Great Stories with stupid endings *spoilers ahoy*

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Misterian

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Okay, we all know about Mass Effect 3 and the reception the endings of that game had (with or without Extended Cut), right?

I know there are alot of people who either hate the endings (be it due to Shepard dying, involving space magic, etc.) or were straight-up unbothered by them.

But frankly, I'm among those who, even before the release of the Extended Cut DLC, weren't bothered by the endings, if only because I already had problems with a certain ending some a different part of media.

I am talking about Codename: Kids Next Door's so-called 'Grand Finale', OP:INTERVIEWS.

Golly, where do I begin with this ending?

To avoid talking to death about it, I will sum up this ending by saying that the overall plot of that episode was silly even by Season 1 KND standards, much of what it brings up raises more questions than it does wrap up the plot (you know, something endings are SUPPOSED to do), the live-action scenes are very out-of-place, and it also has the same problem some of the later post-ZERO episodes had in putting the spotlight too much on Nigel/Numbuh 1 when most of his victories were possible with help from his team.

But here's my biggest problem with that ending, which admittingly actually dates back to before it was released back to the episode OP:TREATY, where this group the show was building up to called the KND Splinter Cell, a group originally thought to consist of extremists bend on removing all the world's adults (good and evil alike) from existence, is revealed to not actually exist. Now fast-forward to OP:INTERVIEWS where at the end it's revealed to really be a cover-up for a secret group called the Galactic KND.

Seems like an interesting twist to you? well, here are the problems with this whole GKND thing; First off, why use rumors of an evil extremist group as cover for your secret organization? If what Rachel/Numbuh 362 did in OP:GIRLFRIEND is any indication, you'd just be encouraging people to track you down.

Second of all, the non-existent Splinter Cell had the agenda of removing adults from existence, yet the show clearly states that's what the GKND is trying to accomplish by saying adulthood is actually a disease that must be removed, not helped by the fact it's made clear from the very start that Sector V eventually become adults anyway, that are somehow now allowed to go to Moonbase no less, try explaining that.

Third of all, Why's Nigel picked out of all other KND Operatives? the show never explains whether or not other Operatives were considered (aside from Chad and even then it's never explained why he was tossed aside by the GKND in favor of Nigel) And even if other Operatives were considered, it's never explained where Nigel has succeeded where all other Operatives considered have failed or why. Heck, and even if it has, why just Nigel and not the rest of his team as well? For much of Sector V's successes throughout most of the show were because of them working together up until the last few episodes where the show somewhat suddenly decided to focus strictly on Nigel.

Okay, so maybe I lied about not talking to death about it, but I think you can see why that ending sparked as much ire in me as those of you who hated the ME3 endings. And in my opinion, OP:INTERVIEWS was just as flawed an ending as were the ME3 endings, if not even more flawed. But the use of Fanon-discontinuity has helped me get over it.

Which is shame for 2 reasons, 1; Warburton did great with KND's storyline (aside from a few arbitrary twists in very few episodes) up until INTERVIEWS. 2; I believe the storyline and ending could've been straight-up perfect had they taken a different direction, like strictly keeping the Splinter Cell as an evil extremist group that engages in an internal civil war with the KND, or heck, screw the Splinter cell and let the ending just involve the KND permanently defeating Father and heroically moving on (predictable, yes, but at least you'd get less plotholes).

But enough about me, Are there any stories in media that you believe were mostly great but you believe didn't end the way it should have? since this obviously is a topic about endings, I suggest not worrying about spoilers.
 

Soviet Heavy

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NGE before End of Evangelion came out. Trapped inside Shinji's demented mind high school fantasy was bullshit.
 

krazykidd

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Any story with a happy ending . We need more unhappy ends . Seriously . Happy endings to EVERYTHING , no matter how unlikely . I just wish more movies/books would take an example from the movie the myst
 

Smertnik

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Misterian said:
since this obviously is a topic about endings, I suggest not worrying about spoilers.
Why? Have you played through every single video game, watched every single movie and read every single book ever? I know I haven't.


