‘Black Mirror: Demon 79’ Ending Explained: Does Nida Manage to Stop Armageddon?

Welcome to the Ending Explained for Black Mirror, Season 6, Episode 5, titled “Demon 79.” This is another episode that breaks the mold regarding what Black Mirror can be. Like episode 4 of the season, Mazey Day, the episode dwells more on the supernatural than on the science fiction aspects that made the show so popular in the first place. It could be said that Charlie Brooker is definitely trying to do something different with the show. While these two supernatural episodes were good, they don’t have the punch that episodes from the other season had because there is no near-future technology. Demons and werewolves just don’t exist, but they are still cool.

The episode is presented as a “Red Mirror” episode instead of a Black Mirror. This could mean that this is more of a horror/slasher-type story than what the rest of the show depicts in each episode, and it makes sense to give it such a distinction. The episode is set in 1979, and Brooker and his team of filmmakers have definitely gone the extra mile to depict the show in the best possible way.

The cinematography brings you closer to that decade’s cinema, with tons of texture and grain in the picture. The costume design is also really good, making for an interesting short movie to cap the season. Maybe this is the end of Black Mirror and the beginning of the red one.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Black Mirror, Season 6, Episode 4. Read at your own risk.

Why Is The Episode Called Demon 79?

Demon 79 is a very special episode for Black Mirror. It is labeled as a Red Mirror episode, meaning that the story has to deal more with the horror aspects of storytelling than science fiction. The episode is heavily inspired by horror folk movies from the 1970s and also takes heavy inspiration from Hammer movie productions. It makes for a fun watch, although it doesn’t leave you thinking about the horrors of technology, which is a first to Black Mirror.

However, the episode still manages to end the way almost all Black Mirror episodes do, with death and despair.

The first thing we do is meet Nida, a South Asian immigrant trapped in England. Nida works at a shoe shop and does her best to survive daily. She doesn’t feel safe or wanted at all. She always receives bad looks, and she feels like everybody sees her as an inferior being. Her boss, coworker, and even her neighbors don’t make her easy at all. When Nida is forced to eat her lunch in the basement because the heavy condiments on her food annoy her co-worker, Nida comes across something that will change her life forever.

She finds a strange talisman, and when she stains it with a drop of blood, the talisman begins talking to her. The talisman introduces itself as a demon who is looking to work with Nida because they need to make three sacrifices or the world will end. This is a lot of information, and Nida is obviously terrified at the prospect. She believes he has become crazy, but when the demon takes demon shape in front of her, she knows this is the real deal. The demon, Gaap, takes the shape of one of Nida’s favorite musicians, and thus their relationship begins.

Gaap convinces Nida that she needs to kill three people, one each day before midnight, or there will be a nuclear war. Gaap shows the future to Nida, and she decides to go along with the plan. Nida’s first kill is a mistake, and she regrets it a lot. After that, she decides she will only kill people who deserve it. As they look for their next victim, Nida comes across a man who has been harassing her at work. She quickly decides that he is her next target.

Does Nida Manage To Stop Armageddon?

Nida meets the man at a bar, something she never does, and then follows him to an alley. The man believes that Nida wants to have sex with him and takes her to his apartment. There, Nida reveals her intentions of killing him, and then the man offers his life willingly. The man had killed his wife and felt guilty about it.

Nida doesn’t think about it twice and kills the man with a hammer. It is pretty violent, and even Gaap believes she is quite violent. However, another man appears at that moment, and Nida is forced to kill him, not to leave witnesses behind.

Nida feels guilty. She believes herself to be a good person. She doesn’t know if killing that other man was the right thing to do. Gaap looks at the talisman and sees that only one death has been registered. Gaap is informed from hell that murderers don’t count when it comes to sacrifices, which means that Nida needs to kill one more person before this is over. She struggles with the fact, but Gaap convinces her that this is the right way.

At work, politicians with very strange and radical politics come to buy shoes. Nida knows the man is racist and checks with Gaap.

Gaap shows her that the man will become a powerful political figure who will incite many deaths for decades to come. It is quite scary. Nida decides this is the man they need to kill. Gaap is unsure because, down in hell, they like the politician. However, Nida has made her choice. It is the politician or no one. The police manage to catch up with Nida regarding the other’s death. She receives a visit from a detective and does very well to make him go. Nida then rushes to kill the politician and save the world.

Nida then uses her car to crash into the politician’s car, leaving him on the side of the road at her mercy. However, the detective appears and stops her before it is too late. Back at the station, Nida tells her story, but it sounds too crazy. Midnight arrives, and the world doesn’t end. However, an alarm begins to sound, and all the detectives and policemen watch as nuclear missiles drop on Earth.

Nida was right, and she failed. Gaap appears before Nida one last time, they have failed in saving the world, and now Gaap will be sent to eternal oblivion. She offers Nida to accompany him, and they walk together, holding hands as the world explodes behind them.