The War Between the Land and the Sea ending explained: What is Severance?

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Warning: Major spoilers ahead for The War Between the Land and the Sea episode 5.

The final episode of ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ has concluded, delivering a powerful message: war always leaves everyone worse off. Episode 5, titled ‘The End of the War,’ showed the harsh realities and reminded viewers that there are no victors in conflict.

The final episode of Russell T Davies’ series reveals the consequences of humanity’s violence against the Homo Aqua, and shows a poignant, yet hopeful, conclusion for the characters Salt and Barclay.

Finally, after being hinted at by the show’s creator, the post-credits scene aired, revealing Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart dealing with the aftermath of the war and the death of Christofer (played by Alexander Devrient).

So, here’s exactly what went down in the finale episode of The War Between the Land and the Sea.

The War Between the Land and the Sea ending explained: What is Severance?

Severance is revealed to be a scheme to kill off ninety percent of the Homo Aqua species using biological weapons. This would effectively ‘win’ the war for humanity, but through the act of genocide.

Generals Oscar Gunsberg (Stewart Alexander) and Dominique Dussolier (Barbara Probst) masterminded the plan, with Prime Minister Harry Shaw (Vincent Franklin) also participating. An officer was also secretly watching Barclay, stationed outside his room as part of the scheme.

According to the officer’s report, Barclay leaves his apartment each night searching for Salt, but is unable to find her. Dussolier believes this is because devices placed in the water by her government are interfering with the Homo Aqua’s ability to communicate. She orders these devices to be temporarily turned off, allowing Salt to hear Barclay and find him the following night.

Gunsberg’s team secretly infected Barclay by spiking his drink and injecting him with the virus while he was asleep. This meant that when he kissed Salt, he unknowingly passed the virus to her. Salt then carried the virus back to her community, only realizing the danger after it was too late. She later told Barclay, “The virus brought fire to the world of water. And we were destroyed by it.”

What happened to Homo Aqua?

After nearly all of their people were lost, the Homo Aqua gave up their fight to humanity. The surrender was a deeply emotional moment between Salt and Barclay, who continued to represent their species during the difficult process.

Seeking revenge, Salt informs the humans that she knows who was responsible for the genocide and warns them that the water will ultimately claim them as well. We then see brief glimpses of the near-future deaths of Gunsberg, Dussolier, and Shaw. She also discloses that the Homo Aqua have concealed their advanced technology deep within the ocean, beyond humanity’s reach.

Barclay has offered a safe place in the Mariana Trench for the Homo Aqua, promising their protection on behalf of all people. Salt, speaking for the Homo Aqua, stated they accept the offer, but don’t believe humanity will actually keep them safe.

What happened to Barclay – and what was Accord?

Earlier in the show, Salt tried to get Barclay to ask Homo Aqua for something called “Accord,” but she didn’t explain what it meant until later. She finally revealed it was a tradition where two species would come together and celebrate, but it’s now been forgotten.

However, clearly it’s not entirely lost.

Kate got a call from Barclay’s doctor who was looking at his brain scan. The scan showed some changes in Barclay’s brain chemistry, and the doctor pointed out the word “Accord” on the screen. Shortly after, Kate drove Barclay to the coast, where he immediately went to find Salt.

The moment she touched him, he unexpectedly developed gills. Together, they swam away into the ocean, relieved that, despite the past conflicts between their species, they could finally be together.

What will happen to Kate?

After the movie ends, Kate walks away from the beach where she said goodbye to Barclay. As she’s walking, she notices someone running by who carelessly throws a plastic bottle onto the sand.

After Kate repeatedly asked him to pick something up, and he wouldn’t, she pulled out a gun and ordered him, “Pick it up.”

As we’ve already seen, Kate is having a really hard time coping with Christofer’s death, and it’s causing her to make some poor choices. She’s even resorted to blackmailing her doctor to get more medication.

Kate definitely needs time to recover, but it’s uncertain if she’ll accept help in doing so. Maybe someone with more influence – like the Doctor – could convince her to rest.

The War Between the Land and the Sea is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Authors

Louise Griffin

As a critic who keeps up with all things sci-fi and fantasy, I’ve been following Louise Griffin’s work for a while now. She’s the editor at TopMob covering everything from the classics like Doctor Who and Star Wars to the newer hits like House of the Dragon. Before that, she was a Senior Entertainment Reporter at Metro, and you can tell she really knows her stuff – a solid background in English Literature will do that for you! She’s definitely someone to watch if you’re into genre entertainment.

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2025-12-22 00:39