I'm aware this ending is controversial, but I often greatly enjoy things despite their divisiveness. Sadly, I found this chaotic and myself bored and emotionally detached.
Regarding the entire show, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of it; I found it consistently convoluted and largely uninteresting. It does introduce some novel fantastical concepts, but it doesn’t capitalize on the potential of these ideas, most efforts it makes to reintroduce them are simply dull. But of course, we need to talk about what others have complained about; the show's romantic aspect. I'm aromantic, but I still often find stories exploring romantic relationships compelling; however, I felt significantly more focus was placed on them here than deserved. Often characters would shift their feelings for one another on a whim, predominantly with a banal, vague, or nonexistent logical basis for doing so. With Star and Marco's relationship, the show pulls the will they won't they bit, for far too long; it's ultimately just tedious and uninvolving, and I found myself completely uninvested.
Anyway, regarding this finale, Moon amasses an army, using magic on her subjects, all in an effort to make Eclipsa surrender. The issue? I thought Moon betraying Eclipsa was contrived. Moon was initially the only one who had expressed faith in Eclipsa, and once Eclipsa took over, we learn that Moon went off to do her own thing, ultimately starting a smaller Kingdom. And we find out later she had been actively trying to trip up Eclipsa, but at that moment, her betrayal comes out of nowhere. Now Eclipsa made a mistake that affected Moon. In an attempt to protect her daughter, she leaves Moon separated from her family, but later, Eclipsa states she didn't know it would happen and apologizes. And while separated, Moon was blissfully unaware, but supposedly her betrayal here is in part vengeful against Eclipsa for this mistake.
But how is this conflict resolved? The idea behind destroying magic and having it be a way to end a toxic family line had potential but needed more focus and significant readjustments. And while the dynamics between some of the characters were potentially very compelling, it doesn't get more depth than: Solaria disapproving of Eclipsa because she fell in love with a monster. Watching Eclipsa struggle with this rejection was compelling, but the dynamic isn't. It could've been more interesting if, for example, I generally understood Solaria better and precisely understood why she suddenly seems more approving of Eclipsa in death, but that's all left ambiguous.
Lastly, and most importantly, the implications of destroying magic feel brushed off. The show glosses over the pros and cons of destroying magic, and for some reason, the relationship between Star and Marco takes center. Regarding its adverse effects, we're shown that some people will die because they're made of magic, but it's vague about the true extent of this. Also, Hekapoo and Glossaryck seem nonchalant towards the fact they'll die; morally complex characters like Rhombulus die unceremoniously, and the spells, characters the show spent time on and are all shown to be sentient, are dead. On top of that, with a multiverse full of magic, this would likely be catastrophic; Mewni's one planet in a larger multiverse that people consistently travel through. To destroy that means of travel is... likely disastrous. The good is that supposedly destroying magic ends the toxicity in the rule of Mewni and, in the heat of the moment, heals a few monsters. However, I have to point out that removing magic won't necessarily end tensions in Mewni. The show seems somewhat aware of this; it shows Mina still upholding these beliefs. Destroying magic reduces the power of everyone, not just those who are causing harm. I view the destruction of magic as a temporary fix to the unjust hierarchy on Mewni, but it has permanent negative implications for an entire multiverse.
But I guess I'm supposed to like it regardless because Star and Marco are finally together and are honest about their feelings, but I don't. Star wants to solve problems with Mewni; she's always been the character who recognizes them when others are oblivious. But in the heat of the moment, deciding to destroy magic seems based a lot on her feelings towards Marco. This decision has many implications, but it looks like it was made on a passionate whim and weak justification. It honestly came across as a bit selfish and out of character.
Also, while it doesn't seem to have come about from a character's conscience choice, as Star and Marco don't appear in complete control of their powers, I thought combining Mewni and Earth was rather absurd. It adds even more implications on top of the existing narrative, but I feel the show wants me to ignore this whole flood of implications completely.
