So I rewatched Last Exile for the 4th time... (Ending Spoilers)

[DanielJr]

...and it seems the more I see it the more I love it. I don't think I can put it into words exactly, but it's probably the whole sense of scale and presentation of the world of Prester that keeps me coming back to this series. Anyways, I have a few comments on the ending now that this series is fresh on my memory, a few questions as well.

I initially thought that at the end of the anime Mullin Shetland, the Musketeer, actually had children with Dunya, the girl he eventually hooked up with (very sweet moment btw). Now, I don't know exactly why I thought this in the first place. I figured since I saw Mullin alive, which isn't really explained btw, and was playing in the wheat field with a kid I thought that was his child. But now that I watch the anime more carefully, I noticed that neither Alvis, Claus, Lavie, Tatiana, Alister, etc. haven't really aged. So the kids in the wheat field are probaboy Dunya's kid brothers or something? Anybody got any insight on this? Anyways, it's not terribly important. The good thing is that, whether explained or not, Mullin is actually alive at the very end, along with Dunya of course! /images/graemlins/happy.gif Solid ending. (I love this postcard of Mullin and Dunya... lol (http://www.kenoki.com/images/lastexile_card01.jpg))

Also, as I watched Alex Row die in the explosion of Delphine's ship (she had a wicked cool death scene lol), I was almost certain that he said Sophia's name as he went down. After all, that's what the communicator girl told Sophia, right? Wrong! I just came from watching the volume and he actually says his dead girlfriend's name --I forgot what it was. Now I see his death is a new light! Those little words really do mean something, because instead of cutting short any possible romance he could've had with Sophia, you could say he's now reunited with his lost love in the after-life or wherever. I think I can accept his death now (I was in denial for a long time... lol!) I wonder if Vincent and Sophia will catch up on lost time? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Speaking of denial, Dio is not dead! Nope! There's a scene when the engineer of the Sylvanna shouts "Ascension" so that a crewmate or somebody could echo his order, we actually get to hear Dio's voice echoing this order. I think this is a nice little hint that Dio is in fact alive (other than this postcard (http://www.kenoki.com/images/lastexile_card02.jpg)). Whether he's sane or not is up to us to decide (I'd say he is). Still though, would've been nice to see him in the ending with the others.


Anyways, fantastic series. I only wish the Claus/Lavie/Tatiana triangle were explored a little better but they're still kids. /images/graemlins/happy.gif Any other Last Exile fans out here that would like to add their thoughts or something?

[Arcturus]

I personally wish that Dio's "death" had been handled a little better. It left me confused - I watched the ending several times and I still don't completely get what happened to him. If I could get the creators to redo any part of the show, that would be it.

However, Alex Row's end was awesome. I can't think of any better way for him to go down than in a blaze of glory like that.

The kids with Mullin and Dunya - I originally thought that they may have been their own children, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were orphans of the war.

As far as the Claus/Lavie/Tatiana triangle, I think there's little doubt as to how that one will end up, so I don't think it really needs to be explored. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[Kellory]

<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>The love between Alex and Sophia was always one sided. Alex had no room in his heart for anything other than revenge. He may have tolerated Sophia's love for him for various reasons, but he never loved her and she knew it. At the same time, Sophia understood him better than anyone else. There are a number of reasons you could mention as to why she ordered the final missile attack, but ultimately I like to think its because she knew Alex would have wanted it that way. Just as she knew the sonar operator was lying when she said Alex said her name.

And...Dio is dead man. Get over it! Heh.

My personal feeling is that his voice you hear in the engine room of the Sylvana at the end is simply Dio's soul calling out. After all, the engine room of the Sylvana was probably the only place he was ever really happy in and the only place he could really call home. But, its time to let him go. Let the bittersweet remanents of that which was the Guild fade away into timeless memory.</span>

In the end though, its what each person took out of a show thats important. And one thing thats so nice about Last Exile is how many different interpretations one can find on it. And not because it wasnt a good show or didnt provide sufficent closure, but because like real life things are often more complicated than they originally seemed.