Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Electric State.

The Electric State initially seems to end Michelle’s story on a bittersweet note, but the closing sH๏τ in the movie leaves viewers with some hope about one character’s fate. In its opening moments, the Russos’ The Electric State presents an exposition dump that reveals how, after experiencing a growing threat from rebellious robots, humans managed to overcome it by killing many robots and convincing others to live in a separate enclosed zone. In the film’s present timeline, robots are illegal outside their ᴀssigned exclusion zone, but one somehow arrives at Michelle’s home and claims to be controlled by her brother.

After grieving for her brother for several years, Michelle feels hopeful that he may still be alive. As a result, she sets out on a journey with her new robot to find the truth about her brother’s fate. Along the way, she crosses paths with Keats and his very own robot friends, who agree to help Michelle find her brother. In The Electric State‘s ending arc, Keats and Michelle convince all the robots from the exclusion zone to fight with them, leading to a war between humans and the robots.

Is Chris Still Alive? What The Electric State’s Final SH๏τ Means

Chris Might Still Be Out There

The Electric State‘s final arc suggests that Michelle pulls the plug on Chris to save the world from Skate. However, in the closing sH๏τ, the robot, Cosmo, that Chris was previously using to communicate with Michelle, rises again. This suggests that Cosmo has either turned into a regular Cosmo bot or has somehow managed to retain some of Chris’ consciousness. If the latter holds true, Michelle might finally be able to reunite with her brother. He may not be with her in the flesh, but being with Cosmo might help her overcome her grief.

In a previous story arc, The Electric State established that Chris was no ordinary child. He was far more intelligent than a normal human, which is one of the reasons why he was targeted by Ethan Skate. Owing to this, it seems possible that he might have found a way to make his consciousness exist even after Michelle decided to let him go. If Netflix decides to expand the movie’s lore, Chris’ return in The Electric State‘s ending could be the perfect springboard for a sequel’s narrative.

Why Michelle Pulls The Plug On Chris In The Electric State’s Ending

She Realizes It’s The Only Way She Can Save The World

When Michelle meets Chris in the virtual world through the neurocaster, Chris tells her that the Sentre could make him exist this way for at least the next hundred years. He reveals that his brain shares a symbiotic relationship with the Sentre, implying that if something happens to him, all the drones and neurocasters connected to the Sentre will also cease to exist. Similarly, the destruction of the Sentre will also lead to his death. Michelle refuses to let him go but eventually decides to pull the plug on him when she realizes that the robots can only win against humans once the drones stop working.

She also understands how destructive the neurocasters have been to humanity and realizes that letting her brother go will also free humanity from the addictive technology. Therefore, as much as she wishes to spend more time with Chris, she serves the greater good by unplugging him. Fortunately, for her, The Electric State’s ending suggests that Cosmo somehow retains Chris’ consciousness.

How Netflix’s The Electric State Changes The Original Novel’s Ending

The Book’s Ending Is Ambiguous Like The Movie’s

Similar to the movie, the source material keeps its ending ambiguous. In the original graphic novel’s final moments, Michelle’s brother has his neurocaster taken off, with the hope that he will be able to survive without it. The book also features a visual in which the neurocaster and the drone her brother used are seen discarded in the sea. While the Netflix movie suggests that Chris might still be alive, the book leaves Michelle’s brother’s fate to a reader’s imagination. Its closing sequence suggests that Michelle either escaped with her brother for good or faced the grim reality of his tragic fate.

The Aftermath Of The Sentre’s Shutdown Explained

Humanity Gets The Opportunity To Live In The Real World Again

All the drones fall to the ground after Chris’ death shuts Sentre down. Even the humans who were addicted to their neurocasters are finally freed from destructive technology, allowing them to live in the real world again. With what follows, humans and robots form a peaceful alliance while Skate attempts to flee after his experimentation on Chris is exposed to the world. Ultimately, Skate, too, gets caught and arrested for his crimes, preventing him from building any more destructive technologies.

Ethan Skate’s Motives In The Electric State Explained: Why He Abducted Chris

Ethan Skate Disguised His Hunger For Power With Claims Of Prosperity

Skate claims that the neurocasters allow humans to evolve and live in a constant state of pleasure instead of being weighed down by the tragedies of existence. However, deep inside, he seems to care little about humanity’s overall progress and only hopes to use the neurocasters to have complete control over the world. When the neurocaster network was initially being developed, Skate struggled to find a way to power it efficiently.

However, he later found Christopher, who had been brought to the Sentre after a car accident. Dr. Amherst helped Skate discover that Chris had unusual brain energy that could power the entire neurocaster system. Therefore, Chris was unethically kept alive in a comatose state to ensure the vast neurocaster network remained online.

Why Bradbury Has A Change Of Heart Towards The Robots

Bradbury Realizes That Humans Are Capable Of Being More Soulless Than The Robots

In The Electric State‘s opening arc, Bradbury lives by only one credo: “You can’t be heartless to things with no heart.” He firmly believes that since robots do not have a heart, they do not deserve human empathy. Owing to this, regardless of how conscious and human they seem, Bradbury refuses to show mercy towards them. However, toward the Netflix sci-fi movie’s ending moments, Bradbury learns what Skate had been doing to Christopher.

This makes him realize that some humans are far more heartless than the seemingly “emotionless” robots. He starts to realize that merely having human bodily functions is not enough to define one’s true humanity. As a result, he switches sides and steps back from the war against robots by taking off his neurocaster, understanding that not all robots deserve to be eradicated.

Who Dies In The Electric State’s Ending

Many Robots Die During Their Battle Against Humans

The robots put their lives on the line to ensure Michelle rescues her brother. During the climactic battle between human-run drones and robots, many robots lose their lives. Given how the robots are not human, one might argue whether “dying” would be the right word to describe their fates. However, despite the lack of traditional mortality, the robots’ sacrifice and ability to fight in union proves they are more sentient than most humans out there.

Keats’ robot companion, Herman, also gets gravely injured during the battle. Right after Keats tells him that he loves him, the robot shuts his eyes and perishes. However, to Keats’ surprise, a smaller version of Herman emerges out of the robot’s head, revealing that he has always existed inside the larger robot. With this, all ends well for Keats as he reunites with his robot friend after nearly losing him. Apart from several robots, Ke Huy Quan’s Dr. Amherst also dies when Skate kills him after embodying a drone.

What The Electric State’s Ending Really Means

The Electric State Serves As A Warning For Humanity’s Extreme Reliance On Technology

Instead of merely being critical of the growth of AI and humanity’s ever-increasing reliance on technology, The Electric State shows how technology alone may not lead to humanity’s downfall. Through Skate’s narrative, it highlights how technology could become a conduit for corrupt humans to establish control over the mᴀsses and manipulate the world in their favor. In some ways, the neurocasters can be seen as visual metaphors for social media that hook a user by promising a constant rush of dopamine.

They show how one always has the tendency to get so attached to the virtual world through social media that they could begin to lose touch with reality, prioritizing the digital realm over meaningful, real-world connections. As Michelle states in her final speech in The Electric State, technologies designed to exploit the human brain and consciousness are detrimental to both humanity and society as a whole. Therefore, in the pursuit of progress and evolution, humans must tread carefully and avoid being overambitious like Ethan Skate.