Capote Vs. The Swans Ending Explained

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.

Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has come to a close, ending the story of Truman Capote and his swans with the release of the FX anthology show’s season 2 finale. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7 killed off both Babe and Truman in what could have easily been the finale episode. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 8 then traveled back in time to the last year of Truman’s life to fill in some of the time between Babe’s death and delve deeper into Answered Prayers, his unfinished novel about the swans.

Part of the Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale was framed through the book itself. This meant that the Feud: Capote vs. The Swans cast took on the roles of the characters Truman made them, with their endings being imagined by the writer rather than played out in reality. The episode ended with a title card stating when each of the remaining swans died, adding a sense of finality to the season. Since it’s an anthology series, Feud season 3 won’t have anything to do with Capote and his swans, but will hopefully be developed much faster than season 2.

The Auction For Truman’s Ashes In Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans Explained

Truman’s ashes went up for sale with Joanne’s estate

At the end of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, an auction was held for Truman’s ashes. This made him the first celebrity to have his ashes auctioned. Truman had passed away at his friend Joanne Carson’s house in 1984, and Jack told her that he wanted to be cremated. When Joanne Carson passed away over 30 years later, her estate was put up for auction, which included Truman’s ashes that she’d kept in a box and treasured for all that time.

Joanne was one of Truman’s only true friends left in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans at the time of his death. Another important person in his life towards the end of it was Kate Harrington, John’s daughter, whom he mentored as a model and writer. In the Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale, Kate showed up to buy Truman’s ashes but lost out to an anonymous bidder who bought them for $45,000. Decades after his death, Truman was still a hot commodity, as he would have wanted.

At the end of the auction, the ghosts of Truman’s four main swans appeared. Lee, Babe, Slim, and C. Z. wondered who the anonymous buyer was and noted how “graceless” the world and New York had become. As Babe put it, “Nothing’s a little like New York anymore. Not even New York.” Together, they left the auction house to grab lunch, with Babe taking one look back at all that was left of her friend and high society, mourning the end of an era that died with her.

The Real Meaning Of Truman’s Gibberish & His Answered Prayers Twist

Joanne discovered Truman’s writing after he died

Truman had dedicated the final year of his life in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans to finally finishing Answered Prayers. As he told Jack, it would become both an apology to the swans for “La Côte Basque 1965” and an explanation for all the wrong he’d done, not just in his writing but in his life as well. While living with Joanne, he wrote constantly, but when Joanne looked into his notebooks after his death, she discovered he’d just been writing gibberish.

Truman had simply written the same phrase over and over again: “A dream, a dream, a dream, a dream that’s as real as stubbing your toe.” Though Feud: Capote vs. The Swans never explained why he’d written those words, they were likely related to the imaginary world of Answered Prayers he’d been living in. Through Answered Prayers, he could dream up the endings he wanted, rather than the reality he was forced to face.

What Truman’s Final Words Mean & How They Relate To Capote Vs. The Swans’ Themes

Truman’s final words were about Babe

When Truman died in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7, Joanne was by his side to hear his final words. He told her how cold it was and then simply said “beautiful Babe.” The penultimate episode explained this by having Babe present in his mind as he died, but the Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale added some more meaning to Truman’s last words, though they were partially changed from his actual last words for the story.

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At the start of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale, Truman visited Babe’s grave and spoke to her as if she were still there, telling her that everything felt “frigid” without her. He lay at her grave and asked if it was better where she was, adding that he might be joining her soon and asking to be let in. In telling Joanne how cold he was before saying Babe’s name, Truman was going from being frigid without Babe in life to finally being with her again in death.

Truman’s Vision Explained: Why He Imagined The Swans Forgiving Him

Truman’s fantasies came true in his novel

Truman’s fantasies in the Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale came from what he was writing for the end of Answered Prayers. Though it was revealed that Truman wasn’t actually writing anything during this time, he was able to imagine a dream ending for himself and the story. Truman appeared in Answered Prayers as the narrator, P.B. Jones, and wrote his desires through the character.

Truman had said he wanted Answered Prayers to eventually be an apology to the swans, and that’s exactly what he made happen in the story. P.B. apologized to each of the swans, offering them gifts to earn their forgiveness. For Lee, he helped her kill her third husband, whom they called a “mistake,” and he threw another black and white ball for Slim. Still, it was all in Truman’s head, revealing how much he craved their forgiveness, which had been almost entirely unattainable in his actual life, even with his many attempts, including gifts.

Why Truman Killed High Society In Capote Vs. The Swans’ Ending

Truman was also on the outside looking in

While writing, Truman also imagined his mother, Lillie Mae Faulk, with him. She provided commentary to Truman, mostly negative, on his writing, and enabled him to drink and take pills despite him trying to get sober. The Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finale also showed flashbacks of a young Truman with his mother, who was more interested in men and their money than her son, whom she told her suitors was her nephew. Truman just wanted to dance with her but couldn’t, which is why he danced with the swans in all his Answered Prayers-fueled dreams of them.

Truman had previously envisioned himself dancing with his mom in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 3 at the end of his Black and White Ball, a party like the ones his mother had always dreamed of attending. Through talking to the ghosts of both his mom and Ann Woodward, who reminded him of his mother, Truman learned why he really killed high society. Not only had his mom never truly been accepted into that world, but he hadn’t either. All it took was “La Côte Basque 1965” and the swans ostracizing him for that to become clear.

What Happened To The Characters In Real Life After Capote Vs. The Swans’ Ending

The real-life people have all passed away

At the time of Truman’s death in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, there were only three swans left living–C.Z., Slim, and Lee. About 12 years after Babe’s death and six years after Truman’s, Slim Keith died in 1990 of lung cancer, just like her friend had. Slim was 72, and her final years had been spent in New York, traveling and pursuing quiet social activities. In 1985, the year after Truman’s death, C. Z. began designing clothes, starting with cashmere sweaters before expanding to sportswear. In 1990, she came out with her own garden merchandise, including fragrant insect repellent.

C. Z. died at 83 years old on November 8, 2003, 13 years after Slim. The final swan to pass was the youngest of the group, Lee Radziwill, who was 85 when she died in 2019. In her later years, she wrote two memoirs. Answered Prayers was published unfinished in 1986, as Truman’s manuscript was never found. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans depicted Truman burning his writing, but with him and all the swans now gone, it will likely never be completed.

Where To Watch Feud

Feud

Feud is a documentary drama anthology series created for FX based on famous feuds throughout celebrity history. Packed with an ensemble cast, each season of Feud follows a new celebrity, with season one covering Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and the second season centering on Truman Capote.

Cast

Jessica Lange , Susan Sarandon , Judy Davis , Jackie Hoffman , Alfred Molina , Stanley Tucci , alison wright , Naomi Watts , Diane Lane , Chloe Sevigny , Calista Flockhart , Demi Moore , Molly Ringwald , Treat Williams , Joe Mantello , Russell Tovey , Tom Hollander

Seasons

2