Sons of the Forest ending explained, and how to reach all endings
If you're thinking 'What just happened?' as you conclude Sons of the Forest, you're not alone.
Update: Sons of the Forest 1.0 has arrived, and with it, a few changes to the ending of the game and how you reach it have been made. As a result, we've updated this page with the additional steps required to reach the ending, as well as how the endings themselves have changed.
Sons of the Forest doesn’t hold your hand or point you in any direction. When you wake up on that cannibal-infested island, that’s it. It’s your sole responsibility to survive long enough to be able to escape. However, when it’s all done and dusted, I can’t blame you if you need the Sons of the Forest ending explained.
If you’ve missed any excerpts of lore around the island, it’s troublesome to wrap your head around the true meaning of what you've seen. And even if you haven't, coming to your own conclusion still requires some theorising. In this guide, we explain Sons of the Forest's ending and how to reach it.
How to reach the ending of Sons of the Forest
Believe it or not, you can reach the ending of Sons of the Forest relatively quickly if you know exactly what you need and where to go. Without exploring the rest of the island, however, it’s difficult to piece together what actually just happened.
You’ll need a few items to achieve the ending of Sons of the Forest, and these are as follows:
- Rebreather
- Rope Gun
- Shovel
- Maintenance Keycard
- VIP Keycard
- Ancient Armor
First, you’ll want to retrieve the rebreather and rope gun from their respective caves, and use them to get the shovel from a third cave. We detail exactly where you need to go in our guide on how to get the shovel in Sons of the Forest.
With the shovel finally in your possession, it’s time for us to get the Maintenance Keycard. This is coincidentally located in a Bunker at the green circle closest to the rope gun cave on our GPS. You need to dig the site using your shovel and head on inside to retrieve the Keycard.
The VIP Keycard is in a cave also marked on our GPS, and is the one closest to the rebreather cave. For more detail on exactly where to go, head on over to our guide on where to find each Keycard in Sons of the Forest.
Finally, with the relevant Keycards in our possession, we need one last thing: Ancient Armor. This is found at, you guessed it, another cave on our GPS. This one just so happens to be on the other side of the island to everything we’ve found so far, though. It's at the base of a snowy mountain, with two entrances both by lakes.
Look for the cave entrance on your GPS that is by a large lake to the west - this is the easiest entrance to approach from in our opinion - and head on over. You’ll need the Maintenance Keycard to get inside, and here, you’ll find the Ancient Armor inside a broken-down aircraft at the very bottom of the cave, which you'll need to access the endgame.
How to open the VIP Bunker in Sons of the Forest
Now that we have all the equipment we need, it’s time to make our way to the VIP Bunker (it's entrance is shown below). As you might expect, this area is going to be riddled with god-awful mutants left, right, and centre (unless you’re playing on peaceful mode), but we have to make one more stop first.
If you approach the entrance to the VIP Bunker, you'll find that the keypad to unlock the door is broken. To fix it and unlock the door here, you'll need to use the Guest Keycard and venture through the Residential Bunker first.
The Residential Bunker is found near the large lake to the east of the map, at the base of the mountain. We've marked it on the below map.
Inside the Residential Bunker, you'll find multiple floors and rooms. Make your way downwards and loot every room until you come to an office with multiple computer screens. On the screens, you'll see Timmy at the entrance of the VIP Bunker and trying to get inside. You'll then be able to interact with the PC here and unlock the VIP Bunker door.
With the entrance to the VIP Bunker unlocked, we can finally exit the Residential Bunker and head over there. Fortunately for you, it's not too far.
You should’ve found a weapon by now, but fear not if you haven’t. This upcoming VIP Bunker has a shotgun and ammo inside that you can grab before things turn really grisly.
Make your way through the underground facility until you reach what is clearly the VIP living quarters. There will be a bathroom here with a broken wall exuding smoke. Head on through to reach a golden door. Here, equip the Golden Armor and interact with the door to continue ahead... except something won't be right.
How to open the Golden Door in Sons of the Forest
Just beside the golden door, there'll be a blueprint for the Armor Plater sat on a corpse. Pick it up and take a look at the items you'll need:
- 4x Wire
- 1x Skull
- 33x Bones
- 25x Rocks
- 4x Golf Cart Battery
- 12x Solafite Ore (to power the Armor Plater)
We recommend exiting the VIP Bunker for now and going outside to build the contraption using your build book. You can also use console commands to instantly build the structure if you're in a rush, or don't fancy retrieving dozens of bones right now.
When the Armor Plater is built, pop the Ancient Armor into it alongside twelve Solafite Ore. Then, interact with the skull and gold cart batteries at the top of the Armor Plater to have your Ancient Armor plated, and prepare for mutants. Plating the armor will also take a few minutes.
Once that's done, return to the golden door inside the VIP Bunker. You can now finally open the door with the freshly-plated Ancient Armor equipped.
