The Fall of the House of Usher ending explained: Who is Verna, the mysterious being present at all times?

The Fall of the House of Usher might’ve just come out a couple of days ago, but us online junkies have binged watched the whole show in one sitting. Now at the end of it all, with all loose ends tied, and yet we are still left with questions. The mystery of the mighty black raven, and the cryptic poems, present at all times, might’ve confused a few. So we are here, to clear the fog on all your queries. 

Who is Verna, the black raven?

The all-knowing, and all-seeing Verna, was the sole cause of the fall of the house of Usher. Even though there were signs from the beginning that she was anything but human, many were still not sure who she actually was. Her deal with the Ushers might’ve made many believe she might be the devil, and for the Fortunado family, she was, but that wasn’t all she was. Verna was the black raven, quite literally.

According to Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem, the Black Bird, it is symbolic of death, as well as loneliness. This fits right in with what we know of Verna in the show. She was present at the last moments of all of Usher families’ lives. As we got to know throughout the 8 episodes, the only companion the 6 siblings, as well as Rodrick and Madeline have had all their life, was loneliness.

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What did the ending of House of Usher want to convey?

In the last 10 minutes of the show, the only two characters we’re left with are C. Auguste Dupin aka Auggie, and Arthur Pym. It’s quite clear the message Mike Flanagan’s directorial was trying to convey from the beginning, familial ties are everything. Auggie’s last words convey this message, “I am the richest man in the world,” as he prepares to go back to his husband, and kids. While on the other hand, Pym gets sentenced to prison having not earned any collateral assets aka people he actually cared about throughout his 70 years of living.  By the end of the show, even when Rodrick and Madeline had all the riches in the world, and the luxuries at their feet, they still stood starved, and rotten to the core. As Verna put it, Rodrick exchanged his previous riches, his wife Annabell Lee, to live a life of poverty. 

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