Skull Island is a well-animated show featuring King Kong, a bunch of massive creatures, and a few puny humans. Some of the humans who are native to the titular piece of land are friends with King Kong, and they know how to navigate the treacherous landscape. Those who have accidentally or intentionally arrived in Kong’s kingdom are not welcome; hence, they keep falling prey to its flora and fauna. The series largely follows Charlie, Annie, Dog (Annie’s companion), and Mike, who are on one end of the island, and Cap, Irene, and Irene’s team, who are on the other end of the island. Both parties have to meet at a common place and then hopefully make it out of there alive. However, there’s a Kraken-sized problem that stands between modern civilization and the island.
Spoilers Alert
Setting Up The Kraken Versus King Kong Fight
There are a couple of revelations that happen before this showdown. Firstly, Irene is Annie’s mother. Secondly, Mike is dying because the Kraken poisoned him while electrocuting him. And thirdly, the Kraken wants to eat Kong because, after a brutal battle with some creatures, the mighty ape went to the seas to wash his wounds. The blood from his body trickled all the way to the Kraken’s mouth (?), and the sea monster decided to eat him. It’s classic Kaiju logic; don’t question it too much. Kong lived somewhere in the middle of the island. The coasts were filled with villagers who were native to the place and revered Kong as a god. It’s not clear whether it was a calculated decision or not, but in an attempt to get to Kong, the Kraken attacked those villagers and killed Kong’s best human friend.
Instead of attacking the Kraken, Kong went into a state of perpetual mourning in his castle. His phoenix-like bird friend brought him food. He ate it and then went to sleep. Yes, that same Kraken attacked Captain and his ship and isn’t allowing them to get away from the island. So, in order to get the Kraken out of the way, Charlie (who has surprisingly figured out the enmity between the Kraken and Kong) wants to bait Kong into fighting the Kraken, thereby clearing their way. Since Charlie is the one who has come up with this insane plane, he decides to ride with Annie to Kong’s castle while the rest take care of Mike. Charlie and Annie steal the necklace that belonged to Kong’s friend, thereby enraging the beast and forcing him to chase them all the way to the beach. Charlie figures out that Dog is having trouble running fast with both of them on his back. Therefore, he decides to climb off and hopes that he can meet Annie again at the beach.
King Kong Defeats The Kraken
Cap notices from afar that Charlie isn’t on Dog’s back. So he runs into the forest to look for him. After getting to the beach, Annie throws the necklace in Kong’s direction. As he goes to retrieve it, the Kraken attacks. I am sure that a lot of H.P. Lovecraft fans will appreciate the design of the monster because it is technically a Kraken, but it looks a lot like a Cthulhu. While the big monkey fights the big squid, Irene decides to head to the beach to look after Annie (who is drowning along with Dog because of the waves coming from Kong and the Kraken’s fight). Sam (Irene’s right-hand man) stops her from doing so because it’s too dangerous.
Captain almost gets killed by a giant centipede while searching for Charlie but is saved by Mike. The effort causes Mike to collapse, as he’s already struggling to fight the effects of the venom coursing through his body. There’s an interesting detail to notice here. Although Kong and the Kraken are fighting in the ocean, the impact of their blows is so immense that the water splashes all the way to the mainland like rain. So, even though we can’t see the fight, we know that the battle is still raging on. Anyway, Kong is drawn into the abyss by the Kraken, while Charlie is captured by the natives. Kong escapes the Kraken’s clutches and returns to the surface. He even saves the drowning Dog because he can’t see yet another young girl be sad, I suppose. And just when it looks like the war is over, the Kraken resurfaces. However, this time, Kong finishes him off for good.
‘Skull Island’ Ending, Explained: How Did Annie Return To Modern Civilization?
In the heat of the moment (which is understandable), Kong rips the Kraken into two pieces and throws it towards the coast. The impact of the deceased Kraken hitting the water causes massive waves. Some of it hits Kong, and the rest floods the coast. Annie and Dog are separated, and Annie is knocked out after her head hits a rock or a tree. At the end of Skull Island, Annie wakes up, and she finds out that she has been shifted to a hospital. She asks Irene about the whereabouts of Dog, and Irene doesn’t give a solid answer. She does tell Annie that she has been unconscious for two whole weeks! When Annie rushes to the window, she realizes that she is in a city. Surprisingly enough, that’s where Brian Duffield decides to end the show.
Now, before getting to the explanations, let me make one thing clear. Skull Island has been massively under-marketed. The title of the show doesn’t state that it’s related to King Kong. The overall quality of the show isn’t top-tier stuff. So, keeping all that in mind, I don’t know if this is going to get a Season 2, and I don’t know if the aforementioned plot threads are going to be resolved. If Netflix has pulled off a The Cuphead Show kind of trick, i.e., animating one big season, dividing it into two, and then releasing it as two different seasons, then it’s possible that we’ll see the conclusion of these arcs. But at what cost? The people at The Cuphead Show got paid for one season, while Netflix earned money off of two seasons. By the way, I brought up the marketing aspect of Skull Island because nowadays, Netflix decides if a show is going to get a second season if it becomes a hit in the first 12 or 24 hours. I don’t think that’s going to happen with Skull Island. If it does, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
With all that out of the way, let’s talk about what that ending means. The only thing we know for certain is that Annie and Irene made it off the island. I think Sam is with them too. Charlie is probably with the natives. As for Captain and Mike, I am not really sure. It did seem like he was heading toward Irene. But did she stop to help them, or did she just get Annie and bail out of there? Talking about escaping the island, how the hell did they reach modern civilization? Well, my best guess is that Sam and Irene managed to use the equipment they had and called someone from the mainland for help. I don’t think they used a raft to paddle all the way to whichever city they were in. There’s also a good chance that Kong helped them. He had a soft spot for Annie. That’s why he saved the dog. So, it isn’t a stretch to think that he helped her after some convincing from Irene and the rest. It’s possible that while entering the USA (I’m assuming that’s where they are), Kong is captured. He is going to feel betrayed and then wreak havoc. That’s usually how Kong stories go. I mean, they can’t show a city in a King Kong-related show and then not use that setting, right? That said, realistically speaking, unless there’s already a second season in the works, none of these potential plot points will see the light of day. Also, given how Skull Island is tangentially connected to the main MonsterVerse stories, the events of the show aren’t even going to matter. Godzilla x Kong probably won’t feature any of these characters, and the two Titans will be fighting an ape-like Titan. Therefore, what’s the point? Well, if you want to support the creators, give the show a watch. Otherwise, just rewatch the MonsterVerse movies.
