The Clever Clues To The Ending Of ‘The Conjuring 2’ You Never Noticed, Hidden In Plain Sight
The third movie in the Conjuring Universe, The Conjuring 2, features an English family battling a haunting-turned-possession in their council home. Ed and Lorraine Warren come to save this family from the Enfield haunting. How do they do it? Eventually, after weeks of battling an old man ghost and a creepy nun, Lorraine realizes she needs to say the demon’s name to cast it out. But there have been clues hidden in the movie all along that tell the Warrens the name of the demon.
See, names are really important when it comes to demons, according to the paranormal investigating duo. Toward the end of the movie, right before the climactic battle scene with spooky entities, Ed and Lorraine have this conversation:
Lorraine: Knowing the demon’s name gives us power over it and we can cast it out.
Ed: We don’t know the name.
Lorraine: But maybe we do.
During the pivotal moment when the name is needed the most, Lorraine remembers scribbling letters on the pages of her bible. She goes back to read it and discovers the name: Valak.
If Lorraine had only been paying attention, she would have noticed Valak’s name long before she even heard of the Enfield haunting. If you look closely, you can spot 4 times the movie hinted at the ending.
The clues start once Ed paints an image of the nun. Lorraine walks into the kitchen and pours tea for herself. At 33:02, you can see a “LoVe” heart on the wall with ALAK carved into the wood of the wainscoting.
Ed sits down with Lorraine at the table to continue their discussion. At 33:30 , you can see “VALAK” in mismatched letters on the windowsill.
Later, Lorraine has an intense vision of the nun. After being chased through several locations by the demonic entity, Lorraine yells, “tell me who you are!” At 48:10, Lorraine wakes up in her study, visibly shaken. Behind her, there are wooden letters on her bookshelves spelling out the demon’s name: “VALAK.”
At the same time, the couple’s daughter Judy is making a bracelet at the glass table in front of the bookcase. If you look closely, you can see she’s made “VALAK” on her bracelet with little plastic letters.
Again, these shots are happening before Ed and Lorraine ever go out to help the family in England. These are clues you probably wouldn’t notice until a second or third watch, if at all. So why have them? They could be little Easter eggs for the audience, but there’s a more compelling answer.
The demon Valak, who presents itself as a creepy nun, is using another ghost as a vessel. His name is Bill Wilkins. It takes toward the end of the film for Lorraine to realize that Bill Wilkins isn’t a negative presence and he’s just been used. He’s been trying to help Ed and Lorraine solve this so he can move on.
In that case, maybe it’s Bill who’s been leaving clues for Valak’s name. Since the Warrens are a sensitive family when it comes to the paranormal, all three of them have been channeling Bill, leaving these clues behind for them to solve. In the end, those clues were missed by the Warrens, but not us! Thank horror fans for having such keen eyes for hidden messages.