The Haunting of Bly Manor Ending Explained

The Haunting of Bly Manor ​ending explained. Yes, this is all about explaining the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. If you haven’t watched The Haunting of Bly Manor yet, then stop reading and go watch it on Netflix first. Read our review of The Haunting of Bly Manor here >

Do you want the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor​ explained? Well, you’re not alone. There was a lot to take in and you’ve come to the right place for a further explanation. We’ll go over the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor along with a few other details necessary to explain the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor which is out on Netflix now!

Warning: Since this article is all about explaining the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor, it is full of spoilers.

If you haven’t watched The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix yet, then you should read our review of The Haunting of Bly Manor instead.

The Haunting of Bly Manor ending explained

Let’s jump right into it with some of the questions that are bound to be the most asked when it comes to the ending of The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Why does Dani see a ghost all the time?

The ghost Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) sees all the time, is that of her dead boyfriend. He died right after she broke up with him. Or actually, they were in the middle of planning their wedding, when she realized that she could not marry him because she was gay.

She loved him as her best friend but was not in love with him. Right after she broke up with him, he stepped out of the car and was hit by a truck. Since then, she’s been haunted by him as he looked the second he was hit by the truck: With light reflecting in his glasses.

Does Dani get rid of her ghost?

Yes, she does get rid of her ghost. She finally confronts her ghost, which means confronting all the pain and guilt she’s been carrying around. She realizes this will always stand between her and Jamie (Amelia Eve) who she is falling in love with.

After throwing the broken glasses of her dead boyfriend in the bonfire, she is never haunted by him again.

One could argue that her dead boyfriend never wanted to hurt her but rather needed her to let him go. It’s all about love in the end.

Is Dani gay?

Well, she is a woman who falls in love with another woman (Jamie the groundskeeper), so she certainly isn’t straight. Also, in flashbacks from before Dani broke up with her boyfriend, we see her reacting to the looks and touches from other women, which seems to be her “gay awakening”.

Just like Theo Crain (Kate Siegel) was gay in The Haunting of Hill House, we have a gay main character in Bly Manor.

Again, it’s all about love in every form.

What are memory jumps?

When we die, The Haunting of Bly Manor shows a concept that would have us travel around in old memories.

Also, you usually can’t decide when or where you jump to. The memory jumps seem to be out of anyone’s control.

However, you should note that the sweet and loving Hannah always returns to her first meeting with Owen, which is one of her very fondest memories. Peter Quint, on the other hand, is constantly back in one of his most awful memories. This does show some form of karma since Peter Quint is responsible for the death of several people – and would have killed more!

What does “Tucked away” mean?

This happens to people who are still alive when a ghost “borrows” their body. In the meantime, the owner of the body is tucked away thinking about something else.

Why does Flora say “Perfectly splendid” all the time?

Kids love to imitate and copy adults. Especially if they like them. Flora was very fond of Miss Jessel, who said this phrase, and Flora immediately picked up on it.

It’s just like when kids can’t get enough of that one annoying song or want to watch the same movie over and over again. “Perfectly splendid” is Flora’s favorite saying because she loved it when Miss Jessel said this. Probably found it very elegant and keeps Miss Jessel’s memory alive whenever she says it again.

How did the parents die in Bly Manor?

We only know that the parents of Flora and Miles died in an accident. There is no reason to think it was anything else. 

However, the parents only went on this trip together because the affair between Henry Wingrave and Charlotte (the mother of Flora and Miles) had been discovered by Dominic. Charlotte and Dominic were trying to get their marriage back on track.

Dominic Wingrave is both the husband of Charlotte and the brother of Henry. A real “family affair” – pun intended.

Is Peter Quint in Miles all the time?

No, you can usually tell when Peter Quint is borrowing Miles’ body. It’s basically whenever Miles is being a creepy little kid. The real Miles is a sweetheart most of the time.

Does Rebecca Jessel (Miss Jessel) really commit suicide?

No, she does not. Peter Quint has taken over her body and walks into the lake. This is his plan for how they can be together forever. However, he breaks his promise of not allowing her to feel any pain.

Instead, he jumps back out of Rebecca when she’s already underwater and lets her experience her own gruesome death.

While the love story between Peter Quint and Rebecca Jessel is one of the love stories in The Haunting of Bly Manor, it is one driven by feelings of possession and selfishness. On Peter Quint’s part. Rebecca Jessel is actually a good person, who just becomes too weak around Peter Quint.

So weak, in fact, that while she does save Flora by taking over her body, when Peter Quint takes over Miles, she isn’t able to help Flora from the grip of The Lady of the Lake. Instead, she offers to once again feel the pain of dying, so Flora doesn’t have to feel it.

Dani, on the other hand, gives everything in order to actually save Flora.

Why does Henry Wingrave have a doppelganger?

This is actually from another story by Henry James. While most of the main plot is from his The Turn of the Screw story, this particular part of Bly Manor is from “The Jolly Corner” (read about it on Wikipedia here).

In other words, the doppelganger is not a ghost but rather an alter ego. Ultimately, the alter ego is Henry Wingrave’s way of punishing himself for having had an affair with his brother’s wife. And also, feeling guilty that they died.

After all, they probably would not have gone away on their trip, had the affair not just been revealed.

Who makes the prank calls and why?

Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) makes the calls to Bly Manor. He never intends for them to be prank calls. Instead, he calls hoping that Flora will answer the phone, so he can hear her voice. Shortly before his brother and sister-in-law (who was also his lover) died in a tragic accident, Henry found out that he was Flora’s father.

