The Terror - We are Gone

The ending to We are Gone I thought was incredible. Not necessarily even that the final last stand with the Tuunbaq results in a lot of carnage and eventually a complete profile / look at the creature as Lady Silence (Silna) surveys the area, the complete crime scene. Hickey admits to killing someone and taking that name in the hopes of landing in Oahu or some island, not anticipating three years stuck in the Arctic. What I found astounding about the ending was the notion that Crozier survives…and decides to stay with the Netsilik after scouring the landscape for survivors, finding none. Haggard tents blowing in the wind, the boats emptied with their contents strewn about and scattered, no longer bound for the Northwest Passage (found by Blankey before he was Tuunbaq lunch), as the crew continued to drop dead, simply unable to forward ahead, succumbing to the elements. Crozier taking the advice of Dr. Goodsir—who simply could not continue to bear or tolerate what Hickey and his men were doing to bodies they cannibalize—sought to stop them as only he knew how by ingesting poison and slitting his wrists. Goodsir understood they’d feed from his poisoned body and martyred himself accordingly. Telling Crozier to eat from the sole of his feet, Goodsir knew this was his parting gift to his Captain, leaving with him a ring meant for someone back in England, unable to provide the name tragically before Magnus interrupts. The image of Goodsir’s hacked-up body, plopped on a table, the lower torso cut away as Hickey and his men sit for dinner, as Crozier does as he was told (cutting a piece from the foot and eating) is unsettling to say the least. But Crozier’s distaste for them all, defiantly at a distance, looking on from afar, makes quite a visual statement: he really is no longer their superior officer, and they are separate from him. That Hickey would order them up a hill to call out to the Tuunbaq (as they hilariously discuss how they’ll use the creature’s meat and fur to stay alive) during the aforementioned last stand speaks about just how far gone he is. Hickey even cuts from his mouth his tongue as an offering to the monster after it just tears his men asunder, eventually splitting him apart into in his mouth, tossing his pieces across the rocks. A chain caught in the monster’s mouth a wounded Crozier jerks on to choke it…while it also weakens due to the poison in the officer’s systems after eating (and getting sick) from Goodsir.

 I reflect on Goodsir’s conversation about this land, its beauty despite all they have encountered, telling Crozier that he knew he’d never leave the Arctic. And neither does Crozier, even as an expedition arrives, available for his escape from the Arctic. Crozier decides to remain, even as Lady Silence was banished from her people due to the death of the Tuunbaq. The crew left by Crozier to continue on deciding not to assist Henry in a rescue mission against Hickey and his limited number (even leaving behind the sick and dying), even after a point is indeed made regarding just how important the Captain is to their survival (speaks the language, has lived in a similar climate/environment); it is no surprise they perish. So many men, two big ships, a great explorer that was in charge of the grand expedition into the Arctic, and one single survivor decides to remain behind. Historical fiction, rooted in  fact, manufactured with great attention to detail and perceptively imagined as it might have happened, with the twist of horror; The Terror could very well be considered a triumph. Too bad, there was only a niche audience seemingly for it.

4.5/5