Teen Wolf: The Movie ending spoilers follow.
Teen Wolf: The Movie may be everything we loved about Teen Wolf: corny, overly dramatic and ludicrously fantastical in the best possible way, but you'd be forgiven for getting lost down one of its many interwoven storylines.
Everyone Almost everyone is back – villains and friends alike – and you feel like you need encyclopaedic knowledge of Teen Wolf history and lore just to fully grasp everything that's going on.
If you're still scratching your head over the finer details, scouring the web for clarification on this two hour-plus beefy watch you've come to the right place. We've got you covered.
What happened in Teen Wolf: The Movie?
Allison's return has thrown Beacon Hill into more than a bit of a tizzy, but we can't really discuss her tangled involvement in the ending or with the movie's villain without explaining how the heck she became reincarnated, so let's backtrack a bit.
A more mature Scott (Tyler Posey) has become wistful in his adult years. It could be his yearning to settle down and have a family which is made very clear from the offset, or it could have something to do with the visions of Allison (Crystal Reed) he's been getting.
As it turns out, he's not the only one who has been seeing her. Allison's father Chris Argent (JR Bourne) comes to Scott and Deaton (Seth Gilliam) to confess that he too has been plagued by dreams of her that have been increasingly becoming more real.
The two are linked by the word Bardo which Scott had found himself writing and Argent had heard vision Allison repeatedly whisper.
Supernatural expert and mentor to Scott, Deaton, explains that Bardo means a state between life and death. Argent then leaps to the conclusion that it must mean Allison never crossed over after dying in Scott's arms.
Plausible. It has been 15 years, maybe it took her all this time to master how to send messages to loved ones.
In any case the two are determined to pursue this to the very end which of course means rallying the team, but not Stiles (Dylan O'Brien). Nope. He's… otherwise engaged.
Lydia (Holland Roden) however is free as a bird despite having a company to apparently run and we applaud her dedication to the pack.
She too has links with Bardo. Her Banshee instincts have kicked in once more despite her having put her wailing days behind her. Very early on, she begins furiously scribbling on several sheets of paper as though in a trance.
When Jackson (because he's also back) later pieces them all together, they find that her Banshee doodles reveal an image of a very important tree in Teen Wolf fiction, the Sacred Grove. The word Bardo is etched into the centre of the image. (10 guesses as to where this special bring-back-Allison ritual must be held.)
Scott and Lydia call on Malia (Shelley Hennig) to help locate the tree, presumably because she grew up in the woods, as a wild were-coyote, and so should know it well. However she struggles and it's down to Derek's son Eli (Vincent Mattis) to help – because he sleepwalks so we guess he's been there?
We don't know, don't ask too many questions just enjoy the ludicrous ride.
After sending the young wolf-to-be away they begin the ritual. Begin is a bit of a strong word... things just sort of instinctively happen. The key emblems for the ritual (dirt from the ground on which Allison was killed and the weapon which struck her down) fly from their hands and are absorbed into the tree.
It appears at first as though nothing has happened and they walk away but, come on fans, we know better than that. Scott pauses, sensing something before a billowing light spills from the tree, extending from it like roots and back again until all that is left in its centre is a nude Allison.
Distracted by the Allison-ness of the situation they don't notice the ancient malevolent Nogitsune in its fly-form enter the tree in a cloud of 'Elphaba-green' light and reemerge in its more human-form.
The same tatty bandages covering its face as in season three – nice to see him being so consistent. His corporeal self demands chaos, strife, pain so Allison's rebirth can't be all good.
Why did Allison come back in Teen Wolf: The Movie?
So that's how Allison arrived but who's the puppet master behind the visions and the messages?
That would be one creepy hooded figure who, at the beginning of the movie, arrives in Japan and goes toe-to-toe with werewolf Liam (Dylan Sprayberry) and his kitsune girlfriend Hikari (Amy Lin Workman) to get his hands on a jar in which the banished Nogitsune was trapped.
The hooded figure clearly won the battle otherwise there would be no movie. The mysterious evil reveals that he wants revenge on Scott and his pack meaning this new foe is not so new.
He wants chaos and pain to run rife in their life and who better than the Nogitsune to help achieve that?
This quickly actualises when Allison reawakens and she's not in a huggy-reunion mood. Instead she reverts back to her former mindset pre-Scott. Werewolves bad, Argent hunters good.
Her base instincts tell her to hunt the oldest wolf family in Beacon Hills, the Hales, which means Derek and Eli are in for a rough ride.
Is Allison evil in Teen Wolf: The Movie?
No, not exactly but he Nogitsune does manipulate Allison's fragile mind and uses her to do his bidding.
He convinces Allison that Scott is the enemy which is pretty easy considering she remembers no one, not even her own father. Though somehow she is susceptible enough to be tricked into believing that Scott is the enemy who destroyed her loved ones – who she only half remembers. (We swear it's addictively good. Just watch it.)
What ensues is a long cat and mouse chase with Allison running all over Beacon Hills trying to slaughter everyone with a supernatural tail before Scott catches up to her and tries to do a slew of things. Convince her that she no longer hunts werewolves, help her get her memories back, remind her of their connection, get her to stop trying to kill him. It's a lot.
