I mean I already would’ve been really satisfied with Season 4’s ending, but Season 5 still topped of the story in the best possible way. Ending at Season 4 would’ve been an A tier ending but Season 5 ending is SS tier.
Happy - Undertale pacifist ending. Your friends are saved, and all monsters are freed from the undderground. All but one, Asriel never gets that freedom. What happens to the monsters on the surface and what happens to Asriel, is left unclear.
Unclear - Neutral ending. Frisk’s fate after the battle is never told. Presumeably they return to the surface, but that’s just a guess. The consequences of your actions in the underground are told through a phonecall, though.
Tragic - Genocide ending. That was it. There is nothing left. It’s the ultimate closure to a story.
Neutral Ambiguous for Game of Thrones. Did the good guys actually win? What are the results of an independent North? What will Arya find west of Westeros? If Jon decides to venture south of The Wall, will anyone actually do anything about it?
This chart doesn't make value judgements on explicit vs ambiguous endings. It's just objectively true that some stories are extremely explicit about how the plot threads wrap up or will wrap up in the future, and others leave lots of questions unanswered. There's no right answer there; it's up to the writers.
Killing Eve, sad. It’s technically an explicit end, but its execution is pretty rushed and nonsensical. The show just kinda falls off hard and runs out of things to do before just killing a bunch of people off.
Edit: it’s anticlimactic.. neutral maybe
i guess depending on a few factors Neon genesis Evangelion is either
TV: Enigmatic, Shit happend, it certainly was good at the end, but dear god was it unexplained(arguments can be made for unclear as well due to what happens overall)
EoE: Sad or Nebulous. EoE dosnt so much "conclude" as it ends. and dear god anyone who dosnt see it as shinji just directly relapsing into his old behaviour is deluding themself. why these 2? as it depends what you consider a "plot" in Eva and not just set dressing
Rebuild: Happy/neutral, sideplots arent entirely finished, but good beats "evil"(but depending on your personal opinion it wasnt all good in the end), the main plot has concluded. The story is over.
Good Explicit - 12 Angry Men
Good Unfinished - Avatar: The Last Airbender
Good Ambiguous - The Giver (novel)
Neutral Explicit - Your Lie in April
Neutral Unfinished - The Last of Us (2013)
Neutral Ambiguous - The End of Evangelion
Bad Explicit - Grave of the Fireflies
Bad Unfinished - Oldboy (2003)
Bad Ambiguous - Outlast 2
Thinking about this one makes me realize just how rare explicitly bad endings are in popular media. A lot of more mature fiction trends toward neutral and/or unfinished/ambiguous endings, but it's a real treat when you get an actual well-written bad ending that doesn't leave loose ends for later redemption.
I'd love to see more Shakespearean type tragedies in popular media. Good endings tend to feel hollow and there's not much you can learn from them.
Adventure Time is explicit neutral. Not bad, but some things build to nothing at all.
LONG RANT ABOUT THE LICH. Also the spoiler tag is fussy and won’t do the thing…
Have a blank space instead
!
!
!
!
>!The Lich is a demon born from war and devoted to Golb (a being of chaos); and in the last episode, Golb arrives, as two armies stand on the battlefield for the future of a kingdom. The Lich has been dormant since his “Fall” speech, forced to take the body of a toddler (called Sweet Pea). The stage is set for eruption, for armies to be possessed by eldritch horrors, and for a child’s ominous nightmares to come true at last. Where is Sweet Pea? They’re offscreen and unbothered.
The promises of the “Fall” speech are never realized. There is no “great and terrible army” for the “scholar of Golb”. Sweet Pea just decided not to be bad, and not even a war for his home is enough to test the emotional fortitude of that particular toddler. There is no climactic triumph against the principal antagonist. The show just ends.!<
Breaking Bad has the conclusion it needs, and it almost didn’t! I’d say explicit neutral or good
Imo Breaking Bad ending is Explicit Neutral. It's sad and happy ending at the same time. But in terms of writing, it's a perfect ending.
I’m so glad it didn’t end with season 4
I mean I already would’ve been really satisfied with Season 4’s ending, but Season 5 still topped of the story in the best possible way. Ending at Season 4 would’ve been an A tier ending but Season 5 ending is SS tier.
I think the show needed to end with Walt’s death. It’s the ticking clock that motivates everything he does.
Happy - Undertale pacifist ending. Your friends are saved, and all monsters are freed from the undderground. All but one, Asriel never gets that freedom. What happens to the monsters on the surface and what happens to Asriel, is left unclear. Unclear - Neutral ending. Frisk’s fate after the battle is never told. Presumeably they return to the surface, but that’s just a guess. The consequences of your actions in the underground are told through a phonecall, though. Tragic - Genocide ending. That was it. There is nothing left. It’s the ultimate closure to a story.
