Does .htaccess in public_html have final say?

I know the .htaccess file in public_html overwrites other .htaccess in other directories. So whatever is in that .htaccess file, it will be applied everywhere. And the one in -for example*- the cgi-bin directories only works for the directories and paths inside the cgi-bin directory.



But, what I don't really get is how does this work when both .htaccess have the same rules, except the cgi-bin one says "allow" and the public_html says "deny"? Will the rules in public_html always overrule?



*and this is the same for every other directory etc inside public_html?

Does .htaccess in public_html have final say?