Review by IDKVIP 3BlockedParent2022-09-06T06:44:31Z— updated 2023-07-14T00:20:12Z
I'm aware this ending is controversial, but I often greatly enjoy things despite their divisiveness. Sadly, I found this chaotic and myself bored and emotionally detached.
Regarding the entire show, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of it; I found it consistently convoluted and largely uninteresting. It does introduce some novel fantastical concepts, but it doesn’t capitalize on the potential of these ideas, most efforts it makes to reintroduce them are simply dull. But of course, we need to talk about what others have complained about; the show's romantic aspect. I'm aromantic, but I still often find stories exploring romantic relationships compelling; however, I felt significantly more focus was placed on them here than deserved. Often characters would shift their feelings for one another on a whim, predominantly with a banal, vague, or nonexistent logical basis for doing so. With Star and Marco's relationship, the show pulls the will they won't they bit, for far too long; it's ultimately just tedious and uninvolving, and I found myself completely uninvested.
Anyway, regarding this finale, Moon amasses an army, using magic on her subjects, all in an effort to make Eclipsa surrender. The issue? I thought Moon betraying Eclipsa was contrived. Moon was initially the only one who had expressed faith in Eclipsa, and once Eclipsa took over, we learn that Moon went off to do her own thing, ultimately starting a smaller Kingdom. And we find out later she had been actively trying to trip up Eclipsa, but at that moment, her betrayal comes out of nowhere. Now Eclipsa made a mistake that affected Moon. In an attempt to protect her daughter, she leaves Moon separated from her family, but later, Eclipsa states she didn't know it would happen and apologizes. And while separated, Moon was blissfully unaware, but supposedly her betrayal here is in part vengeful against Eclipsa for this mistake.
But how is this conflict resolved? The idea behind destroying magic and having it be a way to end a toxic family line had potential but needed more focus and significant readjustments. And while the dynamics between some of the characters were potentially very compelling, it doesn't get more depth than: Solaria disapproving of Eclipsa because she fell in love with a monster. Watching Eclipsa struggle with this rejection was compelling, but the dynamic isn't. It could've been more interesting if, for example, I generally understood Solaria better and precisely understood why she suddenly seems more approving of Eclipsa in death, but that's all left ambiguous.
Lastly, and most importantly, the implications of destroying magic feel brushed off. The show glosses over the pros and cons of destroying magic, and for some reason, the relationship between Star and Marco takes center. Regarding its adverse effects, we're shown that some people will die because they're made of magic, but it's vague about the true extent of this. Also, Hekapoo and Glossaryck seem nonchalant towards the fact they'll die; morally complex characters like Rhombulus die unceremoniously, and the spells, characters the show spent time on and are all shown to be sentient, are dead. On top of that, with a multiverse full of magic, this would likely be catastrophic; Mewni's one planet in a larger multiverse that people consistently travel through. To destroy that means of travel is... likely disastrous. The good is that supposedly destroying magic ends the toxicity in the rule of Mewni and, in the heat of the moment, heals a few monsters. However, I have to point out that removing magic won't necessarily end tensions in Mewni. The show seems somewhat aware of this; it shows Mina still upholding these beliefs. Destroying magic reduces the power of everyone, not just those who are causing harm. I view the destruction of magic as a temporary fix to the unjust hierarchy on Mewni, but it has permanent negative implications for an entire multiverse.
But I guess I'm supposed to like it regardless because Star and Marco are finally together and are honest about their feelings, but I don't. Star wants to solve problems with Mewni; she's always been the character who recognizes them when others are oblivious. But in the heat of the moment, deciding to destroy magic seems based a lot on her feelings towards Marco. This decision has many implications, but it looks like it was made on a passionate whim and weak justification. It honestly came across as a bit selfish and out of character.
Also, while it doesn't seem to have come about from a character's conscience choice, as Star and Marco don't appear in complete control of their powers, I thought combining Mewni and Earth was rather absurd. It adds even more implications on top of the existing narrative, but I feel the show wants me to ignore this whole flood of implications completely.