What the Ending meant (spoiler)

[2H spear sucks]

To me, although I was a little disappointed with how disjointed the ending felt (no final fight with LeChuck or Morgan but from a thematical perspective it was done on purpose)- i did feel like i understood the ending. Throughout the story there is a theme of "reminiscing"; first from how Guybrush is telling a story to his son then as you playing as Guybrush recalling the memories of the past by looking at the old structures such as the buildings on melee island and the first ship he sailed on- Seamonkey II. It’s sometimes both positive but mostly a negative experience in the sense that the new generation has taken over and the old generation feels "out of place" and “confused”. Guybrush doesn't understand how to attract the new 3 pirate leaders to fund his venture to monkey island and is instead; is laughed at and humiliated by them- all the while a blaring rock inspired version of the scumm bar theme song plays. The song feels familiar yet really weird and oppressive in an alien sort of way. The comments of the chef not liking them but too afraid to do anything about it. This old meets the new is really highlighed when Guybrush and Captain Morgan compare resumes and past achievements. There was always a playfulness to piracy in Guybrush's Era but a seriousness in the younger Capt Morgan's generation. What Guybrush considers pirateworthy is vastly different from what Captain Morgan considers pirateworthy and vice versa. It’s also highlighted in how derelict melee island feels- everything closed and boarded up. This vibrancy that used to exist in the previous games is no longer there. The old voodoo magic vs the new dark magic. Even in the relationship between Guybrush and Elaine feel like an old married couple. The vibrancy and the feeling of being able to dictate the world its culture that only comes from being it's youthful member is all gone- as Guybrush finds himself an alien in this new melee island.
I believe that the devs and writers wanted to find a way to put this whole story to a complete FINALE (in capital letters) and give closure to their diehard fans by explore a world where the story has already ended- Guybrush and Elaine are together, the world is really in no danger (Elaine already knew the secret and knew that LeChuck wasn't able to leverage it to harm anyone hence she was more worried about the scurvy problem) however Guybrush for whatever reason just won't let go of the secret of monkey island- he insists on finding it just like we insist on a sequel to monkey island. We love the story so much we always want to know what happens next- how did they get together, what happens after they get together, what happens after they get married, what adventure they have as a married couple, what happens after the pirate pox. etc. etc. we always want more information. Now however most of us fans are quite old lol since the day we all first played monkey island game. Deep down we want this new sequel to their story because there was some part of this old story that made us feel this child-like wonder that we always want to relive just like Guybrush wanted to find the secret of Monkey Island to relive the good old glory days. However this child-like wonder we feel seemed to have metaphorically been boarded up and closed like most of Melee Island.
I believe this story did give closure to us old diehard fans by giving us what we needed yet not giving us what we wanted. Its symbolised by the decadent world, the confusing paradigm of this new young pirate culture that we are out of touch with as Guybrush- showing that things are not what they used to be. That most of the people that Guybrush knew before, have moved on in a positive way such as the old pirate leaders, Wally who after going through therapy has his own map making business, Cala and Elaine. The people whom haven't moved on seemed to be trapped in this never ending cycle or in a rout such as Odis whom you meet exactly at the same place where you first find him, LeChuck, Guybrush both still going find the secret, the familiar 3 dead pirates on terror island and Stan whose bad habits seemed to have caught up to him in a way. This story give us the closure we need to move on from Guybrush's world by how the positive allies in Guybrush's world support him to move forward in his search of the secret but never outright revealing what the secret was even though its hinted they knew it (i.e. Elaine, Voodoo Lady). Why was this?
In a way this adventure/story was a way to rescue Guybrush and us (the diehard fans) from this cycle and rout. Firstly by the Voodoo Lady who gives him the tools he needs to find the secret of monkey (because she knows that this was the only way for him to move on) whilst removing the veneer of mystery surrounding herself by revealing her real name- in a sense destroying her magic. Elaine supporting her husband like a good wife but not altogether being involved in his story because of the scurvy problem. But the very act of not being involved herself, makes it feel like Guybrush is embarking on this quest alone. From Elaine's perspective it is a journey that Guybrush needs to undertake alone in order to recieve closure. Near the end, Elaine and Guybrush have a long walk and discussion about what the secret is and what Guybrush had hoped to gain after going through so much to gain it. It is Elaine's fear and the Devs that the secret might not be all that its cracked up to be and will disappoint. Worrying that this obsession might not end. Even the neutral characters in the story, Flambe encourages him to stop and not seek out the secret, warning him after seeing LeChuck’s obsession. Even the objects related to our nostalgia is either replaced with the new and unfamiliar, or shown in a derelict state or repurposed in a new positive way that signifies moving on such as the fish shop owned by the old pirate leaders. This story gave us what we needed- a new game to explore this world after the story has ended, but not what we wanted in the sense of a young vibrant world that still had much to explore, much to grow into and much mystery. In fact it was quite the opposite- this game tried to reveal every secret that it had built up over the years; the voodoo lady’s name, what happened to those 3 familiar pirates and truly what was originally the secret of Monkey Island which really was in fact a t-shirt to begin with. It was what the creators Ron Gilbert and the other Devs talked about in the behind the scene dialogue of the first monkey island game.
And finally at the end of the story; good old Elaine, ever supportive Elaine is there; asking Guybrush and us in a patient and loving manner; “Are you ready to go?”. As you open the chest, revealing the secret of monkey island and the realisation that the Secret from the very start was just a marketing scheme by Stan; finally destroying your desire (you; the audience) to come back to this story- you finally close all the exhibits, having to make the inevitable choice to leave. Lastly you are left with Guybrush sitting on a park chair as his children run off to Elaine with this bittersweet feeling as Elaine encourages him to go on a new adventure. But you know deep down that the new adventure is not Monkey Island anymore.

