EPISODE

10. The Cord

"Mother" leads Romero to Norma's body and as Romero mourns over it, Norman subdues him and shoots him with his own gun. Before Romero dies, he tells Norman that Norman will never be able to escape from the fact that he killed his own mother. "Mother" tells Norman that with Romero dead and now that he really knows the truth - that he killed her - there is nothing left to protect him from, and she leaves him for good. Unable to handle this, Norman's mind regresses to when they first moved to the…

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THIS ENTRY’S STORY

Plot summary and ending

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Complete story — includes the ending

"Mother" leads Romero to Norma's body and as Romero mourns over it, Norman subdues him and shoots him with his own gun. Before Romero dies, he tells Norman that Norman will never be able to escape from the fact that he killed his own mother. "Mother" tells Norman that with Romero dead and now that he really knows the truth - that he killed her - there is nothing left to protect him from, and she leaves him for good. Unable to handle this, Norman's mind regresses to when they first moved to the motel. Under that delusion, he takes Norma's body back to the house and invites Dylan for dinner. Dylan does not inform the police. Instead, armed with a gun, he goes. After seeing Norma's corpse at the dinner table, Dylan begs Norman to face reality but Norman is unwilling to live without his mother. Dylan is forced to fatally shoot him when Norman charges at him with a knife. Norman dies in Dylan's arms and thanks Dylan for letting him reunite with Norma in death. The motel and house are sold, and Dylan and Emma make a happy life together with their daughter.

Sources and content license

Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Bates Motel season 5. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license