‘The Man in the High Castle’ Season 4: What That Confusing Ending Really Means
Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle may be over, but fans have a lot of questions about that confusing conclusion. What really happened? We have all the answers you need to know when it comes to the end of the iconic series. We knew this show wouldn’t have a definitive end. Read on for spoilers.
The final season of ‘The Man in the High Castle’ was action-packed
The show unlike anything that’s ever been on television before is finally over, and fans have questions. The fourth season had a lot of action and movement, including Japan choosing to leave North America for greener pastures. The Black Communist Rebellion moved into the territory to deliver the people from tyranny.
The Nazis at the last moment avoided a catastrophe and America (at least the East coast) is now run by someone with full autonomy from the German Reich. John Smith (Rufus Sewell) is finally dead by his own hand in a fitting end. Helen (Chelah Horsdal), his wife, provides the information the American resistance needs to destroy John Smith for good that involves a massive train explosion claiming her life.
The ending wasn’t what fans expected
But that wasn’t the end that has fans talking with frustration. The American resistance makes it to the portal the Nazis built to travel between worlds. Weird things have already been happening in and around the portal throughout the season, including the portal turning itself on.
Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) makes it to the end accompanied by Hawthorne (Stephen Root), Wyatt (Jason O’Mara), and other resistance members. All of a sudden, a lot of people start walking through the portal. The travelers just walk on by everyone like it’s nothing. Strangely enough, Hawthorne, who is The Man in the High Castle, ends up choosing to walk through the crowd and straight into the portal.
Showrunner David Scarpa talks about the ending
Showrunner David Scarpa spoke with Entertainment Weekly about that strange conclusion. The people walking into Juliana’s world aren’t clearly visible, at least their faces aren’t so it’s impossible to determine who they are. Their identities aren’t important and it’s left up to your own interpretation.
“There was a considerable amount of discussion between myself and my partner [director and executive producer] Daniel Percival, as well as others, in terms of how much we wanted to be explanatory in that final scene,” Scarpa revealed. “Part of the intention was to invite the audience to have their own interpretation of what they’re seeing on screen.”
One thing that is certain is that the portal is open and it’s staying open. “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,” Scarpa continued. “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.”
Fans knew that the ending to The Man in the High Castle wouldn’t have a clear conclusion. To that end, it makes sense how the show finished. It was the happiest ending we could have hoped for.
