Elías and Ibarra escape by boat. As Elías rows, the men discuss their next move. Ibarra now understands what it means to be a victim of the town’s powerful, specifically the church, and wants to take an active role in the subversive movement. Elías tells him that he should leave the country and although what happened to him was wrong, he could never fully relate to the suffering of the common people. Eventually, the boat is spotted by the civil guard patrol and the men are pursued. As a means of distracting the patrol, Elías jumps into the water and attempts to evade arrest and being shot by swimming to safety. Ibarra remains in the boat. The narrator does not explicitly say what happens to him.

Prior to María-Clara and Linares’s wedding, Father Dámaso pays María-Clara a surprise visit. During their conversation, it is revealed that Ibarra died. María-Clara confronts Dámaso, letting him know that she knows he is her biological father. Dámaso tries to explain himself, but she demands that the wedding be called off and that she be placed in a convent. He agrees to her demands.