On the Ending of Xenosaga 3
For several years I was always kind of confused by the ending of Xenosaga 3. I understood what was literally happening (at least as much as the next guy) but in a series so steeped in symbolism and metaphor I could never really grasp what the conclusion of the trilogy was trying to say, and why it had to be so damn sad.
Over the past couple months it finally hit me that the finale and ending sequence is this absurd, beautiful depiction of Shion's unhealthy coping mechanism through KOS-MOS becoming a genuine source of love decoupled from Kevin and the trauma of the past, then saying goodbye because, finally, Shion doesn't need her anymore. She has a support system through the party that she didn't have before, a group that will stand by her into the future which is immediately put to the test when she has to summon the strength to let her brother go, which she does.
It's heart wrenching and visceral because that's what the entire story has really been about: Shion learning to conquer her trauma in a healthy way and face the future in a brutal, unforgiving world.
Mix in the ideas of reincarnation and love persisting through time and death that Takahashi seems so enamored with in his work and we get what I now think may be the most emotionally compelling ending in all of Xeno, despite how confusing it may be on the surface due to Xenosaga's categorically bonkers lore and plot.
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