Inception – What Really Happened at the End?
Posted by Nick Poyner on July 19, 2010 at 7:43 pm
SPOILER ALERT – this is only to be read by those who have seen Inception
So if you saw Inception, you naturally have an opinion of what happened. Well, I’ll admit it’s a confusing ending, as it should be. Those last few seconds of the film are what causing all this discussion. Blogs are on fire; discussions rage; people have to view it again. Bravo Nolan, people are going to have to see your film many times.
Come Friday afternoon I was one of those people. Having already seen the midnight showing, I thought to myself: I bet I’d understand it better a second time. Walking out of the theater, I felt like I had.
My thoughts about the ending go back and forth, but I think ultimately everything worked out for the best. Here is my logic (feel free to tear it apart):
Within the first dream sequence (Yusef’s), the heavy sedation is explained. Someone points out that if they die, they will go into limbo. This is where it gets a little tricky. They also explain that they’ll enter someone else’s limbo if they were sharing a dream with someone who had been there before. Here, it is obviously Cobb (Leo). Fine….then they go to Arthur’s (Gordon-Levit) and eventually into Eames’ (Tom Hardy) dream. When in Eames’ dream, both Robert Fischer Jr. (Murphy) and Saito (Wantanave) die. Fischer dies first, which gives Mal (Cotillard) ample time to find him within Cobb’s mind. In order for the plan not to be a bust, Ariadne (Ellen Page) suggests they go after Fischer via Cobb.
Cobb’s mind is the first one Ariadne had not built for the mission; it is also limbo. This tricked me at first. How could his dream be limbo? I believe that Cobb couldn’t dream anymore without being sedated. But being sedated led him into his limbo because that is all that he can dream about. (Which seems apparent when Ariadne goes into his head without his permission.) When they get there Mal has Fischer because it was the easiest way to draw Cobb to her. She knows what he knows/wants because she is only alive in his head. Eventually Ariadne “kicks” Fischer freeing him from limbo, and then does the same for herself.
Being that it’s his own dream as well as limbo, Cobb is more aware of his surroundings when he goes to find Saito. The only thing that throws me off is Saito’s age. Even though time does elapse that much faster, how could Saito age so much more than Cobb? It seems at the final table they both somewhat recognize each other, but Saito has completely lost his mind and needs Cobb to bring his mind back. Perhaps, this is the reason Saito ages significantly more than Cobb. (Something else to consider: the two of them are in the same place as the beginning. However, the original setting was within Arthur’s dream.)
So something clicks in both of their heads, and the gun is the kick. Clearly Saito kills Cobb and then himself. Even if we don’t see it go off Saito does reach for it. Considering the vast time difference from the plane to limbo, it seems possible that they had enough time to accomplish all of this. (The third dream sequence was X number of years slower than dreams 1 and 2, so limbo/fourth dream sequence was exponentially longer.) In the end, they wake up on the plane all synced together; Cobb gets picked up by Miles, and sees his kids again.
However, what we all want to know is whether Cobb’s reality top actually fell over. Nolan here leaves this up to the viewer making up his/her own mind. Did Cobb basically say he didn’t care whether he was dreaming or not because he wanted to stay with his kids? Thus, it didn’t matter whether the top fell over or kept spinning. However, one thing to point out is that we do see the face of Cobb’s kids at the end, which he himself was unable to see in his dream world. Does this mean he was back in reality? Other things to note are that his kids were wearing the same clothes and they appeared to be the same age (how long was he gone for?). The beauty here is that we truly don’t know.
That’s my theory based on two times, and I’d love to see it again for a third. Because the actual reality is we don’t have to know. Even my own roommate disagrees with me. We love it anyway. That’s the whole point. right?
