‘The LEGO Movie 2’ on HBO: Let’s Talk About That Twist Ending

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The LEGO Movie 2. Spoiled movies can still be awesome, but read at your own risk.

When the first LEGO Movie came out in 2014, audiences were skeptical. “A movie based on LEGOs,” they scoffed. “What’s next, a movie based on a theme park ride?” After googling “Pirates of the Caribbean” and getting thoroughly embarrassed, writer-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller proved the haters wrong with a smart, funny film, and hammered home their victory with a startlingly brilliant plot twist. For the follow-up sequel—The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, which is airing on HBO tonight—Lord and Miller once again pulled the rug out from under viewers. And while the twist in the second film may not have worked quite as well as the one in the first film, you have to admit, you probably weren’t expecting it.

Directed by Mike Mitchell, and written by Lord and Miller, The LEGO Movie 2 picked up where The LEGO Movie left off… and then flashes forwards five years in the future. Bricksburg has become a post-apocalyptic wasteland, thanks to the DUPLO aliens.  Emmet (Chris Pratt) is still a construction worker, but his happy-go-lucky attitude proves to be his downfall when a mini-doll (a real-life LEGO toy intended to appeal to young girls) named General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) kidnaps his friends Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Benny (Charlie Day), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), and Unikitty (Allison Brie). Determined to save her, he teams up with a mysterious new character named Rex Dangervest, a “Galaxy-defending archeologist, cowboy, and raptor trainer,” AKA all of Pratt’s Indiana Jones-esque roles. Emmet adopts Rex’s rough-and-tumble attitude and even draws himself some stubble.

What is The LEGO Movie 2 plot twist?

OK, are you ready for this? Here’s the big twist of The LEGO Movie 2: Rex is actually a version of Emmet from the future. That’s why he’s also played by Pratt, who does a very impressive job changing his voice beyond recognition. Basically, many years in Rex’s past (and Emmet’s potential future), he crashed his ship in an asteroid field and was abandoned under the clothes dryer. After years of neglect, he turned to the dark side, changed his name to “Radical Emmet Xtreme”—or Rex, for short—and built himself a time machine using time machines from several different popular time-travel films and shows. Rex wants to ensure he will exist in the future, so he overpowers Emmet and knocks him under the dryer.

Now, don’t forget that—as we learned via the plot twist of the first film—this whole LEGO story all comes from the head of the human child, now a preteen played by Jadon Sand, Finn. But when their mom gets fed up with their bickering and makes them put their toys away, “Armamageddon” descends on the LEGO world.

How does The LEGO Movie 2 end?

Well, as you might expect, Emmet fights back to make sure he doesn’t become the bitter, evil Rex, using the power of friendship. Rex thus disappears from the timeline. In the real world, Finn and his sister finally decide to play together, so their mother returns their toys, thus stopping “Armamageddon” in the LEGO world.

Does The LEGO Movie 2 ending make sense?

I mean, does time travel ever make sense? Lord and Miller good-naturedly acknowledge this by having Rex’s time travel come from a plethora of franchises (Back to the Future, Hot Tub Time Machine, Bill & Ted and Doctor Who). Also, because this is all coming from the mind of a child, it doesn’t really have to make sense. Kids come up with convoluted, contradictory stories when they play make-believe, after all. However, one unexplained loose end is what happened to the LEGO figure of Rex in the real world. It’s also not clear which human child was controlling the showdown between Rex and Emmet. Meh. Wibbly-wobbly, time-y wime-y. It may not quite hold up to the brilliance of the twist in the first film, but it’s still fun. Just go with it, and enjoy!

Where to stream The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part