Fortnite Chapter 2 finale 'The End': I fought off alien UFOs, monsters and more and survived

Fortnite's Chapter 2 finale The End flipped the entire Fortnite island to defend reality against the Cube Queen's alien spaceships and monsters.
Fortnite's Chapter 2 finale The End flipped the entire Fortnite island to defend reality against the Cube Queen's alien spaceships and monsters. (Image credit: Epic Games)

Alien spaceships swarmed over the Fortnite island during the season finale of the battle royale game Saturday (Dec. 4).

They were hovering above us in a widening reality rift, looming above the Fortnite island during the game's Chapter 2 finale event known as "The End." Meanwhile, towering Caretaker monsters marched on the terrain in front of us, their faces glowing purple with rage.

All of these forces were overwhelming me and my team thanks to the direction of the Cube Queen — the main antagonist of Fortnite's Chapter 2, Season 8. Space.com editor-in-chief Tariq Malik (aka Hipponaut), and his daughter Zadie (ZadjeZDog) valiantly fired off bullets beside me (Berlitza). 

But there were a lot of aliens and only a few helpers; a helpful sentient blue cube (Blevin, anyone?) did throw up a shield to protect us, but was quickly destroyed.

Related: Fortnite flashback: Just how accurate was the black hole that launched Chapter 2?

Next we tumbled inside the island to find a surprise: The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) was waiting to help us out in his role as The Foundation, the leader of a group of benevolent, mysterious helpers in Fortnite known as the Seven. (We haven't even met all of the Seven yet, but at least four individuals are known from the group.)

Then came a confusing few minutes during which one of the Seven, called The Scientist, helped us through a rapidly tumbling and crumbling island, along with long-time Fortnite star Agent Jonesy and The Foundation working to find a way out. We managed to scramble out through the debris and into the water, only to see the island completely flipping over in the distance.

And that was it: The Event was over, and players were left floating in the water waiting for the arrival of the next season. Fortnite maker Epic Games hasn't released a date yet, although usually new seasons open on Tuesday. That pegs a tentative start date of Dec. 7, although we'll keep you posted.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is unmasked as The Foundation in Fornite's Chapter 2 finale The End as he rescued Jonesy. (Image credit: Epic Games)

Fortnite has a deep lore that is constantly throwing up new plot twists, so it's hard to say what Chapter 3 holds in store. But we're pretty sure now that Doctor Slone (a boss of Agent Jonesy) is an evil agent, as the finale portrayed her trying to kill (or at least disable) Jonesy in front of us (and all of us in the Chapter 2 Season 7 "Operation: Sky Fire" event. We're also almost sure the next season will feature a completely new map, given that the island literally flipped over.

So many alien spaceships invade the Fortnite island in Chapter 2's finale event "The End." (Image credit: Epic Games)

That said, one certain thing is that space will be a part of the new season. Renowned "Star Wars" bounty hunter Boba Fett will drop onto the island Dec. 24 to hunt targets and also to welcome us to the new franchise spinoff on Disney Plus, "The Book of Boba Fett."

Boba joins a lot of other "Star Wars" and space references in Fortnite in the last few years, including a Mandalorian-themed season in late 2020 and early 2021. And once the new content drops, we'll keep you posted on what new space stuff to expect in the next Fortnite season.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace