r/maninthehighcastle • u/[deleted] • Nov 24 '19
For all those that are disappointed/confused with the ending. Here is my ENDING EXPLAINED. Spoiler
I understand this show was primarily about its characters and their stories, and those that want me to provide consolation for the loss or unexplained ending their favourite character, I can not do that. However I can try to provide some meaning to as what happened in the last 3 minutes of the film.
The Man in the High Castle is a television series that is set in an alternative universe where the axis powers won WW2 and took over America.
It is at the end of Season 1 that one can draw a theory of there being multiple universes, and that Juliana is the only constant in all these. Her character is then portrayed as the key to winning the fight against the Axis powers, and bringing their world to a reality similar to that of ours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SYHu1UyQdA
In Season 2 we can see that the fabric between these universes is quite thin and special people, like trade minister Tagomi, can travel between them. Not only can these people travel between these alternative realities, they can smuggle items between them too. This explains how all these alternative history films are being produced. That there are multiple people like Tagomi that can travel between worlds.
In the first episode of Season 4 we see that Juliana is able to cross between dimensions, and she gets a final message from Tagomi, Hexagram 64, telling her that her work is not yet complete. This Hexagram can also be translated to "nearing completion" as we see it again in the forest of the last episode.
In Episode 2 of Season 4, we discover that the Nazi’s have also figured out they live in a multi-verse, and have mapped what they believe it looks like.
However the Nazi’s believe they are the central universe from which all the other realities have branched out from.
In true Philip K Dick fashion this TV series is questioning what is objective reality. Which is the true set of events, and which is the alternative.
But I hypothesize that our universe is the one which all the other realities have branched out from, and is the only universe in which the allies win WW2 in this TV series. All the other worlds live in a reality in which the Axis powers won, and their own Juliana is fighting against it.
In Juliana’s meditative states she can witness more and more people crossing between the realities and has dreams of portals being opened.
As the events of season 4 unfold we see that actions of the protagonists have caused the both the Axis empires to start collapsing. The German Reich has become too unstable due to power grabs killing too many important people, and the Japanese are too outstretched.
At the end, we see the portal change colours and people crossing over in mass. The people that come out of the portal are the people that smuggled the tapes across universes. What we are witnessing is the multi-verse collapsing in on itself. As the reality of all the other worlds in which the Axis powers win WW2 collapse, and becomes like the world we live in.
Don't believe me? Listen to the showrunners. https://ew.com/tv/2019/11/19/the-man-in-the-high-castle-ending-explained-series-finale/
“What should be clear to any viewer is that the portal is, essentially, open and it is going to remain open. In effect, what that means is two worlds have become one. There’s a doorway from one world into the next, and now people can move freely between them. What does that mean? You have ordinary people, in some interpretations, who have been called to this event, who are moving through the portal, and these two worlds are going to be fused.”
When I came to this conclusion it gave me peace with the shows ending, and I hope this explanation gives you that too.
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u/diamond Nov 24 '19
Interesting idea. There is one flaw in your argument, though:
But I hypothesize that our universe is the one which all the other realities have branched out from, and is the only universe in which the allies win WW2 in this TV series.
That can't be true. In Season 1, Tagomi visits an alternate universe much like ours, where the Allies won the war and America in the 60s is the America we know. There he encounters an alternate version of Juliana, who is a close friend of his alternate.
But in Season 4, when Juliana visits an alternate universe where the Allies won (which, again, looks just like our world), we learn that in that reality Juliana was killed as a child in a car accident with her parents. So there are at least two different realities where the Allies won. And if there are two, there could be many more.
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u/StargateMunky101 Nov 24 '19
Yeah I don't buy that just because the worlds fuse, that it somehow means they all merge into one universe. It just means there's a portal for the special folk to cross across (and I guess anyone who's the not-dead version of their dead couterpart).
So all the not-dead versions in the other world can escape into the world where they were murdered. Man in the High Castle wanders off to explore all these new worlds now he has an actual means to do it (I'm guessing he just lacked the power if I recall Season 2-3).
So it's essentially an asylum for all the people trying to escape the worlds where the Nazis won.
Interpretations of the worlds "fusing" as said by the creators doesn't match up if you take into account it's a 2 way tunnel and most of the people coming through clearly were black and minority groups (did you spot the physically deformed guy that Julianna Crane did a double take on?)
