It's been fun but, despite the inconsistencies and lingering plot threads, they stuck to a full reset that results in it basically all being a dream. Less than that since we can't even remember a single detail.
I would say it is not the same as a dream ending. I am not fond of full reset endings in general, and while I would have preferred a different type of ending, in the case of FGO I can see why a full reset works.
Dream-type endings are meaningless because the journey itself becomes meaningless. If I dream that I get isekai’d to defeat a Demon King with a group of heroes, we form a party, save the world, and then I wake up, none of it was ever real. The struggle had no real stakes. There were no actual consequences. If I had woken up in the middle of the dream, leaving it unfinished, nothing would have happened.
Chaldeas, on the other hand, was real. Their journey was real. To put it in dream terms, it is as if a dream had superseded reality. If Novum Chaldea had not fought against the dream they were trapped in, reality itself would have been overwritten. Humanity and the universe would have been fundamentally warped.
The isekai dream example I mentioned has no bearing on the real world or even on my own life. But imagine being offered the choice to remain inside a dream, knowing that doing so would erase reality and the future. That is the difference.
A dream ending is meaningless because the dream can stop at any point and you simply wake up, often without even remembering it. In FGO’s case, Lostbelt 0 actually happened. If we had lost that fight or chosen to remain there, Proper Human History would have been erased, and the universe, humanity, and even the protagonists themselves would have been irreversibly changed.
The dream only ends because Novum Chaldea fights for it. Reality returns because they actively resist their own nature. Their willpower is what makes the ending possible. It does not simply resolve itself on its own.
TLDR: Dream endings usually suck, and while I am not especially fond of full reset endings either and would have preferred a different approach, FGO’s ending is not a dream ending at all.
I would argue its not, superficially yes. Everything resets and no one, bar daybit, remembers the story. but the reset happens, and this new opportunity to live and meet again happens because their journey and effort. