Grand Finale - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Series Finale

When a show - usually of the Failure Is The Only Option or Stern Chase variety - comes to an end with sufficient lead time, the production team may decide to go out with a bang by ending the endless chase, destroying the undestroyable foe, or in some other way definitively and permanently changing the core axioms on which the show depends. It usually resolves all the conflicts that have driven the series over its entire run, and offers some kind of resolution to the dramatic tension that they have powered.

This is the Grand Finale - a way of very clearly saying to the audience, "Okay, the show is really over. There's no more. Go watch something else." (That this doesn't always get through to viewers can be a problem in and of itself...)

In contrast to American television series, anime series tend to be single, continuous season-long stories that build, like an episodic novel, to a climax in the final episode. In these cases, a Grand Finale is the only fair - and the usual - way to end the show. Of course, since most anime is based on manga, occasionally the anime gets ahead of the manga (or gets canceled before the manga ends) and the anime writers have to make up their own ending, which is usually not as good as the eventual ending of the manga. Alternatively, a la Bastard!, Angel Sanctuary, and Ichigo One Hundred Percent, the writers can just leave it hanging.

May often involve Gondor Calls For Aid. Contrast with The Resolution Will Not Be Televised, Too Good To Last, and Series Fauxnale. Compare with Season Finale and sometimes Wrap It Up.

Expect to see Plot Armor and Joker Immunity thrown out the window.

As this trope deals with endings, it obviously comes with a SPOILER WARNING

Examples:

