There are three endings in Far Cry 5, and all of them are a little weird. If you don’t want spoilers, turn back now — because we’re going to explain what these ending mean, breakdown the specifics, and tell you how to get all three.
The Far Cry series isn’t known for having great endings, but since the release of Far Cry 4, people have been on the lookout for secret endings they might’ve missed. Like the previous entry, there is a secret ending right at the start of the game, and that’s something we’ve already covered — but we’ll provide the info here and explain it, along with the other two endings. It’s hard to call any of the endings “Good” or “Bad”, they’re just… an experience. Learn about them below.
More Far Cry 5 guides on Gameranx:
- Far Cry 5: 10 Things You Should Do First | Beginner’s Guide
- Far Cry 5: How To Beat The Game In 10 Minutes | Easter Egg Ending Guide
- Far Cry 5: All Animal Companions Guide | Where To Get The Dog, Bear & Lion
- Far Cry 5: What You Can Buy With Microtransactions | Silver Bars Guide
- Far Cry 5: How To Earn Resistance Points Fast | Campaign Progression Guide
- Far Cry 5: Here’s How To Get Money Faster | Quick Cash Farming Guide
- Far Cry 5: How To Unlock Every Achievement / Trophy | 100% Completion Guide
All Endings Explained | How To Get Every Ending
There are three endings you can earn in Far Cry 5, and we’re going to break them down in three entries below.
- Resist Ending
- Walk Away Ending
- Secret Ending
The first two endings require that you defeat all three of Joseph Seed’s Heralds. When the heralds are destroyed, you’ll get a final story mission on Joseph Seed’s cult compound where the story first started.
‘Resist’ Ending Breakdown
- During the final mission, you’ll get the option to “Resist or Walk Away”. Select Resist to get this ending.
For this ending, you and the local law enforcement face Joseph Seed in his cult compound. When he appears, Joseph has somehow mind-controlled all of your allies and captured your law enforcement friends with Bliss. All your allies and friendly major NPCs will appear, and they’re all Bliss-drugged.
To defeat Joseph Seed, you’ll need to shoot him. Bring multiple weapons for close-encounters. Shotguns, automatic rifles and SMGs work here. Equip extended magazines, because you’ll need to shoot people a whole lot to survive the boss fight. To save your allies, shoot the red people then revive them to break the mind control. If Joseph Seed kills and revives an ally, they’ll turn into one of his slaves.
Once you successfully turn everyone back to your side, you can shoot Joseph Seed. Shooting him causes the cult leader to temporarily disappear, giving you a few seconds to revive a team mate. At the end of the boss battle, the freed law enforcement approach to capture Seed — and then the big twist happens.
A nuke explodes in the far distance. It really is the end of the world, and Joseph Seed was right about the collapse all along. Taking Seed into the nearest car, the group of cops leave your allies behind (presumably) and drive toward Dutch’s Bunker. On the way, more nukes explode nearby, burning the forest and dropping dead birds from the sky. Before reaching the bunker, the car crashes (presumably) killing everyone except for Joseph Seed and you, the player.
Seed drags the player into the bunker, and promises to rebuild Eden after the apocalypse, just you and him, together in the bunker forever. The player is cuffed to a bed, and the ending credits roll to a rendition of “We’ll Meet Again” — just like in Dr. Strangelove.
This ending implies the obvious — Joseph Seed wasn’t just right about the end of the world, he was also truly a messenger of God. He also has magic power to summon tornadoes, bring about the end of the Earth, and take control of people. He can’t be killed either — in the drug hallucination to defeat him, you can shoot him thousands of times. Unlike the other boss battles in hallucinations, Joseph Seed doesn’t appear to take any actual damage from this encounter.
‘Walk Away’ Ending Breakdown
- During the final mission, you’ll get the option to “Resist or Walk Away”. Select Walk Away to get this ending.
This is the “Bad” ending, in only that it’s much shorter. There is no boss battle. Instead, you and the Sheriff walk back to a truck and drive toward the border, abandoning your plans to bring down Joseph Seed. On the way to the border of the county, where you’ll be able to leave and meet the National Guard to report all this, the Sheriff turns on the radio, and the song that previously was used in Jacob Seed’s mind control experiments plays on the radio. The screen turns red before cutting to credits.
Previously, when meeting Jacob Seed, one of the heralds, he captures the player and forces them into a mind control experiment that is activated by playing a song. The goal of this experiment is to kill the leader of the Whitetail Militia which is fighting hard to stop the Project at Eden’s Gate. Even though Jacob is dead, it is implied his mind control is still active, and forces you to turn against your friends. The implications aren’t clear.
‘Secret’ Ending Breakdown
- In the prologue, when approaching Joseph Seed, you are told to arrest him. Refuse to arrest him by doing nothing for two minutes to begin this ending.
The simplest ending can be earned in five or ten minutes, right as you start the game. This is the most straightforward ending. No drug hallucinations or mind control powers — you just decide against riling up a dangerous cult. Instead, you walk away while the U.S. Marshal protests to have you all arrested.
This is probably the most clever out of the three endings. It’s to-the-point, makes a little bit of sense, and moves on in an unexpected way. It’s worth checking out.