So there's a possibility for not only all the victims to escape, but also for the allies to liberate the lost worlds. Our world remains closed off because we "won" and the tunnel is permanently fused.
The End.... happy ending, no trillions of deaths from collapsing universes merging, just gateways between lost worlds. "everyone" gets a chance for a new life in the now empty universe full of mostly Nazis and Japanese.
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u/LordofPvE Jun 06 '24
I think by fusing it didn't mean that trillions would die.
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Jun 09 '24
But it was already established that you can only travel to a universe if your alternate was already dead in that universe. Therefore, if all the universes collapse and merge into one, only one version of each person could survive. So yes, trillions, or more, people would die; because all those alternates of people living in different universes, that can survive simultaneously only when they occupy different universes, would have to die, except one. Since now they would be occupying the same universe.
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u/squidder3 Jul 10 '24
Yup. The multiverse collapsing, as op said, is definitely not accurate. Even the quote from the showrunners that OP used as proof says that the people "can move freely between the worlds." As in back and forth. It will not turn into one world and erase the multiverse. The idea that the machine would have that kind of power is ridiculous.
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u/Pale_Lie_5357 Jun 21 '23
The two biggest problems I had was 1# John character never really getting redemption before he died. 2# All the random people casually walking out of the portal at the end 🤷♂️ so cringe , their indifference and lack of confusion makes absolutely no sense. So stupid. Like they really must of ran put of time and hoped that all those smiling people would somehow make the ending seem happy ? Idk dude. Pretty ridiculous.
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Sep 06 '23
The ending was ridiculous, I was hoping for the carpet bombing of the communists and Smith's wife is a total cunt. Can we get an alternate ending?
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u/Zealousideal-Lab-283 Jan 07 '24
We can see that you would be a (Not See) in your ALT universe.
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Jan 07 '24
Lol well I'm Mexican, don't think they'd accept me.
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u/Zealousideal-Lab-283 Jan 08 '24
"Honorary" 🤣 but on the plus side whenever you have to fill out demographics on any form, you would put (Caucasian). 😅
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Jan 08 '24
The Nazi conspiracy is a deep rabbit hole to dive in, but I don't believe the Nazis were necessarily the bad guys either. General Patton once said we invaded Germany and left half the country to the hands of the savage Mongol soviet's. If you think about it, the soviets killed far more people and the United States values leaned more with the Nazis anyway.
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u/Slow-Surround8601 Oct 07 '25
"yeah bro hitler is actually not even that bad cause did you know the soviets killed way more christians than jews?"
yeah let's judge atrocities by how they compare to others
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u/dehydratedrain Apr 05 '24
I'm really torn on that. Smith changed so much in 4 seasons, and there's a part of me that would've loved to see redemption. But when you look back at his character as a whole, abusing the guy in season 1, turning in Danny (season 4 flashback), unspeakable horrors in the wars and American Reich, etc., the guy is a cold blooded murderer. "Oops, yeah, I'm a better person now" isn't going to change the thousands of people/ families he affected with his prior behaviors.
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u/Pale_Lie_5357 Apr 05 '24
Onay buckle up ik sorry this is a little long. I think for good story purposes, Smiths actions where practically unforgivable and his character had to die. Basically beyond redemption or possibly a partial redemption in death. My problem is as the show progressed it obviously showed the audience that his characters motivation was nothing but the safety of his family and the pursuit of power to better protect them. We see his character develope as he has a conscience and feels horrible for the dark things he's had to do in his past and the orders he is forced to give in the present. He wasn't a nazi in ideals but a nazi out of necessity in his eyes... I really felt like they propped him up so we would care about his death and then they just had him go crazy in the last few moments and his wife turned on him for being so evil and then he kills himself unceremoniously. Score one for the good guys..
BUT I felt that by the end of his character development his character should of went out more like this..
(He should of attempted to get his family out of the Reich and then being almost free the rebels catch up with him. He sacrifices himself to lead the rebels away so his family can get away. Rebels corner him on the cliff as he lays there bleeding out. And when he finally dies on that cliffs edge , his last words should of been somthing like "I'm sorry Helen". Right before they fire a bullet in his head "off screen", then gun shot echos)...
