Line #60 Main/TheEndOfTheBeginning


1	->''"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." ''
2	-->-- '''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''', 1942
3
4	When a writer tells a story, it usually involves some sort of significant change in the universe of the story, some kind of conflict which finds a resolution. After all, if there's no conflict, there's no story! We like reading about evil emperors getting overthrown and seeing their 100-year reign of oppression come to an end; reading about a peaceful nation with a peaceful king and citizens who are smart enough never to get into any trouble would be just as fun as watching paint dry.
5
6	But the story has to end somewhere, usually soon after the big climax and resolution. Thus, we are left to imagine how the world and its characters will live on after the story is over. The end of the story is the beginning of a new era.
7
8	For some reason, writers just ''love'' to point out this fact wherever possible. Expect a lot of them to mention "the beginning" with some sort of heavy significance.
9
10	Oh, and to make it even better--by the same token--sometimes the beginning of the story is referred to as "the end". It can get quite confusing.
11
12	See also: MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning and ItHasOnlyJustBegun. If the story undergoes this kind of shakeup and ''doesn't'' end there, it's NothingIsTheSameAnymore. Bears only a passing relation to the BMovie ''Film/BeginningOfTheEnd''. When it really is the end, see TheEnd.
13
14	----
15	!!Examples:
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* ''Manga/AlienNine's'' final anime episode was literally titled this trope, and it makes sense considering that, despite the series coming to a close, it reveals little pieces of what could be a possible [[spoiler: intergalactic conspiracy]].
21	* In ''Manga/{{Arachnid}}'', Alice [[WebcomicTime spent most of the story]] stuck on a CarnivalOfKillers inside her school. Even after the BigBad is killed, Japan is cast into a rape-powered ZombieApocalypse of all things and Alice starts aimlessly fighting them while chasing TheSyndicate. The [[AndTheAdventureContinues last pages]] are her monologuing that "the "Arachnid Hunt" isn't over" and that to survive she has no choice but to keep killing.
22	* Chapter 5 of ''Manga/{{Himenospia}}'' is named "End" and features a squad of policemen exterminating a school's student body to get at the misguided wasp-mutant protagonist, who is then driven to take over her town with brainwashing powers to survive. Chapter 35 [[{{Bookends}} in turn]] is named "Beginning" and starts [[TheReveal to reveal]] that [[spoiler:Himeno had been manipulated by her former bully and right-hand Nagisa, who was a fellow Queen the whole time]].
23	* The final episode of ''Anime/{{Noein}}'', in which Haruka and Yuu [[spoiler:defeat the titular Noein and reclaim their right to a future without his influence]], is titled "The Beginning."
24	* At the end of ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', the series narrator states that [[spoiler:Fakir]] is writing "a new story full of hope." (However, the title card shown right after this says "the end".)
25	* This trope is invoked in ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove''. At the end of the film, Britai and Exsedol are discussing the fact that they won out over two massive Zentradi and Meltrandi fleets, but that there are still 1,000 fleets of Boddol Zer and Lap Lamiz's type roaming the galaxy. Britai calmly states that with them and the humans in possession of culture, things will turn out all right.
26	* ''Manga/TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer'' doesn't ''truly'' begin until [[spoiler:Hangetsu Shinonome is killed by the third Golem]]. Since he was a major reason why the protagonists began to improve their fighting skills and became someone that they were glad to call an ally, [[spoiler:his death]] was considered to be the equivalent of the curtains falling on the prologue of their story.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Audio Play]]
30	* The GrandFinale of ''AudioPlay/WereAlive'' uses a DistantFinale to show the world 14 years after a ZombieApocalypse that is beginning to rebuild society while still dealing with the zombie threat. It also features Saul and Lizzy's now 14-year-old son, Nicolas, taking his first full steps into that world by choosing to become a guardian.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* At the end of Chapter 8 of ''Comicbook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', Scrooge was busy shooing off intruders of White Agony Creek, when his arm suddenly gives way from the weight of a big rock he is lifting.