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Anime

The Fullmetal Alchemist Anime had a bittersweet and satisfying conclusion in the final episode. The movie came along and followed up on that, but some fans would much rather ignore it. Since the creator of the original manga claimed that she started on the ending and worked backwards to the beginning during the planning process, we can expect a fitting conclusion to the manga version shortly.
The final OVA episode of Wolfs Rain features the climactic confrontation between The Hero, the Big Bad, and the Living Macguffin, the only individuals left alive in the world complete with Book Ends and a Tear Jerker.
The final episode of Death Note, in which Light is finally cornered, and is murdered at the hands of Ryuk. Now a scene iconic and famous enough to have spawned half of the series' Memetic Mutation.
Monster: Tenma, Nina, Lunge, Roberto, Grimmer, and Johann all gather in Ruhenheim. A massacre ensues, and Johann is shot in the head by a terrified drunken bystander. Tenma saves his life again, and while Johann spends the next while comatose in his bed, everyone still alive goes back to their normal lives. Eventually, Johann wakes up and tells Tenma one final secret before leaving the hospital. Where he goes is left unknown. Assuming he even left and Tenma didn't just imagine him waking up.
Given that the works of Rumiko Takahashi tend to go on for far longer than they should, some animes end up ending abruptly without closure. The biggest example being Ranma 1/2. So it came as a great surprise to many that the Inuyasha manga was finally given its Grand Finale in early 2008. A new anime, Inu Yasha: The Final Act, began airing in late 2009 to resolve the anime's plot as well.
The explosive climax of Magic Knight Rayearth, where events have inevitably led the main characters, but which is nothing like they expected.
Sailor Moon went out with a series of giant revelations about the major conflicts throughout the story and loads of character deaths, leading to a Distant Finale showing Usagi marrying Mamoru...in the manga. The anime skipped the revelations part, killed and revived all of the Senshi (again) and just ended the show with a rather traditional ending that had some series finale elements thrown in during the closing credits.
The writers of The Big O cleverly wrapped a Cliff Hanger and Grand Finale together in the final series episode. Just when every character almost figures out the big secret, the entire plane of existence is erased and rebooted. A few years later, it came out that Cartoon Network had apparently told them to leave things open intending to finance a third season, but then changing their minds and left the show extremely screwed over.
Shaman King had a Grand Finale, that some fans find simply lame. However, the manga never had an ending, since it was canceled before Hiroyuki Takei could write it. The only thing close to an ending in the manga is a four-part story depicting the future focusing on Yoh and Anna's son, Hana, ten years after the Shaman Fight. It wasn't until 2009 that Takei was finally able to provide a proper conclusion to the manga.
In Excel Saga, ACROSS and Dabezin confront each other head on (with no result whatsoever), and Pedro and Nabeshin finally defeat That Man. This, however, was the second-to-last episode, followed by the intentionally unairable, appropriately-titled "Going Too Far," essentially a parody of the series.
Cowboy Bebop ends definitively with a gripping two-part finale in which Vicious violently takes over leadership of the Red Dragon syndicate, Jet is injured, Spike reunites with his lost love Julia only to lose her to the Red Dragon's assassins, and Spike storms the Red Dragon HQ and faces off with Vicious for the final time, killing him and supposedly dying himself afterwards.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Short verson: The Big Bad dies. Happy Ending. Not as short version: The Anti Spiral Leader is defeated in the Final Battle. Nia dies right after getting married to Simon, and he walks the earth with Boota right up to the Distant Finale.
Code Geass: Lelouch's saga, which took two years (real time and in-universe time), comes to its ultimate conclusion when he's stabbed through the chest by his best friend and dies in his beloved sister's arms, all while the world unites by condemning him as the greatest villain in history and cheers his friend for the murder. Don't worry. it was his idea.
Macross Frontier. Short version: The Big Bad dies. Happy Ending. Not as short version: The frontier finds the Vajra homeworld, where the Final Battle occurs. The Big Bad is defeated, the humans make peace with the Vajra, and migrate to their planet.
Kannazuki No Miko ends with Orochi being destroyed permanently, meaning that Chikane and Himeko's future incarnations will not have to perform the human sacrifice ritual.
Last Exile - final episode "Resign" pretty much wraps it up in style.
While not as action packed as the other examples on this page, Clannad's Grand Finale was a Reset Button Gainax Ending, where the Girl in the Illusionary World, who is actually Ushio, sends the Garbage Doll, who is Tomoya having undergone Identity Amnesia, back in time to the day he first met her mother, Nagisa. Having done this, Tomoya, having obtained a Light Orb from Ushio, relives his senior year with both him and Nagisa knowing of their future daughter's powers. Using the Light Orbs, Nagisa is able to give birth without dying this time around, and the Okazaki family lives happily ever after. Also a Crowning Finale of Heartwarming.
Both the manga and anime of Chrono Crusade end with a bang. The last two volumes of the manga cover a 48 hour period in which all the characters come together for an epic battle to determine the fate of the world—and also ties up most of the relationships in the process. The anime version is a Downer Ending (or at best, a Bittersweet Ending), but ties up most of the loose threads and ends things on a very emotional note (although fan opinion is split on whether it was as good as the manga or not).
Princess Tutu ends with a final epic battle in which the Big Bad is vanquished and Mytho once again becomes the Prince he once was, and also resolves the main romantic tension...although not in a way you might expect. It also ends somewhat open-ended by hinting that two of the characters (who had hints of a romantic relationship but never quite resolved it) might be starting on a new story together.
Fushigi Yuugi gives us an epic battle between Nakago and the Suzaku Seishi (and Seiryuu and Suzaku themselves!) in Tokyo before fast-forwarding to three and a half months later to symbolically wrap things up with cherry blossoms.
Neon Genesis Evangelion. See also Gainax Ending.
Rose Of Versailles ends about how you'd expect a show about The French Revolution to end. Short Version: Everyone except Rosalie dies. And if you think that's a spoiler, you need to brush up on your history.