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- 12/02/2010: What is your choice for Best Picture – a look at potential nominees :: The Movie Banter
- 01/06/2011: Revisiting Inception – Ending Confirmed :: The Movie Banter
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Matty money…i loved the movie…agree and disagree with u….awesome ending…what i did notice during the movie is when cobb speaks to his kids in “reality” the kids definately sound older than they look at the end of the movie…also, i was confused with the 3rd level which u say was Eames. For some reason i thought that was Ariadne’s dream since Cobb was asking her about the secret passage thru the vent that she created thru her maze work in that dream…just a thought
Interesting point about the kids clothes being the same as in the dreams at the end, I didn’t notice that. Also my interpretation of Saito being so much older than Cobb in limbo was because he was the first to die in a dream. While it didn’t take much longer for Cobb to enter limbo, the time went by much faster in limbo.
It had to be a dream, because one the kids were basically replaying the same motions of when he last saw them, wearing the same cloths and they were the same age.Yes he seen their face this time but their his kids, ofcourse he knows how they look. when they entered his limbo at the end his wife told him to look at this kids, and when they were about to turn around cobbs looked away so he wouldn’t see them.
Interesting interpretation, Matt. The only thing I think you got wrong was this particular point: <>
I think you’re understanding that wrong. I didn’t really get it until the second time I saw it, but it was much clearer then. The beginning of the film is the EXACT same moment as the ending with Cobb & Saito. It’s not Arthur’s dream, it’s the end of the movie, Cobb & Saito’s limbo. The movie switches to flashback the moment Saito says “when we were young men dreaming together.” So everything from that moment until they meet again in that gold room is a flashback. Current time doesn’t start again until Cobb & Saito wake up on the plane. The first time I saw it I wasn’t as clear on the point, but it was the first thing I noticed on my second viewing.
Thoughts?
ugh, it didn’t post the section I cut and pasted from your post. You wrote: Something else to consider: the two of them are in the same place as the beginning. However, the original setting was within Arthur’s dream.
Now discuss.
Hey all, our newest writer Nick Poyner wrote this article. Let him know you feel about this. He loves to banter with everyone.
@Keith H Adriadne was the architect. She designed all the levels but then explained them to the dreamer. There is a montage when they prepare where this is shown. Cobb asks her if Eames added anything to her layout which he has added the passage.
@Karen I was referring to when they were young. The first scene I guess in flashback. That dream is Arthur’s. So it is interesting that present time? takes place in a dream that was not originally either of theirs.
@Paul That’s kind of what I assumed. So good to know someone agrees.
I’m not clear on what it is you’re trying to say in that last post.
The first scene of the film Saito is an old man. Then they go to when they were young where Cobb was trying to steal from Saito. That scene was Arthur’s dream. Mal even bring up how Arthur likes that kind of art.
So when Saito is older, it is interesting that that limbo/dream takes place in something that was originally created by neither Saito or Cobb.
Matt: I think the first scene was just a flash of what was to come. The scene where Cobb is trying to steal from Saito is just present day to when the film begins. The final scene to which Cobb meets an older Saito is the same exact scene from the beginning, done on purpose, to show us the end of the movie at the very beginning. Happens a lot. I do agree with you that Saito aged so much more because he was in limbo before DiCaprio got there.
Nice take nick. I agree with everything, but I think the kids being in the same clothes/playing in the same place is just done so that the audience recognizes the situation and a parallel is drawn between the decision he had to make before (the one about regretting not seeing his kids’ faces one last time) and the decision he made to go through with inception so that he could enter the US again. I felt it was more of an artistic imagery thing rather than a direct indicator of whether it was a dream or not.
I like the point about cobb and saito’s meeting place though. Didn’t catch that.
A part of me thinks the whole movie is his limbo. I like the thoughts of how he sees his children and they never age or change clothes, or maybe that’s another dream inside a dream. Maybe he really does have to die in order to get out of limbo but it has since become his reality. Complicated movie, definitely makes you think a lot.
i agree with Craig.well guys, i think the main idea is the inception itself. think about it. maybe Cobb is still in limbo and make’s himself belive that he is in reality, but his still in limbo. the same dress his children wears show it. and 1 thing, remember when Cobb told Adriadne that we cannot remember when the beginning of a dream so how can Cobb be in Mombasa and Paris just like that? sure his in a dream..
