The Ending Of 2023's Goosebumps Explained
By Mia Tucker
One interesting reveal in the "Goosebumps" finale is Slappy's — or, rather, Kanduu's — surprising motivation in becoming a villain — his struggles with the existential realities of war. Before he takes on the mantle of "Kanduu," he's just a regular British soldier fighting in World War I who is nearly killed in battle (in a shockingly brutal and bloody scene). Before dying, though, he falls into an ancient underground temple near the battlefield. There, he finds a stone mural full of disturbing statues and inscriptions on the wall of an ancient language. He reads an inscription that heals his wounds and grants him magical powers ... but he also finds a particular stone mural that shows him how to unleash monsters on the mortal plane.
Essentially, Kanduu wants to send monsters in the world to force humanity to band against a common threat — which is pretty similar to the twist ending of the immensely influential Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel "Watchmen," (which itself might have borrowed from "The Architects of Fear," an episode from the original version of the horror anthology series "The Outer Limits").
However, while monologuing to the teens, Kanduu claims he's doing this because, without monsters to fight, humans become monsters themselves (citing his experience fighting in WWI). However, Margot rightfully challenges him, stating he actually just wants to pettily enact revenge on the world that forced him to endure that hardship.
