Hellblade Ending Explained

There’s a lot going on in Hellblade. Find out what the ending means!

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice recently released for the PlayStation 4 and PC. While the game isn’t overly long, with most people completing it in under eight hours, the ending has left people baffled. This article offers an ending explanation for Hellblade to help people better understand the ending of the game. There’s a lot of psychosis going on in the game, which makes it a bit more difficult to really understand with some sort of Hellblade ending explained assistant, and that’s where this article comes into play.

Recommended Videos

The Beginning

The main character in Hellblade is Senua, who is a Celtic warrior hailing from the Pict clan. Senua’s father, Zynbel, was the clan druid and very savage toward Senua in an attempt to drive away the darkness within her. As you probably figured out while playing through the game, this darkness was really just a disease or mental illness that had been passed down to Senua from her mother, Galena. This savage behavior actually led to Zynbel burning Galena at the stake, similar to old-fashioned witch hunts.

Senua had blocked out the traumatic experience of her mother being burned alive, but it all came back when she had to watch her companion, Dillion, sacrificed to the Blood Eagle. Seeing this gruesome image pushed Senua over the edge and into a severe psychotic state. Her new mission is to save Dillion’s soul, which begins by taking his head at the beginning of her journey into Helheim. The entire game from this point forward is about Senua accepting Dillion’s death and coming to terms with tha acceptance.

The End

Once everything is said and done, Senua realizes that Dillion is actually dead and nothing she can do will save his soul. She ended up facing off against the Shadow, who is essentially her own father. It’s at this point that Senua understands that Zynbel simply lacked the ability to understand the psychosis that plagued her and her mother. Once she realizes that Dillion is dead and there’s no saving his soul, she starts to emerge from the darkness and the voices begin to fade.

Realizing that Dillion is dead and his soul cannot be saved or revived, Senua stands at the top of a cliff, but we’re first made to believe this is Hela and that Senua is dead. Hela was Senua’s toughest adversary, which is essentially saying that Senua’s toughest opponent was herself this entire time. It’s only after Dillion’s head falls that we see it’s actually Senua.

This area is all that remains of the Northmen devastation, and it’s here that she comes to terms with Dillion’s death and allows his head to fall into the depths below. As she walks away from this scene, she walks away from the psychosis that plagued her throughout the game. The voices haven’t gone, but because Senua is strongers after her long journey, she can accept everything that’s happened and push the psychosis to the back of her mind.

Stay tuned to Prima Games as we offer more insight into Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.


Prima Games is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article What the Heck is Going on With the Fortnite Item Shop Lately?
Screenshot of a skin in Fortnite.
Read Article Lightyear Frontier Early Access Impressions | Titanfarm
Lightyear Frontier Co-op Group
Read Article Share Your Dragon’s Dogma 2 Adventures with Prima Games’ Pawns (Just Don’t Give Us Dragonsplague)
Related Content
Read Article What the Heck is Going on With the Fortnite Item Shop Lately?
Screenshot of a skin in Fortnite.
Read Article Lightyear Frontier Early Access Impressions | Titanfarm
Lightyear Frontier Co-op Group
Read Article Share Your Dragon’s Dogma 2 Adventures with Prima Games’ Pawns (Just Don’t Give Us Dragonsplague)
Author
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.