I’ve done a lot of reading and thinking about the endings the past couple days. Many interpretations exist about the messages or lessons the endings are trying to convey. Here is what I’ve come to accept my interpretations of the endings to be.
In the series, Max struggles with two important life lessons:
-Learning to let go and accept the way things are
-Learning to take responsibility for and live with the consequences of your actions and decisions
Each ending primarily represents one of these.
Sacrifice Chloe = Learning to let go
Even though Max did not know the blue-haired girl was Chloe at first, she was still determined to save her life and change her fate. Once she learned who she was, keeping Chloe alive and safe became a big focus for Max and ultimately became an obsession. But by the end she realizes that this obsession is what created the tornado. Even Chloe realizes this and that is why she insists Max let her go.
In life, sometimes things happen and there is nothing you can do about them. You can try to fight it and rage against it but ultimately you can’t change the past. Max learned this the hard way. She went back and reluctantly allowed Chloe to be gunned down. Chloe died but Arcadia Bay was saved. At the funeral when the blue butterfly lands on the coffin, Max smiles as she makes peace with this lesson. I very much doubt she will ever use her powers again.
Sacrifice Arcadia Bay = Accepting responsibility
Time and time again Max made choices and faced potential consequences that she was not satisfied with. So she used her power at every opportunity to change things and avoid those consequences, hoping to produce a more pleasant outcome. But this is not how life works. Our actions and decisions produce consequences and we must learn to accept them and live with them. This is actually a problem that I think is plaguing the real world. You hear all the time about people doing things ending in disaster but constantly trying to shirk their responsibility. But that’s a discussion for another time.
At the end, Max finally realizes that the storm is the ultimate consequence of all her decisions, primarily the one to save Chloe. Like every other time, Max has an opportunity to use her powers to redo things, to avoid the consequences of her decisions at the cost of Chloe’s life. But when Max rips up the butterfly photo, she finally stops doing that. The consequences of her decisions are tremendous but she finally decides it is time for her to step up and accept them. She will carry the burden of her hometown’s destruction for the rest of her life but she is prepared to do so…with Chloe by her side. After this day, I believe Max will firmly decide to stop avoiding responsibility and never use her power again.
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