What Happens in the 'Castle Rock' Season Finale? Spoilers for Episode 10, "Romans"

The first season of Castle Rock has been building towards an epic conclusion. Mysterious deaths, the voice of God, an immortal man trapped in a cage who might be the Devil and alternate realities. Where will it all lead?

The tenth and final episode of Season 1, appropriately titled "Romans" after the sixth book in the New Testament, brings us back to the first episode. Henry Deaver (Andre Holland) is a death row lawyer and asks a jury, "How much doubt is reasonable? How much doubt are you folks comfortable with?"

Henry Deaver is a man of doubt: doubt in himself, his past and in God. In episode 9, it is confirmed that the existence of Castle Rock is shrouded in multiple alternate realities. In a different reality, The Kid (Bill Skarsgard) is who Henry Deaver would be if his parents had been able to conceive a child. It is confirmed that the Kid has been trapped in the wrong reality for 30 years, held in a cage by Warden Lacy in a closed off section of Shawshank Prison. In a flashback sequence, we see Warden Lacy contemplate shooting the Kid in his cage. He leans forward almost as an invitation. It doesn't work and the Warden leaves him alone in the dark.

This episode is a race against time, as the Kid pleads with Molly (Melanie Lynskey) and Henry to help him return to his own reality. He believes that the ringing in his and Henry's ears—the schisma, as Odin Branch (C.J. Jones) called it in previous episodes—is an indication that the veil between realities is thin. This is the only time he can return to his world and end the chaos that his existence is causing. Henry, always doubtful, struggles to believe this and goes so far as to turn the Kid into the police.

Henry and the Kid are not the only ones who hear the schisma as Henry's son, Wendell (Chosen Jacobs), has been lured off his bus home to Boston and follows the sound back to Castle Rock. He stumbles upon a crime scene: the police have finally found Odin's body in the woods. Odin's accomplice, Willie (Rory Culkin), fingers Henry as the murderer. When Henry rushes to retrieve Wendell from the station, the police, who have always been mistrustful of Henry, finally have a reason to hold him in custody after years of suspicion. In another twist of irony, Henry and the Kid are now held in a cage together at the police station.

"Who are you?" Henry asks.

"Same as you," the Kid replies. "A victim."

Meanwhile, the curse of the Shawshank Warden is alive at Castle Rock. As Shawshank Prison is preparing to close its doors for good, Warden Porter follows in the footsteps of her predecessors and is killed in an untimely manner. In a darkly ironic twist, she is flattened by a bus full of Shawshank prisoners being transported to another facility.

Due to this unfortunate accident, the prisoners of Shawshank are shepherded into a second holding cell in the Castle Rock police station. Under the Kid's unnatural and chaotic influence, a riot ensues and the prisoners escape, murdering the police and wreaking unspeakable havoc on the town. In the chaos, the Kid brings Henry to the woods at gunpoint.

In another flashback sequence, it is finally revealed what happened the fateful day Henry disappeared 30 years ago.

After Reverend Deaver confessed his plans to murder Henry's mother. "For the wages of sin, is death. Romans," he quotes before a young Henry (Caleel Harris) flees into the woods. His father pursues him and Henry, in an effort to protect his mother, pushes his father from a cliff as a swarm of crows circle above. Henry watches Reverend Deaver fall and shatters his spine. The ringing in his ears becomes louder. At this moment, Henry is transported to the other reality. In that world, he is held in a cage for 30 years. When he finally returns to his correct reality, only 11 days have passed.

In the last ten minutes of "Romans," we flash forward to a year later. Henry is now living in Castle Rock, working as a property lawyer. It's Christmastime. He and Wendell play chess with Ruth's special set. She has since passed away and is buried next to Alan Pangborn. Molly left Castle Rock to sell real estate in Key West.

"Everyone in this town has some sin or regret, some cage of his own making," Henry says in a voiceover. "Maybe something turned you into a monster. Or maybe you were one all along."

In a shocking turn of events, Henry had overpowered the Kid that day in the woods and forced him back into the cage underneath the abandoned Shawshank Prison. Henry was unable to shed his doubts and is now a Warden of his own making. He wishes the Kid a Merry Christmas as he climbs back up the ladder, out of the hole and closes the latch behind him. The last we see of the Kid, he is alone in the dark. A sinister smile spreads across his face.

Castle Rock has been renewed for a second season. The final episode will air Wednesday on Hulu.