The Decameron's bloody ending explained (and why season 2 seems unlikely)

Warning: Major spoilers ahead from The Decameron season 1 ending.

The wildest Netflix original series of the summer arrived on July 25 with the release of the brand-new dark comedy The Decameron. The medieval satire takes place in 1348 as the Black Plague takes over Italy and forces out nobles and their servants to Villa Santa in the countryside. Hiding out from the pandemic naturally leads to lots of drinking, sex, violence, and power struggles.

Over the course of eight episodes, The Decameron does manage to tell a complete story about this group of individuals and the class dynamics that tear them apart but also push them together. There's a lot at stake for each character, and unfortunately, not all of them make it out of the season alive. By the end of the last episode, you'll be wondering if Netflix will bring the show back for season 2.

Currently, it's seeming rather unlikely that The Decameron season 2 will happen for a few key reasons. But in the current era of television, you can never say never. Let's dive into what goes down in the ending, especially all of those character deaths, and what stands in the way of a second season.

Only six characters survive in The Decameron

In the eighth and final episode of The Decameron season 1, a battle takes off as Villa Santa is invaded. While some characters had already died in previous episodes, including Dineo (Amar Chadha-Patel), multiple characters die in the battle. Panfilo (Karan Gill) and Neifile (Lou Gala) are shot by multiple arrows, Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) gets stabbed with a sword, and Pampinea (Zosia Mamet) is locked in a barrel in a burning room by Misia.

The only main characters to survive by the end of the season are as follows: Sirisco (Tony Hale), Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), Filomena (Jessica Plummer), Stratilia (Leila Farzad), and Jacopo (Aston Wray). The group leaves Villa Santa and finds a safe haven in the forest where they celebrate surviving and reflect on the deaths of their friends. In the final scene, Sirisco regales them with a love story. Could that be set up for a potential season 2?

Season 2 might not be necessary

Depending on the viewership success of The Decameron, Netflix could opt to renew the dark comedy for a second season. If the series was to adapt the story being told at the end of episode 8, we probably wouldn't be seeing the cast from the first season. But we might not be seeing The Decameron season 2 at all since Netflix has designated the show as a limited series.

Prior to the show's release, Netflix hadn't really clarified if the series would be limited, but after watching the bloody final episode, it's very clear that it's a rather limited story. Still, the 14th century text of short stories by Giovanni Boccaccio upon which the series is based is said to contain 100 stories. It's unlikely that the show covered them all in one eight-episode season.

"Limited series" doesn't always mean that a show will never return. Plenty of series that began with the intention of being limited return for additional seasons, whether in an anthology format (The White Lotus) or a direct continuation (Big Little Lies). Apple TV+ even just renewed their hit miniseries Presumed Innocent for a second season, which is expected to be an anthology moving forward.

Being so, if The Decameron finds enough success with viewers on Netflix, it's entirely likely that the streamer could opt to bring this world back with a new story and new characters. But at the end of the day, the ending of the first season doesn't necessitate another season. We will have to wait and see what the future holds for the satirical period dramedy!

Watch The Decameron only on Netflix.