[Spoilers] Which really is the "best" ending?

[af]

This topic contains spoilers.
This topic is an open discussion.

After completing the game (twice at this point), I am still skeptical about which ending was truly the “best” ending in terms of story. Many claim that Ending E is the best. But after Ending E, I could not wrap my head around why.

For those of you who have completed NieR:Automata completely, you all may be aware of what happens in Ending E. All the characters are restored and the player is even given the option to delete their save file for the greater good. It definitely felt like the ending, but not the best.

The reason why I felt Ending E was not the best ending was because everyone comes back to life. It was nice to see our favorite characters restored by the pods. However, I thought about the scenario that happens afterwards where their memories are restored. Assuming they have their memories up until the point they last deceased, this would mean the following:

2B - Last memory: the contamination and moving from the Flooded City into the City Ruins towards the abandoned commercial facility as YoRHa is destroyed by the virus.
9S - Last memory: Somewhere towards the end of The Tower segment.
A2 - Last memory: Somewhere towards the end of The Tower segment.

If these characters were to come back to life, this could mean that while 2B believes she accomplished her will and objective until the end as a soldier of humanity, 9S is doomed to have to harbor the secret that her efforts were ultimately meaningless. While 2B would live on believing her fight and efforts for humanity had meaning, 9S would have to tag along side her while knowing humanity never even existed. I am not sure about others, but having to keep a truth that would eliminate the ultimate sensation of fulfilment of someone I love would be the worst pain of all. 9S would have to keep feeding 2B’s ignorance to fulfill her sensation of fulfilment daily. Would he ultimately tell her? That is a possibility. If that were so though, why did he not tell her the truth before in the story? I feel he will never be able to gather the courage to tell her what truly happened.

Then which ending was the best ending? Ending C seemed like the best out of the rest. The reason is because it tied into one of the main themes this game tried to express through Ending E when players were prompted with whether they wanted to delete their save file or not to help another player. The pod states the player has been through “crushing hardship and suffered greatly” and asked repeatedly if they truly want to delete their saved data. The player can either decline the offer or delete the save game. When I deleted the save game in the beginning, I felt one of the major themes this game may have been trying to instill was “fulfilment.” Despite all the hours I put into the game, all my efforts would transcend into possibly helping someone out there who had not completed the game yet.

Unlike simple happiness which can simply happen at any given time, fulfilment is when joy has been achieved after enduring difficulties and overcoming major struggles. The main characters in Ending C did all meet their fates. However, it seemed they would have been more emotionally satisfied, whether it be a genuine sense of satisfaction or through ignorance. 2B never seemed to realize the truth about humanity’s existence. Considering her personality, she may have felt fulfilled to have died while upholding her duties as a soldier until the end. A2 was able to carry 2B’s will onwards regarding 9S’ safety which is why (depending on which character was selected at the end of Route C), A2 hesitates to kill 9S, or, simply removes the virus from his system and leaves him for the pods to take care of. 9S, after awakening, may have felt the joy of knowing he “avenged” 2B should the pods have told him A2 has deceased.

The main reason this topic was brought up was because of the author, Yoko Taro. Yoko Taro is not only an interesting person, he can also be a very confusing one. Honestly, I am new to the NieR series, I never had the chance to play NieR:Gestalt and Replicant, let alone only heard about Drakengard vaguely several years ago. There may have been some points I may have missed story wise, and playing the past games may provide more insight to the mind of the author. Regardless, I felt that despite his gruesome stories, Yoko Taro does not seem like the type of author who would simply believe that “being alive” is enough. In other words, I really wonder if Yoko Taro intended for Ending E to be the best ending just because the characters are resurrected. Granted, these sorts of stories constantly leave many ideas up for interpretation, the beauty of literature. However, I cannot understand why Ending E is said to be the best ending. The thought of 9S living a lie while 2B lives in bliss fed by ignorance would be horrendous.

