Gabiluzbad
Thinking about the ending of TTGL
Gabiluzbad
And Nia
Gabiluzbad
Her death was a divisive writing decision
Gabiluzbad
Some people say “why didn’t Simon just bring her back to life with spiral power?”
Gabiluzbad
Other people say “the entire story is about moving on and recovering from trauma. Simon was not abusing his power for philosophical reasons.”
Gabiluzbad
I say
Gabiluzbad
“If they wanted to hit that specific final plot beat, why did they imply that Simon can bring people back from the dead?”
Gabiluzbad
I’ve spent years trying to put into words what bothered me about that scene
Gabiluzbad
And that’s it
Gabiluzbad
The implication that Simon COULD resurrect everyone who died, but CHOSE not to because of the show’s thematic message is just
Gabiluzbad
It makes no sense from a Watsonian viewpoint
Gabiluzbad
They could have just left it at “We knew this was going to happen but we can’t do anything about it so we made peace with it while we could.”
Gabiluzbad
Instead of “I, Simon, am choosing not to use my godlike power to bring back the love of my life because that would weaken the thematic message of Gurren Lagann the anime”
Gabiluzbad
Am I ranting like a crazy person here?
DehydratedWater
haven't seen Gurren Lagann in forever but yeah, if it's implied that Simon could ressurect people (and that he didn't lose that power), then that plot point is dumb.
Friendpatine
Nah, Nia got done dirty. She should have lived.
連続犬
nia definitely should have lived and the fact they introduced her death + that weird plot beat is like, legitimately one of the few stains on the show, imo
Gabiluzbad
Like I think I get what they were going for
Gabiluzbad
Simon lost Kamina and it hurt but he kept on going and ended up stronger because of it
Gabiluzbad
Then he lost Nia and did it again
Gabiluzbad
Loss isn’t the end it’s just part of life
Gabiluzbad
But
Gabiluzbad
They didn’t QUITE stick the landing
連続犬
yea
Gabiluzbad
It kinda ties in with my other beef about the show
Gabiluzbad
Which is
Gabiluzbad
Simon’s character arc ends like four episodes too early
Gabiluzbad
He’s too self-actualized for the anti spiral counter attack arc
Gabiluzbad
Shonen action anime is at its best when the hero’s physical challenges act as a mirror to his internal struggle
Gabiluzbad
And Simon doesn’t really HAVE any internal struggles for the home stretch
Friendpatine
If Nia's death had been...like, if she had come to a natural end, I think Simon's argument about not bringing her back would have more weight. But there was nothing natural about her death, especially since she was able to hold on after the Anti-Spiral bit it long enough to marry Simon.
Gabiluzbad
He knows what he wants, why he wants it, and what he has to do to get it
Gabiluzbad
The spiral multiverse labyrinth bit stands out so much BECAUSE it actually introduces some uncertainty in him
Gabiluzbad
Honestly the last arc is barely about him
Gabiluzbad
It’s about the rest of the cast
Gabiluzbad
Coming back together after everything that happened during the anti-spiral invasion
Gabiluzbad
Most of the really good beats don’t even involve Simon
Gabiluzbad
Kitten’s giga drill break
Gabiluzbad
Kittan*
Gabiluzbad
Nia resisting the anti spiral to summon Gurren Lagann through her wedding ring
Gabiluzbad
All the characters turning their backs on the labyrinth visions
Gabiluzbad
Genome getting his rematch after being defeated thousands of years ago
oh i'm scary
I don't know that that implication existed is the thing
oh i'm scary
that he can magic people back to life
oh i'm scary
like
oh i'm scary
I know Gimmy says "MAYBE YOU CAN DO THIS" and they say that's not a healthy thing to want but
oh i'm scary
I kind of read that less as "yes but I am choosing not to"
oh i'm scary
and more as "Gimmy what you're doing is called The Bargaining Stage"
oh i'm scary
just saying "no that's not a thing" would not have helped him cope as much
Gabiluzbad
If that’s what they were going for then I don’t think they did a good job at expressing it
dragon time
I feel like the prologue bit with adult Simon proclaiming that he's going to fight the whole universe is where bringing people back to life leads and on some level he knows this
dragon time
That's the end point of moving forwards all the time for him and spiral power only works if you're moving forwards and bringing people along with you
dragon time
Like I am pretty sure Kamina came back in ep8 for a little because of spiral power, man was dead, and then he died again once he ran out of momentum
dragon time
(Fortunately in SRWQ we can swing a happy ending for them with the power of guts)
Gabiluzbad
Whether or not her death worked
Gabiluzbad
It IS perfectly appropriate for an SRW title to go “nah”
Gabiluzbad
“ in our version everyone gets a happy ending”
Gabiluzbad
“As long as you satisfy all the secret requirements.”
RobotApocalypse
Yeah I don't think that implication is there. Gimmy goes "hey maybe you could bring back everyone who died!" and they're like "he's not god"
RobotApocalypse
the implication i got from that wasn't "he shouldn't play god like that", it was "he's powerful but he's not that powerful"
RobotApocalypse
it just now occurred to me though, that even if they were trying to imply that it's something he can do but shouldn't, that he is perhaps calling that the cutoff because of what the anti-spirals said about how spiral energy left unchecked will end the universe
RobotApocalypse
and the decision he's making is where to put the line to prevent that future
Quinneapolis
I think it's also just, okay to not like the ending
RobotApocalypse
yeah i think nia's death was totally unnecessary and don't like it myself
Gabiluzbad
I’m not wild about it
Gabiluzbad
And as has been established I found Gimmy’s contribution to the scene confusing
RobotApocalypse
yeah it kinda feels like the writers were like "hey, are people gonna wonder why they can't just bring all the dead people back to life when spiral energy can basically do anything?" "yeah we should address that somehow"
RobotApocalypse
and then clumsily shoved something in
ғᴏxʏᴍᴏʀᴏɴ
I also definitely parsed that as "Simon can but shouldn't"