Comic Books

Literature

Live Action TV

The Fugitive's final confrontation with the one-armed man in the original, where Inspector Javert comes to his aid. Meanwhile, the remake in 2000 ended on a Cliff Hanger.
The Prisoner finally escapes and destroys The Village and finds out who #1 is ... or does he?
- Not according to the semi-canon Graphic Novel Shattered Visage.
Babylon 5's last episode, "Sleeping In Light", which also doubles as a Distant Finale, and was actually filmed before the final season, as the writers didn't know whether the show would be continuing.
As usual, Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Chosen" had to top everyone else, with a triple play — closing the Hellmouth, defeating the First Evil and its army, and permanently changing the magical rules that define who becomes a Slayer and how. And completely destroying the entire city of Sunnydale, leaving only an enormous crater. Sadly, it still wasn't as powerful as the Heroic Sacrifice which closed Season Five.
And on the other hand, the final episode of Angel was Grand, but not Final, ending just as our heroes launched into a doomed charge against a demonic army. The message here was not, "It's over, go home," but was a final statement that the battle would never end.
The ending of Blakes Seven was similarly a curiously open ended Grand Finale, in which all the characters were shot down in a massive gun battle. It was not clear whether any of them survived. The show's producers suggested that if a fifth season were ever made, the survivors would be the characters played by any of the actors who wanted to return. Since there never was a fifth season, the internal reading should probably be that they all died.
Northern Exposure: "The Quest" ... if one is willing to apply some Dis Continuity to the episodes after Dr. Fleischman's departure.
However, the ultimate Grand Finale, in terms of sheer viewership and dramatic power, had to be the final movie-length episode of M*A*S*H, entitled "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". It ended the Korean war, irrevocably altered several characters, and brought an era of television to a close.
MST3K had a Grand Finale both for when it was cancelled on Comedy Central (necessitating a Postscript Season when it returned), and later, when it was cancelled on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Star Trek Voyager had a two-part finale in which the crew of the Voyager finally made it home.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine, having dealt with the Dominion conflict for five seasons and Sisko's Emissary role for all seven, wrapped up both stories back to back in the finale (and moved about half the cast off the station to boot).
Life On Mars: Sam Tyler commits suicide by jumping from the top of a tall building. And saves the lives of his friends in 1973, gets the girl and drives off into the sunset. Yes, in that order. He can do this because he's the Master.
- The US version featured him waking up in a spaceship as part of a mission to find literal life on mars. Several of the themes from both series were weaved in to make a bit more sense, but the ending voided any and all chance of ever having an American Ashes To Ashes.
WCW Monday Nitro's final episode was the "Night of Champions", which would see all the belts defended for the final time in WCW, as well as have the wrestlers talking about what WCW meant to them and where they would go from here. The final match of the night was Ric Flair vs. Sting, a fitting end as the two had had many storied feuds in WCW, even before Nitro went on the air. The last thing to happen on Nitro, Shane McMahon appeared to close out the show and announce that he had bought WCW and was going to war with the WWF.
Many seasons of Power Rangers end on a grand finale, usually following an episode that had very little relevance to the overall arc, leading to a somewhat hilarious incongruity of, say, Power Rangers In Space where a battle against the random monster of the week was immediately followed by what many fans consider to be the definitive Power Rangers finale, wrapping up no less than six seasons of stories, wiping out every major villain the series had ever had by that point, and showcasing the heroic sacrifice of Zordon to make all of the above happen.
After 10 years, Red Dwarf finally got a proper finale in the form of a special where the titular ship and its crew got back to Earth.
Battlestar Galactica's "Daybreak". They rescue Hera, Cavil dies — in the midst of an epic struggle involving almost all the humans, Cylons and ships we've seen in the series. Kara finally finds a habitable planet, and it turns out to be ours... 150,000 years before our time. Yes, two Earths.
