Good Omens Ending Explained: Aziraphale and Crowley’s Relationship Status, The Second Coming, and More

The following contains Major spoilers for Good Omens season 3.

Though many of us were nervous that this day might never actually come, the Good Omens finale is here and brings the beloved story of the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) to an end. But will fans be satisfied with the ending they waited so long to see? 

It’s certainly true that much of “The Finale” feels rushed — a side effect of being forced to condense a story originally intended to be told over six episodes into 90 minutes — and occasionally has to sacrifice character depth in favor of moving the plot along. Still, it’s a conclusion that manages to hold true to many of the same themes we’ve seen throughout the rest of the series: Humanity is a miracle. We are who we choose to be. Love endures in every form. And sometimes great love requires great sacrifice. It’s a bittersweet conclusion, to be sure, but one viewers will almost certainly be talking about for a long time to come. 

Here’s a rundown of the big reveals from Good Omens finale.  

The Second Coming Isn’t the Real Apocalyptic Threat

Though the premise of “The Finale” ostensibly revolves around the Second Coming, and even introduces Extraordinary standout Bilal Hasna as a soft-spoken, endlessly charming Jesus, the potential End Times are less of a threat than you might expect. Part of that is Aziraphale’s doing; in his new role as Supreme Archangel, he’s been promoting a more universal happiness versus a fire-and-brimstone kind of vibe. But the question of the Second Coming almost becomes irrelevant in the face of the disappearance of the Book of Life. A celestial register upon which all of reality is recorded, its also the means by which that same reality can be erased, and the scope of its threat becomes glaringly apparent when the all-powerful Metatron and several archangels vanish from existence.

The finale rushes through much of this plot — understandable as it clocks in at just 96 minutes – but the upshot of it all is that the Archangel Michael, tired of being overlooked in Heaven, stole the book and burns it page by page in the Eternal Flame at the center of the universe. Though Azirphale attempts to talk her off the proverbial ledge, they fail, and the Book of Life is destroyed, save for a single page Crowley manages to rescue, a charred entry for the pair’s beloved Whickber Street bookshop. 

The Problem of Free Will

Now essentially the last beings in the universe, Crowley and Aziraphale are confronted by both Satan (Toby Jones) and God (Tanya Moodie), who are summoned into appearing by virtue of being omnipresent through all things. This awkward family reunion essentially turns into a fairly familiar debate about free will and predestination, as Crowley questions why the Almighty would create a universe where humans are punished for simply behaving like humans and, subsequently, essentially being set up to fail. Aziraphale simply wants to know why God decided to give him Crowley and the promise of completeness he represents, only to take it all away. 

As Satan points out, these are all questions that will be familiar to any religion or philosophy major: the problem of evil, the question of free will, why an omniscient Creator would allow their creations to suffer needlessly. Good Omens smartly doesn’t attempt to settle thousands of years’ worth of debate on these topics. Instead, it upsets the board entirely. God offers to let Crowley and Aziraphale choose what comes next: Everything can be put back the way it was or something else can be made in its place. But whatever that something else will be, is up to them. 

Sequestered in a corner of the shop that transforms into a sort of hybrid Garden of Eden, the pair debate what sort of world they want to make (and live in). For Aziraphale, the answer is easy: He just wants Crowley. But Crowley’s feelings are more complicated: He longs for a universe where free will is real and humanity can truly make their own choices, even if it means creating a world where no angels or demons exist, even if it means the pair of them will never get the chance to be an “us” the way he’s always wanted them to be.

The Good Omens Universe Ends 

In the end, a teary Aziraphale agrees, and after a brief and gut-wrenching farewell, the pair disintegrate into nothingness, holding hands and gazing at each other the whole time. The Good Omens universe as we knew it blinks out of existence, before restarting again with a literal Big Bang. 

Billions of years pass, as humanity is born again, and ostensibly makes many of the same mistakes all over again. (Humans are going to human, after all.) But this time around, they do it on their own terms, and that’s what makes all the difference. 

Do Aziraphale and Crowley Get Their Happy Ending?

While this is undoubtedly the thing that most viewers will be interested in when it comes to the events of this finale, the answer is a bit more complicated than most likely expected. The beings we have watched for three seasons, the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, technically cease to exist when the Good Omens universe is erased. 

But Professor Anthony Crowley and Asa Fell, two figures who are clearly human versions of Crowley and Aziraphale, just reborn into a reality where neither a divine nor a demonic hierarchy exists, do get an adorable meet-cute and happily ever after.

In this reality, astrophysicist Crowley meets bookseller Asa Fell when he wanders into his shop in search of some reading material. The pair hit it off and have dinner (this time with a helpful push from the Metratron, now simply a bookstore owner named Derek). Fast forward 20 years, and Asa and Anthony are stargazing in the backyard of a South Downs cottage, sporting wedding rings and listening to nightingales sing. Given that the two spent six millennia pining for one another, it’s a soft and fully earned happy ending, even if neither remembers the literal centuries of history they shared in a previous universe. 

Yes, it’s something of a bittersweet conclusion to Aziraphale and Crowley’s story — especially for viewers who likely hoped their favorite angel and demon would be granted an eternity together after centuries of being kept apart — but one that reflects the very human heart of this series and its larger themes. The pair’s love for the Earth that they made their home led them to sacrifice everything for it, but their love for each other was strong enough that they still found one another again. That certainly feels ineffable, if you ask me. 

Good Omens is now available to stream in full on Prime Video.