However, he was also told – by his brother, who just discovered Henry has been sleeping with his wife – to stay away from Bly Manor and his family. He honors this demand from his late brother but still wants to hear the voice of his daughter.

How long has Hannah been dead?

Hannah died just moments before Dani arrived at Bly Manor. It just took some time for Hannah to realize this herself. We see her coming to terms with this in episode 5 of The Haunting of Bly Manor which is a spectacular episode.

Who did Peter Quint kill?

Well, he killed Hannah while being in charge of Miles’ body, when Miles pushed Hannah into the well. Then he killed Rebecca Jessel while being in charge of her body and walking her into the lake.

Peter Quint himself was killed by The Lady in the Lake, which is why he cannot leave Bly Manor.

Dani was never killed by The Lady in the Lake, but rather “merged” with her in a voluntary union to save Flora.

Who is the Lady in the Lake?

I’m guessing many people will have guessed this by the time her gorgeous face graces the screen. The identity of the Lady in the Lake is revealed in episode 8 of The Haunting of Bly Manor.

It is a woman named Viola Lloyd who is portrayed by Kate Siegel. Yes, the very same actor who portrayed Theo Crain in Hill House.

When Viola was alive, women were not allowed to own property (or anything else really), so she had to marry to keep Bly Manor in the family when her father passed away. She lives in Bly Manor with her sister (portrayed by Katie Parker) and marries a distant cousin.

All is well and she actually does love him. They have a daughter and Viola promises that Bly Manor will be hers someday. Then Viola falls sick but manages to hang on for years longer than any doctor predicted. Basically, she stays alive out of spite.

Why does Viola become the Lady in the Lake?

When Viola (Kate Siegel) does die it is ultimately at the hands of her own sister. Having endured years of abuse, she kills her in order to have a life of her own. However, Viola never really leaves. Her sister goes on to marry her widowed husband and one day, Viola is finally able to manifest and kill her sister.

When her husband and daughter leave Bly Manor soon thereafter, they throw all of Viola’s precious belongings into the lake since they realized her ghost was someone sticking to these belongings.

From there, Viola lies in wait and, over time, forgets who she was. Still, she never forgets the betrayal she felt from her sister or the world that denied her to own her own family manor.

She becomes “The Lady of the Lake” and sometimes roams around the manor. When she does, you need to get out of the way. If you don’t, she will grab onto you, kill you and drag you back to the lake with you.

After that, you will also become a ghost tied forever to Bly Manor and slowly forget who you were in life.

Who is the faceless lady in the Bly Manor attic?

There is a faceless lady in the Bly Manor attic who lives among the dolls. She’s the one that Flora shushes while playing in the Bly Manor attic at one point (this is featured in the trailer). 

The faceless lady is the sister of Viola Lloyd (Kate Siegel) who becomes the Lady in the Lake. The sister is named Perdita and is killed by Viola’s ghost in the attic. Perdita is portrayed by Katie Parker who was also in Hill House as the character Poppy Hill. 

Perdita is killed shortly before the trunk is dumped in the lake which turns Viola into the Lady in the Lake – as covered in the previous question.

How can Dani leave Bly Manor with The Lady of the Lake inside?

When The Lady in the Lake takes young Flora, Dani intervenes. She invites the spirit of The Lady in the Lake into her which makes her let go of Flora.

Since Dani willingly allowed this, she is still a living person, who is now essentially haunted (or even possessed) by The Lady of the Lake. As Dani, she is still free to leave and so, she does.

However, she also knows that she will have to return if she feels The Lady of the Lake take over.  When The Lady of the Lake does take over, Dani returns to the lake at Bly Manor and lets herself drown.

Because Dani is the polar opposite of both The Lady in the Lake and Peter Quint, she will never forget her need to love and help people. Just like Viola never forgot her anger and spite – even when she no longer knew who she was.

That’s why Dani refuses to take Jamie with her when she goes back into the lake. She cannot take the life of someone she loves and Jamie was the love of her life.

Who is getting married?

The story being told in Bly Manor is told during the preparations for a wedding. Ultimately, we learn that this is the wedding of Flora.

We also see an Indian-looking gentleman, who is Owen from the story. Miles is also there as the proud brother of the bride-to-be. Also there, is Henry who is, of course, the proud father of Flora, but officially the uncle of both Miles and Flora.

Who is the storyteller (and narrator) in Bly Manor?

The woman telling the story (played by Carla Gugino) is an older version of Jamie (Amelia Eve). She lived a wonderful life with Dani for many years and now tells the story of how they met, fell in love, shared life, and ultimately had to be apart again.

In short, the storyteller in The Haunting of Bly Manor is Jamie the groundskeeper. She and Dani fell in love and Jamie still wears the ring that Dani gave her when same-sex marriage still wasn’t legal. Remember, this story begins in the 1980s.

You’ll notice that both Jamie (Amelia Eve) and the storyteller (Carla Gugino) is wearing this ring.

As the final scenes of The Haunting of Bly Manor play out in the last minutes of episode 9, Jamie (now played by Carla Gugino) opens the door to her hotel room and waits in a chair. Just before the screen fades to black, we see a hand rest gently on Jamie’s shoulder stating that Dani is indeed still around the love of her life.

That’s all we have for our ending explained piece for The Haunting of Bly Manor. If you have more questions, then feel free to send them our way and we’ll do our best to update this post with more questions and answers.