The Spiderwick Chronicles is a fantasy television series based on a children’s book series that goes by the same name. The series adaptation incorporates modern elements to appeal to its young audience. The fantasy drama revolves around the Grace family, who decide to shift from New York to live at the Spiderwick Estate.
After separating from her husband, Helen moved with her children, twins Jared and Simon, and daughter Mallory, to live on her ancestral property. Even though the house looked creepy and odd, as expected, the family decided to call it their home. Jared heard strange noises at night and came across a monstrous image in a cupboard, but his family refused to believe him. He had a history of lying, and they assumed it was just another story he came up with. Jared was always reminded by his family how his behavior had affected their decision to shift, and naturally, that impacted him. While Jared had his own complications, Simon tried his best to be the perfect son, and he often ended up expressing his frustration with Jared. The complicated relationship between the brothers and the history attached to the place becomes crucial in The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Spoiler Alert
Why was Mulgarath after the dragon page?
Mulgarath planned on destroying mankind, and reviving the dragons was crucial to the success of his plan. He desperately needed Arthur Spiderwick’s knowledge of the invisible creature that was summarized in ‘The Field Guide’. A page from the book discussed ways to nurture a dragon, and the ogre found out that Jared had access to it. He found hope in Jared’s brother, Simon, who offered to assist him. The manipulative ogre convinced Simon that he could help save the lives of the invisible. Simon was an animal lover, and the story of how human beings had destroyed the world of the fairies seemed believable to him. All of a sudden, Mulgarath was the good guy trying to revive the dragons, who had been long gone from the face of the earth. He sent Simon to search for the dragon page, and the minute Jared found him stuck in the dumb waiter, he knew Simon was working for Mulgarath. Jared started to doubt everyone around him. He was convinced that Mallory, Hatcher, and Bree had conspired against him to help Simon and the ogre. Jared’s paranoia only got worse, and he accused everyone in the room of making a fool out of him. Jared forcefully tried to take off Hatcher’s mask to find out if he truly was a human. The entire episode was quite traumatic for Hatcher, who suffered from body dysmorphia. Jared was frustrated, especially with his mother falling in love with the shape-shifting ogre, thinking that he was Dr. Dorian Brauer. Jared knew the whole truth, and all he wanted was for his loved ones to believe him. He was tired of having to prove himself, and in the process, he also became an extremely doubtful person. His aunt Lucinda was right; finding the truth and becoming a hero was a lonely affair.
Helen decided it was time that Jared learned his lessons, and she signed him up for residential treatment under the care of Dr. Brauer. For days, the ogre tried to manipulate Jared with different stories. He wanted Jared to relate to him rather than see him as his enemy, but the young man never allowed him to play with his mind. The shapeshifting ogre tried to break Jared’s confidence, and while it did affect Jared, he eventually figured out that it was Mulgarath’s trick. Frustrated with Jared, the ogre used Simon to further confuse him, and it worked. Mulgarath studied Jared carefully during his stay at the hospital, and he figured out that he did not trust anyone except himself. Since the dragon page was not at Spiderwick Estate, he realized that Jared had it in his possession. The ogre crushed the plaster wrapped around Jared’s arm and found the dragon page.
How did Jared manage to escape from the psychiatric hospital?
With the dragon page, Mulgarath was closer to his goal than ever before. He used poison to put a fraction of human beings to sleep, and he used mushrooms to turn some into zombies whom he could control. Helen eventually found out that Jared was right—the man she had started to fall in love with was a monster. But he had already trapped her, and she had no way to escape. Meanwhile, the brownie, Thimbletack, helped Jared escape from the psychiatric ward. The mushroom humans had taken over the hospital, but with Thimbleback’s guidance, Jared managed to make it out of the hospital door. Thimbletack was accompanied by Mallory, who had covered herself in mushrooms to blend with the crowd. She suggested that Jared do the same to make the escape easier. While walking out of the hospital premises, Jared whispered to his sister how the mushroom trick was working, and because the shroomers were sensitive to sound, they detected Jared and Mallory as threats. Thankfully, Simon played a song through the loudspeaker, distracting the shroomers and helping his siblings escape. Jared realized that Hatcher, Bree, and Simon were ready to help him even after all that they had been through. While Jared trusted everyone, he was still doubtful about Simon.
How did the brothers unite to defeat Mulgarath?
Simon explained that all this time he had been pretending to betray Jared when, in reality, he was trying to win the trust of the ogre to understand his plan. Mallory, Hatcher, and Bree trusted Simon after he offered them the cure to the sleeping illness—a substance made from dragon seed. But it was not easy to win Jared’s trust. He decided to walk away from the group when Thimbletack helped him realize that Mallory, Hatcher, Simon, and Bree needed his help to destroy the ogre. Jared finally joined the team, and it was decided that Simon would continue pretending that he was on team Mulgarath. Simon brought Jared to the ogre in chains and won his trust by narrating their plan. Jared pretended as if Simon had betrayed him, and Mulgarath was convinced that the twins hated each other.
How did Simon convince Calliope to support him?
