‘The Fall of the House of Usher’: Who Is the Jester?

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1, Episodes 1-8.]

The Fall of the House of Usher serves up several mysteries to viewers, but one remains consistent throughout the episodes leading up to the finale, when all of the puzzle pieces click into place. Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the head of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, begins seeing visions of his dead children, and an unrecognizable figure is introduced in the backseat of his car when a Jester is seen poking his head out from the shadowed cabin.

It’s an ominous and brief appearance, but it raises the question, who is the Jester? Well, we finally have some answers for you, but beware of major spoilers if you haven’t yet watched the full season of Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy‘s final Netflix series.

Afflicted with a degenerative condition that causes hallucinations, Roderick sees this taunting Jester, which serves as a reminder of the night he sealed his fate for himself and his heirs. After taking on the fall guy role at Fortunato in the past, a young Roderick (played by Zach Gilford) hatches a plan with his twin sister to take the company for themselves.

(Credit: Netflix)

Drugging Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco) at a New Year’s Eve Party, a young Madeline (Willa Fitzgerald) lures him to the company’s secluded basement where he passes out. When he wakes, he finds himself handcuffed to pipes in the walls as Madeline and Roderick work on bricking up the section. He pleads with them, but they won’t deviate from their plan, which is to reveal Rufus’ wrongdoings as the CEO of Fortunato in exchange for the position.

His absence will look as though he’d fled, leaving them in the clear surrounding his disappearance and eventual death. Placing the Jester mask back on his face, Madeline and Roderick close the final gap, leaving Rufus stuck with just a candle and himself. The event explains Roderick’s contemplative moments in the basement of Fortunato as his children die one by one.

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It was Roderick’s biggest misdeed and ultimately his entire family paid for it, even if he never got caught for the crime. The same evening they left Rufus for dead, Roderick and Madeline meet Verna (Carla Gugino), the woman with a supernatural air who grants them the promise of wealth and success, in exchange for the lives of their bloodline when they themselves perish.

With Roderick’s declining health, it was only a matter of time before his children would also die, but it was that first kill that still haunted him as he heard bells ringing while looking at the brick wall in the present. What did you think of the twisty reveal? Let us know in the comments, below, and catch The Fall of the House of Usher anytime on Netflix.

The Fall of the House of Usher, Streaming now, Netflix