35	-->'''Scrooge's thoughts:''' Great honk, this rock is ''heavy!'' how could it weigh so much unless...\
36	'''Scrooge:''' ...Unless it's ''gold!'' Gotta rinse off the mud! A nugget this ''big'' would make me the richest man in the Klondike!\
37	'''Scrooge's thoughts:''' But if it ''is'' gold, that will mean my quest is finished! I'll be ''rich!'' I'll never be the same again! Will clean air smell any sweeter? Will sunny days be ever brighter? Will starry nights hold any more wonder? Or will I ''lose'' all that? Do I ''really'' want to be... ''rich?''\
38	''(BeatPanel...)''\
39	''(he gains a glint in his eyes...)''\
40	'''Scrooge: [[BigYes YES!!!]]'''\
41	''(he rinses off the mud; the rock is indeed a huge nugget of gold.)''\
42	'''Scrooge:''' It's ''gold! Solid'' gold! As big as a ''goose egg!'' Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ''I'm'' '''''RICH!'''''\
43	''(zoom out on as the last word echoes throughout the creek as Scrooge skips about in excitement)''\
44	'''Narration Box:''' The Beginning...
45	* Creator/{{Marvel}} enjoys using "The Beginning!" whenever they can.
46	** Examples include the ''ComicBook/SeasonOne'' graphic novels, and the story in ''Marvel: NOW What?!'' detailing how Doctor Octopuppet decided to become the villainous... ComicBook/DoctorOctopus! gasp
47	** The ''ComicBook/Killraven2002'' miniseries ends with the cast gathered around a campfire, their foes defeated.
48	--->'''Volcana:''' Now that we are free, what do we do next?\
49	'''Carmilla:''' The same thing we always have done.\
50	'''M'Shulla:''' The only thing anyone can ever do.\
51	'''Killraven:''' Right, we ''live!'' We live for another day.\
52	'''Caption box:''' ''The Beginning.''
53	* ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'': "Nothing ''ends'', [[spoiler:Adrian]]. Nothing ever ends."
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Fan Works]]
57	* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' ParodyFic "The Killer Dame", the EMH disguises himself as Winston Churchill while in a [=WW2=] holodeck program, and this quote becomes an OverlyLongGag.
58	-->"Now this is not the end. It is not even, the beginning of the end. It is not even the end of the beginning of the end of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the middle of the bit that comes after the end. Or perhaps the start of the end of the beginning of the middle of the end..."
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
62	* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': "It's a perfect ending!" "No. It's a perfect beginning."
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
66	* Oliver Stone's ''Film/{{JFK}}'', ends with "What is past is prologue." The phrase is taken from William Shakespeare's Theatre/TheTempest, and is engraved on the National Archives building in Washington, DC.
67	* The sci-fi BMovie ''Film/ThePhantomPlanet'' ends with the narrator stating that, as humanity continues to explore the cosmos, they'll discover even more amazing wonders. "This is only the beginning!" In the [=MST3K=] [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S09E02ThePhantomPlanet episode on this movie]], Mike and Bots lament that this means they have to watch the movie over again.
68	* Literally: At the end of the apocalyptic/time-travel sci-fi BMovie ''Film/Millennium1989'' (not related to the eponymous TV series), a solemn voice-over proclaims: ''"It is not the end! It is not the beginning of the end! It is the end of the beginning!"'' This is in reference to the AdamAndEvePlot ending.
69	* The AffectionateParody of sci-fi B-Movies ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'' has TheEnd, then the credits continue rambling on in this fashion.
70	-->[[TheEndOrIsIt THE END? OR IS IT?]] ISN'T IT MORE LIKE A KIND OF BEGINNING IN A WAY? LIKE A NEW BEGINNING? FOR EVERYONE? HM... I WONDER... [[RunningGag OH WELL.]]
71	* Creator/JerryLewis' ''Film/{{The Nutty Professor\|1963}}'' ends, after a fake ending, with the words "the beginning", when Professor Kelp and Stella finally get together.
72	* ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' closes with the first meeting between humanity and the Vulcans, starting a brand new era in human history and marking the beginning of the Franchise/TrekVerse.
73	* The ending of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (and ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', for that matter) has [[spoiler: Bruce Wayne retiring as Batman and passing the mantle on to Robin John Blake. With the Bat-signal restored, it is implied Bruce thinks Gotham will still need a Batman.]]
74	* The final line of ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' is, "Begun, the Clone War has", spoken by Master Yoda.
75	* The British [=WW2=] propaganda movie ''Film/TheWayAhead'' (1944) concludes with the soldiers advancing into the attack with the words THE BEGINNING. One assumes the producers wanted the audience to believe our heroes were [[AndTheAdventureContinues just getting started in defeating the Nazis]], as opposed to marching off to their [[EverybodyDiesEnding END]].
76	* ''Film/ScreamersTheHunting'' ends with a shot of the [[spoiler:FetusTerrible sprouting a killing blade]] and a title card saying THE BEGINNING, implying that the events shown on Sirius 6B [[KillAllHumans will now take place on Earth]].