What if Cobb created his own inception while in his own limbo??? and that was him waking up and seeing his kids, his inception was the kids faces
Just saw it for the third time — when you see it again, pay attention to the home the movie ends in, and his skyscraper home in limbo. THEY ARE THE SAME, but just in different locales. The same porch, the same hallway, the same table with the same table cloth. I think this means he’s still asleep.
I just would like to bring up one point, if the kids had been in different clothes it would be a for sure sign that he was no longer dreaming so the director had to put them in the same clothes in order to raise the question. I dont think the fact that they are wearing the same clothes can be brought into arguement.
You guys all have a lot of great points. I saw it for the first time last night. I agree with the idea that the whole movie was his limbo. They never explained how to escape limbo, and Cobb’s wife was convinced after waking from the 50 year limbo experience that she was still not in reality. They made a big deal about the spinning or falling top being an indicator of whether you are in a dream state or in reality. Since the top originally belonged to his wife, she would have tested what state she was in before killing herself. Additionally, the fact that she keeps appearing in his dreams and trying to convince him to be with her makes me think that she might be reaching down from actual reality and trying to pull him back up…anyway, awesome movie!
The kids clothes aren’t the same. The boy is wearing a yellow/blue plad type shirt at the end. He wears a red/blue one during memory sequences. The mantle in the background when he spins it on the table has less random junk on it, no candles and only the 4 standing green pillar things. The stuff on the table also looks different.
Kyfried,
Of course the home the movie ends in, and his skyscraper home in limbo are the same. Cobb and Mal built their home in limbo from the memory of their home in reality. (albeit they stick it at the top of a skyscraper because both Cobb and Mal enjoy those types of buildings)
@Eric I was waiting for somebody to really notice. I didn’t think about it the second time, but everyone talking about it got me curious. I guess I need to go see it again and study both sequences.
The whole point of the totems is that no one else must know how they work. Arthur makes a point of not letting Ariadne so much as touch his die, nor does Ariadne let Cobb touch her modified chess piece. And yet, both of these characters know how Cobb’s totem works, specifically? The issue here is since they know how the spinner works, they could create a dream world that Cobb wouldn’t wake up from, because he would experience proper movement from his totem. A darker parallel is that a person in the real world could be convinced to commit suicide if the totem were replaced with a non-working fake. Not sure how these thoughts relate to the plot of the movie, just wanted to put them out there.
to all those interested, i found this great article about the wedding ring as his totem: http://revolvingdoorproject.net/2010/07/23/inception-what-happened-at-the-end/
Hey Nick, I was wondering at what scene they explain this? –> “They also explain that they’ll enter someone else’s limbo if they were sharing a dream with someone who had been there before.” – I’m not trying to argue, I just can’t remember that part. Also, is “someone else’s limbo” the same as other people’s limbo? Otherwise, how did Fisher get there? Unless limbo is all one place? Thanks for your clarification.
Don’t forget the wedding ring he wears. During the dream sequences he wears it but if my memory is correct in “real” life he does not. At the end of the movie, don’t believe he is wearing the ring. Ergo, the final scene with the children is real and the top was about to topple over.
@AHR Thanks for the heads up. I happen to agree with you. Leo was definitely in reality at the end. At least, that’s what I think.
Saito was not in limbo before Cobb. He dies while Cobb is talking with Mal in limbo. So, why the hell is Saito 30 to 40 years older when they reunite in limbo. Is it possible that Cobb and Ariadne were not actually in limbo? I mean, Saito DIED while Cobb and Ariadne used the sleep/dream machine. Perhaps they were only in a “limbo memory” constructed by Cobb. Then, while this limbo is being destroyed by the kicks, Cobb dies in the destruction (or finds another way to kill himself) and ends up in the real limbo. This would explain why he and Ariadne washed up on shore, and then ONLY Cobb washes up on shore before his reuniting with Sato. Or am I a moron?
