The season finale of American Horror Stories, "Game Over," goes back to Murder House - again - with a few twists and an ambiguous ending.

Season 1 of American Horror Stories concluded with episode 7, “Game Over,” which featured several confusing twists and an ambiguous ending. American Horror Stories’ season 1 finale brings back several cast members and characters from “Rubber Woman,” the premiere episode of the series. Additionally, many notable faces and characters from American Horror Story: Murder House and several other AHS seasons make an appearance, including the return of Jamie Brewer as Murder House’s Adelaide Langdon.

American Horror Stories’ episode 7 follows a single mother, Michelle, as she tries to develop a horror video game titled Escape from Murder House based on the American Horror Story television series, of which her teenage son Rory is a dedicated fan. The episode switches between reality where Michelle and Rory develop and play the game to where they themselves exist within the video game, leaving audiences to piece together what was real or simulated. Overall, the episode focuses on American Horror Story’s notable Murder House, where Michelle and Rory come into contact with some of its most notable ghostly residents.

The season finale wasn’t received with the same positive enthusiasm that Billie Lourd’s “Ba’al” and Cody Fern’s episode 6 “Feral” was as it focused too much on the less popular characters from “Rubber Woman” without offering a new, more compelling tale. The ambiguous ending of episode 7 leaves audiences curious as to whether Murder House’s fate will be addressed in the upcoming American Horror Stories season 2, or if it still exists within the original series canon.

What Happened In Game Over’s Ending

Following the video game events of “Game Over,” Rory completes the game in the real world and asks his mom what happened to the ghosts of Murder House after the game’s final level. As Rory finishes the game, his character burns Murder House to the ground with all of the ghosts inside, leaving many of the spirits to move on from the property, remain on the property that turned into a condominium, or escape to the rest of the world. Just when audiences are led to believe all of the Murder House events in American Horror Stories’ season finale were only contained to the video game, Beau Langdon’s red ball can be seen rolling on the floor of Michelle’s house, which happens to be far away from the Murder House property he was trapped in.

American Horror Story Exists Within Its Own Universe

Even though much of the episode was contained in a video game, “Game Over” itself and the characters still exist within the AHS universe as a spinoff property. The episode begins with a young couple who stay in Murder House as an Airbnb experience for American Horror Story fanatics, bringing up their intense AHS knowledge before becoming victims to the reality of the house themselves. Unexpectedly, the show switches to reveal that the opening sequence was only in a video game, though the teenager playing the video game also happens to be an American Horror Story obsessive. As the plot continues, American Horror Story as a television series exists in each aspect of the episode.

American Horror Story previously had created its own contained universe where seasons overlap by characters, locations, and events, while American Horror Stories episode 7 suggests the series itself exists as a product within the same universe. Since the only real interactions with AHS characters occurred within the video game aspect of the American Horror Stories episode, it’s unknown if the characters are aware of the series. In a fun meta episode for American Horror Story’s universe, Ryan Murphy essentially leaves audiences with more questions than he answers. For example, has American Horror Story been a show within a show the entire time?

Game Over’s Murder House Video Game Twist Explained

The opening sequence of American Horror Stories episode 7 misleads the audience into believing a young couple of AHS fanatics are just staying the night in the show’s Murder House. As they’re attacked by Murder House’s ghosts from AHStories as well as American Horror Story’s other villains like Bloodyface and Twisty the Clown, they realize the show’s ghosts and its sinister history isn’t just a television show, it’s real - that is until the episode cuts to the screen saying “Game Over” as a teenager is seen playing the young couple in an American Horror Story video game his mom is designing.

Over the course of “Game Over,” the episode switches between what is within the video game and what is in Michelle and Rory’s real life, leaving it fairly unclear about when the changes occur. Following the first opening Escape From Murder House video game twist, American Horror Stories makes it appear that the rest of the episode is real, with Rory and Michelle burning down Murder House after she is killed by the ghostly inhabitants. After an apparent reunion between Scarlett and Ruby of "Rubber Woman," where they live in a condo on Murder House’s old property, American Horror Stories suddenly switches to reveal that all of the Murder House events were within Michelle’s finalized version of the American Horror Story video game.

What Was Real In Game Over?

The difference between what was simulated in the Escape From Murder House game and what was real in Michelle and Rory’s life isn’t always clear. It seems that the only real parts of American Horror Stories episode 7 occur when Rory and Michelle are in their own house. In “Game Over,” the scene where the opening sequence is revealed to be Rory playing a video game, Rory and Michelle’s subsequent fight over understanding the show’s content, Michelle binge-watching the series while taking notes, and the closing scene where Rory finishes the game and they leave to get food can all be interpreted as real.

The American Horror Stories episode makes it appear that everything that happens in Murder House is simulated, including when Michelle meets with Tim the real estate agent to buy Murder House. It’s hinted that the scene with Tim is fake because he also appears during the video game’s final level where he sells a condo to Scarlett. Similarly, everything that had to do with Ben Harmon, Ruby and Scarlett, Murder House burning down, and the final condominium scene all happened within the video game. The scenes where Michelle goes to see Rory at her ex-husband’s house are both within the video game, as well. This is clear because, within the episode, it’s Halloween night twice within one week. After buying American Horror Story's Murder House, Michelle went to see Rory on Halloween, where she had just interacted with Murder House’s ghost characters and died that night - a sign it’s a part of the video game. Later on, Michelle can leave Murder House’s ground when it’s Halloween night again, which doesn’t make sense because Rory says she had only died a week ago, which was also Halloween.

What Beau’s Red Ball At The End Means

Most of the American Horror Stories episode made it seem like it was a meta-tale of American Horror Story fans, but the closing moments of “Game Over” suggest otherwise. After Rory finishes the Murder House video game, the two leave to get food while wondering what happened to the spirits of the house after it burned down in the game. Seconds later, the camera pans underneath a chair, where Beau Langdon’s signature red ball is seen rolling before the screen goes black. It may mean that what happened in the game crossed over into real life, similar to how American Horror Stories’ episode 3 fictional movie Rabbit, Rabbit caused people to turn into zombified cannibal versions of themselves in real life.

Beau’s ball could also mean that all of the events in the episode really did happen and that Michelle just turned her experience into a video game. In this way, Michelle would still be a ghost, she just chose to escape into the world to be with Rory, like what Beau apparently chose to do. If American Horror Stories’ ghosts are all free to roam the world if they choose, Beau may have just decided to move on with Michelle and Rory because he remembered them and thought they’d play with him.

Next: American Horror Stories: Rubber (Wo)man Ending Explained