'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' Secret Ending Revealed, Which Leads To A Playable Game From The Movie
"There are scenes that some people just will never see and we had to make sure that we were OK with that," Black Mirror: Bandersnatch director David Slade said in a recent interview. Netflix's interactive "choose your own adventure movie" experience provides a litany of options for viewers – so many, in fact, that Slade also explained that they shot a scene even the filmmakers can't access. (What? How!?)
If you've played around with Bandersnatch, you've probably discovered at least a few of its many endings (read about the major ones in our spoiler review). But now a special Bandersnatch secret ending has been discovered, and in typical Black Mirror fashion, there's more to it than initially meets the eye. Read all about it below.
The Wrap explains that "nobody has yet figured out how to trigger" the secret ending yet, though they (and some others) have accidentally stumbled across it and have been able to narrow down the specific set of choices necessary to lead viewers directly to it.
Here's what happens: remember the scene on the bus when Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) visits the video game company Tuckersoft for the first time, and you're prompted with the decision to listen to either the Thompson Twins or Now 2? The secret ending takes you back to that moment, but instead of choosing one of those options, Stefan "pulls out a tape of his finished game, also called Bandersnatch. The tape plays some...rather unpleasant sounds, and the scene ends." Here are those sounds, and they are indeed unpleasant to listen to:
But this is the internet, and we know there's more to it than that. So some amateur detectives realized that the sounds are actually data for a ZX Spectrum computer – the same type of computer Stefan used to make his video game in the film. When the audio is put through an emulator, it resulted in the following QR code:
Scanning that code takes you to a hidden page on the fictional Tuckersoft's website, revealing more posters for fake games that are nods to other Black Mirror episodes. Will Poulter's designer character Colin can be seen working on a game called "Nohzdyve" in the film (itself a shout-out to the Bryce Dallas Howard-starring episode "Nosedive"), and by clicking on the Nohzdyve page on the website, you can actually play a real version of the game (assuming, of course, that you download a ZX Spectrum emulator beforehand).
I'm guessing this isn't the last we've heard of Bandersnatch, but in the meantime, be sure to check out the rest of our coverage on it here. If you're interested in playing all of this out for yourself, The Wrap has helpfully provided a list of the exact steps needed to reach this secret ending.
Sugar puffs
Thompson twins
Accept
Accept
Go back
Refuse
Yes
No
The Bermuda Triangle
Shout at Dad
Visit Dr. Haynes
Pull Earlobe
Take them
Follow Colin
Yes
Stefan
Go back
Colin
Flush them
Hit desk
Pick up book
PAC
Throw tea over computer
P.A.C.S.
20541
Who's there?
Netflix
Try to explain
Tell him more
Fuck yeah
Fight her
Kick him in the balls
Who's there?
White Bear symbol
Back off
Kill dad
Bury body
Yes
He jumped
Chop or bury?
Chop up body
Destroy computer
Pick up photo
White Bear symbol
Chop up body
Destroy computer
Get rabbit from dad
PAX
White Bear symbol
Chop up body
Destroy computer
Get rabbit from dad
Toy
Yes