Here’s a pic to compare the kids
http://i.imgur.com/2VlDj.jpg
clearly aged.
when cobb meets Saito in limbo at the end before seeing his kids, Satio touches cobbs totem(therefore gaining power or what ever happends) Satio promises cobb that if he does the job he will send him home-so when cobb returns to his children at the end he is actually in Satios dream.-dont know if its right just a thought?
cobb never really woke up in that plane. He was left behind and missed the kick. When he woke up in the plane, nobody said anything to him, not one single word. Everybody acted like constructs, they showed no independent personality. cobbs dad meets him at the airport (how did he get there) and in the blink of an eye hes back at his house with everything the same way as in his memories. I thought when you tried to kill yourself in limbo you never wake up. Not only did leo and saito kill themselves in deep limbo. Leo already died with his wife on the railroad tracks in limbo before all of this ever even happened.
perhaps the entire movie is a paradox dream. cobb used to be the architect, he cant do it anymore because the whole thing is already his. My mind is now officially busted, lol
My mind is busted too:)..My theory is that first scene whit coob and saito is the little showing of last scene of movie (many movies started and ended like this)..because he is not dreaming all time in movie..you forget coobs tottem he is spins him 2 times and he fall down..in dream tottem spins alwasy..but i think after coob took new chemichs he never woke up..hmm???because after his “dream”,coob is in the toilet and when he spin the tottem saito comes and the tottem fell down on the flor and we actualy did not see if it is a dream or reality..and one more thnig,the last kick when the van hits the water..why they did not woke up in plane..they are still in first dream and then goose scene with coob and his wife in limbo and with saito when is old..but in the plane all woke up in the same time??wll done Nolan awsom movie..
and sorry for bad english
Hmm, well after only one viewing the main question I am left with is how Cobb felt he could ever trust another person’s totem? I think he lost grip of reality when he stopped checking his OWN totem. He may or may not have always been in the dream state during the movie, but the thing is that I really don’t think Cobb can always tell the difference either, and that’s why Mal says what she does towards the end.
Another interesting thing to me is the conversation Cobb has with his children on the phone. He says that Mal isn’t “here” but can’t seem to actually express what that means to them. They also say “Grandma says you’re never coming back.” Cobb could have been referring to his ongoing relationship with Mal in the dream world when he goes there, or he could be expressing his own doubt in his reality. His subconscious could be doubtful he’ll ever find reality, thus the child saying he’ll never come back.
Well, enough speculation for tonight!
this is from nolan, and i went back and looked and its true.
this is how you know if the end is a dream or not.. look at his wedding ring. go back through the movie and do the same.. you’ll notice something very interesting.
There are so many valid points here, either explanation would work at the end. I’m leaning towards the end being reality- the wedding ring theory seems accurate. But let’s say it turns out he is dreaming at the end- at what point in the movie did his final dream/limbo start? Is the whole movie supposed to be Cobb in limbo, dreaming of being cleared of the charges, and returning to his kids? Or did he fall into that limbo at some point during the operation, and then never wake up? Seems like there could be a few points in the movie where the whole thing turned into limbo for Cobb. Did the whole part about Mal killing herself even happen, or was that all part of Cobb’s limbo, too? I guess there are infinite possibilities.
The clothes were not the same but very similar. In Cobbs memories the little girl had a red dress only. At the end she had a red dress with short white sleeves. The stripes on the smaller child seemed to be less pronounced as well. Still the best movie i’ve ever seen.
In the end of inception he must still be in a dream because how did the grandfather know where to go because leonardo didn’t even know where he was going until he landed and how would the grandfather get from france to united states faster than leonardo and why were the kids in the exact same place as he remembered and then they never aged????? he was in the dream.
- Tyler.M
One of the biggest rules in Inception was that when you were in someone else’s dream their subconscious would attack you. If Cobb was not able to control others dreams than why did Mal always show up and kill and destroy others inside every dream world. He had to be the one dreaming all of it for her to have power. Right?
The time frame can not be trusted because depending on how deep you go into the dream levels time is accelerated. They never said how deep Mal and Cobb went in their experimentations.
The top was Mal’s totem. What was Cobb’s, he never said. Could it have been her dream all along?
When Cobb brought gifts to his father to give to the children the father said gifts won’t convince the children they still have a father. Cobb then explained to his dad that this last job would allow him to come home (would free him from having to run). His dad’s reply was ‘come back to reality’. That statement made me think that Cobb may have always been in a dream from opening credits to closing credits.
