Detailed Explanation
The reveal hit me like a gut punch. The scientists at Tsalal station had been covering up pollution from a local mine—pollution that was causing miscarriages and birth defects among the Indigenous women of Ennis. The cleaning women who worked at the station discovered the truth: the scientists knew their research was funded by the mine and helped hide the contamination. On the night they disappeared, the women confronted them, forced them outside, and let the cold do the rest. The frozen tableau wasn't supernatural—it was revenge served at 40 below zero.