Ares’ final fate, how it connects [SPOILER]and how that sets up a sequel

This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com.

In TRON: Aresthe battle between tech giants Encom and Dillinger rages on, both having discovered technology that can bring anything imagined into a computer into the real world for 29 minutes at a time.

Encom wants to use this technology to solve world hunger, while Dillinger seeks to create invincible soldiers like Jared Leto’s Ares. Much of the film revolves around the search for the permanence code which, as the name suggests, will allow these computer creations to exist in our world indefinitely.

It is in the possession of Encom CEO Eve Kim, leading Julian Dillinger to send Ares and Athena to retrieve it in a story that takes place both in the real world and in The Grid.

In an epic final battle, Ares manages to defeat Athena after discovering her humanity (after encountering fireflies, empathy and, uh, Depeche Mode), and TRON: Ares ends with Kim still in possession of the permanence code. Dillinger’s Grid is destroyed by a virus shared by Ares, which the villain discovers after fleeing there for fear of being blamed for his mother’s death.

As for Ares, with the code of permanence embedded in him, he leaves Center City as a free “man” on a real motorcycle. We last see him looking at a photo of TRON: LegacyIt’s Quorra; she escaped The Grid in the 2010 film and, for reasons that have yet to be revealed, Ares is now searching for her colleague from the program.

TRON: Ares But it’s more Eve’s story than hers, and the film’s final shot sees her standing atop the Encom skyscraper, grabbing an orange from a tree she created, an indication that she is on the verge of solving world hunger.

You can read a full breakdown of TRON: Ares‘post-credits scene by clicking here.

TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world to the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humanity’s first encounter with AI beings.

The film stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan and Gillian Anderson. Joachim Rønning directs; producers are Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger.

TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)featuring all original Nine Inch Nails music, will be released on September 19 via Interscope Records. This is the pioneering group’s first-ever film score, although band members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed 20 scores under their own names, winning two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, a GRAMMY and an Emmy.

TRON: Ares is now playing in the cinema.