I think the movie was fairly simple. I bought the DVD last week, and I keep watching. (I guess it wasn’t that simple if I had to watch over and over…lol). I think everything was real up until Cobb woke up on that plane at the end. At that very point he was in limbo and dreaming that everything was completed and his arrangements to come back in the states was final. That top spinning at the end…I don’t think it was supposed to stop. The kids were wearing the same clothes, which was more proof of his limbo. Apparently when Cobb found a much older Saito, things didn’t really go as planned.
@HavPlenty – I actually went back and saw this movie again to confirm the ending. First, his daughter is wearing a white undershirt at the end under her outfit. She did not have an undershirt on during the images shown throughout the film. Finally, follow the path of the wedding ring. He is definitely not dreaming at the end. He is very much in the real world.
Saw movie last night. watched it 4 times and i have to say his kids were not wearing the same cloths. You have to pay attention to the top however because he said in the start it would be unbalanced if it was reality and not i it was a dream. Its contorversal because the top spins unbalnaced and he stairs at it then smiles and walked away because he was sastisfied it was reality. But then the top went into a straght circle but was still tipping. Cobb wouldnt have went and hugged his kids unless he knew it was not a dream. But its mostly opnion i think he was in real life. But all in all GREAT movie!
@Trey – we wrote a follow up column recently. Check it out
http://www.themoviebanter.com/2011/01/revisiting-inception-ending-confirmed/
I GOT IT!!!! in the end when the top wobbles whe. The screen goes black turn uo the volume!! You can hear the top fall down!!! Use your ears not your eyes!!!!!
If you guys didn’t notice at the end that wasn’t his totem that was his wife’s his totem is his wedding ring that’s all I have to say.
ACTUALLY, this is wrong. The kids aren’t wearing the exact same clothes as they were in the beginning. Look closely.. At the end, the daughter has white sleeves on her dress, and the beginning it’s just a solid salmon color. The dresses look almost identical except for that one detail. Plus, the totem doesn’t wobble in the dreams, but at the end it starts to wobble more noticeable than it does when he’s dreaming.
Hi Emily – we wrote a revised post some months later. Check this out.
http://www.themoviebanter.com/2011/01/revisiting-inception-ending-confirmed/
idk if anyone noticed at the end how tha children told there daddy to see what they were building, a house on the edge of the cliff just like he an mal, it may b nothing but it might mean he is still dreaming and he just dosen care anymore….thats my take
At the very end, we see the top spinning, seeming almost perfectly motionless by its spin (as in, it just appears to be standing straight up) and then the camera goes away and we see yadee yadee yadee…
But then when the camera comes back down to the top, it slightly begins to wobble; which in reality means it is about to fall over. So….ya
That’s not just logic. That’s really seisnble.
i didn’t hear the totem fall, sorry. i think he was in reality though. From the moment him and saito woke up, they had a stare down. saito then dialed on his phone. that was his agreement to their plan for him to call and get cobb back into the US. therefore how the grandfather got back was all saito’s doing. i don’t know. its all apart of the movie and how it was designed. all in all it was a great movie, we truly will never know whether he woke up or not. that’s why it was nominated for many Oscars.
I personally think that at the end of the movie he is still dreaming. However, I do not believe that he is dreaming the whole movie. I think that he loses himself when he meets the sedative guy and tries out his sedatives. It never shows you how many dreams he goes into when he tries it. When you see him wake up he goes to the bathroom and is about to spin the totem but drops it because the dreams were so intense that it made him nervous. He picks it up and that is that. From that point on you never know if he is actually awake or if he is dreaming. At the end of the movie his kids are still in the same outfit as before and in the same position. The only reason he never sees their face is because he doesn’t want to ruin his memories of Mal because that is all he has left. However, once he is back home, he has his family back so he allows himself to continue on with those memories of his kids and lets his subconcious take him from there. This is why I think he is still dreaming at the end of the movie. Let me know what you guys think! I’d love to hear your opinions.