The departures from the book and what it means for Season 2

All episodes of Der Schwarm are now available for streaming in the ZDF media library. The series finale will be broadcast on TV on Thursday, March 9, 2023. We explain the sometimes confusing ending and what is known about Season 2. Accordingly, the following applies from here: Warning, spoilers for the finale of The Swarm.

The series finale of The Swarm explains: what happens at the end?

The scientists of Der Schwarm discover over the first 7 episodes of the series the Sea intelligence named Yrr. She takes advantage of the creatures of the ocean and coordinates them to attack the humans. This fight reaches its climax in Episode 8.

We learn: The Yrr are a unicellular organism, but they can also fuse into a multicellular mass. To the crush. The alien being can survive alone or as a community. As such, it has a collective memory and sends the message that it has been on Earth much longer than Homo Sapiens. And that it will not allow man to destroy everything. The question is whether peace between the two species is still possible.

In the pool in the belly of the research vessel Thorvaldson, part of the Yrr has been trapped and can thus be studied. So finds Dr. Roche (Cécile de France) discovers that it is possible to poison the Yrr with ketamine. With a chain reaction of the connected organism in the ocean the enemy could be killed completely, but this would also destroy the ecosystem could. The series The Swarm sums it up like this: “If the ocean dies, so do we.”

The ending explains: There are two ways to defeat the swarm

Nevertheless, a corresponding weapon for destruction is being developed and tested. Roscovitz dies (Klaas Heufer-Umlauf). At the same time, one is formed alternative idea to mutual destruction: people must show the yrr that they’re a part of them. By injecting the Yrr into Roscovitz’s corpse, they could fuse with his cells. (A process the Swarm previously failed to do with Alicia Delaware.) For successful communication, humans must become part of the Swarm collective that does not attack itself. However, this can only be achieved at great depth.

Charlie Wagner (Leonie Benesch) therefore drives the submersible deep into the ocean. Here she encounters the glowing organisms, realizes that Roscovitz’s corpse has been dead too long, and sacrifices himself. After surrendering herself to the Yrr and being “read” and understood by them, stop the worldwide sea attacks. The series shows this through the drifting icebergs that had previously surrounded the ship.

At the very end, in The Swarm, Charlie’s body washes up on a shore. Her eyes briefly shimmer blue when she opens them. Not only did she survive, but she succeeded in merging with the Yrr. So there is hope for the peopleto settle this conflict by mutual agreement. The extent to which Charlie has changed, is being controlled, or is still Charlie at all remains open.

In comparison: This is how Frank Schätzing’s book end differs from the series Der Schwarm

In the original novel, The Swarm ends a little differently: Here it is the character Karen Weaver, omitted or rewritten in the series, who dives down. To trigger an emotional response in their opponent, She hands over a corpse pumped full of Yrr pheromones as a messenger substance to the underwater collective. The swarm then stops its attack. Weaver himself survives the dive. Many main characters like Dr. Johanson (Alexander Karim), who advocate a peaceful solution, are murdered beforehand in conflict with the military who want to kill the Yrr.

One year later Humanity is still recovering from the conflict and is only slowly beginning to adjust to the thought of a second equivalent intelligence on their planet. In this cautious truce, a new beginning must take place, with society rebuilding itself, this time without destroying nature. Because the underwater power continues to watch them.

Is there a second season of The Swarm?

After episode 8 of the series The Swarm ends with the cliffhanger of a changed Charlie, the sci-fi series keeps the option open for a second season: “We have with the Hoping there will be a second season“revealed showrunner Frank Doelger. “It was us [aber] very important to give the series a hopeful ending: for the first time there was this communication
[zwischen den Wissenschaftler:innen und der Intelligenz]”.

The sequel to Der Schwarm has not yet been officially ordered. According to Doelger, should the series continue, season 2 already has a motto: “This is the last chance”. In it, humanity would be given one last opportunity to change the way they behave and live on the planet.

Podcast: Is the swarm a million dollar grave or better than its reputation?

We’ve watched every episode of the series, and in this episode of stream browsing, we’re discussing whether the large-scale production lives up to its claims. Listen in:

*. .