While Simon could fool the vain ogre with his sweet compliments, Calliope saw through his lies. She was surprised by how Simon had changed as a person. Simon’s intentions were in the right place, but Calliope refused to help his cause because she was a Fetcher, a creature who fed on death, and even though she was not happy with Mulgarath’s plan, she did not think there was a way out of it. But when Simon spoke about the risk he was willing to take to protect mankind, she had a change of heart and decided to assist him. She handed him the substance made from dragon seed to cure people of sleep sickness. With Calliope’s help, Simon tried to warn the fairies of how dangerous Mulgarath was and encouraged them to fight him.
Why was Mallory chosen to wield the sword?
Jared and Helen turned invisible after they consumed the tea made by Thimbletack, and they managed to get away from Mulgarath. Helen was surprised and ecstatic to see Lucinda all of a sudden in the dreamy realm. As it turned out, Lucinda had been using her tricks to help Jared from afar. She spoke proudly of Helen’s children and appreciated Helen’s effort in nurturing their sense of wonder. She reminded them that family members must always look out for each other. Lucinda announced that she had made a deal with the elves to transport her from the human realm to plead her father’s disappearance case in the court of the invisible creatures.
While Helen and Jared had a memorable conversation with Lucinda, Mallory and Bree were busy finding ‘The Field Guide’. They were successful in locating it, but Mulgarath stopped them on their way out of the house. Mallory threatened to destroy the book, but Mulgarath was not convinced by her performance. He was about to stab Mallory when, all of a sudden, Bree attacked him with the sword. But to their surprise, the sword was ineffective because Bree’s mind was disturbed and she could not focus her energy on her intent. Mallory was desperate to protect her friend, and because her intent was pure, the magical sword worked. She helped Bree escape, but Mulgarath was impossible to defeat, and Helen came to his rescue and sprinkled the ogre with liquid iron—the metal that made his body burn. The Grace family realized that it was beyond their power to stop the ogre, and they tried to seek help from an invisible creature.
Was Mulgarath taken away by the troll?
Thimbletack suggested to Jared that they summon the troll that lived under the river bridge because it was the only creature that could defeat Mulgarath. Jared deciphered the written text and realized that they had to make the sound of wind going through trees to summon the troll. Helen, Mallory, and Jared kept making the noise in the hopes that the troll would show up. But to their disappointment, Mulgarath entered the room. For a minute, they thought it was all over, but all of a sudden, towards the end of The Spiderwick Chronicles, the gigantic troll came out of nowhere and took Mulgarath away. The noise and Simon’s appeal to the invisible creatures helped the family destroy their enemy, or so it seemed. The family celebrated their win, and they assumed it was the end of all their troubles. Humans woke up from their sleep thanks to the magic dust of the fairies. The shroomers also came to their senses with a touch of the magical dust. After days of uncertainty, Helen and her children were happy, thinking that life would finally go back to normal at Spiderwick.
Is Jared alive?
But trouble was not yet over at Spiderwick. All of a sudden, the dragon seed cracked, and the family once again had to make a difficult decision. Jared’s instinct was to slash the baby dragon, knowing the danger it could pose in the future. Jared categorized these creatures as unfixable, and as much as he wanted to believe it, it was human nature to give even the impossible cases a chance to prove themselves. Jared was also considered a difficult teenager, but his family stood by him. Jared blamed himself for the situation they were in, but his family reassured him that they were proud of him, and they apologized for making him feel unwanted. Instead of seeing himself as the villain in his story, they hoped that he could finally see the hero that he was. He was given a chance to prove himself, and even though there were complications, his loved ones did not give up on him.
Simon had romantic affection for Calliope, a creature who fed on death, and even after knowing what she was capable of, he gave her a chance, and she did not disappoint him yet. Maybe that was reason enough for Simon to believe that love was all that one needed to change themselves. Jared ultimately decided not to harm the baby dragon, and his family was proud of his decision. As the family celebrated the moment, an unexpected twist at the end of The Spiderwick Chronicles changed the course of the story. All of a sudden, another Jared appeared out of nowhere and claimed to be the real one. He tried to prove to the Grace family that the Jared they thought was real was Mulgarath. While they initially did not believe him, knowing that the shapeshifting ogre was too good at lying, when he held an iron rod without the slightest flinch, the family trusted him. The original Jared begged his family not to believe a word that the lying monster said, but it was too late. Mallory was convinced by his lies, and she stabbed her brother with the magical sword. Mulgarath had studied Jared thoroughly, and he knew exactly what to say to his family to make them trust him. After Mallory stabbed Jared, his body disappeared, and Mulgarath, as Jared, pretended to be relieved that they believed him. Ultimately, Mulgarath won, but maybe Calliope was not as convinced as the rest.
So, where does Jared end up? In The Spiderwick Chronicles‘ ending, Jared ended up in the secret realm where his great-grandfather, Arthur Spiderwick, lived. Arthur’s whereabouts were not known until now. Perhaps it was Arthur who used his power to transport Jared to his world to protect him. But can the duo leave the magical forest to protect mankind? The first season of The Spiderwick Chronicles hints at a possible second installation where we can expect Jared and Arthur to team up together and fight Mulgarath. Arthur’s knowledge will help Jared learn all the tricks he needs to finally confront the ogre. But until then, we can assume that Mulgarath will cause quite a bit of damage to the human world.
