The End: Official Discussion

[Dante]

WARNING: THIS THREAD WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. It is advised that you don't read this thread if you do not have The End yet and do not want to be spoiled.

The time has come for the official The End discussion thread to be released. This thread is for discussion of The End. Remember, this is the ONLY place that The End discussion should take place for the time being.

Please read the Official Spoiler Rules Thread, if you haven't done so already.

[snicketfilepg13]

I have several questions which were unanswered.

• What is the "?"
  
• Who is the JS in the TPP?
  
• Olaf and Kit?!?!?
  
• What is the sugar bowl?
  
• "By the way, if it is a girl we will name her Violet, and if it is a boy we will name him Lemony. - Page 2, Chapter Fourteen. Does that mean Lemony died going along with tradition of naming a dead person, or A Lemony?
  
• Did the Baudelaires perish when they left the island? Is it connected to TBL and that poster?
  

I'm happy though, I understand the situation about the ring.

Love "Book the Thirteenth" and then "Book the Last" entitled Chapter Fourteen. xD

[PJ]

OMG I just read it. It was brilliant. The ending was perfect...despite the fact that there's still a bunch of mysteries left.

Olaf and Kit's past was ultimate. As was the Series of Unfortunate Events. And aaaah, it's all soo goooood. The baby being raised by the Baudelaires. Good stuff.

Also, TBL says that Beatrice sank. That, in combination with the fact that the poster shows the whisk, Violet's hair ribbon and Klaus' glasses indicatest that it sank. But since Sunny had radio shows later on, we assume that they all survived, and got seperated some time later.

The sugar bowl...Ishmael's and the Baudelaire's comments indicate that the sugar bowl contains an antidote...but why would Esmé want that? The parents mention a "vessel" which could be the tree, or the sugarbowl. And Ishmael says that there was an idea to hide an antidote in- but he is cut off. Since the poison was in the tea, it makes sense for the antidote to be put in the sugarbowl, which usually accompanies the tea.

But yeah, it was incredibly awesome. The first part of the book wasn't that interesting, but the last few chapters made up for that. The mention of the ? beast was awesome, as well. I love the ambiguity surrounding it all...I just hope that Handler does release some sort of UA/TBL-ish side book some time later.

Also, Beatrice IS the Baudelaire mum. No doubt about it. The thing with the ring proves it all. W00. I WAS RIGHT. IN YO FACE, UNBELIEVERS!

I was wrong about Beatrice dying at the end of the series. Completely wrong, in fact. She was born.

And Sunny was named after someone who died. Surely not Sunny von Bülow?

[drearydreary]

hurrah, i've got it in Singapore - Im now at Chapter 5.
I dislike Ishmael so far, he's too forceful. Oh perhaps, it depends on how you look at it.

Oh, ya Sunny is too young to drink coconut cordial.

[splashmo]

I interpreted there to be horseradish in the sugar bowl, but I'm probably wrong.

I thought it was beautifully written and as Lemony writes at the end, "It is not the whole story, of course, but it is enough. Under the circumstances, it is the best for which you can hope." And while I would like the story to continue and find out what happens to the Baudelaires, I think it really is enough.

It was sad to read that not just Kit, but Olaf died as well. I like that the Baudelaires spent time at his grave, too.

Of course, we will all know that the shape in the water in the picture at the end of the book is the "?" beast/thing.

[PJ]

Yeah, it looks like the ? thing is a gigantic beast, although the wording is still ambiguous. I choose to believe it is a beast!

Best line evar:

"Man hands on misery to man
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can
And don't have any kids yourself"

And Olaf and Kit dying was brilliantly done. That part of the book was my favorite in the entire series.

[splashmo]

I think the book was my favourite in the series. The End and Chapter Fourteen were different to the books that preceded them, but superbly satisfying.

Baby Beatrice grows up to be a baticeer, right? I was wondering what her special skill would be. It's really nice how the Baudelaires looked after her like that, though I was confused about Sunny's aging in Chapter Fourteen.

And is that LS in the picture at the end of the thirteenth chapter? I couldn't tell with this book whether the whole "A Series of Unfortunate Events" that we read came out of the book under the apple tree. I guess that may have been Lemony rowing to the island, where he would write his chronicles of the Baudelaires' adventures. Or maybe not - I'm quite confused.

[PJ]

Also, anyone care to translate the bit in french near the Chapter Fourteen bit? Under the Copywrite thing, opposite to the Beatrice dedication. Perhaps it's from La Beatrice?

I'm too lazy.

Aaah, what the hell, I'll try and translate it anyways. My french is totally rusty, though:

O death, something captain, it is time! Drop the anchor! (I think)
It something our boredom, something death! Something!
Yes the sky and the ocean are black like something,
Our hearts which you know are Something something something.

?!?

Edit:

Babelfish version:
Died, old captain, it is time! let us raise anchors it!
This country annoys us, O Dead! Let us install!
If the sky and the sea are black like ink,
Our hearts which you know are filled with rays!

But really, we need someone who's skilled at french to translate it properly. Anyone?

Edit Again:

I googled it. It's by Baudelaire, part VIII, the second last stanza, of a poem called The Voyage. The proper translation reads:

O Death, old captain, it is time! let us lift anchor.
This land tires us, O Death. Let us be under way!
If the sky and the sea are black as ink,
Our hearts, those you know, have rays of light!

[thesinistersnicket]

Although there were many questions unanswered, I felt this book offered enough closure. We know why the younger Beatrice says she is an orphan without the Baud's, we know that the older Beatrice is really the Baud mother, we know how the boat came to be named "Beatrice", we know how the Duchess's ring was passed on, we sort of know what was contained in the sugar bowl, the Baudelaires know some of their parents history and we know where the title "A Series of Unfortunate Events" came from.

I hate not knowing what happened to the Quagmires, whether they were rescued or...

[splashmo]

After a few hours since I finished reading The End, it's really starting to sink in that this is the end of the Baudelaires. When it was said that The End is the most depressing book in the series, I didn't think immediately after completing it, but now...

[Deleted]

was there a letter to the editor?
how many pages?

[PJ]

Actually, the fate of the Quagmires is excellent fanfiction material, as are the future travails of the Baudelaires, as well as those of Beatrice and Bertrand.

And the entire abovementioned poem can be found at:
us.geocities.com/slash76.geo/01794.htm

"Only when we drink poison are we well--
we want, this fire so burns our brain tissue,
to drown in the abyss -- heaven or hell,
who cares? Through the unknown, we'll find the new."

Just thought it interesting that the last stanza mentions poison, drowning in the abyss and the Unknown.


Also, as for the man rowing in the boat, I suppose it would have to be Lemony; no-one else makes sense.

And I can't help thinking that it would have been cooler for the Baudelaires to have died when Beatrice sank. Like, we don't know how they die in The End, but the Beatrice Letters hints toward it.

But looks like they survived, after all.

[thesinistersnicket]

It has 324 pages in the 13 chapters, the 14th has 13 pages.

There's a letter to the editor:

To My Kind Editor:

The end of THE END can be found at the end of THE END.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket.

There's also another dedication at the beggining of chapter 14:

For Beatrice-
We are like boats passing in the night-
particularly you.

[PJ]

Hmmm. Perhaps after the Beatrice has sunken, Violet ends up on Briny Beach for the third and final time?

[thesinistersnicket]

I wonder, if the last dedication is for Lemony's niece? Probably not. I wonder why Lemony never responded to her letters.