I mentioned a couple posts ago that, even on a rewatch, this show still makes me emotional and that remains true all the way to the finale. What an ending this is. And I know there’s more after this but let’s not argue semantics right now.
Considering that it’s taken the whole series to get to this moment, Madoka’s wish had to be something momentous. I can very confidently say that she definitely goes big here. Her wish is to prevent every single witch from the past, present, and future from coming into existence. In other words, she desires to rewrite the magical girl system and by extension, the entire universe. Apparently, this wish would be impossible to fulfill but because of Madoka’s immense karma and potential, her wish is entirely feasible and it gets granted.
With her wish granted, Madoka becomes a goddess and she creates the “Law of Cycles”. Instead of becoming witches, magical girls will now disappear into a different plane of existence when they exhaust their Soul Gems. They’ll still need to fight and issues such as their souls being contained in a separate object will presumably still exist but at least, they won’t suffer a horrible fate from now on. With the Law of Cycles established, Madoka travels through space and time to help every magical girl in existence while also purifying Walpurgisnacht in the present. Like in one of the previous timelines, Madoka’s Soul Gem cracks and it spawns a witch (this time, it’s the size of planet Earth) but Madoka purifies that as well since her magical girl goddess form exists separately.
There is one repercussion to Madoka’s wish. By becoming a goddess and gaining the power to rewrite the universe, Madoka no longer has a body and she now exists as a metaphysical force. As sad is it is to see Madoka disappear into the ether, the price she pays for her wish is a most fitting ending to her arc. Madoka is a kind soul. Even though she was an outsider up until now, she cared deeply about everything her friends were going through as magical girls. The scale at which she helps all magical girls is surprising but it is very much in her character to pay the ultimate sacrifice for them.
Naturally, Homura is distraught over Madoka’s fate. She’s gone through numerous timelines trying to save Madoka and it all ends with Madoka ceasing to exist in a physical sense. Madoka isn’t technically dead but that doesn’t matter. This is not what Homura had in mind. At least Homura gets to say goodbye to Madoka before the latter disappears (and yes, the yuri subtext is very strong here). It’s a very emotional scene. I’m glad that Madoka now remembers all the previous timelines and everything Homura has done for her, thanks to her goddess powers. Her recognizing Homura as a dear friend and her farewell wouldn’t work nearly as well if Homura was still a stranger to her.
After that, the episode transitions over to a new reality. We see the spirits of Madoka and Sayaka watching Kyosuke perform an audition. The next scene reveals that Sayaka dies in the new world from exhausting her powers so this audition scene is Madoka allowing Sayaka to enjoy Kyosuke’s violin playing and come to terms with her wish before Sayaka has to move on as per the Law of Cycles. Honestly, it’s a bit cruel for the show to kill Sayaka off again when it’s trying to end on a less depressing note but this scene nevertheless provides some bittersweet closure to Sayaka’s arc. I don’t mind that Madoka doesn’t change Sayaka’s fate when she very much could do that with her powers. To change Sayaka’s fate, Madoka would also have to change Kyosuke’s. Madoka wants to respect Sayaka’s wish so she leaves things the way they are.
We then see the new world in earnest. As mentioned earlier, Sayaka passes away but Mami and Kyoko are still alive. Instead of witches, magical girls now face a new type of creature called wraiths. These exist since there is still negative emotions in the world and they drop little cubes similar to Grief Seeds. Homura is the only one who remembers Madoka ever existed. To honor Madoka’s sacrifice, Homura vows to continue fighting as a magical girl (at least until a sequel comes out). I love that some of Madoka’s traits have been inherited by Homura. The latter now wears the former’s hair ribbon and she now fights with a bow akin to Madoka’s.
There’s a very bittersweet scene where Homura meets Madoka’s family. Like everyone else, they don’t remember Madoka but Madoka’s younger brother Tatsuya (Kaori Mizuhashi) does vaguely recall her and he envisions her as an imaginary friend while Junko finds Madoka’s name to be nostalgic. Homura and Madoka’s farewell hits harder for me but my heart also can’t handle this. Madoka could’ve easily made its titular protagonist’s family a throwaway element so I have to give major props to it for taking the time and actually showing how her family is affected by the plot.
For whatever reason, Homura tells Kyubey about the old world. This is the only scene in the episode that I take major issue with. For the viewer, this scene allows the show to explain how the new world works. In-universe however, it’s asinine for Homura to tell Kyubey anything. Even if Kyubey doesn’t believe Homura, everything about Madoka and witches is bound to pique his curiosity, especially since witches apparently produce more energy than wraiths. Knowing Homura’s relationship with Kyubey, I’d imagine she’d keep the information to herself.
The very end of the finale is a bit curious. We see Homura head off to fight wraiths, sprouting angel-like wings in the process. After the credits, Homura is seen fighting wraiths again. This time, her wings are darker and filled with witch-like imagery. The finale doesn’t provide an explanation for the wings, let alone why they look different the second time around. It also leaves Homura’s fate open ended. I personally see the post-credit scene as Homura nearing the end of her magical girl career but still continuing the good fight. The most telling signs for me are the desolate location and Homura hearing Madoka’s voice give her some words of encouragement.
With that, I conclude the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I still wish I finished covering the show during its tenth anniversary but I’m happy to finally finish writing these posts. It’s been fun. I was afraid that the show wouldn’t resonate with me as much as it did before but after rewatching it and blogging about it in these episode reviews, I think the show still ranks as one of my all-time favorite anime. I’ve definitely brought up some nitpicks and criticism here and there but I generally love everything about the show, especially the story and the characters. There have been a couple of dark magical girl anime that have released after Madoka and some of them are quite good but none of them are as good as this one.
Madoka the TV series ends here but the story does continue past this point with the Rebellion movie. Next year, we’ll get another movie sequel titled Walpurgisnacht: Rising. I know some spoilers for Rebellion but I’ve never actually seen the movie before. I’d be more than content if the show ended with this episode so I’ve always been hesitant to see the movie. But now that I’ve covered the original series, I think I’ll finally bite the bullet on Rebellion (as well as open the door for Walpurgisnacht: Rising). As mentioned before, I know some spoilers so I might as well see how it actually plays out. I’ve also seen the first season of Magia Record and that was a very conflicting experience for me. If I can sit through that, I can definitely sit through the movies. I don’t know how I’ll feel about Rebellion, or Walpurgisnacht: Rising for that matter, but regardless of what I think of them, it won’t change the fact that I love the original TV series.
Watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu
Xenodude Scribbles 
I’m curious whether the post credits scene was written with Rebellion in mind.
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