77	* Quoted verbatim near the end of ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'' along with the implication that Churchill was a founding Kingsman.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	* The final book in the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' series was titled "The Beginning." The story concerns the end of the Yeerk war on Earth, and the beginning of [[spoiler:a new war against an [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere unknown enemy.]] Depending on how the reader interprets Jake's final order, the series could end on a cliffhanger, a BolivianArmyEnding, or [[AndTheAdventureContinues the start of a new and exciting journey.]]]]
82	* The first chapter of the first book of ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' trilogy is titled ''The End''. The final chapter of the last book is titled ''The Beginning''.
83	* The final chapter of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' was titled "The Beginning".
84	* This was how ''Literature/TheLastBattle'' (last book of Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia) ended.
85	* ''Literature/ShadowThieves'' by Anne Ursu, is in four parts: "We begin in the middle", "Now the beginning", "The end of the beginning" and "The beginning of the end."
86	* The ''Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse'' novel ''Imzadi'' commences with a page reading "The End," then goes through "The End of the Beginning," "Epilogue," "The Beginning," "The Middle," and finally "The Beginning of the End." This comes of a story with a nonlinear narrative that also involves time travel.
87	* The final chapter of the third book in the ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'' features Han sitting in a cantina on some backwater planet and worrying about their financial debt to a crime lord. Chewie walks over to his table and tells him that he may have found the solution to their problems in an [[Film/StarWarsANewHope old man and a kid who need passage to Alderaan.]] Where most books say "The End," it says "The Beginning."
88	* At the end of the [[TheGunslinger first]] [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Dark Tower]] novel, the Man in Black tells Roland "You haven't reached the end of your quest, merely the end of the beginning."
89	* The first chapter of ''[[Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict]]'' is titled "A Beginning at the End." The last chapter is "An End at the Beginning."
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
93	* The final episode of ''Series/{{Bizaardvark}}'' is aptly titled "The End of the Beginning". Specifically Vuuugle has been sold, Frankie, Paige and all their friends have to go their separate ways, and it doesn't matter where they are as long as they keep making videos with each other.
94	* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', starting with the Third Doctor's final serial "Planet of the Spiders" most outgoing Doctors get a GrandFinale storyline. They usually face a threat greater than any they've previously come up against, often end up making a HeroicSacrifice, and always have a denouement that treats their "death" and regeneration into their next incarnation as this trope. The revival series gives them a FinalSpeech as well and takes the trouble to tie up ''some'' loose ends of their MythArc. (The exceptions are Six, Seven, Eight, and War: Six and Seven meet their demises at the ''start'' of stories that are really about the new guys, Eight's regeneration is depicted in a short prologue to "The Day of the Doctor" and reveals it to have been under far more bitter circumstances than usual, and the special case of the War Doctor means his regeneration is only briefly seen as just one part of "Day"'s much larger story.)
95	* The first part of the GrandFinale of ''Series/HenryDanger'' is called "The Beginning of the End", fitting as it's the beginning of the end of the show. It's also the episode which Henry realizes he can't be a sidekick forever after finding out he's not graduating because of all his missions as Kid Danger, and is called by another town to be ''their'' superhero.
96	* The first episode of ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s fourth season is entitled "The Beginning of the End". Fitting as it was the first season to premiere after the announcement of the show's 2010 end date.
97	* The pilot of ''Series/RedDwarf'' said "The End" at the beginning of the episode and "The Beginning" at the end of the episode. This is because it's the [[EverybodysDeadDave end of everyone on Red Dwarf]] (except for SoleSurvivor Lister) that causes the setup for the rest of the series.
98	* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' ends with a DistantFinale in which the Enterprise is decommissioned. But the point is made that Archer and his brave crews exploits laid the foundations for the Starfleet (and later ships called ''Enterprise'') to "boldly go where no man has gone before..."
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Music]]
102	* The final song on Forgive Durden's album ''Music/RaziasShadow'' is titled, "The End and the Beginning" in this fashion.
103	* Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}}: The first words of ''The Poet and the Pendulum'' are "The End" and the last words are "The Beginning".
104	* The final verse of the final track of ''Music/{{Revolver\|Beatles Album}}'': "So play the game Existence to the end/ Of the beginning/ Of the beginning/ Of the beginning..."