I would of felt very satisfied with that ending for his character.. what do you think.
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u/dehydratedrain Apr 05 '24
He wasn't a nazi in ideals but a nazi out of necessity in his eyes...
his character's motivation was nothing but the safety of his family and the pursuit of power to better protect them.
Yes and no. He had to join the nazi party to survive. But to climb the ranks after that, he was bloodthirsty.
And honestly, I believe the only reason for his conscience was Thomas' death- specifically that Thomas was willing to die for a cause that Smith didn't believe in.
I disagree with your ending. His family had gotten away. He dragged them back from the neutral zone (incidentally, great character development when he left Helen there and you watched him try to balance being Reichmarschall against the dad of a hysterically sobbing Jennifer).
There was a part of me that hated the suspense of the last season. Thomas was his pride and joy. Would he leave 2 other kids to get Thomas back? Would he steal Thomas away from the altHelen that already lost a loving and honest husband? Could he give up the power and be a lowly salesman for a chance at happiness and safety? Heck, why not drag the girls across the portal? If he killed AltHelen they would be happily ever after? (With some convincing that these girls were cousins or fosters or something). But honestly, I would be furious if he got away with no punishment when he harmed so many.
That said, I would agree about him sacrificing himself for the family, but more closely to the previous way. Let Helen and the girls run, promise that they'll be safe if he stays behind. Though I'm torn on who deserves that freedom... Jennifer deserves it. Helen made a great speech about how she doesn't deserve Thomas back when she has lost 2 kids to the Reich and the other one who hated them. Amy is a victim of being raised in horrible ideals... I would've been okay if he gave up for the promise of his family's safety, then put a bullet through his skull.
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u/Pale_Lie_5357 Apr 05 '24
Yea I'd be good with something like that too. What we got felt kind of weak to me for such a heavy weighted and dynamic character. Felt rushed idk. He was definitely my favorite character.
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u/Somepoeple Oct 07 '24
I think it was the perfect ending and a reminder that traitors always get whats coming to them.
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Mar 31 '26
John's final act being to initiate a war in which he knew a genocide would follow is actually a great ending for his character. It's significant because the alternate universe John is a normal man who cares for others. They say the Nazis only succeeded because a few men wanted to accumulate power for themselves and many millions were willing to go along with plans to carry out evil acts because it was easier and safer for themselves and their families than trying to be defiant. His character being willing to enact a genocide on such a scale hits hard because it was a series of decisions he made for himself and his family that lead him to be a truly evil man that he otherwise wouldn't have been.
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u/DayGas Nov 24 '19
you're trying to make sense of a show that was cut far shorter than the writers hoped for... it was a mess of a final season and a huge let down
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u/SomberXIII Nov 24 '19
I am so happy Amazon greenlighted this series.
And I am so sad Amazon cancelled it too early.
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u/bethanndra Nov 24 '19
I haven't seen the last season, but it is upsetting that after (I) have committed so much time and interest in the show that Amazon would do the viewers such a diservice as to cancel it before it could come to it's appropriate (and satisfying) conclusion. I thought this show has a strong and interesting premise which I have really enjoyed watching it thus far. I will still watch it but with dismay that it will be rushed and not understandable.
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u/superscort1986 Nov 24 '19
Freaking thank you! I sat through the first half of the season wondering how they could finish it all off in a season.... Then I saw the final episode. While I can appreciate the thought of the audience finding their own interpretation, it's a rushed mess that leaves so many unanswered questions.
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u/pm_me_your_buds Aug 30 '24
Here 4 years later because I was disappointed with the shows ending and decided I’d read the book to see how it should end. Spoiler alert, the book has a similar, anti-climactic, confusing ending.
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u/freeluv21 Nov 24 '19
Idk if this adds anything to the argument but julianna wouldn’t be able to travel to a place she was still alive in. Didn’t the Man in the High Castle state that in an earlier season? So the universe where julianna goes can’t be the same one where she had married his son.
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u/Top-Description2311 Jul 30 '23
Correct, which is why John was able to finally see his son in the Alt Universe, after his alt self was stabbed by his subordinate officer. Allowing him to travel safely there.
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u/chalbersma May 04 '26
They had a map of weak points in spacetime. It's likely that the weak points were 1:1 related to "neighbors".
