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Glossaryck, what have you done?

I finished my rewatch of Star Vs. the Forces of Evil, and I had expected to write a post asking the question, was Glossaryck depressed and suicidal? I think that is still a reasonable question. There is the question of whether Glossaryck set up the magic to be destroyed so that he could die. He doesn't seem a very happy character. He doesn't have true friends. He has a very bad relationship with his son. And the only thing he seems to get joy from is eating pudding. He created the Magical High Commission, but he doesn't like it, they don't treat him well, and it seems to be more a source of stress for him than anything else.

But on my rewatch, I realized how much the entire universe of this show revolves around Glossaryck, and I couldn't help asking myself, what did you do? He seems to be responsible for everything.

He gave the wand to the first Mewmans that set up the monarchy and the oppression of the monsters. He personally trained probably every single monarch that has ever ruled there since they were a child. Think about what that means for his influence and shaping of their society. He created the Magical High Commission. He created the wand that led to the need to destroy magic.

Normally, with a large society and complex issues, you need to look at so many different forces. And, I suppose to an extent that is still true here. Eclipsa loving a monster did lead to real societal changes and improved conditions for monsters. Star actually listening and paying attention did likewise. Those were important factors from individuals. Queen Moon's reckless decisions did endanger everyone. But through it all, nobody nearly rises to the importance of Glossaryck, the person who was set up the system they live in and guided each of them from childhood through parts of their rule.

I think the sheer importance of Glossaryck, an immortal being who set up the systems in place and guided them for their entire existence rather undermines the show's statements on other factors like colonialism. Unless you want to view Glossaryck as a metaphor for something. I think that would be a sensible view. However, if so, I am not sure what Glossaryck is a metaphor for, other than clearly something that needed to be destroyed.

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The Ending of Star vs. the Forces of Evil

I'm going to need to rewatch the whole show, and then do some final thoughts, and that will take time. But here are some initial thoughts on the ending of the show. My thoughts are subject to change, of course, but here is my initial reaction.

I can interpret the ending in several ways. One is that when you have deep-rooted problems of colonialism and bigotry, there is no easy or quick way to fix them. The best you can do is to try to protect those you can as you can. The problem isn't solved in the end, but the immediate threat from the problem is, at least, dealt with. The general ongoing threat and harm persists, but some people are trying to work on it. There's something to be said for this message, because it isn't really fair to expect the creators of the show to actually present a realistic solution to a problem this vast. We haven't fixed it in our society. And any solution presented would have the potential problem of making a real world issue seem to have too simple a solution. It would also be awkward if Star, being the main character, fixed anti-monster bigotry. That could have too many white savior parallels. There's an inherent difficulty in wanting to express and explore the problems of colonialism and bigotry, while keeping it kid-friendly, and trying to not give it a depressing ending. That's just a tall order. And the show did a very good job of exploring some aspects of these issues. I also really appreciated showing it from the point of view of someone raised in that bigotry who learns otherwise, since that will be a good fit for a lot of their audience. So, I have to wonder, what possible ending could work? Maybe this was as good as it could get. Although I felt that having Eclipsa, Globgor, and Meteora in charge and actively trying to balance the needs of both Mewmans and monsters and showing that things weren't 100% better, but were on a better path would have been a satisfying ending for me.

Another interpretation for the ending is that the only way to fix such massive problems is to totally uproot and change the systems that support them. In this particular case, magic was being used to support and enforce the system. I can see this as a reasonable take on the problems. I don't know how practical completely dismantling old systems is. But i also don't know the best way to fix these problems. Maybe that is the best way. I certainly consider it a reasonable premise. Dismantling the old systems does not fix the bigotry at the root that created them. But it at least creates space for a better system to have a chance to develop.

Another interpretation is that magic was a bad influence on their society. It pushed them in bad directions and helped create these bad systems. The corrupting force of magic had to go, and they will be better off without it, even if some of them remain bigots. I don't like this reading, because the harm shown throughout Mewni parallels real problems in our world. To the best of my knowledge, we don't have magic. It also makes me kind of annoyed at the show for not having Marco point out any of the ways that Earth has problems similar to the ones Mewni has. This others the colonialism, bigotry, and attempted genocide and helps the viewer to think, well, I'm so glad we don't have to worry about anything like that. As I sit in the United States, living on stolen land with a system of law enforcement that has repeatedly been shown to be biased. With a school system designed to reinforce economic inequality by having funding through local taxes so that wealthy parents get better public schools for their kids. With evidence of uneven punishments in schools on the basis of race. And so forth and so on. But it sure is a good thing my world doesn't have magic. Everything is peachy keen here. It's just such a shame I have so little surviving family on my father's side due to the Holocaust. But hey, it's okay, we don't have magic.