Scrubs "ends" with "My Finale". Even though it has apparently been renewed, this episode is the finale of the series in its current format as well as the swan song/goodbye to JD as the main character. The episode features JD's last day at Sacred Heart before leaving for a new job to be closer to his son Sam. He manages to get goodbyes from most of the cast, even getting to part with the Janitor on good terms and getting to hug Dr. Cox. JD is left somewhat disappointed by his ending and imagines a line-up of guest stars from past seasons seeing him off, including dead characters such as Mrs. Wilks and Jill Tracy, but this fantasy ends when JD sees the futility of living in the past, so he instead decides to look forward to his future due to inspiration from a patient about taking control of one's future. The final montage shows JD imagining his future life to Peter Gabriel's "Book of Love". JD and Elliot are shown marrying and having a child, then reuniting with Turk, Carla, Dr. Cox and Jordan for Christmas in a peaceful setting. Sam and Isabella are even shown being engaged in another fastforward. The montage ends with visions of JD and Elliot kissing, and Dr. Cox willingly walking into JD's hug. In his final narration, JD feels that his fantasies should come true, just this once.
- The last words said in the Finale are "goodnight", said between series creator Bill Lawrence and star Zach Braff
The series finale of Prison Break has the main couple getting married, the gang's final prison break (breaking Sara out of a women's prison before the General's assassins can kill her), and a Heroic Sacrifice (Michael gives his life so that his wife and unborn child can be free).
Friends concludes with Ross and Rachel finally getting past their Will They Or Wont They woes with a declaration of their love and a vow to "stop being stupid". The friends also go their separate ways, leaving the apartment complex and city that was their home for so long. The episode ends with the friends going to the coffee house one last time and one last look at the now empty apartment.
The Grand Finale of Six Feet Under is arguably one of the best seen on television. Brenda finally gets over her fears for the well-being of her newborn daughter, Willa and makes peace with Nate. Ruth finds herself a new purpose in helping Brenda help raise Maya and Willa. Dave and Keith finally put their relationship in place so they can raise their adopted sons. Federico leaves the Fisher Funeral Home in order to start his own business. And Claire leaves to work in New York even after the initial job offer she received was axed. As a whole, the entire cast is able to shed their dysfunctional selves and find a semblance of peace. The last six minutes of the finale shows the future lives and deaths of all major characters. That whole sequence doubles as a Tear Jerker and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
Happy Days had an ultimate sitcom-style ending. Joanie & Chachi finally got married, Fonzie adopted a young boy, Richie returned to see everything off, and Howard ended the episode by thanking the audience for being a part of their family, then name-dropped the title.
The Steve Harvey Show actually had two of these but they were aired out of order. The Graduate From The Story episode was supposed to air first but the show had been Screwed By The Network and canceled so the Happily Ever After episode was shown as the Grand Finale with the graduation episode shown later. They continue to be shown in this order in syndication.
The Red Green Show ended with Harold, the Hollywood Nerd, getting married, Dalton renewing his wedding vows with his wife who appeared onscreen for the first time, Mike becoming a police officer, and Bill apearing outside of the black and white Adventures with Bill segment for the first time since season 2.
A Different World ended with Dwayne and Whitley finding out they're pregnant and moving to Japan for Dwayne's job and a big goodbye party for them is shown. During the party, Kimberly and Spencer decide to get married.
California Dreams did this by having the entire band break up at the end of high-school to go off to different parts of the country (and one to Europe) to end the show. Unfortunately it created something of a downer ending doing it.
The final three episodes of Monk gave Adrian his detective badge back before allowing him to realize he'd been happier without it, solved Trudy's murder, sent Randy Disher off on a job of his own as the Police Sergent of a town in New Jersey and hooked him up with Sharona, and to top it all off implied that Adrian is finally getting over his OCD.
The last NBC Columbo from the 70s ended on a nice note. Columbo drinks a toast with his last murderer - an Irish gunrunner - and his last words are a quote refering both to the amount of whiskey they'll drink, and the show as a whole: 'We'll go this far — and no farther.' Little did they know then that ABC would take them farther a decade later.
The West Wing ended on the day of Santo's inauguration. Jed Bartlet left office but not before finally signing Toby's pardon in the last second, and in a Tear Jerker moment, gave his own little book of US constitution to the soon-to-be-in-law-school Charlie ("You are going to need it more than I do"). All the cast (old and new) are on deck, with Josh and Donna moving into their respective office as chief of staff for POTUS and FLOTUS, CJ gave Josh a slip tat says WWLD (What would Leo Do) before leaving the White House and heading to California and Danny. Kate, Will bailey and Charlie didnt know what to do in the afternoon now that they are not working for WH anymore, and finally on the Air Force One heading back to New Hampshire, Bartlet opens the gift that Leo's daughter left him: It was the framed cocktail napkin on which Leo wrote "Bartlet for America" that started the journey so many years ago.

