Heartwarming / Children of Time (2015)

• In the religious era, Bianca fondly calls Fabian "a dangerous little monster." Considering that in this era males are still seen as just a couple steps up from food, that's a very genuine compliment. Furthermore, when they escape to Seven Trees together, she makes good on her offer to try to set him up in the city, though he declines because he wants to do everything on his own merits.
• The skyship era:
  • The Portia and Fabian of the era have invented monogamy. Despite spiders barely even having the concept of romance, they deny all other mating requests and remain exclusive.
  • Bianca manages to send Kern a picture (one of the first pictures the spiders ever took, in fact) of the city, telling her "This is us." Kern spends some time going over everything that has happened, realizing how completely she missed the mark on what was going on. She's been going steadily more insane for centuries as her "monkeys" seem unable to understand even basic concepts, to the point that the world is now completely ignoring her warnings as the bluffs of an outdated enemy. When she realizes she's been talking to spiders this whole time, she considers cutting off all contact, how that would result in the Gilgamesh destroying them when it comes back... but then she decides against it. They're still the children of Earth, and she is still responsible for them. She calls the spiders back, finally calm and willing to listen.
    God has apologized.
    God has explained that She has previously misunderstood some key elements of the situation, but has now gained a clearer understanding of how things are.
    God invites questions.
  • When the skyship is crashing and Portia is mostly unconscious, Fabian tries to contact the ground but fails. Kern, however, hears him, and he becomes the first male in history to speak to the Messenger. He explains his plan to sacrifice himself to save Portia, and she promises to pass on the message.
    When my ancestors reached for space, there were deaths among those pioneers too. It is worth it. The next phrase is alien to Fabian. He will never know what is meant by, I salute you.
• The space era:
  • The spiders saved Kern before she was shot down, by downloading her into an ant colony. Because she's not their God any more, but she is still their ally.
  • The bioweapon that the spiders use against the humans isn't to kill them. They didn't need a new weapon for that; they could have handled the Gilgamesh much more easily if they wanted to be brutally efficient. Instead, it's a modification of the nanovirus that allows it to affect humans in a limited extent. Everyone infected now looks at the spiders and feels the same connection to them that the spiders have always felt with each other, finally allowing for a chance at actual peace.