[MB]

Well that sounds about almost as bad as this game looks.

[Poke]

Originally posted by Drywall Connoisseur:

Well that sounds about almost as bad as this game looks.

It's a meta ending. Ron Gilbert did one with Thimbleweed Park as well. Some people are fans, others aren't.

[2H spear sucks]

I just finished the game 1 or 2 hrs ago so I was gobsmacked and was like "really? no final fight/climax to settle everything", it reminded me of the ending of Monkey Island 2 LeChuck's revenge which was also controversial at the time where it felt like everything was fake to begin with and made you think why go through so much if it was all going to be pointless but now that I had time to really settle down (writing this helped a lot)- I liked it. I really liked it. To me, it was a masterpiece ending to a franchised I loved so much. I distinctly remembered 2 days ago when I pre-ordered this game that the only reason why I was buying this game full price since I never buy full price, let alone pre-order (cuz I'm cheap- I always wait for some discount to save money and pre-ordering encourages bad practices), was because it was a monkey island game. I was even planning on making a meme about how whatever you smack the words monkey island on, I was going to buy. I can safely say that I will never pre-order another new monkey Island game- let alone buy it full price. I will still buy it but only at a discount of at least 40%. For that, I truly love the devs and thankful that they ended it the way they did- for settling the fire of desire in my heart. I truly do think its a masterpiece; made by devs that truly cared for their die hard fans. Thank you for making me not care anymore.

[FalconRedux]

Thank you for sharing this. It's helped me look at things differently and I appreciate you taking the time to write this out. I literally just finished the game and was a bit underwhelmed, but what you write makes a lot of sense.

[Yistaan]

Your essay misses the point that the new pirate leaders laughing at Guybrush was for show. They wanted the Secret as much as Guybrush did, if not more, and they tried to kill Guybrush to get it later on. Furthermore, the whole issue of why LeChuck and Guybrush are suddenly after the Secret after all these years is that the new pirate leaders finally found a map but had no access to dark magic, so they advertised having it for LeChuck to get but switched it with a fake map so that they would get the Secret without him.

Guybrush's reaction to the Secret was what was expected. Why didn't they go all the way with this ending and show LeChuck's and the new pirate leaders' reactions?

[Joe]

Originally posted by 2H spear sucks:

I just finished the game 1 or 2 hrs ago so I was gobsmacked and was like "really? no final fight/climax to settle everything", it reminded me of the ending of Monkey Island 2 LeChuck's revenge which was also controversial at the time where it felt like everything was fake to begin with and made you think why go through so much if it was all going to be pointless but now that I had time to really settle down (writing this helped a lot)- I liked it. I really liked it. To me, it was a masterpiece ending to a franchised I loved so much. I distinctly remembered 2 days ago when I pre-ordered this game that the only reason why I was buying this game full price since I never buy full price, let alone pre-order (cuz I'm cheap- I always wait for some discount to save money and pre-ordering encourages bad practices), was because it was a monkey island game. I was even planning on making a meme about how whatever you smack the words monkey island on, I was going to buy. I can safely say that I will never pre-order another new monkey Island game- let alone buy it full price. I will still buy it but only at a discount of at least 40%. For that, I truly love the devs and thankful that they ended it the way they did- for settling the fire of desire in my heart. I truly do think its a masterpiece; made by devs that truly cared for their die hard fans. Thank you for making me not care anymore.

