Dawn’s Fate In School Spirits Explained: What Makes Her Different From The Others?

At the end of School Spirits season 1, the character Dawn has a very different fate than the other ghosts. School Spirits is a supernatural mystery drama about a teenage girl named Maddie, who discovers that she is now a ghost trapped at her high school after mysteriously disappearing. Charley, a fellow teen spirit and Maddie’s “spirit guide” of sorts, introduces her to some other students from past decades who also haunt Split River High.

One of these teen spirits is Dawn, a student from the ’70s. Besides spying on the living, Dawn keeps to herself and spends most of her time sitting on top of lockers. She doesn’t interact much with the other teen spirits, so the story behind her death remains unknown for most of the season. Because of Dawn’s spacey demeanor, the rest of the spirits assume she must’ve been the result of abusing LSD.

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How Everyone Died In School Spirits

Maddie’s suspended state in School Spirits introduces her to a cast of students stuck in limbo, all of whom succumbed to death in mixed circumstances.

Dawn Was The Only Character To Cross Over In School Spirits

Janet never actually crossed over.

Of all the spirits stuck in the afterlife, Dawn is the only one to successfully cross over to the “other side.” In School Spirits episode 7, Dawn suggests the ghosts conduct an anti-séance to help Maddie conjure up repressed memories of the day she died. When this fails to help Maddie, Dawn is called to tell the story of how she died. She explains that she overheard her friends making fun of her, calling her “a flaky, spaced-out bimbo” and “ripping [her] apart.“ While trying not to be seen by them, Dawn accidentally electrocuted herself and died.

Later in the episode, Maddie tells Dawn that she’s sorry for what her friends said and that she didn’t deserve that. Shortly after their conversation, the lights flicker and Dawn is believed to have crossed over. The other spirits find this odd because the lights didn’t flicker when another spirit named Janet crossed over right before Maddie’s arrival, but this is later explained. The season 1 finale of School Spirits reveals what happened to Janet.

In the episode, one final flashback finally explains what happened to Maddie in School Spirits. The cries for help from the fallout shelter trigger Maddie to recover the final lost memory of the day she “died.” Maddie remembers seeing their spirit leader, Mr. Martin, arguing with Janet in the fallout shelter. Upon seeing Maddie, Janet runs in her direction and passes right through her. It’s implied that Janet’s spirit possessed Maddie’s body, which is why Maddie’s spirit was sent to the afterlife. Maddie didn’t actually die, and Janet didn’t actually cross over.

Did Maddie Help Dawn Cross Over?

Maddie’s affirmations seemed to play a part in Dawn crossing over.

School Spirits insinuates that because Maddie affirmed Dawn by insisting she’s a good friend and not a joke, Dawn was finally able to let go of the past and accept the circumstances of her death. This, in turn, allowed her to cross over. In this way, it seems that Maddie’s words were the ultimate catalyst for Dawn crossing over, but it’s unclear why or how Maddie possesses the power to do that.

It could just be timing. Dawn needed that reassurance to move on and cross over, and Maddie just so happened to be the first person to get through to her. None of the other spirits could have helped Dawn let go of the past before because they never knew her backstory. Still, Dawn never felt compelled to reveal the truth about her death until Maddie showed up. Maybe the other spirits never made her feel understood or supported enough to do so, but whatever the reason, Maddie played a role.

It could also be an ability only Maddie has due to her afterlife circumstances. None of the other spirits have ever helped someone cross over, and it’s unknown if they even could. It’s possible that Maddie’s ability to help Dawn cross over has to do with the fact that Maddie’s the only one who’s not actually dead. Once she helped give Dawn closure, Maddie’s lingering connection to the living realm could have granted her the power to make Dawn cross over. If that’s the case, some of the other spirits should have crossed over, too.

How Dawn’s Fate Makes The Other Characters’ Situations In School Spirits More Confusing

Why didn’t the other spirits cross over after Maddie helped them?

Maddie either possesses some unique ability to help people cross over, or the very act of successfully helping someone move on from their past catalyzes a spirit to cross over. Either way, Maddie helped some of the other spirits let go of their past and work toward healing, too. It doesn’t make sense that only Dawn was able to cross over and not any of the other spirits.

For instance, Maddie helps Wally put his “glory days” behind him and move on. Football has been a crutch for Wally ever since he died on the field during the Homecoming game. It helps him stay connected to his mom in the living realm because she was his biggest fan and supporter and still comes to the Homecoming game every year. Maddie helps Wally accept that he doesn’t have to keep trying to make his mom proud and gives him the permission he’s been seeking to let go.

Maddie also plays a major part in Charley getting closure. She offers to have a letter from Charley delivered to the former love of his life, Emilio, so he can finally express his true feelings. Charley later tells Maddie that after watching Emilio read the letter and “close a very old, very deep wound” thanks to her, he’s now “ready to forgive” and “live [his] death.“

Perhaps these characters have yet to fully heal and let go of their past. However, Dawn held on to her baggage for five decades without even speaking about it, but after one conversation with Maddie, she was suddenly ready to move on. The conditions that need to be met to cross over seem to vary from person to person in School Spirits, which makes it confusing that Dawn’s conditions were met but the others’ weren’t. If Dawn was able to cross over after 50 years thanks to Maddie, the other spirits Maddie helped should have crossed over, too.