The Maze Runner Story So Far

Get ready for The Scorch Trials by taking a look back at the Maze Runner story so far!

On September 18, The Maze Runner franchise will continue with Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, an adaptation of the second novel in James Dashner’s three-book series. Although Dashner has released a prequel novel with another slated for next year, The Scorch Trials is the middle of his Maze Runner story.

Director Wes Ball’s 2014 adaptation of The Maze Runner met with a lot of acclaim for a YA film, and it may have made Teen Wolf actor Dylan O’Brien into a movie star. But The Scorch Trials will be the big test to see if O’Brien can open the sequel with bigger numbers than first film’s debut weekend.

Ahead of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, ComingSoon.net has put together a summary of the Maze Runner story so far, which you can check out below!

The Maze Runner story begins with Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), a teenager who awakens in an elevator with no memory of who he is. When the elevator opens, Thomas finds himself surrounded by other male teenagers who tell him that they are trapped in a place that they call the Glade. Alby (Aml Ameen) was the first to arrive, and he is the defacto leader of their society of Gladers.

All new arrivals are assigned tasks, but Thomas seems to be drawn to the incredibly huge Maze that surrounds the Glade. Only a select few are allowed to explore the Maze and look for a way out before it closes at night. They are called Runners. Thomas quickly befriends a young boy named Chuck (Blake Cooper), and Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Alby’s second-in-command. But Thomas also makes an enemy out of Gally (Will Poulter), who has a face that practically screams “I’m going to go crazy by the end of the movie!”

Later, Thomas is attacked by Ben (Chris Sheffield), a Runner who went mad after being stung by one of the mechanical creatures known as Grievers, which patrol the Maze at night. Thomas witnesses the other teens forcing Ben into the Maze at dusk, knowing that no one has ever survived a night in the Maze. The next day, Alby and lead Runner, Minho (Ki Hong Lee) enter the Maze to retrace Ben’s steps. But they reappear at dusk with Alby injured and they are unable to escape the closing walls of the Maze. Thomas is the only one who breaks away from the group and enter the Maze to help them as the entrance closes behind him.

That night, Minho briefly abandons Thomas and Alby, but Thomas manages to destroy a Griever by trapping it between one of the Maze’s shifting walls. The next morning, the Gladers are astonished when Thomas, Alby and Minho emerge alive from the Maze. To further shake things up, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) becomes the first girl to arrive in the Glade with a note that says she will be “the last one ever,” which means the steady flow of supplies will also cease. Teresa also recognizes Thomas by name.

Gally begins his descent into crazy town by accusing Thomas of violating the “peace” with the Grievers. But Newt basically ignores him and he names Thomas a Runner. Along with another group of Runners, Thomas and Minho recover a device from within the Griever’s body and they theorize that the Maze may have a hidden code that could set them all free. Teresa also (conveniently) has two syringes with a cure for the Griever sting. One dose is used on Alby, who starts to regain his memories.

Inside the Maze, Thomas and Minho get farther than anyone has ever gotten before. But that night, the Maze entrance remains open and the Gladers are attacked by the Grievers. Alby sacrifices himself to save Chuck, and he tells Thomas to get the survivors out. Gally flips out and he begins beating up Thomas while blaming him for everything. Realizing that his own memories may have the clues they need, Thomas stabs himself with a stinger from one of the downed Grievers.

Teresa uses the last dose of her cure on Thomas, which allows him to survive. When he awakens, Thomas tells the others that he and Teresa worked for the people who created the Maze, and that the entire scenario has been an experiment. Gally does his best Lord of the Flies impression by demanding that Thomas and Teresa be sacrificed to the Grievers. Acting as the voice of reason, Thomas convinces the majority of the Gladers to join him in a last ditch effort to escape the Maze. Only Gally and a few others stay behind.

Thomas and his group fight their way through the Maze and discover a laboratory at the end of it. Inside are dozens of dead scientists, including Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson). In a recording, Ava explains that the planet was devastated by a solar flare and by an incurable virus which was also called “The Flare.” The whole point of the Gladers experiment was to see how their brains resisted the virus, since they were basically immune to it.

Suddenly, Gally shows up to kill Thomas, after having been driven even crazier by a Griever sting. Minho kills Gally, but not before Gally fatally shoots Chuck when he steps in front of Thomas. Masked men with weapons then appear and whisk Thomas and the other survivors away into a waiting helicopter. From high above the Maze, they see that it was located in a vast desert wasteland as they fly towards the ruins of a city.

In the film’s final seconds, Ava and the other scientists are revealed to be still alive and still pulling the strings of the experiment, which kicks off “Phase Two.”

Now you know the full Maze Runner story and we’ll have some features on the way in the weeks to come that will keep up to date on everything you need to know before Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials opens on September 18!