The Spiderwick Chronicles Creator Breaks Down Season 1 Ending, Mulgarath's Plan & Season 2 Hopes

Warning: Major SPOILERS lie ahead for The Spiderwick Chronicles season 1!

Summary Aron Eli Coleite worked closely with The Spiderwick Chronicles authors Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi to expand on their novels for the show, including key changes to the source material.

Mulgarath's bigger role in the show was a way to better twist Jared's overall story as he "weeded" his way into the Grace family to manipulate them.

Coleite has a number of big ideas for what a Spiderwick Chronicles season 2 would look like, including more secrets hidden in the house and how to resolve the show's cliffhanger ending.

The Grace family's fight against Mulgarath has hit a shocking wall in The Spiderwick Chronicles finale. Based on the fantasy book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, the Roku Channel show revolves around twins Jared and Simon, their older sister Mallory and recently divorced mother Helen moving into their ancestral family home in a small Michigan town. Shortly after arriving, Jared learns that his great-grandfather, Arthur Spiderwick, discovered that magical creatures are real and put together a field guide chronicling them.

The Spiderwick Chronicles show followed Jared, Simon and their new friends as they tried to reassemble the field guide with its missing pages before the villainous ogre, Mulgarath, could get his hands on it and enact a plan that would wipe out the town. The finale of the show saw the family, including Helen, finally learn some of his plan and fight to try and stop him, using a vorpal sword in an attempt to cut him out of reality. Unfortunately, Mulgarath used his shapeshifting ability to disguise himself as Jared, resulting in the Grace sibling being sent to the Faerie world instead, where he discovers Arthur Spiderwick alive and well.

Related The Spiderwick Chronicles Season 1 Review: The Dark Fantasy Series Is A Breath Of Fresh Air The Spiderwick Chronicles season 1 is a win as a book adaptation, providing an exciting first chapter for what could be a multi-season fan-favorite.

Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell lead the ensemble Spiderwick Chronicles cast as Jared and Simon alongside Mychala Lee as Mallory, Jack Dylan Grazer as the mischievous Thimbletack, Joy Bryant as Helen, Christian Slater as the villainous Mulgarath and Alyvia Alyn Lind. Hailing from Locke & Key alum Aron Eli Coleite, the show was executive produced in collaboration with DiTerlizzi and Black, who also worked hand-in-hand with Coleite to develop the adaptation, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's Kat Coiro, who also directed the first two episodes.

Following the show's premiere, Screen Rant interviewed Aron Eli Coleite to discuss The Spiderwick Chronicles' ending, how only the surface of Mulgarath's plans have been revealed, and what his plans are for a potential season 2, including Calliope's emotional future arc and more secrets hiding in the Spiderwick Estate.

The Spiderwick Chronicles' BTS Journey Is "Overwhelming" & Thrilling For Coleite To Reflect On

Before making its debut on The Roku Channel, The Spiderwick Chronicles had been set up at Disney+, with the streamer looking to continue their anticipated success with Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Though the platform dropped it reportedly due to cost-cutting measures, Roku was quick to step in, and Coleite couldn't be happier with the show's new home, especially after they gave him "no notes" for tweaking it:

Aron Eli Coleite: It's kind of overwhelming, to be honest with you. I was reflecting back on it, it's been four years, three different networks, survived two different strikes, and now we are finally here. [Chuckles] I feel like it's the end of not only a marathon, but four marathons. So, it's a pretty great feeling. I think it's become a joke these days, but saying, "No notes" is one of the best things that you could ever hear when you are dealing with any kind of creative executives. [Chuckles] When they purchased it, and when they saved us, they really had zero notes. They wanted to do one thing, one little thing with the opening, which was kind of put a little primer on for what the series was. But beyond that, they were like, "We love what you did. We love this show. We want to air it." And that is an incredible vote of confidence. Especially, a lot of people, when they pick up a show, they want to put their fingers on it, they want to get their fingerprints on it, they want to make it their show. Roku was very proud of the show that we made, and just wanted to air it as is, so that's an amazing vote of confidence.

The Change To Mulgarath's Role Came From "The DNA" Of The Books

Unlike the source material, in which he is more of a villain in the background, Mulgarath plays a big part in The Spiderwick Chronicles show, disguising himself as Jared's therapist and using his position to manipulate his way into the Grace family. For Coleite, the discussion of how he disguised himself came from a different change in the books:

