The Three - the ending (spoilers, obvi)

SusieBW · October 2015

So, I'm not sure I really "got" the ending. And I'm not sure I understand what even happened at the end of the book.

At the end, did someone (or something) go back and have Pamela die before she could record the message that started the whole thing? and change all the plane crashes?

Was Hiro really dead, and was that the android Hiro that the reporter was talking to in the cabin in the woods, or was it real Hiro?

Has anyone read Day Four - the "sequel"/companion book to The Three? There is some reference in there to Lillian Small getting involved with this psychic and spending tens of thousands of dollars searching for her daughter and Bobby because the psychic had her convinced that both of them were alive, even though all records said they had both perished in the plane crash. So again - did something or someone at the end of The Three somehow alter the history so that the kids all died in the crash?

dmlk413 · October 2015

I have no idea what happened at the end. Were The Three ghosts or aliens or what? Were the plane crashes just some game for the ghosts/aliens/spirits? I didn't get it.

I couldn't tell if the Hiro that speaks in the end was the android or not. I kind of think it was but would that mean that he was hiding somewhere making it speak or was he dead?

SnShne322 · October 2015

I didn't liked how Lillian Small survived the car crash. Not only that, but if she were to survive, I feel like it should serve a purpose. Instead, it was like the Elspeth was like OMG I might have something only to find out she died later on. So what was the point of her surviving the crash?

I really hated the Japanese girl. I thought she was annoying through out, but at the end with Hiro and her actively encouraging the other guy to commit suicide made me sick. Maybe this is how it's categorized as horror? I didn't find it scary really, but there were a lot of despicable people.

I'm having trouble remembering exactly what happened with Pamela in the end. I remembered being all WTF. I read it on my Kindle so I wasn't anticipating the book to end at 94%.

packfan20 · October 2015

I *think* the end with Pamela was a flashback to the beginning and her recording the message. Not a "current event" thing.

I didn't quite grasp how the androids worked but I think that the Hiro at the end was the android, not the real one.

packfan20 · October 2015

dmlk413 said:

I have no idea what happened at the end. Were The Three ghosts or aliens or what? Were the plane crashes just some game for the ghosts/aliens/spirits? I didn't get it.

Yes, what I figured is that is was a creepy Groundhog Day thing. They've done things like this before, just changed certain variables to see how society would react.

I could be way off...

julie37619 · October 2015

I've read Day Four! I don't want to spoiler it though - should we start a new thread to discuss it?

j*&p* · October 2015

packfan20 said:

dmlk413 said:

I have no idea what happened at the end. Were The Three ghosts or aliens or what? Were the plane crashes just some game for the ghosts/aliens/spirits? I didn't get it.

Yes, what I figured is that is was a creepy Groundhog Day thing. They've done things like this before, just changed certain variables to see how society would react.

I could be way off...

This was my take too: that whatever alien beings inhabited the bodies of the Three kept doing this over and over again (maybe time traveling, maybe all of humanity is just their personal chess board to play with and they could restart whenever they wanted?) manipulating the variables for fun to see what happens.

As for the real Hiro, I think he died in the plane crash and alien posing as Hiro was the soul/ entity talking through the android in the end.

I actually wondered if the Three's ability to make people go mad and or manipulate them is what happened to Chiyoko. The papparazo that was eaten by his lizards: that seemed like some brain scrambling from Bobby Small. Reuben coming back to coherence from his alzheimers also seemed to fall into this category. Paul going crazy and seeing Stephen and smelling the fish smell seemed to be Jess's work. Chiyoko wasn't especially likable from the beginning, but I did feel like she cared about Ryu and wondered if it wasn't the Alien Formerly Known as Hiro at work when she encouraged his suicide.

SnShne322 · October 2015

j*&p* said:

packfan20 said:

dmlk413 said:

I have no idea what happened at the end. Were The Three ghosts or aliens or what? Were the plane crashes just some game for the ghosts/aliens/spirits? I didn't get it.

Yes, what I figured is that is was a creepy Groundhog Day thing. They've done things like this before, just changed certain variables to see how society would react.

I could be way off...

This was my take too: that whatever alien beings inhabited the bodies of the Three kept doing this over and over again (maybe time traveling, maybe all of humanity is just their personal chess board to play with and they could restart whenever they wanted?) manipulating the variables for fun to see what happens.

As for the real Hiro, I think he died in the plane crash and alien posing as Hiro was the soul/ entity talking through the android in the end.

I actually wondered if the Three's ability to make people go mad and or manipulate them is what happened to Chiyoko. The papparazo that was eaten by his lizards: that seemed like some brain scrambling from Bobby Small. Reuben coming back to coherence from his alzheimers also seemed to fall into this category. Paul going crazy and seeing Stephen and smelling the fish smell seemed to be Jess's work. Chiyoko wasn't especially likable from the beginning, but I did feel like she cared about Ryu and wondered if it wasn't the Alien Formerly Known as Hiro at work when she encouraged his suicide.

That's an interesting take! Like you said, Chiyoko wasn't particularly likeable, but she wasn't horrible in the beginning. She was the only one who really connected with Hiro.

SusieBW · October 2015

SnShne322 said:

j*&p* said:

packfan20 said:

dmlk413 said:

I have no idea what happened at the end. Were The Three ghosts or aliens or what? Were the plane crashes just some game for the ghosts/aliens/spirits? I didn't get it.

Yes, what I figured is that is was a creepy Groundhog Day thing. They've done things like this before, just changed certain variables to see how society would react.

I could be way off...

This was my take too: that whatever alien beings inhabited the bodies of the Three kept doing this over and over again (maybe time traveling, maybe all of humanity is just their personal chess board to play with and they could restart whenever they wanted?) manipulating the variables for fun to see what happens.

As for the real Hiro, I think he died in the plane crash and alien posing as Hiro was the soul/ entity talking through the android in the end.

I actually wondered if the Three's ability to make people go mad and or manipulate them is what happened to Chiyoko. The papparazo that was eaten by his lizards: that seemed like some brain scrambling from Bobby Small. Reuben coming back to coherence from his alzheimers also seemed to fall into this category. Paul going crazy and seeing Stephen and smelling the fish smell seemed to be Jess's work. Chiyoko wasn't especially likable from the beginning, but I did feel like she cared about Ryu and wondered if it wasn't the Alien Formerly Known as Hiro at work when she encouraged his suicide.

That's an interesting take! Like you said, Chiyoko wasn't particularly likeable, but she wasn't horrible in the beginning. She was the only one who really connected with Hiro.

Yup, all of this makes sense to me too.

The Three - the ending (spoilers, obvi)

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