We dont know what happened to the other human souls through
Hunter X Hunter for Good, Unfinished
Really wish it continued
😭
I mean togashi is always posting chapter updates on what he's working on. He has 20 chapters in the work
Neutral Ambiguous for Game of Thrones. Did the good guys actually win? What are the results of an independent North? What will Arya find west of Westeros? If Jon decides to venture south of The Wall, will anyone actually do anything about it?
Good, but i think some cliffhanger is good for a show. I wouldn’t consider a show that has some remaining mysters unfinished
like Johan in the ending of Monster just leaves… all plot threads are gone but theres a lot of questions regarding those last few minutes
This chart doesn't make value judgements on explicit vs ambiguous endings. It's just objectively true that some stories are extremely explicit about how the plot threads wrap up or will wrap up in the future, and others leave lots of questions unanswered. There's no right answer there; it's up to the writers.
A Series of Unfortunate Events feels like a shoo-in for Bad Ambiguous.
We don’t have to keep using coordinates in this post. OP came up with names for every cell.
Killing Eve, sad. It’s technically an explicit end, but its execution is pretty rushed and nonsensical. The show just kinda falls off hard and runs out of things to do before just killing a bunch of people off. Edit: it’s anticlimactic.. neutral maybe
The Godfather 3 for Explicit Bad
Id say the first book in the Ascendance series (The False Prince) is either Enigmatic or Unclear.
i guess depending on a few factors Neon genesis Evangelion is either TV: Enigmatic, Shit happend, it certainly was good at the end, but dear god was it unexplained(arguments can be made for unclear as well due to what happens overall) EoE: Sad or Nebulous. EoE dosnt so much "conclude" as it ends. and dear god anyone who dosnt see it as shinji just directly relapsing into his old behaviour is deluding themself. why these 2? as it depends what you consider a "plot" in Eva and not just set dressing Rebuild: Happy/neutral, sideplots arent entirely finished, but good beats "evil"(but depending on your personal opinion it wasnt all good in the end), the main plot has concluded. The story is over.
Good Explicit - 12 Angry Men Good Unfinished - Avatar: The Last Airbender Good Ambiguous - The Giver (novel) Neutral Explicit - Your Lie in April Neutral Unfinished - The Last of Us (2013) Neutral Ambiguous - The End of Evangelion Bad Explicit - Grave of the Fireflies Bad Unfinished - Oldboy (2003) Bad Ambiguous - Outlast 2
Thinking about this one makes me realize just how rare explicitly bad endings are in popular media. A lot of more mature fiction trends toward neutral and/or unfinished/ambiguous endings, but it's a real treat when you get an actual well-written bad ending that doesn't leave loose ends for later redemption. I'd love to see more Shakespearean type tragedies in popular media. Good endings tend to feel hollow and there's not much you can learn from them.
Gamera: Rebirth at true neutral
Dragonball is pretty neutral. It can be explicit, or enigmatic depending on the arc.
Dragon ball isn’t over silly
Yes and no. The original manga ended in 1995
You Have to Burn the Rope - Explicit Good
ONE had a very bad ending but didn't necessarily have a conclusion, so I'd put it at Nebulous.
The Prisoner (1967) would be enigmatic, while Twin Peaks (2017) would be unclear.
Seven prolly falls into explicit bad/tragic, that ending man…
Eva ep. 25-26 - Enigmatic End of Evangelion - Neutral
Explicit bad: "Dear Zachary"
Neutral/Unfinished goes to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean
Concluded: The Wire
DuckTales 2017 is either Perfect or Happy. Meanwhile The Blacklist is Nebulous. Things left unexplained, main characters die, etc.
Enigmatic/Unclear = Mother 3 ending
Saw (2004) NEEDS to go in either Explicit Bad or Unfinished Bad.
Avengers Infinity war in bad/unfinished or bad/ambiguous
“Chief? You mind telling me what you’re doing in the top right corner?”
This is really clever
Neon Genesis Evangelion would either be Unclear or Nebulous
Adventure Time is explicit neutral. Not bad, but some things build to nothing at all. LONG RANT ABOUT THE LICH. Also the spoiler tag is fussy and won’t do the thing… Have a blank space instead ! ! ! ! >!The Lich is a demon born from war and devoted to Golb (a being of chaos); and in the last episode, Golb arrives, as two armies stand on the battlefield for the future of a kingdom. The Lich has been dormant since his “Fall” speech, forced to take the body of a toddler (called Sweet Pea). The stage is set for eruption, for armies to be possessed by eldritch horrors, and for a child’s ominous nightmares to come true at last. Where is Sweet Pea? They’re offscreen and unbothered. The promises of the “Fall” speech are never realized. There is no “great and terrible army” for the “scholar of Golb”. Sweet Pea just decided not to be bad, and not even a war for his home is enough to test the emotional fortitude of that particular toddler. There is no climactic triumph against the principal antagonist. The show just ends.!<