Warning! This article contains spoilers for A Murder At The End Of The World.
Summary
According to a creepy theory from A Murder at the End of the World, Andy Ronson and Lee Andersen’s son, Zoomer, could be a lot scarier than he initially seemed. Developed by the creators of the hit Netflix drama The OA, A Murder at the End of the World unfolds in an Icelandic hotel where a billionaire’s retreat goes terribly wrong when a guest dies on the first night. Since The OA’s creators, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, are known for their attention to detail, viewers cannot help but break down every detail from the first two episodes of the series.
Owing to this, even though the opening episodes seemingly scratch the surface of the mysteries in A Murder at the End of the World’s overarching storyline, audiences have started deducing theories about its complex narrative threads and character beats. While all theories are intriguing in their own way, especially the ones that connect it with Netflix’s The OA, one theory seemingly stands out. This theory not only makes Zoomer’s characterization in A Murder at the End of the World creepier but also possibly reveals a lot about Andy and Lee’s plans.
A Murder at the End of the World is available on Hulu for streaming.
Andy & Lee’s Son Zoomer Is An AI Robot – A Murder At The End Of The World Theory Explained
A Murder at the End of the World theory suggests that Andy and Lee’s son, Zoomer, could be an AI robot. As strange as this theory may seem on paper, it makes a lot of sense when one considers several clues from the first two episodes of the murder mystery show. One of these first clues emerges in A Murder at the End of the World’s episode 1 when Andy introduces the guests to his family at the retreat and talks about the future of artificial intelligence. Instead of calling AI “Artificial Intelligence,” both Zoomer and Andy call it “Alternate Intelligence,” which seemingly foreshadows how Zoomer might be an alternate form of intelligence.
When Bill asks Zoomer his age, Zoomer says he is 5 years, 9 months, 20 days, and 27 seconds. The specificity with which Zoomer says his age makes him a little too smart for his age. During the same dinner scene, Ziba offers Zoomer some bread from the table, but Andy instantly stops her from feeding him. While this could mean that Zoomer has food allergies or Andy is too strict about Zoomer’s meal timings, the fact that Zoomer is the only one in the room not having dinner seems suspicious. Later, during the scene, Zoomer uses a toy stethoscope to play doctor and check Bill’s heartbeat but accurately guesses that Bill’s pulse is high. This raises the possibility that Zoomer, as an AI, can even detect a human’s pulse.
What Zoomer Being A Robot Could Mean For Andy’s Plans In A Murder At The End Of TheWorld
If this theory holds true, it could be possible that Andy and the robotics expert, Oliver, have joined forces to create a colony of human-like robots. Or maybe Lee and Andy’s real son died, and they “kept him alive” by transferring his consciousness to an AI robot. Perhaps Zoomer is a stepping-stone technology for them to figure out a way to make humans immortal and save them from the climate crisis. This would make sense because, in A Murder at the End of the World’s opening episode, Andy even discusses how climate change will affect his son’s generation.
Maybe Andy has no intentions of saving the planet. Instead, he wants to find a way to sustain humans without the Earth’s natural resources. Bill must have figured out what Andy intends to do, and his opposition to technology must have been a threat to Andy. This would mean that Andy might have gotten Bill killed in A Murder at the End of the World episode 1. Instead of protecting all humans from their imminent doom, Andy also possibly wants to save only the next generation of humans and ultimately send them off to the moon to sustain humanity’s presence in the universe.
This would explain why Sian, who has previously researched moon colonization in the past, is a part of the retreat. Combining her knowledge of survival in outer space with Oliver’s expertise in robotics would help Andy execute his plan successfully. Since Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij often masterfully place twists and turns in their movies and shows, it is also possible that the details in Zoomer’s characterization in A Murder at the End of the World’s initial episodes are mere distractions or red herrings that have been intentionally introduced to divert audiences from the real plot.
