Line #23 Recap/CowboyBebopSession26TheRealFolkBluesPart2


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cowboy_bebop_series_finale_page_image.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ''"Bang."'']]
3	!! Short summary
4	Spike meets with Julia and the two reunite and decide to run away together. However, Vicious, now in command of the Red Dragon Syndicate, sends his men to hunt the two down. Julia is killed in the escape and Spike, having nothing left to lose, goes to confront Vicious in one final showdown.
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6	!! Main summary
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8	Julia and Spike stand in a graveyard, Julia pointing a gun at him. She says that if she had killed Spike that day as ordered, she would have been free. She lowers her gun and embraces Spike, begging them to just run away together.
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10	Shin arrives at the Red Dragon massacre, and gives Vicious the bad news that Spike and Julia escaped. Luckily he only gets a warning (to not turn out like his late brother) instead of a more severe punishment.
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12	Spike and Julia drive to Annie's, and find her bleeding out. Gangsters had already come looking for Spike. Annie says she overheard them saying that Vicious had assassinated all the elders. Spike takes Annie's weapons and gears up for a fight. Julie says she'll stay with him. Gang members burst in, and the pair run and gun their way to the roof. Julia is shot in the back. As she lays dying, she whispers something to Spike.
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14	After initially voicing a "good riddance" opinion to Faye, Jet visits the sand shaman and asks where Spike is. The shaman says that each lifeform has its own guardian star. When a life ends, the star falls and disappears. He sees a red star and a blue star. "His star is about to fall".
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16	Back on the Bebop, Jet wakes to find Spike has returned. Spike tells Jet a story over a meal, of a reincarnating cat that refused to come back to life after its partner died. Spike tells Jet that Julie is dead. As he sets out to leave, Faye stops him at gunpoint. She points out his hypocrisy in telling her to forget her past when he is bound by his own. Spike tells Faye to look into his eyes: He tells her that one of them is a fake, to replace the eye he lost in an accident. Faye take this sharing of personal information as a sign that Spike won't be coming back. She tells him her memory returned but there was nowhere for her but the Bebop. He says he's going to find out if he's really alive. Spike pushes past her. Tearfully, Faye fires repeatedly at the ceiling as Spike walks away, not flinching and not looking back.
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18	Spike storms the Red Dragon building solo, killings guards left and right with guns and explosives. Shin appears and provides support, but is shot and killed. Spike reaches the throne room, and an explosive trap blows the roof off. Vicious stands and states "I'm the only one that you kill you and set you free". Spike claims likewise. The two of them begin a fight to the death, Spike with his pistol and Vicious with his sword. They knock each other's weapons out of their hands, yet after a short pause both pass their weapon back to their opponent and draw. Spike shoots Vicious through, and Vicious drops to the ground dead.
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20	Spike has a vision of Julia's dying words: "It's all a dream". He staggers down the throneroom steps, holding his side, badly wounded. Guards at the foot of the steps look on dumbfounded. Spike looks up slowly, points a finger-gun at the guards and says "Bang." Spike falls down. The camera pans up from the room, into the sky and into space, as the credits roll. At the end, a star is seen going out. One last shot of Spike lying face-down on the ground, eyes closed.
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22	''You're Gonna Carry That Weight.''
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24	----
25	!! Tropes
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27	* AmbiguousEnding: Did Spike really die or did he just pass out? WordOfGod isn't telling and lets the audience decide for themselves.
28	* BittersweetEnding: Julia is killed in front of Spike's eyes and he ultimately goes to settle things with Vicious. He comes out victorious but by all appearances mortally wounded and leaves the Syndicate in shambles and potentially creating a power vacuum. Jet, Faye, Ein, and Ed all live but the latter two have left the Bebop, and none of them might ever see Spike again.
29	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: After she's shot, Spike holds Julia in his arms as she dies.
30	* DramaticIrony: Vicious spends the entire series nursing his ambitions to take over the Syndicate...and while he succeeds, he only gets to enjoy it for a handful of hours.
31	* FinalBattle: Spike's raid on the Red Dragon's headquarters.
32	* GoOutWithASmile: If Spike ''did'' succumb to his wounds, at least he does it smiling.
33	* GrandFinale: Of the entire series.
34	* HeroicSacrifice: Spike (if he does indeed die).
35	** It's not explicitly stated, but it's also not hard to imagine that Spike ''had'' to go after Vicious not just to avenge Julia, but to also protect Jet, Faye, and the ''Bebop'''s other associates. With Vicious in control of the Red Dragons, it's a given he'd have turned those vast resources to hunting down Spike and his friends (which was doable as the Elders proved last episode). Spike ''had'' to go after Vicious ''now'' before he could come after Jet, Faye, Ed, Ein, or any of his other friends across the Solar System.
36	* KilledOffForReal: Julia, Shin, Vicious, and (possibly) Spike (due to the AmbiguousEnding).
37	* TheLastDance: As with Jet and Udai, this is the final battle between Spike and Vicious when the object of their affection is gone and only the grudge remains, both knowing one will not survive.
38	* TheLostLenore: Julia ultimately becomes this for Spike.
39	* MutualKill: Possibly. Both Spike and Vicious land fatal blows on each other. While Vicious drops like a stone after getting shot, Spike manages to stay up longer before succumbing to his wounds too (apparently).
40	* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame: Ends on an image of Spike's face as he lays on the ground, his face content.
41	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Faye tries to convince Spike to stay at the Bebop by telling him what her resurfacing memories have gained her i.e. nothing, even pointing a gun at him. She fails and breaks into sobs.
42	* RuleOfSymbolism: As the song of the episode ends, we see a star shining brightly and then fade -- Spike's (or, alternatively, Vicious's) star.
43	* StormingTheCastle: Spike does so and practically wipes out the entire Red Dragon by himself, though he does get shot in the arm.

Context Recap / CowboyBebopSession26TheRealFolkBluesPart2