You’re now entering a huge, sprawling cave full of enemies and lava. The path is linear from here, and it helps that Timmy is also here to show us the way.
Eventually, you’ll reach a golden cube and Timmy will present a laptop displaying a countdown. Kelvin will come join you (Virginia, too, if she’s a companion of yours).
Timmy begins to freak out a little as his arm starts to mutate, and once he stops, the opposite side of the golden cube opens, revealing a glimpse of something futuristic and confusing.
The golden cube will soon close, with the original entrance reopening to reveal yet another Sluggy, and Timmy's arm will still be mutated. Virginia will also pass out on the player. Shortly after, you’ll wake up on the beach with a helicopter waiting to take you back to safety, and civilisation. However, a Sluggy (which appears to be a Puffton) will appear, asking what was inside the cube and ultimately fighting you.
Once you beat them, more helicopters will appear. If you have the artifact, you'll also witness another cutscene in which hordes of mutants approach the beach.
You can then choose to board this helicopter, or retrieve your backpack and stay, each of which unlock different ending achievements that we explain below.
Sons of the Forest ending explained
So, there’s clearly a lot to unpack when it comes to the Sons of the Forest ending. A lot occurs with little to no explanation, so what actually happened on this island?
I’ll start by prefacing that there’s very little we know for certain, and some of the below explanation is fans theorising based off what we do know, what clues we’ve been given, and what we learned from The Forest.
What we do know is that the golden cube we found ourselves in at the end of the game is an artefact of sorts, and given what we saw across various bunkers, it’s safe to assume that these artefacts have something to do with people turning into mutants. And it's clear that the Puffton family were very interested in these artefacts...
We also know that, given the cyberpunk universe we were witness to, that these artefacts are connected to alternate realities. Across the game, you’ll also find documents and books detailing more about the island, including a book from Tim LeBlanc himself about the existence of other dimensions.
That guy in the chrome jacket who knocked us out at the very beginning of the game? You notice him trying to sneak into the golden cube too, and failing. That Sluggy we see right after the cube reopens is undoubtedly him, having transformed. This then leads to the theory that those who are not within the golden cube at a certain time (remember the fellow soldiers' laptop with the countdown?) turn into ghastly monsters. And speaking of the soldier holding the laptop, there's reason to believe that this character could also be Timmy LeBlanc himself.
Finally, remember when you went to retrieve the Golden Armor? In that particular bunker, you will have taken on a fight with a Sluggy, and received help from two strangers not in uniform. At one point, the older character tells the younger one to, “get down son”, which has lead to the theory that this is, in fact, Eric and Timmy LeBlanc from the first game doing what they do best; fighting demons.
Given their books being on the island too, I think we’re right to assume that the pair are here, continuing their lifelong research of survival and alternate realities. But if that is Timmy LeBlanc inside the golden cube at the end of the game, where is Eric?
Ultimately, there’s still a lot of questions left unanswered in Sons of the Forest, and piecing the puzzle together is part of the fun. That said, there’s definitely something missing here, and the story isn't quite as riveting as predecessor, The Forest.
All Sons of the Forest endings
Technically, Sons of the Forest has three endings. Although, two of them are pretty much the same.
Fought Demons ending
The first ending for Sons of the Forest occurs if you board the helicopter and leave the island. If you kept Kelvin around, he’ll also join you in the golden cube, and on the helicopter.
This unlocks the ‘Fought Demons’ achievement.
Fight Demons ending
The second ending for Sons of the Forest occurs if you ignore the helicopter, retrieve your backpack, and stay on the island. You’re stuck here forever to continue doing whatever you please.
This ending unlocks the ‘Fight Demons’ achievement.
Though, this ending plays out slightly differently if you managed to retrieve six pieces of the Artifact in Sons of the Forest. You'll now unlock the ability to track down the seventh and final piece when choosing this ending.
Once you're on the beach at the end of the game, hordes of mutants should appear and attack you and your companions. Meanwhile, the Artifact pieces will fly from your backpack, enticing you back onto the island. Choose to stay, and once everyone departs, set out for the four bright beams of light in the sky.
These will lead you to the final Artifact piece, allowing you to piece together the full Artifact and make use of its powers while you continue exploring the island. You won't get a fancy additional achievement for this, but you will have a fancy tool to play around with while fighting more demons.
Keep Your Friends Close ending
The final and 'best' ending for Sons of the Forest involves befriending Virginia. If you befriend her and also keep Kelvin around, both of them will join you in the golden cube sequence at the end of the game. Then, board the helicopter, and both will escape the island with you.
This ending unlocks the ‘Keep Your Friends Close’ achievement.
Each ending has its own cutscenes to experience, so you'll want to save your game prior to completing the endgame sequence if you wish to see them all! You'll also unlock Creative Mode upon finishing the game.
For more on Sons of the Forest, take a look at our guide to weapon locations, as well as how to get the Tech Armor, which is much better than the Golden Armor.