War of the Worlds Ending Explained: Is William Dead?

Amazon Prime Video’s ‘War of the Worlds’ is a unique sci-fi adventure film that almost entirely takes place on the protagonist’s computer desktop. William Radford, a Homeland Security agent, works surveillance for the federal department and has his eyes and ears on almost every corner of the country. From records on strangers on the street to access to their devices, he can get his hands on any and all data with a few choice clicks. Naturally, he uses this ability to keep a close eye on his kids, Faith and David. However, everything changes when an unexpected attack arrives on Earth from outer space. As a horde of aliens begins to wreak havoc on the streets across the globe, William realizes he and his ragtag bunch of friends and family have exactly what it takes to uncover a national conspiracy and save the world. SPOILERS AHEAD!

War of the Worlds Plot Synopsis

William Radford is a workaholic who loves his job. He heads the most pressing surveillance demands of the Department of Homeland Security, helping them maintain peace and catch he bad guys. In the moments between, he also uses the national security system to keep an eye on his kids, Faith and David, who are both equally exhausted by their dad’s micromanaging. One particular day at work, William’s friend, NASA Scientist Sandra Salas, shares her concerns over irregular weather conditions across the nation, which have resulted in more than one storm. Nonetheless, the HSI Agent seems to know nothing about the cause behind these fluctuations. Furthermore, he has more pressing matters to attend to as the FBI leads an investigation into an anonymous online hacker, The Disruptor.

The Disruptor claims to have information about the government’s top-secret program, Goliath, which is a highly invasive surveillance system created to keep tabs on and predict the lives of every citizen. While he threatens to leak classified files about this program, William runs his systems to zero in on the famed hacker’s locations for an FBI bust. His boss, director Donald Briggs, remains particularly invested in this mission. However, a significantly bigger problem presents itself before the bust can be made. Various meteors shower down across Earth, causing sizeable damage. Not only that, but minutes later, dangerous robots begin to emerge from inside the meteors, traveling toward their respective targets. Initially, the HSI Agent tries his best to juggle the impossible situation. He uses the tracking and surveillance systems to help Faith, his pregnant daughter, find a safe haven from the attacks.

Meanwhile, William also remains in the loop with Sandra and Briggs, who continue to investigate the adverse extraterrestrial matter. However, an explanation comes from the most unlikely of places. As the aliens continue to target data servers, erasing most things off the internet, the Disruptor continues his stream, insisting that this attack is a result of the Goliath program. On a hunch, William puts the hacker’s voice in a modulation program, which leads him to realize that his son, David, has been the hacker all along. Yet, the father-son confrontation that follows in the aftermath turns into something else when the latter shares his findings on the Goliath project. As it turns out, the alien attack is indeed a direct result of the government’s conspiratorial plans. Fortunately, between the genius minds of the Bradford family, David’s hacker friends, and Sandra, Earth might just have a winning chance yet.

War of the Worlds Ending: Does William Die? Does He Survive?

The lives of everyone on Earth are pretty much put in the line of fire as soon as the alien invasion commences. Even though the pattern suggests that these robots are after something in particular, they have no problem with bludgeoning any and all life forms that have the misfortune of standing in their path. In fact, things get so bad that international powers put aside their political rivalries to put together a united front against the invaders. However, David’s research into the Goliath program reveals a menacing truth that overshadows America’s involvement in this truce. Apparently, the American government has long been running experiments that were bound to lead them towards this endgame.

Nonetheless, even though the government was aware of these threats, it allowed Briggs to continue his Goliath program. Now, at the end of the tunnel, the program has finally attracted the wrong kind of attention from the worst kind of extraterrestrial lifeforms. Once William learns about the same, he confronts his boss and promptly loses his job. Nevertheless, thanks to his hacker kid, he quickly regains control of his high-tech systems. Meanwhile, Sandra’s experiments on some of the smaller alien life forms bear results of their own, cluing her in on the biology of the robots. Consequently, when these elements all come together, William realizes he can create a virus that can put an end to the alien life forms. In the meantime, the alien robots set their sights on the HSI building that houses the horde of Goliath data in its servers.

