Underworld: Blood Wars (2017): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Underworld: Blood Wars plays out as a chain of betrayals inside the vampire ranks, with Marius and his Lycans closing in from outside until Selene settles the war in a single duel. Anna Foerster's film moves between two vampire strongholds, the Eastern Coven castle and the snowbound Nordic Coven, and the plot hinges on who is lying to whom at each stage.

The pardon Semira arranges is bait. Once Selene is training the young Death Dealers, Semira and her lover Varga poison her, kill the recruits and pin the slaughter on Selene. Semira then drains Selene's blood to take her power for herself. Thomas and his son David pull Selene out of the coven, and Thomas dies during the rescue. Selene and David head for the Nordic Coven with Alexia, a vampire dispatched by Semira, following behind.

The Nordic Coven is where the film turns over its secrets. The elder Vidar tells David that his mother is the Grand Elder Amelia and his father is Thomas, which makes him the rightful heir to the Eastern Coven. Alexia, meanwhile, has been working for Marius, and her tip brings the Lycans down on the Nordic stronghold. She stabs Selene in the middle of the assault. Marius then discovers that Selene cannot tell him where Eve is, so he orders the Lycans to stop, and Selene sinks beneath the broken ice.

The Eastern Coven unravels in her absence. Semira kills Alexia after learning of the deal with Marius. David arrives, takes command and denounces Semira, Varga walks away from her, and she is locked up. The Lycans storm the castle soon afterward, and Selene reappears, revived by the Nordic Coven and carrying new powers, cutting down the attackers as she goes.

The climax is a duel with Marius. When a drop of his blood reaches her, Selene receives his memories, among them the moment he killed Michael Corvin. She answers with her own memories of Michael, fights back and tears out Marius's spine. David kills Semira and holds up Marius's severed head, and the Lycans withdraw.

The ending of Underworld: Blood Wars confirms that Marius is dead, the Lycans retreat, and Selene, David and Lena become the new Elders of the coven, while Selene is finally reunited with Eve.

The key to the ending is what Selene knew. She had hidden her own knowledge of where Eve was in order to protect her, which is why Marius calls off the attack on the Nordic Coven: once he learns that Selene truly cannot tell him, she is no use to him. Eve then found her mother through their telepathic link, so the reunion happens on Eve's terms rather than Marius's.

The fight with Marius is the best idea in the film, in my opinion. A drop of his blood gives Selene his memories, including his killing of Michael Corvin, and she turns her own memories of Michael into the weapon that lets her tear out his spine. It answers the question of why Michael is absent: within the story, he is dead, and the film makes his death the emotional blow that ends the villain. Using a blood memory to deliver that moment is a clever way to handle it, even if it arrives quickly.

Is it a final chapter, and are they making another Underworld after Blood Wars? Perhaps, although the film does not close the door. Making Selene an Elder points toward a settled peace, but the Lycans only retreat, and David now holds the Eastern Coven. As of November 2026, no studio has announced a sixth film, a title or a release date. A television series was reported in September 2017 with Len Wiseman as executive producer, and it is reported to have still been in development in 2025. The grosses, the lowest of the five, are one reason I would not expect a quick sequel, though that is my reading, not a studio statement. The current status is on the underworld 6 page.

On whether it is worth watching, I would say yes for series fans who want Selene's arc closed and Eve brought into the story, and less so for newcomers. Start with Underworld (2003), then underworld evolution, underworld awakening and finally this film. The underworld movies ranked page has the full verdicts.