Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, is one of the best sci-fi films of the previous decade, yet it can be perplexing. Edge of Tomorrow is a Groundhog Day-like premise in which United Defense Force media relations manager William Cage (Cruise) relives the same awful day over and again with the only other person who’s ever lived it, Rita Vrataski (Blunt). The lyrics can be hard to follow.
Thus, viewers often leave the film with questions. Like Cage’s repeating day, the solutions are there, but it may take a few tries to understand. We’ve seen this sci-fi film several times and can help you understand its convoluted ending.
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Edge Of Tomorrow: How Do Mimics Time Travel?
Edge Of Tomorrow’s ending needs strict attention to the beginning when the extraterrestrial Mimics’ actions are revealed quickly. Dr. Carter (Noah Taylor), a Mimic biologist, revealed that the Mimics are like one gigantic, interconnected creature, with larger “Alpha” Mimics serving as the central nervous system and commanding the drones.
The central “Omega” Mimic then processes input from these high-ranking Alphas. Each time an Alpha dies, the Omega rolls the clock back 24 hours, preserving their cumulative knowledge and allowing the Mimics to alter their strategy to win.
Carter hypothesizes that since the Omega is the Mimics’ brain, the only way to stop the invasion is to destroy it. The Alphas seem to control the drones’ activities and strategy. The Mimics are better at hiding the Omega than Cage and Vrataski since they know the military’s primary weakness and have greater experience using their time loop skills.
Rita’s Verdun fate?
The narrative of Rita Vrataski at the Battle of Verdun, which we only read about, is ripe for a prequel. The United Defense Force (UDF) headed by Sergeant Vrataski, known as “the Angel of Verdun,” won their first battle against the Mimics at Verdun after five years of fighting. Rita led the UDF to victory because she was a great soldier, but she also lived in a time loop, which no one knew about.
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Vrataski died in her first Verdun battle. Like Cage in France, Rita died with an Alpha, and their blood mixed as they died. Rita woke up a day before Verdun and relived the war, gaining ground each time before dying. Rita saw the Omega after many repetitions and followed them to destroy the brain and defeat the Mimics. She was seriously injured and needed a blood transfusion while leading the UDF to victory over the Mimics. She lost looping and visions without Mimic blood.
Cage’s Day Reset—Why?
Cage had no idea what he was doing when he was thrown into French combat. He couldn’t even disable his gun’s safety. He outlasted most of his unit by luck. Cage ended up alone and on his back, surrounded by Mimics, including a massive, blue-tinged Alpha. Cage grabbed a UDF incendiary device lying beside him and discharged it as the Alpha lunged for him in desperation.
Cage died in the explosion that destroyed the Alpha. As Cage lay dying, his flesh burning away, the blood of the dying Alpha trickled into his open wounds, passing along its link to the Omega and giving Cage the same ability the Alphas have—when he dies, the day is reset so he can learn from his past mistakes and progress. Like the Alphas, his consciousness was regressed for 24 hours. When he landed at Heathrow military camp, he woke up the morning before the invasion.
Why Did Cage Think Omega Was In Germany?
Rita warns Cage that he’ll loop and see the Omega once he and Vrataski start working together. Cage’s visions will help them find and destroy the Omega. Vrataski and Carter believe that the Battle of Verdun was a setback for humanity since Rita lost her time loop power before finding the Omega and ending the conflict.
Now that he can, Cage wants to find and kill the Omega, not help the UDF invade France. Vrataski and Carter’s research shows that’s the only method to eliminate the Mimic menace. When Cage’s visions begin, he uses architectural clues to locate the Omega at a German dam.
Cage and Vrataski spend many loops trying to go from the beach in France to the dam in Germany, but when Cage arrives, he’s dismayed to find the Omega isn’t there. His visions—and perhaps Rita’s—were a trap set by the Omega to show them exactly what and where they wanted to see.
How Were The Mimics Using The Visions?
Cage finds an Alpha and a drone at the German dam instead of the Omega. These Mimics seem to have a different plan than previous ones, who murdered Cage immediately. The Alpha cuts Cage deeply and bleeds him instead of tearing him apart. Cage realizes that the Mimics are trying to lure him away from his comrades and steal his blood’s power as he sees it drain.
How the Mimics planned to overthrow Cage is unclear. Cage has bled numerous times while dying, yet he’s never lost the capacity. We’ll never know if the Mimics planned to drain his blood or use another method to obtain power.
The Mimics produced the visions to trick Cage and Vrataski. Perhaps each looping human’s death reinforced the Omega’s relationship until it was able to put thoughts in their minds and direct their behaviors. In that situation, Vrataski losing the ability at the Battle of Verdun may have worked in her favor.
Omega’s Location?
The Omega was still in Europe, albeit in a different country, despite the dam dreams in Germany. After Cage and Vrataski stopped depending on their visions, they found the Omega by leveraging the direct link between the Omega and the Alphas (and Cage).
The genuine Omega is under Paris’ Louvre Pyramid. The Omega is submerged in the Seine River as Cage, Vrataski, and the rogue J-Squad arrive at the famed museum. After the Mimic attacks on Paris and the Seine overflow, Edge of Tomorrow’s Pyramid entry to the museum and its large lobby is in ruins. In Edge of Tomorrow, Cage swims to the Omega from the Louvre Pyramid, which ordinarily has no water.
What Device Did General Brigham Give Cage?
After realizing that the visions are not a roadmap to the Mimics’ greatest weakness (and in hindsight, why would they be? ), Cage and Vrataski are forced to re-evaluate their strategy to destroy the Omega and decide to use a piece of technology Carter started developing back when Rita was caught in the loop, which he hoped would defeat the Omega.