Eventually the only way to achieve this is for him to stop running and allow her/help her to stab him with a dagger coated in wolfsbane (a very deadly substance for a werewolf but you know, you're a fan). In doing so she comes to slowly accept that he is not a danger to her
Meanwhile the Nogitsune is busy killing a kitsune and stealing his power so that he can summon nine Oni as part of his master plan.
This great plan has the Oni capturing some of Scott's loved ones and trapping them in a world of illusion. That includes Derek, Eli (who is struggling with his wolf transformation), Liam, Hikari and Sheriff Stilinski (Linden Ashby).
All the while Argent, Scott's mum Melissa (Melissa Ponzio) and Peter Hale (Ian Bohen) are trying to track Allison who has brought the dying Scott to the college where the lacrosse tournament is taking place.
Why lacrosse? Because it's Teen Wolf and Teen Wolf without lacrosse is like Teen Wolf without Stiles *side-eye.* It also happens to be where Nogitsune has hidden his illusion, underneath the college stadium.
At the instruction of the Nogitsune, Allison has brought Scott here but the Nogitsune's hold on her is beginning to wane as Scott appeals to the part of Allison only he can reach.
Showing her an old photograph of the two together triggers something in Allison bringing back memories of Lydia and Jackson (Colton Haynes) at the winter formal but not Scott.
He shares with her the story of their break up, detailing how he told her then that he knew that they'd be together, even then, after she'd dumped him.
"You told me there's no such thing as fate. Do you remember what I told you back?" He desperately probes to which, enlighted, Allison answers: "There's no such thing as werewolves."
It's enough to convince her to trust him, to save him by burning the wolfsbane out of him but not to conjure up all of her memories.
After saving him she decides that the only thing she can trust is that she needs to find her father, the only family she has left and the two part ways temporarily. While Scott and Allison were having a moment, his pack have been busy.
Malia and Jordan Parrish (aka the hellhound) go in search of silver to kill the Oni while Lydia and Jackson have been playing junior detectives.
The two discover that the multiple fires that have purposefully been set in the forest over the last few weeks have not been aimless. Teen Wolf: The Movie's hooded villain has been burning down rowan trees to create mountain ash, a naturally occurring substance, capable of caging supernatural creatures… but not Banshees. Remember that.
Everyone is doing their part and now, no longer preoccupied with Allison trying to kill him, Scott can too.
In order to rid the stadium of lacrosse fans before the Oni arrive Scott and Eli (who the Nongitsune has thrust back into the real world as part of his twisted plan) must help the team win the game.
Anything just to get more lacrosse in right?
The hapless Eli - who is channeling so much of Stiles' high school lacrosse career - scores the winning goal. After cheers and yelps the onlookers exit in drones leaving the real game to begin. The Nogitsune's game and no one's cheering just yet.
Who is the hooded villain in Teen Wolf: The Movie?
Lydia and Jackson's detective trail has led them to the stadium as well but before they can attend to their friends they are accosted by their hooded foe at gunpoint.
Their unmasked enemy reveals himself to be none other than Mr Adrian Harris (Adam Fristoe). Their former chemistry teacher. Dum, dum, duuuuum.
He was always a bit of an obnoxious tool, but now he's really stepped things up by setting the Nogitsune on his former students.
His appearance is an underwhelming surprise. It was thought that Harris had died after being tied to a tree and garroted to death by the dark druid or Darach pretending to be a teacher known as Jennifer Blake. It turns out he blames his fate on Scott and his meddlesome pack.
At this point in the Nogitsune's plan Scott and Allison have been transported into the world of his illusion and are forced to fight the nine Oni.
They attempt to buy some time until Malia and Parrish (Ryan Kelley) can find their way in with the silver.
What happened to Lydia and Stiles?
Harris lifts the guise like a one-way mirror to show Lydia and a now-shot Jackson their friends in turmoil as they fight what appears to be a deadly, losing battle.
While this anguish may be sweet for the Nogitsune, Harris happily feeds him more by serving him Lydia's pain. This he does by dragging the truth of her secret heartbreak to the surface by getting her to reveal the true reason she left Stiles.
Banshee Lydia had received a premonition foreshadowing Stiles' death for which she was present. To prevent the vision from coming true she left him, in the hopes that her absence would save him.
Teen Wolf: The Movie ending explained
Lydia is ravaged by pain but an injured Jackson encourages and coaches her from sidelines to use her Banshee wail to reach Allison, because, if you remember, mountain ash is no match for a Banshee's power.
Lydia wails Allison's name and the force of her cry not only blows back the Oni, it is powerful enough to summon up Allison's lost memories.
Always with the Ace up his sleeve, the Nogitstune puts into action the final stage of his plan known as the divine move. "A move so brilliant and it is inspired to change the shape of the entire game, a move only a God could make," as Peter explained it.
He offers Scott a deal, made even more wicked by the return of Allison's memories. A bow and arrow to the heart to kill the true Alpha and a death in Allison's arms in exchange for his friends' lives.
His passing away in her arms as she did in his is supposed to be some kind of poetry.
