Manifest season 4's ending, explained — Who survives the Death Date? (2024)

Manifest final season spoilers follow – including season 4's ending.

Manifest fans have been on a long, bumpy ride. After NBC cancelled the show a little while back, Netflix made our hearts soar with a renewal that meant the story could finally be told in full. And now, after years of waiting, we've finally reached the passenger's Death Date, exactly one year ahead of the real-life Death Date.

So who survives the final episode of Manifest? And what set everything in motion in the first place? Hop on board Flight 828 one last time as we buckle in for the ride to end all rides. Quite literally.

Manifest season 4 part 2 ending, explained

"Final Boarding" aptly kicks off on the morning of Death Day with Ben, Michaela, Saanvi, and TJ all suffering from panic attacks in the wake of Cal's disappearance. Michaela reckons that's how they're supposed to die. "As if we exploded in a plane crash," adds Ben.

How anyone could sleep the night before their Death Day is beyond us, but life must be tiring on Manifest, we suppose.

Olive and TJ discover the volcano card along with some writing carved on a rock. The inscription is hard to read, so Olive, Jared, Drea and little Eden head off to Angeline's cult centre to try and solve this last, vital clue while Ben, Mick, Saanvi, and TJ stay behind at the campsite.

When Olive and everyone arrive at the former Stone house, they realise that Angelina's cult has already left for Storm King Mountain. Thankfully, Eagan and Adrian were already heading there too, which gives them the chance to slow those "nutjobs" down by sabotaging Angelina's van.

Did we mention that there's also a volcano emerging in New York that could erupt any second?

The rest of the passengers arrive at the campsite after seeing Cal's beacon of light. Everyone except Angelina's cult, that is. And then, just as they all start to get carried away with making speeches, the actual plane, Flight 828, suddenly emerges as lava erupts from the ground below.

Everyone boards the plane in desperation, and that's when Angelina's crew show up with guns, demanding everyone get off again as this "ark" is meant only for them.

Meanwhile, Olive figures out that the rock's inscription reads: "Forgiveness lightens the heart". The "AZ" part of the letters "PIXLAZ" stands for "Al-Zuras," so "PIX" must mean pictures. The "L" is still hard to figure out, but Al-Zuras owns a journal full of pictures, so Olive reckons the answer could be in there.

That's when Olive discovers that the picture of Ben carrying her through the fire isn't really Olive at all. He's actually carrying Angelina. With that vital new piece of information, Olive calls Ben up with a message: "The only way for you to survive your Death Date is to forgive Angelina."

It turns out that this whole journey wasn't just about solving Callings. Ben also needs to forgive Angelina, and if not, then all hope is lost.

Thankfully, Ben makes the right choice and decides not to shoot Angelina with a shotgun, because Ben is nothing if not sensible. Instead of killing her, or even leaving her to die, Ben carries Angelina on the plane to safety with fire all around, just like the picture foretold.

With everyone finally on board, Captain Amuta takes off with the aid of his co-pilot, Michaela Stone. It's literally the end of the world outside, so it's understandable that the passengers start to endure more panic attacks. What might surprise you though is that Paul suddenly implodes into ash, and then others start dying too, just like they would have on Flight 828.

Saanvia tries to reassure everyone that only those who deserve it will die in this way. And then, her arm begins to crackle... But when Saanvi tells Ben that she's ready to die, she suddenly turns out to be ok.

Something similar happens when Adrian starts to flare up too. Eagan begs God to take him in Adrian's place, and then he starts to crackle. But Adrian points out that anyone who would sacrifice themselves like that can't be selfish.

Then it's Angelina's turn. Just because she claims to be an "angel," that doesn't mean she's spared. Things get even weirder then though because after her death, a shadowy, Grim Reaper-type figure suddenly emerges.

Ben and Michaela beg for the lives of everyone left on board, arguing that they've all done everything they possibly could to prove they were worthy of this second chance. And with that, the shadow suddenly disappears as quickly as it came.

While this was all going down, Jared helped Drea deliver her baby and Olive prepared for the end with little Eden by her side. But the end never comes. After the shadow was vanquished aboard the plane, all the volcanic activity stops completely.

"I think we might've just saved the world," says Michaela.

With the apocalypse out of commission, Captain Amuta flies the plane straight into the Glow where the doors open and Flight 828 finds itself safely back in New York. But that's not all. The date is now April 7th, 2013, which means everyone aboard the plane has travelled back in time to the date they were originally supposed to land.

All the passengers who died across the past four seasons are alive and well again, except for the eleven who spontaneously combusted in this final episode, including Angelina.

After TJ and a young Olive are reunited, Michaela turns down Jared's proposal, saying:

"I will always, always love you. This trip made me realise a lot. It made me realise that we want different things, and I don't wanna change, and I do not want you to change. I think there's someone better out there for you. Someone who wants everything that you want."

Michaela then gives Jared his ring back, believing that he'll eventually find love with Drea.

Saanvi forgives Alex in a touching reunion after Alex professes her love for her.

Ben reveals to Grace that Saanvi is going to be the one who ends up curing Cal of his disease. Michaela arrives then fresh off her break up with Jared, but she realises something and runs out of the airport to find Zeke driving a cab. She tells a passenger that she's married to Zeke, but of course, he doesn't remember their relationship.

They have a lot to catch up on then, it seems!

Police show up to investigate where the 11 missing people went, unaware of all the apocalyptic, time-travel hijinks Flight 828 went through.

The survivors don't care too much though, because they finally got the happy ending they've been fighting for all these years. Ben is with Grace, Jared is with Drea, and Michaela will hopefully be together with Zeke soon, assuming he doesn't think she's crazy.

The episode ends with Michaela's voiceover that calls back to how the show began: "No one can explain what happened to us on April 7, 2013. Some people called it impossible. Others called it a miracle. All I know is it was the day life changed forever."

For those who fell in love with the show, it's a day that changed their lives now too.

It's a good thing then that there are no current plans for a fifth season, because this is the best possible way Manifest could have ended, wrapping the show up with the kind of closure that so many others fail to manage these days thanks to cancellations like the one that almost cut Manifest short after season three.

Manifest season four, part two is streaming worldwide on Netflix now.