The Haunting of Bly Manor’: [SPOILER]’s Death Explained
T’Nia Miller plays the beautiful, graceful caretaker Hannah Grose in The Haunting of Bly Manor. Episode 5, “The Altar of the Dead,” gave fans a whirlwind of information that revealed what Hannah meant to Bly. Here’s how Hannah Grose died in The Haunting of Bly Manor.
[SPOILER ALERT: Major spoilers ahead for The Haunting of Bly Manor.]
The ghosts in ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ are very realistic
Over time, any of the ghosts that inhabit Bly slowly start to lose their features and eventually become faceless. But initially, they appear dead just as they did living.
The ghosts at Bly Manor each have a purpose. As such, they’re unlike typical ghosts, possessing the ability to make themselves seen, heard, and touched by the living. Other older ghosts, like the spirit of Viola Willoughby, also have the capabilities to touch the living at Bly — it’s merely her face that has worn away over time. Perhaps the most critical thing the ghosts at Bly have the capability of doing is to possess the living.
Hannah Grose is a ghost in ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’
When we first meet Hannah, she appears to be lost in a daydream. In “The Altar of the Dead,” it is revealed that Hannah’s mind frequently wanders to memories of when she was alive — she has been dead the entire time.
Many fans noticed several clues that explained Hannah’s ghostly presence. She rarely, if ever, ate or drank anything. Instead, she was often seen pantomiming taking a drink or simply declining food offered to her. When Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) first arrives at Bly, she takes Hannah’s declination to eat as an insult. But in reality, it’s because Hannah no longer needs food or drink to stay alive.
The biggest clue as to Hannah’s ghostly persona is the repeated imagery of cracks. Hannah continuously notices a crack in the same size and shape around Bly — first in the kitchen, then later in a hallway. Hannah noticing this crack is a callback to where her dead body lays — at the bottom of a well, where she was pushed to her death.
Peter Quint killed Hannah Grose the day Dani Clayton arrived at Bly Manor
Hannah was tragically pushed into a well by Peter Quint (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who was possessing Miles Wingrave’s (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) body at the time. The moment Hannah fell down the well, broke her neck, and died was the same moment Dani arrived. This explains why Hannah appeared to be “tucked away” in a memory when Dani greeted her.
Hannah Grose is forced to come to terms with her death
In episode 5, Hannah relives her interview with Owen (Rahul Kohli) over and over again. At first, it seems like Hannah is trying to analyze the unrealized romance between her and the chef. Like the crack Hannah has seen repeated throughout Bly, her memories give her clues as to how and when she died. The phrase “Honestly, Hannah” — what Miles/Peter said to her just before she died — is repeated multiple times throughout episode 5, serving as another clue to help her realize her fate.
As the memories get repeatedly harsher, it becomes clear to Hannah that she must come to terms with her death. She, like so many others, is another spirit stuck in the “glue trap” that is Bly Manor.