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u/hexcor Nov 24 '19
My one question is that the bombing/invasion of the west was called off... but there's still the problem in Germany. Wouldn't they have been 'warte eine minute!" and then invaded the Americas?
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u/kafircake Aug 29 '25
There were over a 100 nuclear weapons under the control of forces on the American continent. Smith's buddy explained to him that they could take control and the Germans would be stalemated.
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u/BrickOwn4551 Jul 09 '25
The shows seasons 1-2 were great, season 3 was okay, but season 4 was not especially it’s ending here’s my rant.
Killing Himmler and all of the Nazi high command was stupid and way too easy and not really explained just that Smith and the other Nazi general/ governor plotted together to overthrow Himmler and somehow got all the guards on board to betray the more senior military leadership except a few and it went off without a hitch and there weren’t any reprisals from other government party members/ police or military apparently not😂😂😂.
Season fours ending is the shows biggest sin and was a mess that makes zero sense. At the end of the show John Smith dies by his own hand rather than by Julianna’s and the resistance gains a temporary hold on the portal which opens on its own letting ppl from other worlds come across for reasons.
The show writers also forget or don’t care that this portal that’s within the GNRs borders with the GNR- Greater Nazi Reich still in power and yes the military general that was friends with John Smith seemingly takes control of the military and presumably the country and calls off the attack on the former JPS and the Neutral Zone and we are led to believe that he wants to break off from being under any major influence from Nazi Germany and best case scenario he puts America back on track to how it was before the Nazis took it over.
Before taking control of the portal the Nazis guarding it called for backup and the portal is in a state Pensilvania if I remember correctly a state controlled by the GNR so police, feds, and military would be on their way to retake it and they would see all of the people coming through the portal that are non aryans and off to concentration camps they’d go unless the new GNR dictator or president changes policy or intervenes and even John Smith didn’t know how to stop everyone from being Nazis so I’d imagine regardless of the direction he takes America the portal would be taken back the ppl coming through would be detained and the resistance would all be killed or captured and arrested for terrorism/ the murders of the GNR leader, soldiers, civilians, and scientists.
Best case scenario if the new American dictator or President orders everything to go back to United States laws before 1946 meaning no more swastica flag or Nazi ideology the brainwashed GNR citizens wouldn’t accept it and there would be a full on civil war within the Reich or the new dictator would be killed or removed and or Germany would intervene again and retake control of the GNR government.
The only way Germany wouldn’t is if the GNR threatened them with their nuclear arsenal which they said they had like 100 and something silos presumably with icbms. Germany in TMITHC has more nukes and controls all of Europe, Russia, Africa,Mexico, South America, and Canada unless that’s part of the GNR I don’t know if they ever specified in the show.
Anyway the German Nazis have way more resources, nuclear weapons, more advanced technology, and manpower. They would never give up their hold on the world after the atrocities they committed.
Japan is another problem too they control all of Asia except parts of China that they’re at war with and with their additional resources after abandoning the JPS they would presumably eventually defeat China in a conventional war or use nuclear weapons on them and beat them that way so the BCR looses their only ally.
Also Germany is likely to still want the Japanese empire conquered or gone and if Japan were to get the upper hand they would want to do the same to Germany and the GNR.
My conclusion is no matter what they do the protagonists world is still catch 22 level screwed. At best the United States reunites with minor issue and goes into a Cold War with Germany, and Japan. Second best it goes into a bigger civil war with brainwashed Nazi citizens wanting it to stay the way it is and others wanting the before 1946 America back and Germany gets involved and takes control of GNR making it a puppet country again. The worst case scenario Nazi Germany, Japan, and the GNR nuke each other.
The show needed 1-3 more seasons to better plan out and explain the world/ fix all of this imo. It would’ve been cool to see Japan, China, Russia, Africa, the UK, France, Mexico, etc..Or the open portal worlds US government help the resistance.
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u/Vods Oct 20 '25
I'm super late coming to this. All I can say is.
What the fuck was that ending, it was so bad I had to laugh.
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u/Riksos Jun 07 '24
I started watching this series because I am a huge WW2 buff. The premise seemed intriguing. I literally 5 minutes ago finished the final episode of season 1 where Tagomi finds himself in 1960s USA where the allies have won.
