Disclaimer: This article contains tons of spoiler regarding the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux. So, if you haven’t watched that movie yet (God saved you, don’t watch it) proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers!
Also, since it’s an “Ending Explanation”, so I’m explaining from the third act of the movie.
After Joker fires his lawyer, he decides to run his own case. The plaintiff brings Gary Puddles (played by Leigh Gill) as a witness to Randall’s murder. At one point during the testimony, Gary says how hurtful it is for him to be scared of Arthur when, among everyone, only he (Arthur) was nice to him. The testimony of Gary Puddles hits Arthur hard. The same day in Arkham, one of the abusive guards, named Jacky (played by Brendan Gleeson), along with others, beats the shit out of Arthur and rapes him. A fellow inmate named Ricky is murdered by the guards at the same time for clamoring against the torture of Arthur.
After hurting Gary and now seeing Ricky dead because of him, Arthur’s mind is overwhelmed. He realizes that being the Joker has always caused pain to others, and it’s not something he truly wants to become. Instead, it’s society that has pushed him to become the Joker—a symbol for the deprived and downtrodden. So, the following day, he confesses all of his crimes (including the murder of his mother) in his closing statement to the jury. He also says that there’s no Joker for real, it was nothing but a fantasy. Before making the confession, we see him staring directly through the camera that is recording him. That’s a fourth-wall break scene where Arthur looks at the whole society—the society responsible for his miserable life.
However, that statement makes the whole “Joker supporter community” disappointed. Lee Quinn, along with some other Joker supporters, leaves the courtroom immediately.
Harvey Dent gets the Scar
While the foreperson is stating the verdict, a massive explosion occurs right outside of the courtroom, most likely executed by Joker followers. The explosion blows up one side of the building, causing several deaths and serious injuries. But Arthur is somehow alive. The panning camera shows the District Attorney Harvey Dent with half of his face burnt, hinting at him becoming “Two-Face” in the future. Although in canon comics, Harvey Dent gets his scar from acid thrown by Sal Maroni, in a completely different context.
However, Arthur Fleck finds an opportunity to escape amid all the distraction and takes advantage of it. He flees.
Harley Dumps Arthur
Running away from the court, Arthur meets Harley Quinn at the Joker Stairs (known for Joker’s iconic dance in the first movie), as they had talked about that place before between each other. Thrilled, Arthur tells Lee how miraculously he escaped. And now that he’s out of prison, Harley and he can finally be together, leaving everything behind, as they fantasized earlier. But Lee refuses Arthur, mentioning that their “fantasy” was all they had between them. The moment Arthur refused to be the Joker and gave up his fantasy, she gave up on him as well. She leaves, saying, “Goodbye, Arthur.” Noticeably, that was the only time Lee called him by the name Arthur. Throughout the whole movie, she has been calling him “Joker.” This indicates that Lee was never in love with Arthur; rather, she loved his “Joker” persona only. Harley walks away as the police vehicles arrive to capture him. The police take Arthur back to Arkham.
Who’s the real Joker?
In the next scene, we see Arthur watching TV along with other inmates in Arkham. A guard comes and tells Arthur that he has a visitor. While going to see the visitor, a young smiling inmate catches up with him in the hallway to tell a joke. The young guy’s joke goes like this-
A psychopath walks into a bar and sees this famous clown sitting there all alone, totally drunk. It’s pathetic. “I can’t believe you’re here”, he says. “What a disappointment. I used to watch you on TV. What can I get you?” And this clown turns and says, “Well if you are buying you can get me anything.” “Perfect,” the psychopath says. “How about I get you what you fucking deserve?”
As soon as the punchline ends, the guy who was telling the joke starts stabbing Arthur like a maniac. That explains the whole joke. As per the joke, Arthur has turned into some lone, pathetic clown who disappointed a whole group of people who idolized him. And clearly, the joke-teller is the psychopath who stabs Arthur, believing he deserves it for letting down all of these people who rooted for him. He stabs Arthur’s stomach a couple of times, the exact spot where he saw Lee shooting him in one of his musical visions earlier.
Arthur crumples down on the ground, groaning in pain, dying while the stabber psychopath’s wild, creepy laugh echoes across the hallway. With a closer look in the blurry background, it’s visible that the psychopath is cutting his own face with the very knife he stabbed Arthur with, leading to the conclusion that he will be the real Joker that society expected Arthur to be. Being the Joker was never meant for Arthur; it has always been the other guy.
It also symbolizes the shifting legacy of the Joker from Arthur to the psychopath killer. As Arthur sings at the end—
#And the Lord sends Gabriel
To Take me away
I want a fine young song
To take my place.#
