Yippee-ki-yay movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I want to talk about some of the
key moments in the third and final Maze Runner movie, The Death Cure, as well as how they
affected its ending, and I'll also reveal some interesting details, connections and
easter eggs you might have missed in the movie.
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I post them, plus later in the video I'm also announcing the winner of my latest giveaway.
Quick warning, I will be discussing spoilers from Maze Runner: The Death Cure, so take
care if you've not seen the movie yet.
Let's start with the final scene and work our way back to earlier moments which connect
to it.
Thomas wakes up from his injuries to find himself in the Safe Haven with Minho and the
other surviving Immunes.
And there's an emotional moment for Thomas when he finds a note inside the necklace that
Newt gave him.
In the letter, Newt tells his friend that the thing that scares him most about the virus
is losing his memory to it.
Memory has been an important theme throughout the Maze Runner films, with the first movie
showing the Gladers having no recollection of their lives before entering the Maze, and
note how in this latest film, Teresa wants to keep her memories of Thomas, despite Ava
Paige's offer to wipe them away, after all, as Teresa says, 'if we find a cure that's
the only way all this was worth it.'
Ok, back to Newt's letter, he goes on to say that if he could do everything all over again
he would and he wouldn't change a thing and he hopes Thomas will feel the same years from
now.
Newt understands that Thomas has always been the key to everyone's survival and he tells
him that "the future is in [Thomas's] hands now" and that he'll have to find a way to
do what's right.
Soon after, when Thomas takes the vaccine Teresa gave him out of his pocket, Newt's
words turn out to be literally true as Thomas does indeed hold the secret to saving humanity
in his hands.
Another moment that showcases the trilogy's key theme of memory is Vince's speech to the
survivors in the Safe Haven when he reveals a large memorial stone to honour those who
didn't make it.
If you look carefully you'll spot the names of characters who died during the series,
such as Zart from the first movie, but also hidden in there are a few crew names like
Wes, a nod to Wes Ball, who directed all three movies.
This moment also calls to mind the first Maze Runner movie when the Gladers crossed out
a name on the maze wall whenever they lost one of their group.
Thomas carves Teresa's name into the memorial rock in honour of her sacrifice to save him
on top of the burning WCKD building.
Teresa's death was poignant not only because of her feelings for Thomas, but also because
her sacrifice was in keeping with her ultimate goal to find a vaccine for the Flare virus
for the whole of humanity, not just the select few that Janson wanted to help.
Although she betrayed the Immunes at the end of The Scorch Trials, it was only because
she believed in the idea that "WCKD [was] good" and she always thought the Immunes'
sacrifice would ultimately save the human race from devastation.
When Thomas asked her in The Death Cure if she regretted what she'd done she simply replied
"Sometimes.
But I did what I thought was right [and] I'd do it again", a sentiment which is later echoed
in Newt's letter to Thomas.
As Janson said to Teresa, "What I like about you is no matter how bleak things get, you
never give up", and in the end, she was the one who made the breakthrough as she understood
that Brenda's recovery after getting the serum from Thomas in The Scorch Trials meant something
different was going on, which is why in this film she smuggled out Thomas's bloody bandage
and inspected it in the lab.
Although she found it difficult to see her friends suffer, in Teresa's mind it was ultimately
worthwhile for what she saw as the greater good.
When she and Thomas are on the roof of the WCKD building, she's aware they're both in
mortal danger and understands that Thomas is the key to humanity's survival so she gives
him the serum of his blood that she was carrying and ensures that he gets on the aircraft first.
With Teresa and Ava Paige dead at the end of the Death Cure, and the Right Arm's scientist
Mary killed at the end of The Scorch Trials, it's not entirely clear who will have the
expertise to replicate the vaccine, but I guess that somewhere among the survivors there
may be another scientist who can help.
The other poignant death scene in The Death Cure was, of course, when Thomas had to kill
Newt after the Flare infection finally turned Newt into a Crank and he stabbed Thomas in
the chest.
There was plenty of foreshadowing for Newt's eventual transformation into a Crank throughout
the movies.
For example, during Thomas's hallucination scene in The Scorch Trials, he saw a vision
of Newt as a Crank.
And in The Death Cure, just before Thomas, Newt and Frypan ventured into the tunnel,
Newt said "I don't want to come across as too negative, but if I was a Crank, that's
exactly where I'd be".
Another thing foreshadowing Newt's death in this film is a jar containing what appears
to be a dead newt which you can see briefly in rebel leader Lawrence's room.
Brenda's line to Thomas in the movie, "you can't save everyone", is also a bit of foreshadowing
for when Thomas stabs Newt, however, it has a double-meaning because by the end of the
movie we know that Thomas can save everyone as his blood is the basis for the ultimate
vaccine against the Flare virus.
There's also a nice parallel between Newt giving his necklace to Thomas once he realises
he's unlikely to survive and Chuck who gave Thomas his wooden carving as he died in the
first Maze Runner film.
And when Newt explained to Thomas that WCKD must have put him into the maze "so they could
tell the difference between immunes like you and people like me", it's a reference to Newt's
backstory in the books where Newt had a sister who was an Immune abducted by WICKED.
In the books, WICKED decided to take Newt with them as well to use him as a control
subject in their trials to see how Immunes performed compared to ordinary people like
him.
One new character we meet in The Death Cure is Lawrence, the rebel leader Gally's working
for outside the Last City.
When we meet him for the first time he has a curious interest in roses, despite the loss
of his nose and much of his face to the Flare virus.
This version of Lawrence is a clever reference that book fans will recognise as he's partially
based on the "Rose took my nose" Crank that Thomas encountered in The Scorch Trials book
but who never made it into the second Maze Runner movie.
Now, did you enjoy The Death Cure film and did you find the ending satisfying?
And if you've read the original books, how do you think the movie series compares?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!