I actually can hardly think of anything. The stories I recall ending in a noticeably unsatisfying way are overall mediocre at best.
 

Sean Hollyman

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Dragon Ball Z's ending.


Goku abandons his family to go train with the re-incarnation of the foe he just defeated, who he's only just met.


And GT doesn't count.
 

Flamezdudes

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Soviet Heavy said:
NGE before End of Evangelion came out. Trapped inside Shinji's demented mind high school fantasy was bullshit.
I don't want to sound like one of those "pretentious" Eva fans, but you aren't really getting the point of that part of Episode 26. They also ran out of a lot of their budget towards the end.

But yes, ME3's ending really frustrated me. The Inheritance Book from the Eragon series of books was way too happy for my liking aswell.
 

FalloutJack

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Flamezdudes said:
Soviet Heavy said:
NGE before End of Evangelion came out. Trapped inside Shinji's demented mind high school fantasy was bullshit.
I don't want to sound like one of those "pretentious" Eva fans, but you aren't really getting the point of that part of Episode 26. They also ran out of a lot of their budget towards the end.

But yes, ME3's ending really frustrated me. The Inheritance Book from the Eragon series of books was way too happy for my liking aswell.
Point of order: GAINAX keeps adding onto Eva to make it make more sense and it STILL doesn't, so...maybe it's not the ending that's at fault.
 

dreadedcandiru99

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I didn't care much for the ending of the Harry Potter series, but I don't know if I'd call it stupid, so much as disappointing. Personally, I think that the longer a story is, the longer the ending should be (which is why I'm the only person I know who didn't mind Return of the King's forty-minute epilogue). I want to see how the world changes as a result of the events of the story; I want to see nice, long, detailed resolutions to character arcs.

What I didn't want was "and then Harry killed Voldemort and everybody got married and had babies, THE END."
 

Nothing Tra La La

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"I am The Messenger" by Markus Zusak. It was a really great book up until the ending. Maybe I just didn't understand it, but to me, the ending made little sense and offered ZERO resolution. Spoiled an otherwise fantastic book.
 

Soviet Heavy

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Flamezdudes said:
Soviet Heavy said:
NGE before End of Evangelion came out. Trapped inside Shinji's demented mind high school fantasy was bullshit.
I don't want to sound like one of those "pretentious" Eva fans, but you aren't really getting the point of that part of Episode 26. They also ran out of a lot of their budget towards the end.

But yes, ME3's ending really frustrated me. The Inheritance Book from the Eragon series of books was way too happy for my liking aswell.
Ehhgh, I won't say that I particularly like NGE. I know that for what it was trying to do, it did well, and for better or worse, it did have a major effect on the robot anime genre.

But still, that is a bullshit way to end a television series. You don't just pull a 180 on the audience because you were too flippant with your cash.
 

Eddie the head

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krazykidd said:
Any story with a happy ending . We need more unhappy ends . Seriously . Happy endings to EVERYTHING , no matter how unlikely . I just wish more movies/books would take an example from the movie the myst
How dose an ending being happy or not justify its quality? Would lord of the rings have been improved if Sauron had won? If so I don't see how. Would the Spiderman movies been better if they ended with Spiderman dies and Mary Jane married some rich jerk? Would The Odyssey have been better if Odysseus fell on his neck and was paralyzed once he got home? In short how dose an ending being "Dark" or "Happy" make it inherently better?
 

alfawx

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TizzytheTormentor said:
Alan Wake, so little closure and confusing to boot, I didn't check to DLC, does that make it any better (I hate having to think I have to pay for a satisfactory ending)
I'd suggest going for it if you liked the main game, there were points in the Alan Wake DLCs that I liked more than the original. Also, American Nightmare has one of the best psycho villains since Heath Ledger's Joker. (Although American Nightmare is decidedly not an Alan Wake based game.)