It would be interesting to hear the perspectives of other players and how they felt about these endings.

[Mepho]

I intended that their memories are stored on the pods. Even if not, the same pods do have their own data intact, so they could easily explain everything to the trio.

I actually think the reason why it is the best ending doesn't lie in the resurrection of the protagonists, but in what happens before that. The pods developing themselves a "self", the breaking of the war cycle and the "new hope for humanity" in the Ark (which happens in all endings, but still).

[edit]
Think it's worth mentioning, to me the main theme of the game seems to be love (arguably even Adam with his hard-on for hatred is part of it).

[TastyPillows]

Its also worth noting that 9S was infected by the logic virus near the start of the tower section. If the pods gathered those memories wouldn't that virus still exist?

Either way i think this is Taro's intention, he doesnt do happy endings.

[mrcharizard]

It's as the pods said, since they had their old memories, their old conflicts will continue to exist and it may very possibly lead to the same bad ending. However a different possibility also exists, which requires struggling to be achieved and not just given.

So basically hope. I personally like the point that, a happy ending is not an "alternative reality", but a positive attitude and hope for change after accepting reality.

[Turbo Killer]

As PhantomPillow said, there's not a truly "happy ending" in the game, the E one is however in my opinion kinda bitter. The trio is alive, their past memories probably there too but you don't get to see what happens after they wake up. Could turn things out well or not, we're left wondering in a way.

[Prolixus]

I think you focus too much on humanity when it comes to 2B. She seemed like more of a "committed to her duties as a good and obedient soldier" type to me. Apart from 9S, the most important thing for her was to carry out her orders whatever the reasons were for those orders. Sure as a YoRHa android ultimately she fought for humanity's survival, but there is a difference between soldiers who follow orders because that is their duty and fighters whose goal is to achieve something, sometimes by whatever means and methods necessary (so they probably would even break rules or disobey superiors if they thought it was necessary to achieve what they are fighting for). As an E type unit, 2B must have had a very strong sense of duty considering she even killed her own kind when YoRHa command told her to. She was a by-the-book soldier as much as she could. Besides, I think 9S was more fascinated by humans in general, so it's possible that the truth would have been less shocking to 2B than it was to 9S.

Oh and being alive beats being dead every day. I think this is something the three of them would agree upon. So yes, ending E is the "best" ending. It's not necessarily a happy ending though as some here have already pointed that out. At least they have hope for breaking free of the murderous cycle. YoRHa is gone, machines are gone (well kinda), humanity is gone. It's totally up to them now what they do with thier newly found life and freedom.

[Hema]

i thought they were restored but without their memories and that's why one pod was saying that everything would occur the same again, then the other said that but there is a chance that it doesn't.

[Your Neighbour]

Basically, 2B likes 9S but had to kill him again and again because the Bunker and YoRHa existed. With both now gone and human turned out to have been stackwiped, living happily ever after is possible.

Below has massive spoiler if you want to see how it led up to 2B's game opening speech.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/524220/discussions/0/1319961868327422526/

[人妻キラー]

Probably the ending where they both abandon the mission and spend the rest of their days fishing.

[fettman53]

Actually, don't you think that 2B already knew about humanity being gone? She was instated to keep that very secret from 9S, after all. 9S never got to tell her the truth...and if he had, she would've had to kill him again. Honestly, not telling 2B what he learned is what probably kept him alive in the end. It's very ironic. So 2B would know about humanity being extinct, just like A2 and 9S. I'd be more interested in how 9S would feel now that he realizes what she was doing all that time. Apparently he found out many times in the past, and A2 even hints at the end that he knew all along, so maybe not much of anything would happen. I believe ending E IS the best ending, just because it gives them all a chance to live OUTSIDE of this cycle of constant fighting; to be able to choose their future for themselves.

[Young Erusean Officer]

Nah, only the Commander knew. And not even the Commander wasn't aware that Yorha and the bunker --- how deeply suitable the BGM name was.