Mythology

Videogames

One of the big selling points of Metal Gear Solid 4. It takes them a while, but they manage it in the end (Impressive, considering the amount of plot to go through).
Despite a long-shot Sequel Hook in the bonus ending, Halo 3 neatly ~~finishes the fight~~ wraps up the plot of the entire game series.
Thief 3: Deadly Shadows served this purpose with regards to the series' plot, with a conclusive ending that brings Garrett's story full circle.
Ultima 9 brings a conclusive end to the saga of the Avatar (no, not ''that'' Avatar), incorporating plot elements and characters from all the previous games in the series and concluding the long standing struggle between the Avatar and the Big Bad Guardian.
Phantasy Star 4 brought an epic and conclusive end to the saga of the Algol star system, wrapping up all the plot threads and unanswered questions brought up in the previous 3 games. Stories set in the same universe and based on the exodus colony ships would continue to crop up in the Phantasy Star Online series, though.
Wizardry 8 wraps up the plot of the Wizardry series (although only games 6 - 8 had an actual continuous plot) and ends with the option of having your characters ascend into godhood.
Quest For Glory 5 featured appearances from characters from all 4 previous games, and brought the series' story to a conclusive end. In fact, the game was almost never made (much like the intended Grand Finale Space Quest 7), and the developers deliberately staged it as their Grand Finale knowing it would be the last game they would make under their name.
- Although the game still allows the trademark option of letting you save your character for future use. Either they were giving players one last dose of hopeful nostalgia, or they weren't completely ruling out the possibility of a sequel.
Though there are sure to be other games and media produced later, Resident Evil 5 certainly feels like a Grand Finale. Series Big Bad Albert Wesker has finally abandoned all subtlety and now harbors delusions of godhood, and is ready to unleash a biological threat of global proportions as opposed to one isolated to a mansion or a city. At this point in the timeline, Umbrella is all but gone. And at the climax, the game defies Joker Immunity; Chris Redfield, his new partner Sheva, and his old partner Jill Valentine finally end Wesker's madness with a couple of well aimed rocket propelled grenades. While Wesker's waist deep in a lava pit. The ending is different this time as well: there are no mysterious phone calls, no stingers, no hints that Wesker might still be alive. Only the relieved looks on the heroes' faces as they realize that their struggles against the threat posed by Umbrella and Wesker is finally over. Series producer Masachika Kawata even said that the inevitable Resident Evil 6 will "have to reinvent the series with another full model change or else it won't be able to keep on going."
Mega Man Zero 4, technically the first in the entire series. The fascist government that the heroes are fighting against is finally destroyed although not without heavy casualties. The Big Bad is now in a desperate Kill Em All mindset, setting his Kill Sat on a literal crash course towards the last chance of healing a dying world. The Hero succeeds in stopping the Big Bad once and for all, although he sacrificed himself in the process. Due to the actions of The Hero, the humans have started to believe in Reploids once more, and true peace has finally surfaced after hundreds of years of war.
Legacy Of Kain: Defiance brings Raziel and Kain's destiny full circle with Raziel's Heroic Sacrifice. After being a Xanatos Sucker to nearly everyone in the series, Raziel finally chooses his own destiny and willingly merges with the Soul Reaver and renews his loyalty to Kain. Other plot threads are resolved as well. Moebius The Dragon to the true Big Bad of the series the Elder God and the time traveling villain responsible for Kain becoming a vampire in the first place, is rendered Deader Than Dead in the most final way possible when his soul is devoured by the Elder God. And the Elder God himself is finally defeated by Kain wielding the fully empowered Soul Reaver. The last scene implies that Kain has finally accepted his destiny and responsibilities as the Scion of Balance as well.
The good endings of the Sorrow games mark the conclusion of the battle between Dracula and the Belmont clan. In the first, Soma Cruz manages to defeat the evil of Castlevania that sought to turn him into Dracula again. In the second, he refuses the mantle once again despite being told that the Balance Of Good And Evil demands that he become the King of Evil. So even if the universe truly needs a Big Bad, it won't be Dracula again. To keep the franchise from dying, all subsequent games take place before the Sorrow series. Though those games also break the pattern by featuring non-Belmont protagonists who don't specialize in whips (Jonathan being a borderline example since he uses a variety of weapons).

