Page "The Tripods" Paragraph 14

The world is liberated from the Masters ' thought control and technology is rediscovered rapidly.

The Masters ' spaceship finally arrives, only to launch nuclear devices that destroy the remains of the cities, presumably to prevent the humans from reverse engineering the Masters ' technology and using it to launch a retaliatory expedition against them, and once this happens the captive Master abruptly dies.

Humanity is saved, but the saga ends with a renewal of nationalist sentiments, Europe being once again divided into rival nation states and tensions building up towards war.

The reader is invited by Will's musings to wonder: having mastered the Masters, can people master themselves?

Will, Beanpole, and Fritz decide to band together to help unite the people again.