We Were Liars Episode 8 finally pulled the curtain on who started the fire that burned down the Clairmont mansion in Beechwood, and it is not who viewers expected. Amazon Prime Video's latest eight-episode mystery drama series follows the story of Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) as she goes on a journey to remember what happened during Summer 16 before she suffered from a traumatic brain injury that led her to have temporary amnesia. A crucial part of the puzzle is the horrific event that took place during the night of Cadence's accident.
We Were Liars began with an unconscious Cadence on the beach. Her accident made it seem that someone from the complex Sinclair family tree did something to her, which is why he ended up like that. However, as the season progressed, it was clear that Cadence (alongside the other Liars—Gat, Mirren, and Johnny) was part of the accident that led to her injury. This incident was none other than the fire that burned down the Clairmont mansion.
We Were Liars' Fire Got Started as the 'Ultimate Lesson'
The emotional ending of We Were Liars confirmed that the Liars (Cadence, Gat, Mirren, and Johnny) burned down the Clairmont mansion (their grandfather's), and Cadence was actually the one who planned everything. It turned out that Cadence has been sick and tired of the older Sinclairs' constant bickering due to consistently competing for Harris Sinclair's (the patriarch of the Sinclair family) attention, love, and inheritance, which has slowly torn their family apart all these years.
Cadence saw the Clairmont mansion as the tip of the iceberg and the symbol of everything wrong with the Sinclair family. By burning it down, the Liars thought they were teaching Harris and their moms the "ultimate lesson," hoping they could be a family again if the mansion were truly gone.
The plan was for Johnny, Cadence, and Mirren to set fire to different mansion floors, with Gat serving as the human escape plan as he awaited them outside on the dock. However, their plan backfired because the fire had already grown strong and spread fast inside, causing Johnny and Mirren to be trapped inside (ultimately cementing their tragic fates).
Meanwhile, Cadence made it outside, but chose to return after hearing the family's two dogs still trapped inside. While she tried to free them, it was too late. After Cadence returned outside, she realized Gat was nowhere to be found. It turned out that a concerned Gat came back for her inside to try and save her, but he also succumbed to the flames because he did not make it out as well (read more about Cadence and Gat's relationship twist in We Were Liars).
A distraught Cadence saw the mansion in flames and realized the other Liars were still inside. She was then thrown out of the water after the gas line exploded, and this was the reason why she was found unconscious on the beach.
This incident also confirmed another harrowing twist in We Were Liars: In Summer 17 (one year after the event), Gat, Mirren, and Johnny were all ghosts talking to Cadence, who has been helping her piece together her memories.
We Were Liars' Twist Ending Sets Up Cadence's Redemption
After discovering the truth about the Clairmont mansion fire, Cadence had an intense conversation with her grandfather, Harris Sinclair (who actually knew the truth about what happened that night). He threatened Cadence to accept his offer of naming her as the heir of the Sinclair family in return for helping him erase the family curse chatter through an interview for the cover of the latest issue of TIME Magazine.
If she didn't agree, then he would expose her involvement in the fire, framing her as an "entitled child with a crush who got mad at her family and committed arson, animal cruelty, and involuntary manslaughter" to the public.
While Cadence initially agreed, she had a last-minute change of heart and refused to speak with the reporter to offer her high praise toward Harris. She decided to leave Beechwood and seemingly cut ties to the Sinclair family name to carve out her path.
Cadence's actions of not taking the easy way out and the fame and money associated with her family name cemented her growth. By veering away from the burdens of her toxic, racist, and manipulative family, Cadence is honoring the pact she made with her fellow Liars in her own way, no matter the consequences that came along with it.
