I want to talk about the ending for a second. Yes, it's unsatisfying, but I want to talk about why it's unsatisfying. And to do that, I'm going to talk about a completely different work. This is why Hussie should have read A Series of Unfortunate Events.
ASoUE, for those who don't know, is a 13-book YA novel series published from 1999 to 2006. It's about three children; Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. One day, while they are away from home, their house burns down under mysterious circumstances; both of their parents vanish. They are adopted by Count Olaf, a semi-distant relation whom they have never heard of, and who is cruel towards them and obviously scheming to steal their parents' fortune, which is in a trust. After thwarting his first plan, they manage to prove his abuse and are taken away. Over the next five or so books, they bounce from living environment to living environment - some nice, most not - all the while dogged by Olaf, who is continuing his plans. Along the way, they start to discover signs of a conspiracy that involved their parents, Olaf, and many other characters; they eventually go off the rails and start to investigate it for themselves. Olaf, too, continues to follow them, and it becomes increasingly apparent that his obsession with the family isn't purely financial.
So, what does this have to do with Homestuck? Well, like Homestuck, the ending is deliberately inconclusive; unlike Homestuck, it actually works, and here is why: because, even though it wraps up less than Homestuck (we don't get to see any weddings, or indeed if any of the main characters are even alive), it does unambiguously show one thing: the resolution of the central conflict. In the final book, Count Olaf dies. He is run through by a harpoon and bleeds out. We see the body. Even though the protagonists, and indeed almost every supplemental character, exist in ambiguity, Count Olaf is definitely dead. He will not come back for the children again.
(to be cont)