OT: The ending of the Penumbra series. (aka larval stage Amnesia.) I got the games as part of some ten dollar collection thing that included the final bit of DLC after the ending of the second game, Black Plague. The ending of Black Plague was one of my favorite endings of any game ever, if not my favorite period.
So at the end of Black Plague, we're left with a morally questionable action by the protagonist which causes him to be trapped in an underground facility with a now hostile (due to the aforementioned morally questionable action) and possibly alien species. The first second of Requiem has the protagonist getting killed via offscreen head bonking. The rest of the excruciatingly long expansion consists of trippy puzzles with random appearances from various characters seen before and no connection to the plot whatsoever. Then, depending on your ending, we just pan to the protagonist still being dead or see him wake up on the boat that he started the first game on. No explanation. Roll credits.
 

Erttheking

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I liked the Keyes to the Kingdom but the ending...I'm hesitant to call it bad. It's certainly interesting when you think about it, but it's also...weird. It's just weird.
 
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I'll avoid saying ME3, since that horse is rotting by this point.

The theatrical cut of "I Am Legend". Seriously, what the hell?

The entire movie points towards the monsters being intelligent, including trapping Neville in a trap, and then the movie ends with him...blowing himself and the (apparently not intelligent) monsters, and being praised as a legend by the woman and other survivors. That's not. What. The. Fucking. Title. Means. You. Hacks.
 

MahMahnator2992

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Eddie the head said:
krazykidd said:
Any story with a happy ending . We need more unhappy ends . Seriously . Happy endings to EVERYTHING , no matter how unlikely . I just wish more movies/books would take an example from the movie the myst
How dose an ending being happy or not justify its quality? Would lord of the rings have been improved if Sauron had won? If so I don't see how. Would the Spiderman movies been better if they ended with Spiderman dies and Mary Jane married some rich jerk? Would The Odyssey have been better if Odysseus fell on his neck and was paralyzed once he got home? In short how dose an ending being "Dark" or "Happy" make it inherently better?
I don't think he's necessarily saying that only dark endings are good, but rather that the story teller shouldn't shy away from a dark ending when it is the better option. The current state of things is a sort of "happy ending at all cost" mentality, which really can get a bit trite and boring. There's nothing inherently wrong with a happy ending, it is just incredibly refreshing to see a story opt for the road less traveled.

The best example for me is the Stephen King book/movie "Cujo". It's about a mother and son who get trapped in a broken down car in the sweltering heat by a rabid Saint Bernard. In the book, after about three days they finally manage to free themselves and take care of Cujo, but unfortunately, it was too late. The mother's four year old son, Tad, finally gave in despite everyone's valiant efforts. In the movie however, it plays out in about the most cliche way imaginable. After they manage to escape the car, Tad isn't breathing. His mother tries her best to save him, but to no avail... Until all of a sudden he wakes up and gasps for breath! Tad's alive, everyone!!! The original ending may have been very dark, but it was remarkably powerful. It took you out of the realm of escapism and forced you to empathize with his mother and father, to feel the pain of losing your baby boy. Because Tad was just a baby, like I said, only four years old. The movie ending was a steaming pile of crap. It didn't have the courage to tell the story as it was originally meant to be told, and I had absolutely no respect for it.

(To any fellow trivia geeks out there, yes, I realize that Stephen King hated the original ending and claimed that making Tad die was the biggest regret of his entire career.)
 

VoidWanderer

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The Night Angel Trilogy...

Great books, great setting and characters.

The Ending... /sigh. Too depressing to type.
 

Eddie the head

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MahMahnator2992 said:
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I don't think he's necessarily saying that only dark endings are good, but rather that the story teller shouldn't shy away from a dark ending when it is the better option.
But that is what he said like exactly. Unless I misunderstood the phrasing of "Any story with a happy ending." When the question is "what is a good story with a bad ending?"

What you said, yeah ok. What he said what? No.
 

darlarosa

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I would say The Big O....because that was a total head trip. After roughly several viewings I understand it. But it does not actually have an end nor is anything REALLY explained beyond thematically.