Valiantly, Scott agrees and after some reluctance (but not much persuading it has to be said) Allison does as he asks and shoots him three times in the heart, presumably so that he will die before he has the chance to speedily heal.
Victory is declared for the Nogitsune but his gloating is a little too hasty. The arrows become incinerated before the Nogitsune can barely finish his taunting riddle and Scott heals rapidly. Hikari's kitsune fox protection then leaves Scott and returns to her revealing that the Nogitsune had been tricked.
Having failed in his divine move it's believed that this ancient spirit has been defeated but not before Allison shoots him in the head with an arrow. Poetic justice the lady doth protest.
However they should have known it wouldn't have been that easy. The Nogitsune is by no means finished with the McCall pack and summons the Oni once more. No matter, Scott and co seem to have found a renewed energy.
Jordan finally manages to use his hellhound fire to burn through the mountain ash which allows him, Malia, Argent, Melissa and Peter to join the fight.
They're killing Oni left and right while Jackson and Lydia manage to get the upper hand on Harris. Eli combines his newly fledged werewolf powers with his father's to help free Derek and together they free the rest of their bound friends.
They make quick work of the Oni leaving the Nogitsune stewing. He embarks on this speech which basically serves to remind Scott that he possesses the blood of the wolf thanks to the bite Scott gave him in season three.
After the Nogitsune rips off the bandages on his head to reveal a mangled face with glowing green eyes, Derek, Eli and their alpha Scott wolf-up (that is to say they transform) and mount an attack on the enraged Nogitsune.
The Nogitsune uses his power of illusion to separate them and pick them off one by one but this feeble attempt to overthrow them doesn't last long. The three draw on their pack bond and howl to unite themselves before detaining the Nogitsune with Parrish's help.
Sadly even with their combined efforts they cannot defeat the Nogitsune. The only way to do so is for Parrish to use his hell fire to scorch him to death. However Parrish cannot hold him alone.
Someone has to play the martyr and on this rare occasion it's not Scott volunteering as tribute. Eli was knocked to the side before Parrish stepped in placing him in safety. Knowing this Derek takes the opportunity to beseech Scott to take care of Eli.
"He's part of your pack now," he tells Scott before shoving him out of the way and telling Parrish to "light this f**ker up". Parrish doesn't even blink once before obeying. Harsh. Horrified fans everywhere watch as Derek burns to death.
The moment is heartwrenchingly poignant not only because it’s the first major loss since Allison (which has now been undermined by her return). It also hits hard because as he dies Derek's eyes turn from cool blue to alpha red.
A werewolf can only rise to true alpha status due to their own willpower, virtue and strength of character. It is something so exceptionally rare it's unlikely to be seen within 100 years and yet, less than two decades after Scott became a true alpha, Derek joins him.
Those who have followed Derek's journey know that lost his gold eyes and earned his steely blue ones when he took an innocent human life. The mercy-killing his first love, who was already dying when her body rejected the bite of another werewolf, has haunted him for years. Now in death he has been redeemed and absolved any guilt.
It's a beautiful moment. One that can't even be topped by the Nogitsune being reduced to ashes, metaphorically speaking. Nothing was left behind in Parrish's molten wake.
As this bittersweet tale comes to a close it is clear that Allison and Scott are together, together and Eli is now under Scott's guardianship.
What happened to Harris in Teen Wolf: The Movie?
Who could forget about the instigator of all this folly and woe. Harris assumes he's being taken to see his lawyer but where he really ends up at the close of the film is at Eichen House, a mental health treatment facility.
In a surprise twist, the news of his detainment at Eichen is broken to Harris by Dr Conrad Fenris the Chief Medical Officer (John Sanford Posey).
Fenris' personal Teen Wolf saga is a complicated one. In the past he has been an ally to the McCall pack but during season six Fenris had been warped by the latest antagonist the Anuk-ite.
The Anuk-ite used its fear-inducing powers to coerce Fenris into murdering all the supernatural creatures who he was manipulated into believing were a danger to humanity. Lydia was able to defeat him with her Banshee scream and though it was never confirmed, he was assumed dead.
Well, we guess we were wrong because here he is, looking very much alive and back to his old self as he smugly carts Harris off to detention.
How does Teen Wolf: the Movie set up a potential spin off?
As Harris is being dragged off against his will to Eichen he is protesting his… well not innocence, but that the kids of Beacon Hill are rotten.
"The kids, the teenagers, they're werewolves," he bellows to anyone who will listen but it falls on deaf ears.
The only one to respond is Fenris who says: "Trust me, we've heard plenty of stories about teenage werewolves, there's always a new one."
Now we know this isn't referring to TV series Wolf Pack, debuting the same day and by the same showrunner as Teen Wolf: The Movie. The creator Jeff Davis has made it explicitly clear that the franchises are in no way linked.
Instead the movie end on a shot of Eli, gazing at the moon. He turns to stare into the camera with glowing gold eyes; his father's reminder echoing in his mind "remember who you are," and who is he?
A Hale. A freaking teen wolf. Need we say more?
Teen Wolf: The Movie is now available to watch on Paramount+ .
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