of her choices will never be wiped clean from her psyche. To that end, she gets some solace through her final meeting with the Liars’ ghosts (or her hallucination of them).

Near the final moments, Cadence gets the opportunity to have individual conversations with Johnny, Mirren, and Gat, with all three of them professing their regrets, mistakes, flaws, and fears one last time. Despite feeling guilty for effectively leading them to their deaths, the three tell her not to feel too bad because they all made the choice to burn down Clairmont. However, it just so happened that mistakes were made and neither of them were experienced arsonists. Still, the lingering tragedy of the incident weighs heavily on everyone, even if the other Liars may simply be a figment of Cadence’s subconscious trying to grapple with her own inner conflict. Some of the things they talk about include Johnny telling her about his fear of burning, Mirren coming clean about how she was never seen by her mother, and Gat being sad that his relationship with Cadence has to end.

While the conversations with the Liars may simply be happening in her head, they offer Cadence a sense of closure and reconciliation she desperately needs for this chapter of her life to be shut close. Considering the tragedy that ripped her life to pieces, she would be in an even worse place if she did not have the Liars to keep her company, either in hallucination form or otherwise. At the end of the story, we see Cadence jump into the water with all of them, reminiscent of how they would all dive into the water as a group during the summers. However, this time, they don’t resurface with her, disappearing into the ocean instead. This is likely to symbolize the fact that Cadence has gotten over the trauma of losing them and it is time for them to let go and return to nothingness.

How Does the Sinclair Family Respond in the Aftermath?

Following the terrible accident, little seems to change on the surface for the Sinclairs. However, in reality, there world is completely different now that Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are dead. The biggest changes are visible in the Sinclair sisters, Carrie, Penny, and Bess, who spend large chunks of the narrative at each other’s throats constantly. Yet, after the tragedy, they are less prone to their in-fighting tendencies and knocking each other down a peg for personal gain and currying favor in the presence of their father, Harris. This is likely due to the fact that all three of them face catastrophic losses in the shape of the children lives being lost permanently. Penny is the only one whose daughter survives, but Cadence’s amnesia and psychological scars run so deep that even she is not without damage.

The tragedy of seeing the Sinclair sisters reform their behavior to an extent is that it is all too late to save their children. Their selfishness and inability to see things beyond their own interests leads to their children suffering the price of their foolishness. In some ways, it embodies how the wrongs of one generation is passed down to the next. For instance, Bess treats Mirren with contempt and disdain throughout the story because she believes that becoming a mother somehow curtailed her own ability to be perfect and achieve great things in her life. This self-centered point of view showcases how she puts herself before everyone else, including Bess. As a result, Bess grows up feeling shunned in her household by her own mother, a sad situation for any child to grow up in.

At the end of the season, Bess tells Carrie that she has put up all of Mirren’s artwork at the Sound’s Edge gallery, a desperate attempt to ensure that her daughter’s life and work is preserved and looked upon by people and appreciated. She feels the regret for not spending more time with Mirren, encouraging her further and supporting her as a mother should. The realization hits her far too late when there is nothing to save except a small token of legacy for a young girl whose life ended far too soon. The same applies to Carrie’s relationship with Johnny, and Penny’s bond with Cadence. The parents constantly use their children for their own means. It is only after the tragedy happens that they realize how wrong they were all along, especially when it comes to justifying their bad behavior.

Does Cadence Accept Harris’ Proposal? What Lies in Her Future?

Despite regaining her memory, Cadence’s battle against the Sinclair dominion continues because of a proposal by Harris to take over his empire as the new figurehead. Although the protagonist seems hesitant to accept, she realizes she may have no choice in the matter because Harris will tell the whole world how her actions ended up costing the lives of Johnny, Mirren, and Gat. To that end, it seems more than likely that her final decision will be a yes. Harris informs her that a reporter will soon stop by the island to interview her about the whole succession plan, making it official. He forces her into agreeing to lie for him during this interview, coercing her into saying the right things to uphold the value, tradition, and honor of the Sinclair name. Given the nature of Harris’ strong-arm tactics, Cadence’s options seem limited.

Even though the pressure mounts on the protagonist from her domineering grandad, in the end of the season, she makes the brave choice to disregard all his threats and walk away from the island. This startles everyone, especially Harris, who realizes that his eldest grandchild has more gumption than he thought possible. Meanwhile, Penny and her sisters watch in awe as the next generation shows them the path forward to break free from the cycle of oppression and dominion subjected over them by the family patriarch. By the looks on their faces, it is evident that the three sisters are proud of Cadence for being brave enough to defy Harris, something they were never able to do because of one reason or another. It shows her strength as a character and also the journey she has been on throughout the narrative.

While it is hard to know what lies ahead for Cadence, her journey can take a multitude of directions now that she has given up the responsibility of succeeding as the Sinclair family heir. Although she accepts that she will always be a Sinclair, her worth as a human being will be determined by her own actions and not those of her family’s legacy. To that end, it is likely that she takes a leaf from Gat’s playbook and goes out to see the world. It is undeniable that he opened her eyes in more ways than one, including the injustices happening in her own vicinity. Thus, she may find it enticing to roam the world and see how people live everywhere and the situations they have to deal with on a daily basis. It will likely be a far cry from her idyllic existence on Beechwood Island, but may also serve as a catalyst for further growth.

Is Johnny Still Alive?

For the most part, ‘We Were Liars’ wraps up most of its plot threads by the season ending. However, the final scene leaves a door open that might have the potential of being explored in a future season. As the summer winds to a close, we see Carrie and Will moving out of Beechwood Island with Ed’s help. After telling Ed to move ahead, she heads back into the house to pick up a pill bottle, which looks like drugs. By the look of things, she is still in a spiral of addiction, one that likely grew worse in the aftermath of Johnny’s death. She pops a pill into her mouth and tries to find release in its effects. However, she is startled when she realizes there is someone sitting behind her. She looks across and addresses them, saying “I thought you’d left.” Subsequently, we learn that the person she is speaking with is Johnny, who tells her “I don’t think I can.”

The appearance of Johnny at the end suggests that there is a still a possibility he might be alive. While it would serve as a completely game-changer, it seems slightly far-fetched as a reality considering everything we saw earlier. To that end, his presence can be explained via Carrie’s state of drug addiction. Similarly to Cadence, Carrie is likely taking a lot of drugs to allay her grief, which may have triggered hallucinations in her mind the same way it did for the protagonist. This would explain why we see Johnny at the end. However, the likelihood still exists that Johnny is alive and his death was a complete ruse fabricated by people to feed Cadence a false story. It would take the narrative into a far more sinister territory than what it seems on the surface. As far as how it might have happened, we may find out the truth in the event of a potential second season follow up.