A Heist with Markiplier (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Mark plans the museum heist to steal the ancient box, believing it holds something valuable. However, the box is ultimately revealed to be 'the world's oldest picnic basket' containing 2000-year-old food items. This anticlimactic revelation is part of the movie's comedic tone, where the elaborate heist is for an apparently worthless historical artifact.

Foreshadowing: The box is described as ancient and locked in a secure vault, creating the expectation of great treasure.

• ancient box
• mark heist
• museum vault
• markiplier

The alarm triggers immediately upon Mark obtaining the box, shattering any chance of a clean escape. This forces the duo to make a split-second decision between the sewer tunnel or using a bomb to blast their way out, setting up the story's first major branching choice.

Foreshadowing: The vault's security system is designed to detect any disturbance around the box, which is why the alarm sounds the instant they grab it.

• alarm
• box
• vault
• security
• heist

In the dark tunnel path, Mark repeatedly proposes splitting up from his assistant. This leads to dangerous outcomes where Mark either dies or disappears. One particular split leads to the assistant encountering Darkiplier, who reveals hidden codes across every ending and calls Mark a 'liar snake,' suggesting Mark's true intentions may be deceptive.

Foreshadowing: Mark's persistent pushing to split up in the dark tunnel hints at a hidden agenda that only becomes clear through the Darkiplier encounter.

• dark tunnel
• split up
• darkiplier
• mark death

Darkiplier is a mysterious figure who appears when the assistant splits from Mark in the dark tunnel. He claims to have hidden codes across every ending and refers to Mark as a 'liar snake,' suggesting Mark has been deceiving the assistant throughout the story. This encounter steers the narrative toward the climactic 31st ending.

Foreshadowing: The dark tunnel path consistently leads to Mark's death or disappearance, setting up the twist that Mark's motivations are not what they seem.

• darkiplier
• liar snake
• codes
• hidden ending

The box is revealed to be 'the world's oldest picnic basket,' containing ancient food items. The assistant must choose between a 2000-year-old peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a 17 AD tuna fish sandwich. The PB&J turns the assistant into a relaxed zombie creating a human-zombie utopia, while the tuna sandwich offers a potential cure for the zombie virus.

Foreshadowing: The elaborate security and mysterious nature of the box sets up the expectation of something valuable, making the picnic basket reveal comedic.

• picnic basket
• pb&j sandwich
• tuna sandwich
• zombie cure

A scientist in the lab explains that an anomaly has warped time and space throughout the story. She suspects the assistant is the anomaly itself, created by the box's power, and is intent on erasing them. This explains the looping timeline and the assistant's ability to trigger different endings.

Foreshadowing: The constant resets and branching timelines throughout the story are all connected to this anomaly.

• anomaly
• scientist
• time loop
• lab

The story loops back to the museum's start because the assistant is revealed to be the anomaly created by the box. When the scientist destroys the box, the film briefly flashes the branching timelines before circling back to the 31st ending, where Mark and the assistant stand at the museum's threshold, confused about how their story began. This creates an endless cycle of heists and resets.

Foreshadowing: The wormhole device discovered in the tunnel allows them to return to the start, establishing the loop mechanic.

• time loop
• reset
• museum
• ending 31

The 31st ending is the final major ending where Mark and the assistant stand at the museum's threshold, bewildered by how their story began. This ending is reached after encountering Darkiplier in the dark tunnel and experiencing the anomaly revelation. The 31st ending represents the true ending that connects all other paths, showing that every branching story loops back to this point.

Foreshadowing: Darkiplier's claim about hidden codes in every ending foreshadows the 31st ending's role as the master conclusion.

• 31st ending
• darkiplier
• final ending
• loop

On the car escape route, walking triggers a zombie chase where the assistant gets bitten. Telling Mark the truth leads to Mark shooting the assistant or abandoning them to the zombies. Lying allows them to reach Fort Brannagan, but if Ed the soldier discovers the bite, a cataclysmic showdown ensues. The truth eventually comes out, forcing a confrontation with Mark.

Foreshadowing: The zombie outbreak is introduced on the walking path, creating the bite scenario that tests the assistant's honesty.

• zombie bite
• fort brannagan
• ed soldier
• zombie virus

The choice between sewer or bomb routes, and then further forks like helicopter or car, fundamentally change the genre and setting of the story. The sewer leads to surreal scenarios with pirates, aliens, and cannibals. The bomb route branches into a rehabilitation prison with fairy wishes and identity twists, or a road trip with zombies and Indiana Jones-style adventures. This structure creates over 30 distinct endings.

Foreshadowing: The initial alarm forces the binary choice that creates the story's branching structure.

• escape route
• branching paths
• multiple endings
• helicopter
• car

Fixing the car leads to a sinkhole that splits Mark and the assistant. In the cave, a character named Illinois (echoing Indiana Jones) offers a cursed monkey statue. Placing it on a pedestal briefly transports the assistant to 'monkey heaven.' Refusing to place it results in the statue's malevolent influence seizing the assistant.

Foreshadowing: The sinkhole splits them up, forcing the assistant to encounter Illinois alone.

• monkey statue
• illinois
• cave
• cursed
• monkey heaven