What actually happens
Welcome to the field with the very tall walls
A teenage boy rides an elevator up into the Glade, a grassy area enclosed by huge stone walls, with no memory beyond his own name, which he eventually recalls as Thomas after a fight with Gally. The Gladers who live there have built a small society with jobs for everyone. Runners go into the maze each day to look for an exit and have to be back before the gate closes at sunset, because the maze is not safe after dark. Thomas learns about Grievers, biomechanical creatures that look like spiders and patrol the maze at night. Ben, a Runner who was stung by one, goes delirious and attacks Thomas. There is no cure, so the Gladers send Ben into the maze, and leave him there to die.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Thomas goes out after dark on purpose
Alby, the leader of the Glade, and Minho, the lead Runner, go into the maze to retrace Ben's steps. At sunset Minho comes back alone, dragging Alby, who has been stung. The gate is about to close, so Thomas runs in to help and the three of them are trapped inside overnight. Thomas lures a Griever into a closing passage and crushes it, and all three live to see morning. A girl then arrives in the elevator with a note and two syringes of anti-venom. She seems to know Thomas, although he has no idea who she is. Gally blames Thomas for disturbing the peace, but Newt makes Thomas a Runner instead. Thomas and Minho find a device in the dead Griever, work out that the maze sections open and close in a fixed pattern, and discover a possible exit before the traps close in.
The night the Glade stops being safe
The scene people dread most is the night the Grievers get into the Glade, after Thomas becomes a Runner. The maze entrance stays open overnight and more gates open, so the Grievers pour in. They kill Alby, Zart and many others. Gally blames Thomas again. Thomas has been getting flashes of memory since he arrived, so he stabs himself with a Griever's stinger to bring the rest back. While unconscious he remembers that he and the new girl, Teresa, once worked for WCKD, the organization that built the maze, and that the Gladers are test subjects. He tells everyone when he wakes. Gally takes charge and decides that offering Thomas and Teresa to the Grievers will calm things down. Other Gladers free them instead, and most of the group enters the maze together. Jeff and several others die to Grievers on the way, and the remaining Gladers reach the exit.
Chuck, and the laboratory full of bad news
The Gladers reach a laboratory strewn with bodies and find a video of Ava Paige, a WCKD scientist, explaining that solar flares and a pandemic called the Flare virus have wrecked the planet and that the Gladers were test subjects in a search for a cure. Gally, who was stung by a Griever while following them, says they will never be free and tries to shoot Thomas. Gally gets a shot off first and hits Chuck, and Minho then spears Gally. It happens near the end. Thomas mourns Chuck, and then masked soldiers arrive to take the survivors away.
The ending, explained
Masked soldiers lead the surviving Gladers onto a helicopter, which flies across a desert wasteland toward a ruined city. In the final scene, the scientists who were supposedly killed in the lab gather in a room with Ava Paige, who tells them the experiment was a success and the survivors are now entering Phase Two. Thomas and Minho survive, while Gally and Chuck are dead. Alby, Zart and Jeff died earlier, along with many other Gladers.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog in it.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Maze Runner scary?
The Maze Runner is a 3 out of 10 with low dread. The fear comes from spider-like Grievers chasing teenagers through moving walls, with a few minor jump scares and little gore.
How does The Maze Runner end?
Thomas and the surviving Gladers escape the maze and learn it was an experiment run by WCKD. Gally shoots Chuck before Minho spears him, and the survivors are flown toward a ruined city as Phase Two begins.
Does the dog die in The Maze Runner?
No. There is no dog in The Maze Runner. The only creatures to worry about are the biomechanical Grievers.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Maze Runner?
No. The Maze Runner has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What are the Grievers in The Maze Runner?
Grievers are part machine and part spider, and they prowl the maze after dark. A sting from one leaves a person delirious, and the only treatment in The Maze Runner is anti-venom.