[af]

@Mepho - I agree with your proposed theme as well. Love is definitely a strong theme between 2B and 9S, especially the type of love which demands a sort of “undying loyalty.” I felt Adam was more obsessed with sophistication rather than love and that the “hard on for hatred” was much more seen in Eve instead. However, brotherly love was definitely visible between the two antagonists.

@PhantomPillow - It could be. We can only pray these pods are much smarter than our typical machines and were able to get rid of the virus in the memories to make sure 2B and 9S were restored intact.

@mrcharizard and turbokiller - I agree with these ideas as well. Hope is also theme in this story expressed in the end through its ambiguity since we never know what truly happens after.

@Prolixus - Now this was very interesting. While 9S seemed much more interested in humanity personally, 2B saw it as a duty, possibly had less of a connection to humanity at heart. As a result, yes, 9S then would be more affected by the revelation on humanity’s extinction. This is something I did not think of.

As for being alive always being better than death, I have always lived believing there are many things worse than death in the world (i.e. a life without meaning that was never worth living to begin with, reason why suicide is a thing). However, I cannot say this for this specific case, you have a very good point. During the story, 2B says the exact same statement to 9S when 9S complained their missions felt like tedious chores. Preferring to live with mundane tasks rather than dying on an adventure - thinking back, this is very likely what they did think.

@HemaG - The pods specifically did state everything was salvaged up until the last point. Of course, the question is, up until which point - that could definitely change a lot of things after the end credits.

@Your Neighbour - Thank you very much for showing this excerpt (one of the parts of the story I missed since I have only played the game and have not been able to see other forms of media). I will read this in more detail as soon as I have the time.

@人妻キラー - and we have a winner.

@fettman53 and Huemaster - these are also very interesting perspectives. 2B and the Commander’s connection was never very clear. While playing as A2 and digging into her memories, the gameplay made it clear 2B was a name to cover something else. Possibly, they both may have known humanity never existed. How far the Commander and 2B knew about the conspiracy of the organization is honestly beyond me. It’s written in the final documents players unlock that the destruction of the Bunker was classified even to the Commander. However, the possibility 2B knew humans no longer existed, she may have at least pondered the thought even if she was only following orders.

Thank you to everyone for their insight. This discussion has really opened my eyes further on how hope is a very important theme in the story through the freedom given to the characters in the end. I’m new to the community so I honestly had no clue what to expect. But after these replies, I faith in this community. I’ll keep reading the replies that others might keep adding to this discussion if there are any.

[Aemony]

Originally posted by 人妻キラー:

Probably the ending where they both abandon the mission and spend the rest of their days fishing.

I actually saw this as the best ending (ending L for those that wonder which one it is) since it's outright says that 2B was more happy with her new life than with her previous life as a YoRHa unit.

[Your Neighbour]

Originally posted by Aemony:

Originally posted by 人妻キラー:

Probably the ending where they both abandon the mission and spend the rest of their days fishing.

I actually saw this as the best ending (ending L for those that wonder which one it is) since it's outright says that 2B was more happy with her new life than with her previous life as a YoRHa unit.

Happy ending confirmed

[af]

Originally posted by Your Neighbour:

Originally posted by Aemony:

I actually saw this as the best ending (ending L for those that wonder which one it is) since it's outright says that 2B was more happy with her new life than with her previous life as a YoRHa unit.

Happy ending confirmed

Good point. They could make a DLC out of this.

[DoomyDoom]

Originally posted by Your Neighbour:

Originally posted by Aemony:

I actually saw this as the best ending (ending L for those that wonder which one it is) since it's outright says that 2B was more happy with her new life than with her previous life as a YoRHa unit.

Happy ending confirmed

How can an ending where the supreme minds of this game's main stars (042 and 153 of course, who else did you think I was talking about?) are wasted on fishing instead of leading the world forward can possibly be "happy"?