Western Animation

Avatar The Last Airbender had possibly the grandest of grand finales: a four episode, two hour movie special that had been built up to for three seasons. Besides the ultimate fate of Zuko's mother, most plot threads were tied up neatly, and it finally put a definitive end to the Shipping Wars for the primary pairings (or at least what's canon).
In contrast to Japan, not many Animated Series in the US get to do a Grand Finale. Kim Possible's "So The Drama" was a rare example - when it was written. After the fact, the series was uncanceled and given a Post Script Season. Then it got a second Grand Finale, that ended the High School-based series in the most final way possible - a two-parter entitled "Graduation".
- Granted, these days it's not all that rare for Western Animation to get a Finale.
Justice League Unlimited is another exception to the rule, with a grand, two-part finale - the second part of which was a colossal battle pitting the Justice League and the Secret Society against Darkseid and his armies in an Strange Bedfellows scenario - a battle that not only spanned the entire world, but also the entire length of the final episode.
- Interestingly, this was the show's third Grand Finale: The writers had believed that Justice League was to be canceled after the second season, and therefore ended it with a three-part episode involving an alien invasion, a traitor in the League's ranks, and shattering a romance that had been built up throughout the series... among other things. Then the show was renewed and re-tooled as Justice League Unlimited. It was believed that it was to be canceled again in its second (or fourth depending on how you look at it) season, and thus a four-part episode was created to end things with a bang, followed by a lower-key episode that served as a coda for the entire DCAU. Of course, it was then renewed for a second and final time, eventually resulting in the two-parter mentioned above.
  - In an interview, the writers remarked that they wrote every season finale with something that could work as a Grand Finale, since in the business they had little guarantee of getting another season.
The Animated Adaptation of Jumanji had a finale, at a time when such was extremely rare for kids' shows. Unfortunately, it's a Clip Show in which we sit through boring Stock Footage until we finally see Alan's first trip into Jumanji, including the clue that he never got to see. Once they solve it, the three leave the World of Jumanji for good. As Peter says at the end: "Game over."
The American animated series based on Street Fighter had a definite ending. The last story arc of Cammy being brainwashed by M. Bison ended after Cammy came to her senses and freed her comrades, culminating in a final battle between Guile and Bison (Guile was made the main character of the cartoon, instead of the fan favorite Ryu). Guile finished Bison off once and for all by, bizarrely, blasting him into a computer, at which point his powers cause it to overload and the wires and insides of it seemingly begin to eat him alive, before the computer then explodes. There is then the obligatory walking into the sunset of the five characters present, although there is no get-together with all the other characters or any other sense of closure. All that is known is that Bison, their eternal enemy, is definitely dead once and for all.
The computer: This is delicious!
Surprisingly, Camp Lazlo ends with one of these. As appropriate to the tone and style of the series, it's not so much flashy as spectacularly weirder than anything that's happened previously — and this is a series where an entire episode revolves around one character getting stuck up another's nose. It still qualifies as definitively and permanently changing the core axioms on which the show depends, though.
- Not to mention the fact that Scoutmaster Lumpus turned out to NOT be the camp's scoutmaster. Samson, the Butt Monkey of the series said it best: "I think it just got to the point where things can't possibly get any weirder."
The final episode of Animaniacs originally aired as an hour-length program titled The Animaniacs Super Special. Among the segments included was a seven-minute music video titled "The Animaniacs Suite", featuring an orchestral medley of the show's theme music pieces synced to various clips from previous episode. However, there were some indications, especially in the credits gag, that the staff didn't expect the show to end there. Wakko's Wish ultimately served as more of a Grand Finale, as it defies the series Status Quo Is God and actually gives most of the character's stories endings.
