'Mary' Ending Explained: What happens to King Herod? Netflix's biblical movie revives a powerful message
Contains spoilers for 'Mary'
'Mary' on Netflix narrates the tale of the Virgin Mary, the chosen one by God to conceive Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The first half of the film shows how her parents, Anne (Susan Brown) and Joachim (Ori Pfeffer), prayed for a child, and their wish was granted by angel Gabriel (Dudley O'Shaughnessy) in return for a promise that they must give her away when he returns.
Gabriel returns at several points in their life, guiding the family for a bigger purpose. This is what prompts them to promise Mary (Noa Cohen) to a young stranger named Joseph (Ido Tako). But when Mary mysteriously conceives a child before marriage, she is cast out of the temple and has to go into hiding. The series explores Joseph's love and commitment to Mary and how he comes to her rescue more than once. When Herod (Anthony Hopkins), the cruel king of Jews, comes to know about a messiah being born, he feels threatened that he might lose his reign and therefore, orders to kill Jesus.
Why King Herod couldn't kill Jesus in Netflix's 'Mary'
King Herod is a power-hungry ruler who could kill anyone to protect his throne. So when he learns about the messiah's birth, and people gathering to worship him in Bethlehem, he orders Marcellus to kill all the male infants of the town and bring the messiah to him, alive.
Marcellus follows the orders, executing the innocent children and bringing dozens of male infants who were born recently. Herod desperately wants to know which of them is the messiah but he is told that the messiah is still out there somewhere.
We eventually see Herod losing his power over people and his soldiers because of his crazy and violent behavior making everyone believe that he is no longer mentally fit to rule.
Mary's return to Jerusalem, explained
Towards the end of the movie, Mary makes a bold decision to return to the temple in Jerusalem. The idea is opposed by Joseph who asserts that the city is filled with soldiers wanting to kill them. However, Mary reminds him that they are the chosen ones and no harm can be done to them.
With strong faith, they return to Jerusalem. Since Herod has already lost power over his soldiers by now, Mary can walk into the temple as Anna welcomes her. Thus, Mary fulfills Anna's words of returning to the temple and also providing the prophesized King of the Jews to the followers. The movie ends with Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms while reminding us that love always demands sacrifice and comes with a lot of hardships, but in the end, it is love that has the power to save the world.
'Mary' is now streaming on Netflix