Stephen King’s The Long Walk Movie: What Really Happens at the End and Who Wins

The new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk leaves viewers with plenty of questions.

If you just watched The Long Walk or you are halfway through Stephen King’s book and want to know how this nightmare ends, here’s the short version: the winner changes depending on whether you are looking at the movie or the novel, and neither version treats victory like a happy ending.

Quick setup

King’s story is one long, brutal endurance test that grinds down a group of teenage walkers. Alliances form, fall apart, and by the time the finish line shows up (if you can even call it that), what’s left is desperation, moral compromise, and a finale that lands like a gut punch.

So... who actually wins?

• Movie version: Peter McVries is the last one standing. He only makes it that far because Raymond Garraty, who literally kept McVries alive more than once during the Walk, chooses to let himself die. After Garraty is gone, McVries claims his 'prize' by demanding a gun and shooting the Major — essentially carrying out the revenge Garraty wanted. It’s a nasty, ironic swerve for a guy who earlier talked about winning so he could do something good, and it leaves him shattered.
• Book version: McVries doesn’t make it. He’s the second-to-last to go, sitting down and letting himself be killed. That leaves Garraty and Stebbins. Stebbins collapses and dies, which technically hands Garraty the win — except Garraty doesn’t stop. He keeps walking, fixated on a dark figure ahead, and tunes out the Major entirely. The book ends on that eerie, ambiguous image of a winner who can’t (or won’t) come back to reality.

Why the endings feel so different

This is one of those adaptation swings that flips the story’s final beat. The movie frames victory as rage swallowing up morality: McVries survives, but in the end he becomes the weapon. The book, meanwhile, treats survival as pure, hollow momentum: Garraty outlasts everyone, yet he’s so numb or broken he just keeps moving toward something that may not even be there.

The takeaway

Both versions make the same point in different keys: winning the Long Walk doesn’t leave you whole. Whether it’s McVries unleashing violence or Garraty disappearing into the road ahead, the so‑called champion walks away scarred, not saved.