Aron Eli Coleite: It goes back to not only Mulgarath, but the Field Guide itself, which is, in the books and the feature, a complete book that they have to protect. When I was initially talking to Tony and Holly, and trying to figure out, "Okay, well what's the thrust of the series? How do we make protecting a book interesting for eight episodes?" It quickly became apparent that would kind of get a little tiresome and repetitive, of how many times could Mulgarath try to get the book, and get away with it. So, that's when we came up with the idea that the pages have actually been torn out and separated, and made it more of a quest for Jared, Simon and their friends to actually go out and find and reassemble the book, and that Mulgarath needed them to do that. Because Lucinda had put so many protections, and hid the pages so well, that he had no chance of actually finding them. So, he needed Jared to actually come here and find them for him, so he's been manipulated from jump. That was really revelatory to us, because then we had a different kind of Mulgarath, we had a manipulative Mulgarath, a Mulgarath who was weeding his way into their lives from jump, and was going to appear in a place that Jared certainly would least expect it, and the fans would least expect it. This therapist-patient relationship is new to the series, but it's also in the DNA of the book. When the book opens, Jared has a black eye, and we tried to emulate that by having his arm broken for most of the series. But where did Jared get that black eye? How did that happen? It happened with some kind of fight at school. So, that really spoke to me. I was like, "Oh, well, what if he's coming to see a therapist? And what if that therapist is also Lucinda's therapist and had this whole connection?" So it kind of all fell in place of no matter what you think of psychology or psychiatry, having that trusted person who is going to spill all your secrets be the one that's manipulating you made him an incredible foe for Jared to go up against.

Calliope Started As A Necessary Mulgarath Addition Before Coleite Found Her Arc

Though changing Mulgarath's role in the show, Coleite felt it important to retain the villain having a "henchperson" to discuss his evil plans with, but Black and DiTerlizzi helped him realize this required a change in whom this would be since the lore no longer fit to have a goblin. This led to the creation of the fetch Calliope, though as the trio discussed the character further, they came to land on a unique arc for her:

Aron Eli Coleite: Mulgarath needed somebody to talk to him, he needed his henchperson. In the movie, it's the goblins and Redcap. And that was kind of my initial thought when talking to Tony and Holly, I was like, "Well, let's put a goblin there for him to consort with?" And they're like, "Well, that's not going to work, because goblins are a really different creature. And I was like, "Oh, well, sure. Of course, they are. I knew that." I didn't. [Chuckles] And it was one of the great things about the relationship with Tony and Holly was just how much lore they had at their fingertips, and not only lore they had, but they were so wonderful about being collaborative, like, "Okay, we need to make changes. This character needs to be somebody who can interact with our human characters, can disguise themselves, can insinuate themselves inside the Grace family." So, a goblin wasn't gonna work, and that's when Holly was like, "Oh, what if she's a fetch?" And I was like, "I have no idea what that is, please illuminate me." She told us the story of fetches, these portents of death, it goes back to an old Irish lore. And if you saw one, it meant that your death was imminent, and that they sustained on death, and that's how they thrive. This felt like such a perfect allegory for a teenager, especially for a teenage creature like Calliope. We like to call her "the loneliest monster on the planet", because it's not only that humans are afraid of death, but all creatures are afraid of death. All creatures hate Calliope, they hate a fetch, because it means you're gonna die, so somebody who's that isolated and that lonely, they could be easily manipulated by Mulgarath to help him to eat the entire town. But they're also susceptible to companionship and to friendship, things that they've never had in their life. So, something that's a little bit more genuine in the relationship is the friendship and relationship that develops with Simon, because he's the first person in the entire world, in her entire existence, that isn't afraid of her. He sees something in her that is much more than just being a portent of death. So, that pull between what she needs to survive that Mulgarath has given her, which is a ton of death, and the relationship that Simon is offering, which is one of companionship, friendship, and emotion, it tears at her. So, she is really torn between both sides, and it was always meant to be that push-and-pull with her.

While later episodes in the show saw Calliope turn against Mulgarath in order to help the Grace family, Coleite did tease that her hunger for death will result in a "struggle" for her heading into a potential Spiderwick Chronicles season 2:

Aron Eli Coleite: It's a really good question. I have some thoughts about it, especially as it relates to the dragon. The deal that was made, that really spoke to her, was, "Well, if we save the dragon, then there will be death for you." I think it's a little bit of a psychological-ism that gets said a lot these days, but we want to be seen for who we are. And what really turns her is Simon asked her to stop, and the first thing that she says is like, "How can you say that? How can you do that to me? You don't really know me." It's a betrayal. And then, when he says, "Well, I want to save the dragon and I want to save you." It is, "Oh, you do understand what nourishes me." So, it's dangerous to raise a dragon, there's going to be some amount of death, and is that going to sustain her? Is that going to be enough? Or is she going to have to revert and need even more deaths? I think it'll be a struggle for her and I think that part of season 2 that I really want to explore more is can you really change who you are in the inside? Is that possible? As much as we want to, we can't help who we are. Do we judge people on that? Or do we not judge them, even if it means death is around them? So, I think that there's a lot of rich themes to explore with that. And it was really going to be triangulated in the form of that dragon that is now growing up and growing out of control. What are you going to do about a problem like a dragon that you can't keep in your house anymore?

