‘The Nun’ Ending Explained

Fans of The Conjuring franchise are in for a treat with the latest spinoff, The Nun, finally hitting theaters, realizing that the film isn’t so much of a spinoff of the second movie than it is a prequel to the first.

The Nun reveals how the demonic entity known as Valak comes to terrorize the Warrens, though it also reveals a stronger connection to the franchise and how it sets up the events of The Conjuring.

Warning: Spoilers for The Nun below.

In the film, Valak was summoned by a cult in the Dark Ages, but was thwarted by Vatican agents before he could be released upon the world. The agents sealed the rift using an artifact that contained the blood of Jesus Christ, trapping Valak in the Romanian castle.

Bombings during World War II break the seal, and Valak begins to terrorize the castle once again. This causes the Vatican to send a priest and a nun to investigate the disturbance, and they once again seal the rift. Or so they think…

At the end of the movie, it’s revealed that Valak has taken possession of the priest and nun’s companion, who is known as Frenchie. We later learn his real name is Maurice Theriault.

If that name sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve already seen Maurice in the first film in the franchise, The Conjuring.

When Carolyn Perron seeks help to rid her home of the demonic presence, she sees a presentation featuring Ed and Lorraine Warren. They play a video showing one of their exorcisms, where Ed and Lorraine excise the demon present in Maurice Theriault, coming into contact with Valak for the first time.

This event puts the Warrens on the path to take the case of the Perron family’s haunted house, as well as investigate the demonic possessions reported in London, where they finally banish Valak back to Hell in The Conjuring 2.

“In the script there was a number of connections that keep the movie connected into The Conjuring world,” The Nun director Colin Hardy said to IGN. “If you pay attention when the guy witnesses and discovers this nun at the start of the movie, who has appeared to have committed suicide, he’s a French-Canadian delivery man.”

Hardy goes on to explain the connection, confirming how it all ties together.

“If you watch The Conjuring 1, Patrick Wilson at the start of the movie explains that Maurice Theriault is a French-Canadian farmer. He’s become possessed. The bigger story that will connect back to The Conjuring 1 is through Frenchie. And the demonic nun is connecting The Conjuring 2. But they come together in our movie.”

The Nun is now playing in theaters.