Unfortunately enough, it’s the same building where William is currently trapped. Still, despite the danger, it opens up a possible window that the Agent can use to defeat his adversary. Since the robots are targeting the building’s servers, he simply has to administer the virus inside the servers to ensure the network of aliens dies out. Inevitably, this puts his life in direct danger as he tries to maneuver a server room in the middle of an alien attack. In the end, even though the virus goes in, the chaos of the building’s destruction seemingly kills the Agent. The goodbye email that both his kids received afterward further adds weight to this conclusion. Yet, in a pleasant turn of events, a different truth emerges. As it turns out, William survives the attack, emerging on the other side safe and sound. The email had simply been sent as a result of a failsafe scheduling command. In the end, William decides to cut his ties with the government. Instead, he decides to use his surveillance skills to keep an eye on the officials and the authority to ensure they don’t allow a similar disaster to happen again.

Why are the Aliens on Earth? How Does Will Stop Them?

For the longest time, the central mystery in the story revolves around the explicit intention of the alien invasion attack. The Meteors arrive on Earth without a warning. In the aftermath, the robotic aliens simply embark on a destructive rampage, targeting data servers, without any attempts at interaction with the humans. Sandra’s secluded investigation reveals that this is because the aliens are drawn towards data and feed on it. The revelation about the Goliath program promptly fills in the blanks afterward. Apparently, the US government has long been aware of the existence of this invasive alien species that seems to survive on data. They have previously stumbled across Earth in hordes small enough to be contained and hidden from the public eye.

Nonetheless, the Goliath Program, a project that farms the personal data of every citizen across the country, proves to be a goldmine for this species. Therefore, now that the program has gathered incredible amounts of data on people, the robots have come flocking for a feast. The government was aware of the possibility of such an attack when it started working on the Goliath Program. Even so, the opportunity to have that amount of control over people’s data, to manipulate and shape their lives, was simply too good to pass up. For the same reason, they ran the risk of the invasion. Even now that the attack has happened, the government’s attention remains on securing the safety of its data servers.

Fortunately, William and his team are on the case, eager to solve this global complication. Thanks to Sandra’s research, they’re able to learn more about the biology of the aliens. As it turns out, they’re a hybrid species made up of bolts and wires, but also cells and tissues. Consequently, in order to defeat them, a unique virus would be required that functions technologically and targets biological components. Luckily for William, his daughter, Faith, has been working on a cannibal code that reprograms the DNA and compels it to attack sick cells. Consequently, the father and his son are able to fashion a virus out of the code. Yet, one last problem remains. In order to administer the virus, William needs a flash drive, which he is sorely missing. Thus, Faith’s fiancé, Mark, enters the picture. The Amazon delivery driver is able to break out his latest Prime Air drone, which gets the world-saving flash drive to the HSI Agent in the nick of time.

Is Goliath Real? What Happens to Briggs and His Program?

Initially, Briggs does his best to assert that Goliath is just a paranoid conspiracy theory that people like the Disruptor have latched onto to blame the government. Nonetheless, the alien attack reveals a different truth to William. The Goliath Program is very much real and is also the only reason the aliens have targeted Earth. The program strives to collect as much personal data on citizens as possible, blowing past privacy laws in the name of protection. In reality, this data is used to run surveillance and control the lives of the common man. In turn, the large number of servers attracts the attention of the alien robots that feed on data.

Even though Briggs and other officials were aware of this threat, they still helmed the destructive Goliath Program. Shortly after William learns about his government’s betrayal, he decides to resort to drastic measures. Alongside creating a plan to destroy the aliens, he also decides to expose Briggs and his project for what they are. Consequently, he takes on the Disruptor mantle and leaks all the information about the top-secret project. In the end, once the aliens have been dealt with, the Goliath program also inevitably shuts down. Furthermore, its biggest champion, director Briggs, gets arrested for his crimes.

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