The Spiderwick Chronicles' Cliffhanger Ending Was Decided "Really Early On"

Despite their best efforts to stop him, Mulgarath somewhat succeeds in his plans by disguising himself as Jared and convincing Mallory to stab her brother with the vorpal sword, sending him into the Faerie world, where he's met by his great-grandfather Arthur. Coleite reveals that this cliffhanger ending was discussed "really early on" between him, Black and DiTerlizzi, and "really honors what happens in the books":

Aron Eli Coleite: That was something that Tony and Holly and I had really early on. One of the things that I loved about Mulgarath in the books was when he becomes not Jared. And in fact, in all of our scripts, it doesn't say Mulgarath's name, it says "Not Dr. Brauer". No one, obviously, would be able to see that, but it was our homage to exactly what is in the books. And knowing, "Hey, let's swing to Not Jared taking over from Jared," feels like it really honors what happens in the books. And not only that, it also gives us this amazing cliffhanger. It was Tony who said, "Well, then they should quest, and they should get a vorpal sword, and that vorpal sword is what's going to cut him out of this realm and put him in Faerie, just like he tricked Arthur Spiderwick with all those years ago, and let's stick them together." Knowing that the end of the season was Arthur Spiderwick appearing and saying, "Hello."

Mallory's Heroic Arc Required 1 Change From The Books (Which Came From Its Authors)

Despite her determination to be the hero, Spiderwick Chronicles' Mallory is forced to look within herself to examine her insecurities and goals before she can truly wield the vorpal sword. Though staying true to her "knight"-like arc in the books, Coleite explained how Black and DiTerlizzi suggested some of the changes to her story to make it all the more effective in the show:

Aron Eli Coleite: It's a different sword in the books. I believe that there's a sword that she gets from the dwarves, and I wanted to reference that sword. And again, in their keepers of lore, Tony was like, "It shouldn't be a dwarves sword. It shouldn't be that. It should be the vorpal sword." And I'm like, "This is why I love collaborating with them." Because they know exactly where the missteps are, and how to avoid them. It's why I wanted to work with them so intimately in crafting the season and working on the show. In the hero's journey, we wanted to take from very specific hero's journeys for each of the Grace siblings, and have them have their own quests. And for Mallory, especially when we were aging her up, it really started to make sense. In the DNA of the books, she is the knight, she is the swordsman, she is the hero, and we always knew that was the case, but when we were aging her up, and especially in moving to a new town, it felt like a teenager who had one foot out the door and was ready to leave this family. Knowing this family is complicated, and being the oldest sibling, she understood, "I gotta get out of here. Gotta get a scholarship, I've gotta go to college. I'm gonna go maybe make the Olympic team. I have plans. I have ideas, I can't wait to enact them." She's the type of person who has a vision, who's had a vision board since they were like 10 years old. [Chuckles] And what happens when you disrupt those plans? And what happens when you start feeling like, "I'm not worthy of those plans?" And especially, how do you reconnect to family when you want to escape them? So, we wanted to play around with all of those themes, and especially somebody who has all those plans is really riddled with self-doubt underneath that. That was really Mallory's journey of understanding, "I put up this real good front, I'm real strong. But there's all this insecurity underneath that, that I'm not worthy, that I'm not good enough, that I'm not strong enough, I'm not fast enough." Getting to the place of self-acceptance, getting to a place of believing in yourself, and having that belief that is why and when the vorpal sword can really shine through. And the other major rule that we wanted to place in the vorpal sword was you can only use it for the right reasons, your intention has to be completely pure. And one of the reasons why she can't do it initially is not only based on her insecurity, but it's based on pride. She can't wield it, because she wants to be the hero, she wants to prove how wonderful and amazing she is. She's doing it for selfish reasons, and it's only when her friend's life is on the line, her family's life is on the line, that she can put all that stuff aside and find the true motivation within her of, "I do need to protect my family, it's not for just myself, this is for others," that Mallory can reach that place where the vorpal sword will appear for her.

The Spiderwick Estate Is Still Full Of Secrets For Season 2 (Including 1 Hiding In Plain Sight)

Part of the general thrust of The Spiderwick Chronicles show is the various secrets Lucinda hid throughout both her home and the town to delay Mulgarath's planning. While the Spiderwick Estate was fairly thoroughly explored in season 1, Coleite iterates the manor "100%" has more secrets hiding within its walls, including one that was sitting in plain sight that will be a key plot thread in the potential season 2:

Aron Eli Coleite: Oh, 100%. There's a whole wing of the house that they have not yet explored, that we would really crack through and crack open in season 2. So, if you look at the exterior, there's a whole kind of gaudy-inspired wing that we never explored in season 1. So who built that? Why did they build it? It's all lurking inside there. Then, there's another hidden secret that — I'm curious if people will pick up on it — but the tree inside the house. There is a very human-like figure inside that tree. If you look carefully, you will see a face, you will see arms, you will see a torso, and that has a very particular link to a certain elf, in a certain book that is mentioned in this season. [Chuckles] And it will deeply connect to how to get Arthur and Lucinda and Jared out of Faerie and back into our world.

About The Spiderwick Chronicles

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The Grace family moves from Brooklyn, New York, to their ancestral home in Henson, Michigan, the Spiderwick Estate. Helen makes the move with her 15-year-old fraternal twin boys, Jared and Simon, and her older daughter, Mallory. Shortly after moving to the Spiderwick Estate, Jared discovers a boggart and realizes that magical creatures are real! The only one to believe him is his great-aunt Lucinda, who implores Jared to find the pages of her father’s field guide to magical creatures and protect them from the murderous Ogre, Mulgarath.

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The Spiderwick Chronicles season 1 is streaming for free on The Roku Channel.