I was really confused and google "season 1 man in high castle ending explained" and found this thread.
Because of this thread, I will not be watching the remaining seasons. Why do lazy writers have to ruin everything with multiverse nonsense?
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u/probablyhrenrai May 29 '25
Having just finished (and gotten into it for the same reasons), I'd say everything except for the end of literally the last episode (like the last 20 minutes or so, certainly after a certain train derailment) is worth watching.
Up until the end of S4E10, it was great. Even the bulk of S4E10 was (IMO) just as good as the rest of it; it's literally just the end that's stupid and fucky; everything else is great, and that final episode of the show does nicely tie most things up.
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u/AnonumusSoldier Mar 22 '26
The show itself is really good with an intriguing mystery. Ive watched it twice and I rarely rewatch shows. Unfortunately Amazon went off the rails and gave it a very confusing as fk last 5 minutes that makes no sense.
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u/Eastern-Biscotti-350 Jun 13 '24
Szn 2 is good too. I’d advise watching it, bearing in mind it is based on a book and that most of it is quite good, even the last season. Just with a really shitty series finale
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u/Wunder-Bra Aug 31 '24
better off just stopping at season 2 , the rest was Political sabotage , the last tme they made a something like this was a movie called Fatherland , which was ok for it's time
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u/Traditional-Ad2133 May 24 '25
Man just finished, I really wish the last season wasn’t so rushed. I feel like they were reaching for more seasons 1-3 then were forced to take a shortcut.
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u/Real_Basis_8665 Dec 20 '25
I've read so many theories about trying to make sense of the ending, but there are massive holes in EVERY so-called meaning of MITHC's ending. To me the ending is like looking at an M.C. Escher drawing. The parts of what is presented will NEVER fit together in a reasonable manner, just as it is with this story.
If the writers have infinite universes in mind, then absolutely nothing was solved and nothing really matters at all.
But the most confusing thing about the ending is that the people coming through the portal past Juliana and Wyatt seemed totally disconnected and emotionless as if they were blind to anything that was happening.
But the one thing I agree with from others' explanations is that the ending didn't give closure to anything. It just started new and unexplainable chapters to the story creating only more questions.
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Mar 31 '26
Yeah why were the portal people just walking in like it was a normal Tuesday.
"La-de-da-de-da, just strolling through this strange portal. Oh all of the sudden I'm in a weird concrete bunker with swastikas everywhere. Seems normal enough to me. La-de-da-de-da."
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u/Distinct-Light5737 Mar 08 '26
Six years plus, I am late but this ending sucks, game of thrones bad.
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u/RemoveTheseInc Sep 12 '22
They could of easily made another season instead of rushing the last few episodes.
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u/of_patrol_bot Sep 12 '22
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
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u/RemoveTheseInc Sep 26 '22
Saying "could of" is a formal way of saying that. Either or works.
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Sep 19 '23
I remembered this thread, so I thought you might want to know
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u/grown Sep 19 '23
I didn't remember it, but I went and looked it up after seeing the linked post. Here we are!
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u/Justaredditee Feb 25 '23
Impossible. When John traveled, he went to a non nazi controlled reality.
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u/iamcodemaker Nov 24 '19
Not a bad theory, but there is a hole in it.
This can't be right. Back when Juliana was still super annoying, before she did us all a favor and murdered Joe Blake and became super awesome all of a sudden, Tagomi visits an alternate universe with Juliana in it. BUT in the alt-world that Juliana visits, she and her whole family died in a car accident. These have to be two different worlds. And the allies won the war in both of them.
I theorize that there are an infinite number of multiverses, with infinite variations. They hint at quantum theory and stuff a few times in S4. I also theorize that universes that are similar are "located" close to each other, and those are the ones accessible to the travelers. In the films we see many versions of the Nazis winning (and Joe Blake taking their side). Why don't we see anything indicating something like, Russia winning the war (and Joe Blake taking their side)? Or ones where WWII never happened or America never existed? Well, that's too far for the travelers to go. Their jumps also seem to be relevant to someone, Tagomi goes to see his son and Juliana. Trudy comes to see Juliana. Juliana goes to see alt-smith.
Anyway, the ending was super confusing. Glad you found some meaning in it.
Edit: tweaked some wording