Spoiler alert came to mind. I realized it must be a recent term. And it is. It originated on the internet in 1979. "Spoiler" on its own is a much earlier term - someone who robs and plunders - from the 1500s.
But we know Spoiler with alert. And the most famous of these? The true identity of Darth Vader is one of the most widely known spoilers in popular culture - that's from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia says there are three types - short, long and thematic. Shot spoilers reveal the plot ending in a brief way. Long spoilers provide more context and summary. Thematic spoilers reveal a story's unifying theme as well as a synopsis of the plot and the ending.
It sounds like Cole's Notes and summaries might be synonyms with thematic spoilers. However, often spoilers are published before the book, movie or television show is released.
There's a quote from Alfred Hitchcock in the Wikipedia article: "Please don't give away the ending, it's the only one we have."
Here's more of his quotes:
There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it
Always make the audience suffer as much as possible
The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder
Don't we miss Alfred Hitchcock!
Is it a spoiler to reveal what an abstract is made from? This is a section of the Henry Moore sculpture out front off the Art Gallery of Ontario.
