Well, that’s it, Yellowjackets Season 2 came to an end, and it’s safe to say that the Season definitely went out with the Bang. Following on from Javi’s death in the past and also Lootie makes the decision in the present day that the wilderness wanted the group to partake in some kind of ritualistic sacrifice like they did when they were lost.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 9 was definitely one of the most haunting ones in the entire Season. I would also say that it looked like the show was definitely set up the Season 3. So with that, let’s recap, do a Yellowjackets Season 2 Ending Explanation, and break down all that there was to take away from this episode.
I will break this article down by the two different storylines we had going during the episode. In the past tense and the present day, let’s start with the past.
Here is Yellowjackets Season 2 Ending Explained:
The Past In Yellowjackets Season 2 Explained
So we saw that the group had brought Javi back after pulling him out of the ice-cold water. This was so that they didn’t waste him, and they’d all be able to Survive. All of the group were basically immune to what they had witnessed other than Nat. She felt the guilt and the burden of it due to it originally being her. But she ultimately came off OK and was unscathed. And this was something that she carried with her right up until the present day. As we saw Javi beside side her on the metaphorical plane going into the afterlife.
We saw a real sense of divide for the first time in this storyline, we saw that the coach had moved away from the rest of the group, and he didn’t believe in the way that they were acting. Especially the truth that they were killing off people in order to survive, something which he was even shocked about. It went from happiness to the idea that he thought they caught an animal, but it turned into upset when he realized that it was Javi. This was what ultimately led him to do what he did right at the end of Yellowjackets Season 2 when he set the cabin on fire.
Lottie was disappointed with the group over what they did, which did surprise me. I feel Lottie could have been the person that was visiting Javi when he was hiding. As I remember, back when he returned, he mentioned someone visiting him, and when he did, Lottie and himself exchanged some kind of lurk, so I feel she may have had a deeper connection to him.
There was a dark moment where Travis ate his heart, and it basically allowed the rest of the group to cook their meat, and they all scurried around like animals on a corpse as they threw their food into the hot pan. A moment that showed just how out of touch they were with their human instincts.
With Lottie feeling a sense of lack over what happened and the disconnect, she went on to eventually say how she never wanted to be the group’s Leader and that she was only the leader because the wilderness chose her. But now she couldn’t hear the wilderness, and everybody else could, which ultimately led her to name Nat as the new leader.
In honor of her survival, she believed that the wilderness had picked her, something which upsets Shauna because she thought that she had a deep connection with the wilderness. As we saw, it was written on a piece of paper. It also seems as though she now feels invisible following what happened with her baby and how Jackie was the only person that made her feel seen.
Ben Sets The Camp On Fire
It was right at the end that we saw Ben as an act of revenge on the group and as a way of showing that he didn’t stand for what they did and continues to do. He ended up putting fire to the cabin, thus destroying the very thing that houses them and keeps them alive.
Ben is clearly OK because he’s hiding out where Travis was, and nobody else knows where the hideaway is. But the group now has nothing to protect them from the harsh winter that we know is on the cards, as Ben mentioned that it was approaching that time of year. So maybe they might end up stumbling across it.
With the ever-present symbol being outside the location, we know that Tai is extremely interconnected to that symbol, so they may end up finding it eventually. Especially if the alternative version of herself starts coming back again.
Will the group see this as the wilderness making a decision? It could well be set as that, but it’s going to get a lot harder to survive now that they have nothing to protect them from the ice-cold temperatures and winds. It was a good end to the story that was in the past, and one that I feel has a lot of room to continue to be developed.
The Present Day In Yellowjackets Season 2 Explained
Usually, I prefer this story that’s unfolding in the past, but in this episode, I much liked the one in the present day because it was epic. Natalie ended up being killed off. The group agrees to partake in the ritualistic sacrifice as a way of appeasing Lottie. We saw Tai and Van basically go against the agreement to call the authorities to get Lottie sectioned by phoning them up and canceling it, thus allowing the ritual to actually take place.
Van was acting quite off in this Yellowjackets Season 2 episode 9. And we never really got a true explanation as to why, which was a shame. We saw the group stand around the fire and draw cards as we saw what happened on the day that Javi was killed. Whoever drew the Queen of Hearts would be the Victim.
What began as the group not being willing to participate turned into them almost being transported back to the mindset that they had when they were younger. This was also backed by the glitch effect that was occurring and the fact that they were participating without saying a thing.
Shauna selected the card and wasn’t ready to stand there and be offered to the wilderness, which meant that she ended up running, feeling just what Natalie had felt all of those years ago.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Ending Explained
It was here where Kelly arrived and managed to prevent the group from going after her mother due to firing her body, but in a surprise twist, Lisa arrived and was pointing a weapon at them. The very person that Natalie had been looking out for during the entirety of the show.
Lottie was in a deranged condition where she was saying how everything that had happened since they left the wilderness was due to the presence that had returned, which was something that nobody else believed.
As this was happening, Misty was walking over to Lisa to neutralize her, but she ended up putting it in Natalie by mistake, killing her best friend in the process. It was a powerful moment, for sure. We saw that as Natalie was dying, she was sitting on a plane with Javi and a younger version of Lottie, and it showed us that she had basically been stuck in the wilderness from the moment that she left.
Did The Wilderness Choose Nat To Die?
Nat was never able to detach her mind from what had happened all of those years ago, and now she was finally at peace. Natalie was honestly one of the most human, sympathetic, and empathetic people when it came to all of them. Misty felt responsible for what happened and had to watch her best friend depart in her own arms. What’s really interesting about Nat’s death is the reality that it still begs the question to us, did the wilderness choose Nat to die? Was the presence really there?
As the card was drawn like it was all of those years ago, and the real person who the wilderness wanted to die did. So even though many of them believed that there was no wilderness presence that was within them and that it was just themselves that carried out the horrific acts, it could well be.
There was a subplot that was also going on where Kevin and Matt were in the compound looking for Shauna, but we basically saw that Jeff and Walter set up Kevin to be framed for a form of corruption, which meant that the case was going to be dropped against Shauna and divert their eyes away from it.
Also Read: How to Watch Yellowjackets Season 2 Episodes? Streaming Guide