They did put a nod to the fact that the problem is not solved. They have Mina point out that she's still awful, and she can gather others. I think though what I would have wanted from the ending was just a little bit more time spent on the idea that this was a step among many and that they would keep fighting and working to decrease bigotry and increase equality. So, I guess, I felt the ending was a bit rushed. I don't mind the removal of magic or the merging of the dimensions.

I'm not really sure what to make of all of the magical creatures dying, because I don't really know how to judge that. The spells seemed to feel that they should die for the good of Mewni if that was what was needed. And Glossaryck and Heckapoo being in favor makes me unclear on what it means to be made of magic. The destruction of all pure magic creatures might be a deep and awful wrong. Or it might not? I'll need to rewatch the show to form more of an opinion on that But aside from that concern, I think the ending was good, if it just had given a bit more time to presenting how the issue was still going to be worked on. On presenting some plan to keep fighting the forces of evil, because they are still there. Maybe if they could have tossed in some monster-led organizations working to really change and improve things for everyone. Give me a Monster Lives Matter movement at the ending, and then I'm on board. But without that, I still very much enjoyed the show. I just felt the ending was a little incomplete, and that it was too easy to read the wrong things into it. But you can read the right things into it. So, it gives the viewer a choice. I guess that lets you learn more about the viewers of the show, based on how they interpret it and what they think and feel about that interpretation.

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It looks like they merged Earth and Mewni. That fixes some problems and creates a whole new set of problems. At least Earth has a history of civil rights protests and such that the monsters and others can potentially use as a model. With that many new people, I think Earth countries will be forced to accept and recognize both mewmans and monsters. It's also not clear if mewmans will still have the biological differences from humans without magic. So, I guess that is how it ends. The problems are not fixed, but a new society will need to be created with elements of both worlds and with all sapiants involved in some ways. The Mewmans will be at a significant disadvantage, since their society got by a lot on magic, whereas humans have technology that still works. But hey, Meteora and Mariposa can grow up together afterall.

I feel like not enough is resolved. But it's certainly an interesting ending. And if I had to sum up the message of the show, I'd say it's that you should fight the forces of evil, but you should put in the effort of making sure to figure out which are the forces of evil.

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Star and Marco are now both.. somewhere. Somewhere together. And, at least, Janna can tell Marco's family about how Marco chose to go.

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Marco and Star are each trying to get to the last portal to try to get back together.

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Marco and Janna are back safe on Earth. Marco's family at least doesn't have him disappear on them with no idea of what happened.

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Ponyhead appears to be fine, somehow. I guess floating isn't magic. It's nice that she's trying to cheer up Star.

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Eclipsa sensibly decides she'll probably give Meteora a mix of kindergarten and sword training. That seems like good parenting. I paused it just as we see Ponyhead. How on Mewni is a floating pony head supposed to function without magic?

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Mina wanders off and goes to gather other bigots to cause non-magical harm. Just like we have here on Earth. At least some of the soldiers decide not to go.

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The warriors are falling apart. One yells, "I'm free". So, presumably fixing the magic they were under does make them no longer want to commit genocide. So, that's good. However, since we don't know how Star got back it is possible Star and Marco got kicked back to their own dimensions by the last of the magic. So, sad ending is still possible.

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There we go. It looks like it won't be a sad ending Marco gains crescent moons on his cheeks. A bit of light purple spreads from them. It looks like maybe they can restore and cleanse the magic. At least, that is what I hope is happening.

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Star and Marco split up, but then Star decides she wants to go to Earth to be with Marco. She fails, but Marco didn't go to Earth. If they both end up on Mewni, this is really sad, because his family will presumably never know what happened to him. They also will have broken their promise to Meteora and Mariposa that they will still get to grow up together. If Star had gone to Earth, it still would have split up the babies, but at least her family would know what happened to her and why.

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Glosserick approves of Star's choice. So, maybe it's an okay idea. Heckapoo also felt magic might be a bad idea. I will see how this goes.

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The whispering spell is destroying the evil unicorns. Since magic was corrupted, it's possible it needs to go. But it's not clear that destroying the magic was the necessary solution or even a solution. But it will fix some problems, at least.

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And there goes Mina... well, that's one problem dealt with. She gets to get lost in the magic with the last thing she knows being that Queen Solaria will not aid her. But who knows what will happen to her if they destroy the magic. I also don't know how much blame Mina deserves, since she was altered by magic in a way that affects her mind.

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They are doing it with the whispering spell. They have all gone full butterfly. The past queens have shown up in ghost form, and seem to be okay with this. But Mina has found them to try to cause more problems.

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Marco successfully gets Tom to remember. At the cost of a magical injury. That may or may not stay relevant for long if magic is destroyed.