Dead Boy Detectives ending explained: Is [SPOILER] still alive?

The Netflix, starring George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri, sees Charles and Edwin, two dead teenage boys, run a detective agency to solve the cases of fellow ghosts who are unable to move on – all the while escaping the clutches of Death, played by Kirby, who reprises her role from The Sandman.

Along the way, they meet Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), who become part of the gang – until a tragedy befalls them in the finale.

Here's everything that went down in that brutal final episode and how the ending sets us up for more from our dead boy detectives.

Dead Boy Detectives ending explained: Is Niko still alive?

It doesn't seem possible that Niko's actually alive – but she could still be around in death.

The episode begins with Edwin and Niko having a heart to heart, with Edwin thanking her for saving his life, and telling her indirectly that he confessed his feelings to Charles.

When the gang are saying goodbye to Crystal (more on that later), the butcher shop explodes, thanks to a sabotage attempt from Esther (Jenn Lyon). She captures Charles and Edwin, and Crystal and Niko agree to rescue them.

They track down the Cat King (Lukas Gage) who admits he's terrified of Esther after she almost killed him. He gives them a rundown of Esther's story – that she made a deal with the goddess Lilith for eternal life, but not eternal youth, so has taken to feeding young girls to her pet snake to harvest their youth.

He tells them they need enchanted black salt to take her down, so the pair head to Tragic Mick's. Realising he can't stop them, Tragic Mick (Michael Beach) gives Niko a good luck charm – a bear amulet – to thank her for listening to his story.

She and Crystal sneak into Esther's house and Niko goes to free Charles – with some help from Monty the crow. She races to free Edwin while Crystal distracts Esther.

Undeterred by the black salt, Esther continues to torture Edwin while Charles kills the snake that's been eating the children. While Crystal attempts to distract her, it's not enough and Esther notices Niko sneaking up on her.

Esther fires a spell at Crystal in an attempt to kill her, but Niko jumps in front of her, sacrificing herself for her friend.

After Crystal defeats Esther, she, Charles, Edwin and Jenny mourn the tragic loss of Niko. But is she really gone? The final scene in the series shows us a mysterious figure hiding out in an igloo, accompanied by Niko's sprites (played by Max Jenkins and Caitlin Reilly)

While the figure doesn't speak, they hold out a gloved hand to reveal the bear charm given to Niko by Tragic Mick.

Addressing the possibility that Niko could still be around, showrunner Steve Yockey kept tight-lipped, but did hint to RadioTimes.com: "I think that, if Niko is still around, she has quite a journey in front of her to get back to the rest of the agency."

From where we're standing, that sounds very much like it could set up a season 2! Yockey said of a potential future for the show: "We're in a wait and see mode at the moment. We have a plan for season 2, we have ideas for a season 3, so any Netflix execs that are watching... it has this overriding mythology but because it's case of the week, it feels a little bit like it could just keep going so obviously we'd love to make more."

As for any other clues about a potential season 2? Yockey only gave away that we're likely to be looking at "more time in London" as we catch up with our favourite detective agency once again.

What happened to Charles and Edwin?

By the end of the series, it's agreed that Charles and Edwin are allowed to continue the Dead Boy Detectives agency.

A mysterious figure, credited only as The Principal on IMDB and played by Tamlyn Tomita, orders them to finally make their way to the afterlife – however, she soon realises that Charles and Edwin are only doing a similar job to the Lost & Found department and that their work is actually useful.

She orders the Night Nurse to chaperone the boys in their work as they continue the agency.

Something tells us that's not the last we'll see of Tomita in The Sandman universe, especially considering the mystery around her character.

What happened to Crystal?

Episode 8 picks up with Crystal regaining her memories – and it's not a happy experience for her, as she discovers she was actually an awful person in her past life.

She also remembers her parents – but in a crashing realisation, discovers they don't actually care about her and haven't even noticed she's been missing all this time. She makes the decision to leave.

Before that, though, she has to explain to Jenny that she'd been possessed by a demon and that now she can see ghosts. Easy enough! Crystal offers to wipe her memory, but Jenny says she'd rather know her memories.

Crystal leaves but, before she gets to the end of the road, the butcher shop suddenly explodes – thanks to Esther. Thankfully, Crystal, Niko and Jenny make it out alive (for now). Crystal and Niko agree to save the boys.

After sneaking into Esther's house, Crystal confronts the witch and distracts her from torturing Edwin. After Niko's heartbreaking death at the hands of Esther, the witch has Crystal in her clutches but, in her rage, Crystal becomes more powerful, and summons Lilith, the goddess of wronged women. She drags Esther away.

Crystal mourns the loss of Niko with Charles and Edwin, and the pair invite her to officially join the Dead Boy Detectives agency.

What did Esther want?

After harnessing the power of Lilith and gaining eternal life, Esther discovered a new way of keeping her youth and power – harvesting pain from ghosts. She set her sights on Edwin, who she says knows real pain after his experience in hell.

During the explosion, she captures Charles and Edwin. However, she's defeated by Crystal who summons Lilith to claim back her power.

Dead Boy Detectives is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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