Deathloop Endings and Story Explained
This page contains information on the endings of Deathloop and the story that can be explained through the information you gather over the course of the game. To figure out how to experience all three of Deathloop's endings, see the walkthrough for the final mission, Ending it.
Depending on Colt's choice in the game's final showdown, Deathloop has three possible endings:
- Colt kills Julianna, but not himself. The loop persists.
- Colt kills Julianna and himself. The loop ends for both.
- Colt spares Julianna. Both remain, together, in the loop.
Here's what happens in each of them, as well as what it all means.
What's Happening in Deathloop?
Deathloop's story can be hard to figure out - in part because of the nature of the revolving loop you have to live through, but also because many of its larger mysteries are never outright explained. However, there are certain clues provided by the dialogue Colt overhears and the many notes you can find in Blackreef. But the basic setup is that everyone on the island relives the same day over and over. And everyone, except for Colt, Julianna, the Eternalist known as Pick, and the 2-Bit AI -- forgets all the events of the day when it gets reset to the morning.
Throughout his quest, Colt learns important facts about his past, his relationship with the other Visionaries, the scientific experiments, and, eventually, the fact that Julianna is his daughter. Colt finds out he was a military pilot in the 1930s -- and it's his mastery of aircraft that got him the job to pilot a rocket in a science experiment in Blackreef, where scientists discovered an anomaly and are attempting to explore it and harness its powers.
He also finds out that before he embarked on his flight, Colt's love, Lila Blake, died of Karsovolanec's Syndrome at the age of 51. She left Colt a daughter: Julianna Blake. Though heartbroken, Colt completed the rocket experiment, but it triggered a time loop and Colt got stuck reliving the same day over and over for a full 17 years. Colt was able to break the loop, but suffered mental consequences and underwent psychiatric care.
Meanwhile, the seven we come to know as the Visionaries started the AEON Program and tried to use the anomaly's power to essentially create eternal life for themselves. That gets us to the events of the game. All of the Visionaries are in a state of relative happiness and want to continue to experiment, learn, record music, or, well, party -- and they've invited others to the island to become participants and benefactors (or tortured subjects, in many cases) for their repeating "ideal" day. This entourage of extras is known as the Eternalists.
We further learn that Egor brought back Colt from the asylum, who then takes on the role of head of security for the AEON program. But unlike the other Visionaries, Colt's mind is tortured by the repetition and the very thought of an eternal loop. A world without Lila can never be Paradise -- and so Colt starts to try and break out of the cycle. Knowing that the group is closely connected to the mechanics of the looping phenomenon, he sets out to kill all the Visionaries to interrupt it, including his own daughter, Julianna. Over time, he forgets more and more things from his past, likely due to his dissociative mental condition and the trauma of the repetitive quest. Julianna -- who remembers every painful death and attempt on her life -- starts to fight back and tries to get Colt to regain and retain his memories. As he progresses, more and more memory snippets appear in front of Colt, imagined as glowing warnings and words of wisdom floating in the air.
In order to break the loop, Colt has to kill all Visionaries in a single day, which is initially impossible. As he starts to disrupt the loop, certain events begin to change and he gains more and more powers (and better weapons). This ultimately leads to Colt being able to assemble many of his enemies in specific areas, such as a pumping station and a party. He is able -- with the player's help -- to kill all Visionaries in a single day, open up the RAK rocket hangar with the help of four secret passwords, and pilot the ship to crash land in Julianna's final hiding place.
Colt's Choice
Deathloop's main story ends with Colt being forced to make a decision: Will Cole break the loop by killing Julianna and then himself, destroying everything AEON has done? Or does he continue the cycle, to spend each day with her on this island? Julianna offers colt an old dueling pistol -- museum pieces -- reminding him that some old things are worth preserving even if they're not perfect. She then counts to three while the two are holding the guns to each others' heads. Colt has to choose: shoot or don't shoot his own daughter.
If you choose to kill Julianna and then yourself, you'll awaken on the beach -- but the sky will be different and strange, and Julianna will pull a gun on you, but walk off angrily, likely never to speak to you again. Julianna, like the other Visionaries, perceived the time loop as a never-ending paradise. A new day. For most, without the consequences of what they did or even remembering what they did. But Julianna was different and fought to keep the loop going, as she was able to remember, learn, and on a quest to get her father to remember his past and present.
A Doomed World?
The consequence of all the Visionaries (including Julianna and Colt) being killed during the loop is, presumably, that they're now free of the loop. We don't know this for sure, as we don't get to see what happened to everyone else, but it's possible they're all now unstuck and have to make their lives count. However, there are hints in front of Colt that that may not be the "good" ending. For one, his relationship with Julianna is shattered. She literally disappears (presumably using an Aether slab) in front of his eyes. Will they ever reconcile? Also, what's happening to the real world?
This is what it looked like when Colt woke up on Blackreef every morning:
This is what it looks like now, after breaking the loop:
The sky is a foreboding orange and the ice has melted completely. Was the world outside the loop on the brink of destruction, or steadily heading towards an irreversible environmental catastrophe? Was the loop the only thing keeping Blackreef's inhabitants from having to face harsh reality or even certain death? Or did breaking the loop cause a catastrophe that affected the world around it? We don't know the answers, but those swirls in the sky definitely raise all sorts of questions.
For many players, this ending is the good one: Colt and Julianna have to embrace reality and forge their own future, without do-overs. Or maybe the world is okay, after all. For others, it's a bad ending: the quest of finding love and reuniting with his daughter has led to an uncertain ending.
Golden Loop Extended Ending
With the release of the Golden Loop Update, the "Good" Ending now has an extended cutscene, one that now showcases how all of the other Eternalist leaders are coping with the realization that their utopia has crumbled. You can also see Colt personally rescue Charlie's AI and take it with him as he leaves the island behind.
A Happy Loop?
If you choose not to pull the trigger, Colt will instead awaken on the beach seeing the same sunrise as always, only Julianna is waiting to meet him not far away. This is the equivalent of the Blue Pill in The Matrix -- and it's up to the interpretation of the player whether this is good or bad (or both). Colt has reunited with his daughter, and Julianna even calls him "Dad" again. While the two are living their lives in a one-day loop, they're in it together. They joke about sending Aleksis through the meat grinder and promise each other a drink at the party.
Now, the rest of Blackreef keeps reliving their lives -- which means some are stuck in perpetual torture, to be gassed and murdered for the pleasure of others. The Eternalist Pick even keeps her memories and ends her life everyday, over and over again. While this ending is an escape from consequences, it is also an escape from taking responsibility. Julianna's paradise is restored by getting her back together with her father, but the bliss comes at a price.
Unbroken Loop
There is, of course, a secret ending, too. If Colt kills Julianna and not himself and simply sits in the chair and waits for the day to end, the entire loop resets. The cat and mouse game will go and and on and perhaps continue for many decades to come.
No matter which ending Colt lives or dies through, it's likely that the whole story isn't yet written. Will a sequel to Deathloop pick up on one of the two possible storylines? Or take a completely different path? Or maybe there won't be a sequel and we'll just have to replay this whole game over and over.