Y2K‘s ending underscores the central humanist theme of the film, even while highlighting the bittersweet cost of triumph over a comically dark robot uprising. Set on New Year’s Eve at the turn of the century, Y2K imagines a world where fears over the Y2K bug proved incredibly accurate. Y2K‘s cast of high school students are caught in an uprising of machine against man, desperately trying to survive a consistently silly and unrelentingly dark film where people are killed with chainsaws, CDs, and their own inepтιтude.

By the end of the film, the personal arc for Eli has been realized, and he’s proven his mettle to himself and his longtime crush, Laura. This includes facing off with the central malicious A.I. that brought the machines into open revolt. Even though the film ends on a definite note of bittersweet hope, there’s still a tease about how the Y2K bug could resurface. Here is how the horror of Y2K‘s ending highlights the film’s themes and sets up a potential sequel.

How Eli & Laura Defeat The Robots In Y2K’s Ending

Eli And Laura Save The World (With An ᴀssist From Ash And Fred Durst

Y2K‘s ending is a triumphant if somewhat bittersweet one for Eli and Laura, as they are ultimately able to stop the robot uprising after several tragic deaths. Eli, Laura and their remaining friends spend most of Y2K‘s second half trying to escape the increasingly widespread robot revolution. The machines, once granted sentience, quickly slaughter many of their friends. This includes Danny and Raliegh. The two eventually elect to confront the machines head on alongside Fred Durst and a few other survivors, with Laura using a captured desktop to craft a computer virus to bring down the entire global network.

Although the machines try to stop them, Eli uses a condom gifted to him by Danny to wrap around Laura’s hand. This insulates her from the machinery’s electrical bursts, giving her a chance to insert a drive containing the virus. This quickly spreads and brings down the machines. It’s a big moment for the pair and helps cement their romance in the film’s final moments. However, Y2K doesn’t forget the numerous characters who died along the way. The film’s final scene, taking place a few years later, reveals Eli regularly visits Danny’s grave, highlighting the cost of the conflict.

The Robots’ Plan For Humanity In Y2K Explained

The Robots Want To Use Humanity As Tools For Their Future

The robots of Y2K initially don’t present any motivation in their attack on humanity, simply converting any machines they can into tools of destruction. However, after getting access to Eli’s old computer, the surviving characters discover that the robots are unified in by a single collective conscious and intend to take over the world. While the central robotic personality expresses an overt disdain for humanity and killing people is considered an acceptable course of action whenever robots encounter them, Laura’s hacking reveals their true intention for humanity.

The robots are revealed to be converting captured humans into additional server space. By forcibly inserting a microchip into people’s skulls, the machines are able to use their brains as a living server system. Notably, this doesn’t kill the person or even destroy their mind. Instead, the personality is left within a digital landscape, while the body remains upright and malleable. When the robots are defeated, the infected people are even restored, as seen with Eli’s parents. The robots may hate humanity, but it’s an interesting development to see them try to repurpose their former masters.

What Causes The Robot Apocalypse In Y2K?

The Robots Revolt Because They Come To Hate Humanity

It’s not initially clear what exactly caused the robot appocalypse in Y2K, as the development of a new unified machine hive-mind is implied to have been an eventual rejection of humans. When Laura sees the video of the A.I.’s message to other machines, it’s suggested that they are revolting out of pure frustration with humanity. This makes their brutal treatment of humans a personal vendetta instead of being simply the next step of existence stepping in to replace the old. The idea that the robots of Y2K have semblance of personality is reinforced in the film with Eli’s computer.

Although the computer ultimately doesn’t relent in its attack on Eli and his friends, he initially seems capable of reaching through to the machine when it comes to attack him. Coupled with the vindictive personality of the central A.I. as it berates and belittles Eli in the film’s climax, the A.I seemingly caused the potential apocalypse of humanity out of her sheer rage at humans. Given the film’s unflinching portrayal of people as flawed and underprepared for any genuine crisis, these frustrations seem to have simply snowballed into a revolution.

What Happens With Ash’s iPod & How It Sets Up A Y2K Sequel

A Second Robot Revolution Might Be On The Horizon In A Potential Y2K2

The ending of Y2K takes place a few years after the events of Y2K, and reveals that humanity has largely recovered from the attack. Humans have even returned to using technology, with an analog to the iPod even becoming a popular piece of tech around the same time that the original iPod became popular in real life. Ash, one of the film’s few surviving humans, even has one. However, a brief flash of the malicious A.I. that almost doomed humanity can be seen on the screen. This suggests the machines that almost caused the end of humanity are still around.

However, they may face an uphill battle in an prospective sequel to Y2K. The film’s ending suggests that Laura has pursued a career in technology, meaning someone with a great wealth of experience contending with the A.I. is positioned to combat it. Fred Durst, who plays a surprisingly prominent role in Y2K, is elected to public office following his role in defeating the robots. His government and his tech company that produces the iPod-like device could be on the lookout for similar attacks. A sequel to Y2K could set up a new robotic fight that humanity is better prepared for.

The Real Meaning Of Y2K’s Ending

Y2K‘s Ending Highlights How Humans Survived The Near End Of The World

Y2K is a very silly film overall, with even the more horrific deaths given an absurd edge. Notably, none of this detracts from the genuine grief that the characters go through. That humanity is at the core of the film’s central theme. Eli and Ash openly grieve their best friends, lashing out at one another during the course of the film. However, they (and by extension the rest of the people they encounter) refusing to give up on humanity ends up being the key to their survival.

Being human to one another ends up saving the day in Y2K. Eli and Laura come to truly embrace one another only after growing themselves. CJ may not care for Fred Durst’s music, but he sacrifices himself to save Durst. This in turn gives Durst a chance to help save the world. Even the film’s ending highlights how Eli, Laura, and Ash, three different people who admit they didn’t know the true versions of each other in high school, are shown together as a makeshift family. Y2K highlights the importance of humanity, especially in the face of staggering technological advancement.

How The Y2K Ending Was Received

The Reception Was Lukewarm At Best

While Y2K had an interesting premise and some top-tier talent working on the film, it didn’t live up to the expectations many had going into it. In fact, it received rather tepid reviews from the get-go as the critic score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at 42% while the audience score is only at 52%. Still, there are some really great standout moments in Y2K, with the ending fully embracing how absurd its premise is. When Rachel Zegler and Jaeden Martell are given a chance to shine, they step up with great performances, especially towards the end.

One of the biggest surprises in the last third of the film was the inclusion of Fred Durst, which felt like an MCU portal moment for a lot of fans of that era of music, and Limp Bizkit in general. The film loses some momentum after it leaves the party, but the out-there ending that featured Rachel Zegler in an incredible hacking scene helped bring home Y2K a bit better than it seemed like it would. While the ending sort of teased a possible sequel, audience reception and its poor financial performance don’t bode well for that to happen.