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At the end of Fight Club, the narrator disables a bomb that Tyler had set up in a van in the basement, and then he and Tyler get into a fight. The fight ends with the narrator being thrown down some stairs and Tyler stalking off somewhere. When they next appear, they are in a room near the top of a skyscraper.

How did Tyler get the narrator to this room? Was it in the same building, and if so, was Tyler then expecting the narrator to disable the bomb? If it wasn't in the same building, how did Tyler have time to get the narrator there, since he says earlier that all the bombs are set to go off in fifteen minutes (at the beginning of the bomb disabling scene), the next scene opens with him saying "three minutes", and the fight/bomb disabling scene lasts about five minutes.

Ankit Sharma
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Andrew Latham
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4 Answers4

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I'm going to assume you did not get the twist of the movie and will do my best to explain what happens:

The whole twist of the movie (and an excellent reason to watch it multiple times) is that The Narrator (nameless, some assume his name is Jack) actually has a split personality disorder. Tyler Durden does not exist and is just a figment of his split personality. It is explained when The Narrator sleeps, Tyler is awake. Any scene that involves either Tyler or The Narrator doing something, it is the same person doing it as he is both Tyler and The Narrator. What people actually see is The Narrator, whether it be Tyler's personality or not. Any scene involving the both of them is revealed to be The Narrator talking to himself or imagining themselves talking to one another.

With that bit of background out of the way, lets assume the fight with the van towards the end is just another one of their internal struggles. The two personalities fight over control of The Narrator's body and it seems that Tyler has won by throwing The Narrator down the steps, incapacitating The Narrator's personality, leaving Tyler in charge of the body. Therefore, when The Narrator regains 'consciousness' (so to speak), he realizes Tyler took them to the top of the skyscraper.

Hope that cleared it up.

Edit:

In regards to the time, well, it is a very rare occurrence that 5 minutes is actually 5 real minutes. But the point that I haven't covered, that I realized, is the location that they're in. They are in a building, facing the one that was going to be blown up, for a better view. It is assumed that when The Narrator personality is 'knocked out', Tyler reset the charges and escaped to the top floor of the other building.

Tablemaker
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  • No, I definitely got the twist. So was it a different building then? I guess that does make the most sense. – Andrew Latham Jan 11 '12 at 19:05
  • Indeed it was, it is assumed at least, as it was never explicitly mentioned that it is the building directly across the street. – Tablemaker Jan 11 '12 at 19:11
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    "lets assume the fight with the van towards the end is just another one of their internal struggles"....got so frustrated trying to explain this part to people. – ray Apr 20 '12 at 21:05
  • Why do you think it's another building? Weren't there a bunch of buildings that are all going to be blown up? He disarmed the bomb in one building and watched the others explode from this building, didn't he? I even thought he explodes with Marla when the movie closes (after Tyler rearmed the bomb). But +1 for resisting the temptation to call him Jack. – Napoleon Wilson Apr 21 '12 at 10:31
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    @ChristianRau I'm not sure if it is ever explained that the building they're watching from is the same one they were fighting in. However, all the context clues point to no because why would he blow himself up, not to mention, why would his crew meet him up there if it was to be blown up? – Tablemaker Apr 22 '12 at 04:43
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    @ChristianRau Also, I do not remember it being implied that they blow up at the end. Is this something in the book (that I need to read)? From what I could gather the implied ending is they watch the destruction of the financial buildings together, "ushering in" their "new world" of Project Mayhem. – Tablemaker Apr 22 '12 at 04:44
  • @TylerShads Well, it's just what I interpreted to happen, I don't think it's implied anyhow (haven't read the book, too). Why not blow himself up, he doesn't blow himself up, but the narrator, anyway. Blowing himself up at the climax of Project Mayhem would also be the ultimate climax of his crusade for self destruction, anyway. But well, I'm not sure what really happened (or if the audience ought to know it in the first place). But I still think it is the same building (if he rearmed it or not). Being part of the financial complex makes sense regarding the locality of the buildings. – Napoleon Wilson Apr 22 '12 at 11:22
  • @TylerShads And exploding as part of the other buildings makes a bit of sense regardig the other buildings exploding one after the other (in a kind of domino fashion) until the scene closes abruptly (implying that the camera is gone, too), if I recall this correctly. But well, I'm not that sure of it, to say. – Napoleon Wilson Apr 22 '12 at 11:25
  • @ChristianRau it is an interesting view on the end I had not considered before and must consider next time I watch it :) – Tablemaker Apr 22 '12 at 14:38
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    Tyler rearmed the bomb before leaving the van and locking its rear doors. I doubt they were in that same building because a) we don't see it blow up and b) Tyler says that Project Mayhem isn't about killing anyone but rather setting them free. They wouldn't bring a bunch of beer upstairs if they were just gonna blow up in 10 seconds. They were going to have a party while watching the other buildings collapse. – David Harkness Jul 14 '12 at 11:01
  • I agree with TylerShads and @DavidHarkness. I never thought they were in an armed building, rather just one from where to look at the explosions. – Alenanno Dec 22 '12 at 10:50
  • The only thing that really connects the "fight" to the "viewing area" are a section of vertical zoom/pans.Tyler/"Jack" (lets go with Tyler) is surrounded by a selection of men that are capable of, at least, moving him to were he wants to be so he could be moved, conscious or not from one point another. Not every pan is direct... not every fade means direct movement but can mean actual travel to a different geographic point. – qooplmao Jan 12 '14 at 05:25
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I don't see how this doesn't make sense.

They may or may not be in a different place (there was a short blackout). As it is already mentioned that Tyler knows of "Jack" and that he has control of every one around them/him it's hardly difficult to believe that he could engineer the movement of his self (if he even needed to, due to "Jack" not remembering 90% of his life). He could have been carried or he could have taken control of "Jacks" body and walked him upstairs as it's already pointed out that he has no memory when Tyler takes over. It could have been as simple as.... fight, black out.. be Tyler, walk to another place and sit in a chair, be "Jack".

qooplmao
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Problem with them being in another building when it goes off, at the beginning of the movie they show the window that Tyler leans on then quickly descends to the sub levels right below them where the van is. So Tyler couldn't have rearmed the bomb if it was below them. Unless I am missing something, it doesn't add up.

user3853
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It shows that the narrator defuses the bomb when he pulls out the green wire.

That's why Tyler gets mad and why they start to fight.

user8033
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