@kavinsgay
I especially liked the ending, because [SPOIL ALERT] usually when the character knows that theyâre meant to be sacrificed to one angry god despise they didnât asked for it or choose to exchange their life, well they find a way to escape him ou kill him or are just terrified about him (angry god trying to kill me, yeah ok itâs terrifying).
But here sheâs just not okay with it, she embraces it. She was looking for her missing part all her life, in reality and in the red forest dimension. When she meet the rabbit god in his teacher form, he is not angry with her, he looks sad. He was promised something, and something that allows the cycle to be complete, so it doesnt feel  like âangry sacrificeâ, but more like a promise of life. He could just âtake herâ, but she didnât understand yet who he is, and he doesnât want it that way ; this god waits for Ostara to want him. The sister was not hurt in the forest during the equinox, and he will not hurt her either. He respects Ostara and her gift.
And when she undestand that the rabbit god want her, she feels complete. She find her answer, her sister, her purpose, all in the rabbit god. For once, we have a character that is willing to be sacrificed for the greater good, because it has always been her purpose and itâs a relief for her to be finally able to know it, to know her ending.
So yeah, I like it.
thatâs actually a good point, i think what youâre describing would have been a neat and tidy way to wrap up the show, i think that coming to that acceptance is an interesting concept that they should have spent way more time establishing. because they spent a long time establishing that this was a cycle/circle and at the end ostara would sacrifice herself for life to go on but at the same time, none of the people involved seemingly have their own free will? which i think is another interesting concept but the two together make astridâs decision to sacrifice herself feel hollow even if the rabbit king waited for her because did she really make that decision herself?
this is honestly where i think they lost me because the tone of the shows first 5 episodes didnât feel right for that hopeful ending, the tonal shift from the dark mood they spent the first 5 episodes building only to have the ending be her sacrificing herself felt strange. it honestly felt like existential horror to me because i didnât think there was the proper amount of build up of her reaching the point youâre describing. especially considering she leaves her daughter behind in the process, it makes it hard for me to bridge the gap between the two ideas if any of what i just said makes any sense.
(but also sidenote, I think i would have enjoyed an ending much more if the rabbit king was anyone but henrik? because then there would be no direct link(especially because heâs her teacher/an adult she trusts) into idaâs life because that inadvertently makes the rabbit king seem pervy to say the least rather than a wronged god.)
I agree, there was 2 tones and the transition doesnât go smoothly. What I said early only applies to the ending (or the end of the ending). The part of Astridâs acceptance of her Ostaraâs status was dropped a little too fast when the main point seemed to be the searching of Ida. I really liked the concept but the transition of âwhere the fuck is my sisterâ to âsheâs with the rabbit god, he wants me too, letâs gOoOoâ is sloppy.
Some things felt unnecessary ; like the rabbit god was angry when he doesnât get Idaâs baby. Why kidnapp the other teens ? What are the others families doing? If the point is to get Astrid, having Ida is enough (and it also punish Lene because she is the one who modified the deal). The other teens are useless in the story ? Except the 3 âfriendsâ... Iâm not sure I get why Falke is so stressed and crazy when he talks to Astrid, tho. Maybe Iâm not remembering right.
And we are so focused on the cycle thing/rabbit god that we are not even really investigating why Astrid have these red forest visions, like ok itâs a connection with the rabbit god but how ?
Some backstory with Astridâs daughter would have made the sacrifice and the fact that she abandons her more logical : as viewers, we somehow understand that she didnât get love from her mother and is somehow replicating this or that when she lost Ida she could just not be emotionaly involved in any relation, even with her own child, but what if she didnât felt any bond because she has always been antipating the fact that, as Ostara, sheâs going to leave ?
As Ostara, was Ida seing the red forest too before Lene modified the deal ?
AND HENRIK BEING THE RABBIT GOD IS TOTALLY PERVY omg Iâm glad Iâm not the only like wtf people if it was for the purpose of the rabbit god monitoring his gifts he could have been anyone else ? Or a shadow man, a dream, scaring only Ida or Lene (and Astrid) ? Iâm a teacher myself, I was offended Dâ: