MovieChat Forums > Heavy Metal (1981) Discussion > How do you interpret the ending? (SPOILE...

How do you interpret the ending? (SPOILERS!) duh)

posted 8 years ago by Zorro-3
2 replies | jump to latest

I have read other people talking about the ending and I was surprised that the way I take the ending isn't the only interpretation.

What I see happening is the Loc-Nar telling the story of how he defeated Taarna. However, Taarna apparently has the power to go META and in the process of having her story told, transcends the story-telling process and turns it around on the story-teller. Because of her sacrifice, the story and it's heroine take on a life of their own and in the process transform the story-tellee (the little girl) into new Taarna.

(Only similar thing I've seen like that is in Neverending Story)

What do you think happened?

[–] jojozlo 8 years ago

The stories were really happening in real time trippy huh? And Lochnar says go at the end evil and good must have a balance hench neither was destroyed.

[–] awsmith 8 years ago

I'm not sure how well thought-out the story line is. However, immediately before the beginning of the Taarna Sequence, the Loc-Nar tells the little girl to watch as his evil "destroys her race" and to "prepare to die." Evidently, unlike the prior stories, Taarna's actions in this sequence are playing out in real time, i.e., they are not historical, and coincide in time with the Loc-Nar's simultaneous appearance at the country home in Grlmaldi. (Recall that the Loc-Nar states at the beginning of the film that its power spans all times and dimensions, allowing it to appear in more than one place in space-time.) Presumably the Loc-Nar was anticipating that the Warrior Chieftain of the nomad band would slay Taarna, after which the little girl would likewise die. However, the unexpected occurred when Taarna's bird intervened by biting the Chieftain's leg, creating a reprieve that allowed Taarna to gain the upper hand and kill him. This left the Loc-Nar defenseless against whatever good power resided in Taarna's sword, which was released by her self-sacrifice. Apparently Taarna's spirit, when released under such circumstances, had the power to be transferred to another girl/woman somewhere else in the universe, who will become the next Taarakian protector.

Death tugs at my ear & says: Live; I am coming.