The article contains spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.
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Summary
The children in The Fall of the House of Usher would have had peaceful deaths if they heeded Verna’s warning, as shown by Lenore’s example, according to series creator Mike Flanagan. Verna arguably offers her warnings with resigned indifference, except for Camille, whom she genuinely tries to save due to her admiration for her intelligence. There’s one exception: Verna personally orchestrates Frederick’s brutal death, after his abuse of his wife.
The Fall of the House of Usher creator Mike Flanagan clarifies one key point about the mysterious Verna. Flanagan, who previously created shows The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, adapts the works of Edgar Allan Poe to tell the story of a corrupt pharmaceutical company CEO by the name of Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood). Just as he’s getting sued for his crimes, Roderick’s children begin to die off in mysterious and memorably violent ways. Their deaths are linked to the re-emergence of Carla Gugino’s Verna.
In almost every instance during the Netflix show’s run, Verna offers a warning that could have helped the Usher offspring avoid their violent ends. Responding to a fan question on Tumblr, Flanagan confirmed that Roderick’s children would have died peacefully if they heeded Verna’s warning. The series creator cited the peaceful death of Lenore (Kyliegh Curran) as an example of what would’ve happened:
“If the kids had taken Verna’s advice, they would have did peacefully, like Lenore.”
Flanagan’s Verna Rule Works, Except For One Usher
Verna approaches her warning differently with each Usher. More often than not, she throws it out there with a sort of resigned indifference. She doesn’t try very hard, for example, to dissuade Leo (Rahul Kohli) or Tammy (Samantha Sloyan). However, in the case of Camille (Kate Siegel), Verna genuinely does make an effort to stop the violent death from happening. That could be because, as Verna implies, she admires Camille for her smarts.
In any case, all the children would have had a peaceful death if they actually followed Verna’s advice. Lenore, for example, passes away from a simple tap to the head. The only objection to this, actually, is Lenore’s father Frederick (Henry Thomas). Verna delights in Frederick’s demise, who gets paralyzed and has to watch as his body gets essentially cut in half. Given how brutal the rest of the deaths are, it’s hard to say that Frederick’s is the absolute worst, but it may be the second.
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Verna gets personally involved in Frederick’s death, actively orchestrating it. It’s hard to feel sorry for him. After he brutally abuses his wife Morella (Crystal Balint), ripping out her teeth with pliers, Frederick gets no warning, passive or otherwise. For most characters in The Fall of the House of Usher, though, Flanagan confirms there was a quiet way out.
Source: Mike Flanagan/Tumblr