The We Were Liars Ending, Explained

So, you finished We Were Liars and now you’re in your feelings wondering what just happened. It’s okay, we’re here to help. Let us explain that We Were Liars ending.

Based on the novel by E. Lockhart, We Were Liars follows Cadence Sinclair (Emily Alyn Lind), of the wealthy and prominent Sinclair family, the summer after a mysterious accident left her with selective amnesia. Cadence, or Cady, has to try and piece together what happened last year, amid romance, class struggles, secrets, and lies. And it was adapted for the show by CW royalty Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie, so you knew from the jump that it was gonna be good.

The finale episode, written by Lockhart herself, diverged from the book ending, but with good reason. “I wrote the finale, and that was a great chance to basically write a different version of the story that I had already written,” Lockhart told TVLine in an interview. The new ending also sets the series up for a season two, should they get renewed.

So, without further ado, We Were Liars ending, explained ahead. Spoilers, obviously.

Jessie Redmond

What happened during Summer Fifteen?

The Liars decided to burn down Clairmont to try and keep the family from squabbling over their fortunes and breaking apart, thinking it the symbol of Old World money. However, they planned their fire poorly, and Mirren, Johnny and Gat died as a result. Cadence escaped the fire but hurt her head and lost her memory of the incident. Her present day interactions with the Liars have all been hallucinations of their ghosts.

Was Cadence lying about her memory loss?

No. However, she was raised by the Sinclairs not to face ugly truths, as was hinted throughout the series. The family isn’t honest about their feelings, their failures or their prejudices. Her amnesia is a manifestation of that (as a literary device; in real life, your family’s trauma doesn’t affect your brain damage…probably).