NINTENDO YOU CAN'T JUST DO THIS
So.
Uh... there's a new epilogue to Galaxy 2's storybook...
As some of you may know, I wasn't that big a fan of the new storybook, but this epilogue... it's beautiful.
Genuinely beautiful. Possibly the best chapter in either storybook. I don't take back what I said about the second book's shortcomings, but after the movie this was the palette cleanser I needed. And to think Nintendo just... randomly dropped it (I hope this is their way of saying that Rosalina's game and movie origins will remain separate).
But anyway, onto to analysis, I have A LOT to say (spoilers, obviously):
Rosalina apparently gets premonitions.
Sure, why not at this point? Rosalina can see the future. Add that to the list I guess lol (I am definitely not complaining, I love how powerful this woman is).
I like that she chooses to do this, it shows her tendency to be distant well. At this point Rosalina doesn't seem to like being too open about her past. At this pint in time she might not have written her storybook yet. Or maybe she had, and the reason it's a bedtime story at all is so she can impart the life lessons she learned onto others whilst adding some plausible deniability to the events that took place.
Either way, clearly this is a very personal moment for her, I can see why she'd want to experience it alone.
Oh sure Nintendo (or more specifically Koizumi I imagine).
Just casually confirm my (and others') headcanon that the garden reminds Rosalina of her home planet, whilst a new rendition of Family (I think) plays in the background 🥹
Lu and Mari reunite. In spirit at least, anyway.
I'm not 100% sure if this is them literally being reborn as a pair of twin suns, or if these stars just carry their essence without literally being them. I think the latter makes more sense, although what Rosalina says next implies the former.
Also, wow. So THAT'S why the garden's sky looked like that, despite usually being in deep space. I always wondered about that.
Now this part is incredibly sweet (also god damn is the artwork in this chapter good). Not only does Rosalina welcome back her children, not only is she touched by their reunion, but this is a lovely little callback to the first storybook;
...but also...
Their reunion reminds Rosalina of what she longed for as a child; to be reunited with her mother.
Fun fact!
(It's actually fun don't worry)
The existence of two stars that orbit each other is a real thing in astronomy! For those that didn't already know, they're called binary star systems.
Once again the Mario Galaxy series incorporates real astronomy into its lore. I really appreciate that, considering Rosalina is what started my me interest in astronomy in the first place.
I like that even though "special someone" is usually used in a romantic sense, here Rosalina's inner child is referring to her mother.
Interestingly enough, Rosalina is in a similar position her mother once was (presumably) - trying to comfort her younger self. The shots are even purposefully framed in similar ways. She now knows what it was like to be in her mother's shoes.
Her mother really does live on through her.
So what does she say in response?
Actually, let's think about what she DOESN'T say.
She doesn't say "Don't worry, you'll find your special someone."
Instead, she reaffirms what I took away as the main message of the first storybook: true love persists.
People are often asked or wonder what they would say to their younger selves who went through a time of distress or hardship. Rosalina is basically answering that question to herself.
She's telling her younger self what she needed to hear all those centuries ago. Her older self has come to terms with her mother's passing, but her younger self hasn't. She wants to give her younger self hope for the future, hope that she'll find family among the stars and that she'll be happy, just not in the way she thinks.
She's not saying that she will find her mother one day and that she should never give up hope that she will find her; she's saying that she should have hope for the future, and to continue carrying the love she has for her mother inside her heart. Continue being a person who loves others strongly, so much so that she would search a great distance just to find them. A love that potent is stronger than the universe itself (this is such a good reference to her ending monologue from Galaxy 2 btw), and as long as that love persists, as long as she has hope inside her heart, she will be okay. She will find someone special.
That's why young Rosalina says "that's how we must be" not "what we must do".
And so, we finally know the context behind this image.
Stuff like this genuinely reminds me of why art exists (and why it should exist).
Rosalina returns to the family she truly found among the stars.
Oh and in case you didn't get it, the girl isn't actually real. Her appearance is a metaphor for Rosalina reflecting on her past, that's all. That's why she just suddenly appears, that's why she doesn't leave alongside Rosalina. It was just her imagination.
What a way to wrap up both storybooks. Genuinely masterful storytelling.