Summary
- The Conjuring 2 sets up an overarching villain, Valak, expanding the franchise's universe.
- Lorraine defeats Valak by discovering its name, banishing the demon back to hell.
- Valak manipulates Bill Wilkins to torment the Hodgsons, setting up future sequels.
The film adds a bit more action and tension to the proceedings by The Conjuring 4.
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The Conjuring 2's Demon & Haunting Twist Explained: Who Is Valak
How Valak Became The Conjuring's Big Bad
The big twist of The Conjuring 2 reveals that Bill Wilkins isn't the true architect of the Hodgson family's suffering, setting up the demonic Valak as an overarching threat of the entire series. The Conjuring 2 largely focuses on the Warrens and their attempts to help free Janet Hodgson from her apparent possession. At first, it appears that the crisis has been caused by Wilkins, the embittered ghost of someone who previously lived in the Hodgson's home. However, towards the end of the film, it's revealed that Wilkins is actually not malicious at all.
In reality, he'd been forced to target Janet at the behest of Valak. Valak is a demonic force introduced in The Conjuring 2 in the form of a nun. Quickly established as a villainous counter to Lorraine, Valak has steadily become one of the primary villains within the extended Conjuring universe of films. The Nun and The Nun II directly focus on the character, revealing that the demon had been contained for centuries before breaking loose. By the events of The Conjuring films, Valak had developed an animosity for the Warrens and openly worked to endanger them.
How Lorraine & Ed Survive The Conjuring 2 & Defeat Valak
Ed & Lorraine Fight Fate To Beat Valak
On top of the danger posed to Janet, Lorraine spends The Conjuring 2 horrified of a vision she'd had the previous year that seemed to fortell Ed's death. The vision had been caused by Valak, who is also implied to have been the demonic force responsible for the possession occurring at the infamous Amityville House. That story serves as the opening of The Conjuring 2 and seems to drive the demon after the Warrens in the first place.
When the Warrens realize the truth about Wilkins and rush back to help Janet, Ed ends up in a situation that seems dangerous similar to the events Lorraine had prophesied. However, Lorraine's earlier encounters with Valak had given her the chance to discover the demon's true name. This turns out to be the only way to banish the demon back to hell. With this knowledge, Lorraine is able to confront Valak and force the demon back to hell. This frees Janet of Valak's influence, and gives her an opening to rescue Ed before he can fall to his death.
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Why Valak Was Manipulating Bill Wilkins' Spirit
Bill's Role In The Film Is A Major Misdirect
Bill Wilkins is initially the pressing threat of The Conjuring 2, but turns out to be an unwilling pawn in the plans of Valak. While the spirit simply wants to move on to the afterlife to be with his family, Valak forces him to remain on Earth as part of a plan to torment the Hodgsons and target the Warrens. The primary reason behind this seems to be part of a plan to hide Valak's involvement. While the demon may be powerful, its demonic attributes give it a straightforward weakness that can used against it.
Once they know the demon's true nature, they could use its name to banish the demon back to hell. By using Wilkins as an intermediary, Valak had hoped to enact its schemes before the Warrens could discover the key to defeating it. If they were too busy thinking it was simply a ghostly possession or even faked by the Hodgson family, then the Warrens wouldn't be able to fully counter Valak before innocent lives had been lost — potentially including their own. This is why Valak forced Wilkins to target the family, even while the spirit had no genuine malice for them.
The Conjuring 2 Sets Up The Franchise's Real Villain
Valak Would Return In Multiple The Conjuring Spin-Offs
Valak's unique appearance and scary tactics made it a uniquely memorable villain for the franchise, which has steadily revealed the full scope of Valak's influence on the world. While Valak was introduced in The Conjuring 2, the events of The Nun films revealed the lineage of nuns who'd been initially tasked with containing the demon — and how it eventually broke free. Valak has been implied to have also been tied directly to the story of Annabelle. In Annabelle: Creation, Valak was revealed to have been secretly present during Sister Charlotte's time in Romania.
Later, a fake Sister Charlotte lures Janice into the barn where she can be possessed by Malthus, the demonic force within the Annabelle doll. This implies Valak was present for Malthus' possession of Janice and may have even played a key role in bringing the girl to Annabelle. Notably, Valak hasn't appeared in the subsequent films set later in the timeline (like Annabelle Comes Home), suggesting the demon has remained within hell since the events of The Conjuring 2. However, there remains a chance that the demon could break free, allowing it to endanger the Warrens again.
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How The Conjuring 2 Ending Expands The Warrens' Paranormal World
Supernatural Forces Are At Play Across The Globe In The Conjuring Universe
The introduction of Valak to the world of The Conjuring films isn't the only way the film expands the scope of the franchise. A major part of The Conjuring 2 is the way it expands beyond the Warrens and the Hodgsons to touch on other investigators and hauntings. The film opens with the Warrens contending with another haunting, that of the Amityville House. This highlights the number of different hauntings and possessions that the Warrens have been forced to contend with over the years, and showcases how they can extend beyind national borders to serve as a global threat.
The Conjuring 2 also draws attention to the fact that there are other supernatural investigators in the world, such as Maurice Grosse and Anita Gregory. This sets up the idea that the Warrens are far from the only people capable of contending with the supernatural forces at work in their world. The film also returns to Ed and Lorraine's collection of supernatural objects and mementos, further setting up the larger scope of the series and directly building to the events of Annabelle Comes Home.
What Happened To The Real Hodgson Family After The Conjuring 2
The Conjuring 2 Reimagined The Enfield Poltergeist
One of the big appeals of The Conjuring series is the way it uses real-life stories of possession as inspiration for its plotlines. Some controversy exists whether or not the hauntings were real, which extends to the Hodgson's experinece as well. While there was no demonic nun and the Warrens were less involved in the true story than The Conjuring 2 portrays, they did travel to England to meet the Hodgsons after they were reportedly haunted by the spirit of Bill Wilkins. After the events of The Conjuring 2 and their experience with the Enfield Poltergiest, the Hodgson family attempted to regain a sense of normalcy.
Tragiclly, Janet and her mother's relationship suffered in the years after their supernatural experience. As detailed in The Enfield Poltergiest docu-drama series that debuted in 2023, Janet eventually left home and married young. While most of the family has since ed away, Janet has continued to speak about the incident. While some still question the validity of the story, reports suggest other families who subseqently moved into the Hodgson's former home also experienced strange occurrences. While The Conjuring 2 may have dramatized the true story, there may yet be supernatural forces at play in Enfield.
The Conjuring 2
- Release Date
- June 10, 2016
- Runtime
- 134 minutes
- Director
- James Wan
WHERE TO WATCH
The sequel to 2013's horror hit, The Conjuring 2 is a supernatural horror film that again follows Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who travel to London to investigate the case of the Hodgson family. When one of the Hodgson's daughters becomes seemingly possessed after playing with an Ouija board, supernatural occurrences begin happening all over the home.
- Writers
- Chad Hayes, James Wan, Carey Hayes, David Johnson
- Franchise(s)
- The Conjuring
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