Danny Phantom, "Phantom Planet": After some humiliation competing against a new ghostbuster team, Danny decides to remove his powers and retire. However, the world is imperiled and needs Danny again. With great difficulty, Danny regains his powers and succeeds in saving the world. As a result, Danny is honored throughout the world while he and Sam hook up for good in his new and busy life.
Transformers: Beast Wars ends with a final confrontation between Megatron and Optimus Primal on an ancient and massive warship in a battle for the fate of the timeline itself.
- Beast Machines, of course, had its own Grand Finale, changing Cybertron in a way that inspired controversy and even death threats.
Transformers Animated managed to wrap up nearly all the remaining plot threads in "Endgame". Megatron makes his final assault and is thwarted by the combined efforts of the Autobots, and we finally get the Optimus Prime/Megatron beatdown we've been waiting three seasons to see. The fact that Optimus returns to Cybertron with the Magnus Hammer and what appears to be the Matrix also indicates that he might become the next Magnus.
The Emperors New School had a Grand Finale that ended with Kuzco becoming Emperor and getting an actual date date with Malina.
Ed Edd N Eddy ends with a movie, where Eddy's big brother appears. It ends with the Eds actually getting a relatively good ending rather than getting royally screwed over like they usually do.
- In the meantime, the current finale was pretty damn satisfying — it, too, defies Status Quo Is God — Eddy stands up for Edd against the Kanker Sisters after Edd has a particularly bad day ("DON'T YOU THINK HE'S HAD ENOUGH?")...moreover, the Sisters actually decide that maybe it's best they leave for the moment. Eddy then hands Ed and Edd hot dogs, and asks them — albeit in a very nasty tone of voice — "Is everybody happy? Good." Sure, maybe they didn't actually accomplish anything, and Edd and Eddy are both bruised beyond belief, but you get the feeling that they finally got to end on a happy note and maybe realized they don't have to be the Cosmic Playthings forever.
King Of The Hill averts a flashy Grand Finale, but in the last episode, Hank and Bobby find a common ground (grilling beef) and finally start bonding like father and son.
Lilo and Stitch gets a Grand Finale in the movie Leroy and Stitch, where basically all the experiments are recovered, Gantu does a Heel Face Turn against Dr. Hamsterville, whose Joker Immunity wears off, and all the experiments in the series are listed by name in the credits.
The animated Conan the Adventurer which was vastly under-rated, had an awesome Grand Finale. It was actually the first show that built up a plot and had the heroes defeat their ultimate Big Bad. I couldn't believe it actually ended, and loved it... opened new possibilities.
Jackie Chan Adventures had a spectacular one.
Static Shock had one the episode "Power Outage" where most bang babies became powerless and both of Static's top bad guys gone for good.
Turtles Forever acts as the grand finale for the second TMNT cartoon, as the turtles, (and the turtles, and the turtles) have what is most definitively their final battle with The Shredder in order to save every existing TMNT universe.
- It may or may not have been intentional, but with the sale of TMNT to Nickelodeon, Turtles Forever winds up being the Grand Finale of the entire Mirage-owned TMNT franchise.
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie is the Grand Finale for the show as a whole, no matter how many more episodes are made.
The Replacements had a Grand Finale where Conrad Fleem's face is finally revealed, and it's revealed that he's Todd and Riley's uncle.
Gummi Bears had "King Igthorn", which ended with Igthorn losing his castle and army of ogres, Gummi Glen is destroyed, or at least severly damaged, and the Great Gummi's are confirmed to return.
Futurama did techinchally had one, which gave some resoulution to Fry's relationship with Leela, but then reverted back to status quo in the new movies
- The last movie had another one, but it's guaranteed that the new episodes will revert again.

Web Comics

[[folder: Web Original ]]

The 24th chapter of Broken Saints (aptly titled "Truth") features the climactic confrontation between our heroes and the Magnificent Bastard behind the Myth Arc, complete with an Ethereal Choir, Just Between You And Me (justified), several Heroic Sacrifices, lots and lots of religious symbolism, and a good Tear Jerker here and there.
KateModern ended with a 12 part finale, "The Last Work", which resolved most of the show's plotlines surprisingly neatly.
- lonelygirl15 attempted something similar with "The Ascension". It fell somewhat flat due to being much shorter than the KateModern finale (or, for that matter, the lonelygirl15 season one finale) and failing to resolve any of the main plotlines, being apparently a Poorly Disguised Pilot for LG15: the resistance.

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