Carrying on the unique story of superheroes and supervillains from M. Night Shyamalan, the Glass ending subverted expectations, leading to a mixed response from audiences. A sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, Glass picks up the stories of David Dunn aka The Overseer (Bruce Willis), and Elijah Price aka Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) from the former movie, and Kevin Wendell Crumb aka The Horde (James McAvoy) from the latter. As the movie begins, Dunn faces off with Crumb only for them both to be captured and taken to the same psychiatric institution that holds Elijah Price under heavy sedation.
Once there, Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) attempts to cure all three of their belief in being superheroes but ultimately fails to hide them from the truth. Mr. Glass plots a grand way to reveal the truth to the world, recruiting The Beast to his cause and taunting David into opposing them, leading to a final showdown outside the hospital. What comes next is a slew of twists and several shocking deaths that prove Shyamalan was telling a much different superhero story. However, what the ending means and where the franchise could go from there requires some more exploration.
The fact that Split was secretly a sequel to Unbreakable was a great twist, but Glass further explored how the movies are connected. The starting point for Unbreakable is the Eastrail 177 train crash, orchestrated by Elijah Price in a bid to find a superbeing, of which David Dunn is the only survivor. In Split, it’s gradually revealed that Kevin Wendell Crumb’s father was killed in a train accident, an event that left him at the mercy of his violent mother and directly led to his various personalities.
The first of Glass‘ big ending twists is that these were the same train: Clarence Wendell Crumb was just a few rows behind David Dunn. This means that, albeit accidentally, Mr. Glass created not just The Overseer but also The Horde. As he sees it, he’s the great superpowered mastermind, crafting heroes and villains as he pleases; killing Clarence was a happy accident, not an accidental tragedy. The Horde, of course, takes it somewhat differently, revealing a self-hatred within itself that it now directs towards Elijah.
The clues for this train twist were there throughout both Split and Glass (to the point that it became a popular fan theory). It’s established in the previous movie that Kevin’s father died when he was a child, which can line up with Unbreakable‘s 2000 setting, and The Horde first transforms into The Beast after laying flowers at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, the same place David was traveling to.
Glass drops even more clues ahead of the ending reveal: it confirms Kevin is 27 years old, making him six in 2000; Elijah finds a big secret in his file, one that seems to connect to him; and Joseph Dunn is further shown finding more information.
The final battle at Glass‘ ending between The Overseer and The Beast ends in meticulous tragedy for all involved. Each hero dies in a way that’s fitting for their comic origin, with a loved one there to help them pass on. First, Mr. Glass is beaten up by The Beast after learning of his role in Clarence W. Crumb’s death. Elijah then collapses to the ground, breaking even more of his brittle bones and slowly bleeding out in the company of his mother (Charlayne Woodard).
Mr. Glass was a person of immense intellect with a major physical disability who thus viewed himself as a background mastermind; that the osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease that has put him in immense pain since birth, is the root cause of his death is almost inevitable. However, as he’s the “bad guy” of this story, it’s interesting that the killing blow comes from a flaw in his plan and Kevin’s past being revealed too early. There is, nevertheless, a catharsis in the death of Mr. Glass; he repeats a line from the end of Unbreakable about proving he’s “not a mistake.”
Kevin is then shot by a sniperand his original personality is brought into the light by Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy). Casey’s overriding care for her former captor may come across as Stockholm syndrome, but it’s more rooted in their shared recognition of a tortured past; Casey was sexually abused by her uncle and Kevin was repeatedly assaulted by his mother.
However, while this gives them both clarity — Dennis expresses regret and even The Beast admits it doesn’t want to exist — it also directly leads to Kevin’s death; had he been in his Beast form when shot, his stronger skin would have deflected the bullet. This was The Horde’s weakness, but one Kevin accepts as he’s finally able to achieve peace.
Finally, David Dunn is drowned by one of the on-site enforcers. His showdown with The Beast in an attempt to stop Elijah’s proposed terrorist attack ended in the hospital’s water tank. While he was able to save himself from his one weakness, he was then dragged to a deep puddle and drowned. Joseph Dunn (Spencer Treat Clark) tries to stop the soldier, but it’s too late. Dunn’s death is certainly the most tragic. It is entirely preventable, goes against him overcoming his weakness, and ultimately provides no resolution to his arc.
David was the hero and yet got an entirely ignominious death, while the villains had their tragic arcs touchingly resolved, which is part of a bigger point made by Glass‘ ending. Each one of these deaths is a resolution on its own terms, but it’s when they’re viewed together that the real meaning comes in. The world doesn’t accept these superpowered beings and, as a result, they can’t survive. They are destined to live troubled lives and only find purpose in their own deaths with only their closest loved ones to comfort them.