105	* It has been revealed that the 1993 live film, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAPTl_fJbkY Raffi on Broadway]]'', contains a bonus segment of a couple of songs after the credits. One song is from Japan called "Haru Ga Kita", and another song is from Russia called "May There Always Be Sunshine".
106	* Mentioned in "Closing Time" by Semisonic: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
110	* The [[NewspaperComics Newspaper Comic]] ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' kept going for ''decades'' after Ming the Merciless was overthrown, while the characters continued finding new and mostly non-Ming-related adventures to have.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Video Games]]
114	* End of the Beginning is level 1-10 of the Impetus area of ''VideoGame/BitTrip RUNNER'', which signals the end of the tutorial levels. This is mirrored by Middle of the Middle and Beginning of the end in Tenacity and Triumph respectively.
115	* This is word-for-word the title of the first BF in the C path of ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion''.
116	* [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy "This isn't the end. Another dream is waiting to begin."]]
117	** Which interestingly, it's similar to the quote Firion says at the end of Videogame/FinalFantasyII
118	* All of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games do this:
119	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sovereign]]]] is just the vanguard of the coming galactic invasion. Shepard, after being hailed as a hero by the powers that be, vows to find a way to stop the invasion and walks off, continuing his/her quest.
120	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': The Collectors are defeated and the Reaper plot thwarted for now, but [[spoiler:the Reapers are descending upon the galaxy]]—the battle is not over yet.
121	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': [[spoiler: The Reapers are defeated, but at great cost to the galaxy.]] However, Shepard's actions through the third game set the stage for the futures of all of the races and characters.
122	* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction''. By the end of the story, [[spoiler:the world is almost completely annihilated and has to be rebuilt practically from scratch]] -- it is ''definitely'' the beginning of a new era. However, it's never actually said anywhere that it's a new beginning -- even the phrase "reconstruction" is never mentioned.
123	* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'''s ending, the main characters exchange this dialog:
124	-->[[spoiler:'''Leon:''' "It's finally over."]]
125	-->[[spoiler:'''Claire:''' "It's not. I've got to my brother."]]
126	-->[[spoiler:'''Leon:''' "You're right... ''this'' is just the beginning."]]
127	* The ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' Trilogy has invoked this, They defeated the Locust and the Equally as destructive Lambent Locust. However it's made clear that they are still far off from a happy ending. But for now they have earned their "Tomorrow".
128	* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII'' has this occur with the final two missions on the Republic campaign, with the Utapau mission being the final mission where you fight the Separatists as the Clone Army while the following mission on Coruscant is the last Republic mission period with the Clones executing Order 66 and attacking the Jedi Temple.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
132	* In the "Blooming" ending of VisualNovel/SayaNoUta, where Fuminori narrates how [[spoiler:Saya dies in his arms, as she releases spores that will mutate every human into beings of her species:]]
133	-->"......Is this goodbye?" I ask her, careful to keep the sorrow out of my voice.
134	-->"----No, it isn't. This is----the beginning----"
135	-->[[spoiler:Saya's pain must have already left her, for her expression is infinitely peaceful and content.]]
136	-->[[spoiler:"The beginning----of our world----"]]
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Web Original]]
140	* After the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]] title was released, the following episode of Podcast/MuggleCast was called "The Beginning Of The End". When they got the release date, Andrew states that it was "the end of the beginning of the end".
141	* The final panel of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' {{prequel}} book ''On the Origins of [=PCs=]'' simply says, "The Beginning."
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Western Animation]]
145	* The final season opener of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is called "The Beginning of the End". Note that this is a DoubleMeaningTitle; not only does it mark the beginning of the end of the era of the Royal Sisters, before Twilight becomes their successor at the end of the series, it's [[EndOfSeriesAwareness the beginning of the end of the show all together]]. It does it again in the first part of its GrandFinale, which is titled "The ''Ending'' of the End".
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Real Life]]
149	* What Churchill is referring to in the above quote is that the worst part of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII appeared to be over at that point; the threat of invasion of the UK by Germany was over, the United States entered the war full bore and a powerful alliance of those nations with the Soviet Union was established to give the Axis what for.
150	* Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan frequently invoked this phrase motivationally during training for the final moon landing mission, believing that it should not be thought of as the end of the moon program, but just the "end of the beginning" of such exploration. Technicians would frequently tease him about this ("Hey, Geno, I keep forgetting -- is this the end or the beginning?"), and the phrase was humorously inserted (along with variations and subversions) at strategic points into the checklists Cernan would use on the lunar surface.
151	[[/folder]]

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