The dreadful history of the Baudelaire children begins with a deadpan narrator, a terrible fire and the ominous arrival of a distant relative.

Violet, Klaus and Sunny get new guardians in a fashionable building, where stairs are in -- and the elevator's out. Jacques Snicket trains a recruit.

Sunny sends a signal from Count Olaf's camp, where a sinister duo is awakening old insecurities. A clue at V.F.D. HQ points the way to a fateful meeting.

Various parties converge at the Hotel Denouement, where the mysterious "J.S." has called the V.F.D. together -- and things aren't always what they seem.

Big secrets are revealed when Count Olaf goes on trial in the hotel lobby. The Baudelaires are the first to take the stand, but will justice be served?

The final chapter takes the orphans to a deserted island: a place of lost lives, old stories and new beginnings. It all ends here.