The Betrayal of "It was All A Dream."
So not long ago I listened to an episode of Ditch Diggers* where authors @tkingfisher and Mur Lafferty were discussing "it was all a dream"/universe reset endings, and why they felt so cheap and unsatisfying / why writers are advised to avoid them.
And their point was, these endings feel unsatisfying because they tell the reader: all that stuff you just read? those epic adventures? everything that happened to the characters? Yeah, none of that mattered, it didn't happen, none of it was real.
But if none if it happened, why did the reader waste their time reading about it? Oh you were emotionally invested in those characters? Jokes on you for caring, because none of the growth or danger they went through mattered. It was all a dream. The universe reset. None of that happened, actually.
It feels like a betrayal. And it is a betrayal of the contract the writer makes with the reader. All the time and emotional investment you put in to the story and the world is wasted, because none of it was real.
I think that’s really the core of the issue with the ending of the GO finale. S1 told a beautiful, hopeful story about a bunch of ordinary people (and an extraordinary demon and angel) standing up for what they thought was right. Trying to stop the world ending even when it seemed hopeless. They stood up against powerful, corrupt systems that seemed insurmountable, and they managed to win. The world was saved. It’s a beautiful story and one we need now, when we live in a time where corrupt systems seem more powerful and unbeatable than ever!
And we saw a beautiful, queer, and deep relationship built between Aziraphale and Crowley through history, despite everything keeping them apart.
The writers decided to throw all that out the window. Because if the world is reset and Heaven and Hell never existed, then nothing in S1 happened. Adam's choice to defy his Destiny and Satan is meaningless, because it didn't happen. There is a new Adam Young who was always the son of Arthur and Deirdre young. Newt and Anathema, Shadwell and Tracy, all those supposed "enemies" who found a connection in the person they were told to hate, who stood up to save the world, well that didn't happen either.
Aziraphale and Crowley, who we watched build a relationship over 6000 years despite incredible danger, who stood up to save billions of people (and dolphins, and gorillas) from pointless violence… all that history is thrown out in favor of two random humans. Sure, their relationship may be cute, but those are not the blorbos we spent so much time invested in. Aziraphale and Crowley died. And so did everyone else on Earth. Even if they were replaced with close copies, they died. They didn’t get a choice in that. Neither did the 20 million angels and demons in Heaven and Hell.
A story about preventing the end of the world and the injustice of a universe slated to end before its time... gave us an ending where they destroy the whole universe.
And the writers have the gall to pretend this is our happy ending?
The South Downs ending feels hollow because it’s not Aziraphale and Crowley finally getting to rest after 6000 years, finally building a life together. It’s just two random humans who sort of look like them.
There are sad or bittersweet endings that can still feel satisfying if they meet the characters' needs. This ending does not do that. “Everyone dies” is not a solution to anything. It’s a tragedy.
So yeah, I do not accept this ending as canon. I am ignoring S2 and S3. As far as I'm concerned the story ended with the Ritz and to the world. I will keep writing and producing art of them from that moment. Because their story did matter. To many of us. And they deserved a real ending, not a “nevermind, none of it happened.”
*fantastic podcast about the business and work of writing as a career. Highly recommend.
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