You sound like you are in acceptance stage of grief (or maybe denial). Game was fine (little on short and easy side) but ending was just bad. I wonder if people would be thinking about this as a masterpiece if it wasn't connected to monkey franchise.

[Ozyman_Dias]

I loved it, entirely.
The only thing it was lacking was a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle.

[Yistaan]

Originally posted by Joe:

I wonder if people would be thinking about this as a masterpiece if it wasn't connected to monkey franchise.

I was going to say no but after thinking about all the hype that Life of Pi got despite having a similar ending... yeah, maybe they'd still consider it a masterpiece.

But at least Life of Pi had good visual effects, which this doesn't really.

[Joe_monsters]

Thank you so much!
I don’t agree with everything, but this is a great interpretation.
I love the game and the ending by the way, really like the theories about it. I found it deep. It’s exactly what I’ve been expecting. It’s abrupt, surreal, weird, touching, a bit insulting, in a good way… I love Ron and Dave’s writing.

[Tiger]

I'm not crying, you're crying ;;

[Fronzel]

I just love it when authors or directors or game developers trade on the popularity of an older work with a new sequel, advertise for it and hype it, and then it ends up being about how liking old things is dumb and you're an idiot for being interested.

[Yistaan]

Originally posted by Fronzel:

I just love it when authors or directors or game developers trade on the popularity of an older work with a new sequel, advertise for it and hype it, and then it ends up being about how liking old things is dumb and you're an idiot for being interested.

On the bright side, at least he made a decent playable game. I've been harsh on Return but in retrospect considering game devs like Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts either made extremely dull, generic barely playable games (or in Roberts' case still hasn't finished despite his kickstarter money), Ron actually making a fully playable game and delivering, even if the story is shoddy, is actually an accomplishment in these days of game devs trying to relive old glories.

[frumpleorz]

Originally posted by Fronzel:

I just love it when authors or directors or game developers trade on the popularity of an older work with a new sequel, advertise for it and hype it, and then it ends up being about how liking old things is dumb and you're an idiot for being interested.

But... that's not what this game is saying? It's absolutely saying that being fixated on the past is something that you shouldn't do, that being obsessed with artifacts and trivial bits is something you shouldn't do. You shouldn't be the guy who runs the museum or the kid memorizing trading card stats because that doesn't actually represent what the story and themes are. It's a missing the forest for the trees.

Loving something is okay but don't let nostalgia and incorrect memories cloud your judgment of reality. That's the theme I got out of this game. Guybrush clearly loves his old adventures. He wouldn't keep a scrapbook of them if he didn't, would he?

[Yistaan]

Originally posted by frumpleorz:

Originally posted by Fronzel:

I just love it when authors or directors or game developers trade on the popularity of an older work with a new sequel, advertise for it and hype it, and then it ends up being about how liking old things is dumb and you're an idiot for being interested.

But... that's not what this game is saying? It's absolutely saying that being fixated on the past is something that you shouldn't do, that being obsessed with artifacts and trivial bits is something you shouldn't do. You shouldn't be the guy who runs the museum or the kid memorizing trading card stats because that doesn't actually represent what the story and themes are. It's a missing the forest for the trees.

Loving something is okay but don't let nostalgia and incorrect memories cloud your judgment of reality. That's the theme I got out of this game. Guybrush clearly loves his old adventures. He wouldn't keep a scrapbook of them if he didn't, would he?

The game itself undercuts that though in the beginning. NO ONE knows what the secret is. Guybrush is entirely correct that if it's dangerous, LeChuck getting it first would be disastrous. That the obviously evil new pirate leaders are revealed to want it later on makes things even worse.

That doesn't justify the swath of destruction Guybrush causes throughout the Caribbean just to get the Secret first. But the wistful musings on the failings of nostalgia only are possible through the benefit of hindsight, AFTER finding out the Secret is a shirt. Without knowing what the Secret is, Guybrush's concerns are legit and while again that doesn't justify his shady actions, no one including Elaine, was acting to stop the threat of LeChuck finding a potentially dangerous item first or offering any other ideas.

[Tom S. Fox]

Originally posted by 2H spear sucks:

I believe that the devs and writers wanted to find a way to put this whole story to a complete FINALE (in capital letters)

Ron Gilbert already denied that.