English Finale Explained: Cornelia & Eli Ending – Who Has Syphilis?

The English‘s epic love story doesn’t have a happy ending – at least not in the traditional sense.

Cornelia and Eli’s sexual tension comes to a head in Episode 5 of the Prime Video western as the traveling couple kiss under the night sky. But Cornelia puts an end to that, knowing she will eventually succumb to syphilis, the sexually transmitted disease given to her by her rapist David Melmont – a disease she would ultimately pass on to a child who survived the attack emerged. Instead of explaining her circumstances to Eli, she rushes off and buries herself in the sand.

“It’s like she’s trying to distance herself from her own decline and the illness that’s taking over,” series star and executive producer Emily Blunt told TVLine. “Up to this point, she’s trying to keep it at a distance. All that matters is that she gets to that big bad wolf and kills him. For her right now, it’s that confrontation—that hope and that sexuality that’s starting to build [between her and Eli]and the shame of what is happening to her body.

“When she has that dust bath, it felt like she was trying to rub [the disease] from her body… as if trying to escape… as if trying to break free of it. It’s desperate and a moment of madness,” says Blunt. “This fever that she’s trying to simmer beneath the surface and not acknowledge… has taken hold in a big way.”

That’s partly why she and Eli can never be together. After Melmont is killed – he is shot not by Cornelia but by another of his victims, Martha Myers, before Eli digs his blade into the villain’s chest – the soulmates go their separate ways. Cornelia will return to England and spend her remaining years hidden behind a veil to cover her decrepit face; Eli will go into hiding to avoid being hunted for Melmont’s murder.

Asked about her snack from the finale, Blunt manages to look past Cornelia’s death sentence. “There’s dignity in that [this ending] for them,” she replies. Cornelia has come to terms with her fate and “she has gone through a process of finding her identity. And there’s something healing about meeting such a kind man in Eli, and a man who had such an impact on her life. She’s someone who has a lot to do with fate, and that happens to be her rather tragic fate. But there is great peace in it for her, for what she could experience. And in experiencing great love and being able to let it go [of that love]She has her own moment of dignity for her – letting go and being able to let go [Eli] Be free from any decay that will befall her.”

As for Eli, we’ll never find out if he survives long enough to return home to Nebraska and claim his few acres of land. What we do know is that he will be remembered as a hero. He is eventually immortalized by White Moon as part of Flathead Jackson’s True Stories from the Wild West – a Cornelia-sponsored traveling sideshow that makes its way to her side of the pond in the early 20th century.

“I feel like Eli found peace in the end,” cast member Chaske Spencer tells TVLine. “I’ve always pictured Eli on his land, using the seeds Cornelia gave him to create life and sustenance. I feel like he started from scratch as much as possible. I don’t think he ever crossed over to anyone [after Cornelia]. I always thought Eli was a loner; that’s the way he is.”

what were you thinking about The English Final? Rate Episode 6 – and the limited series as a whole – below, then cool off in the comments.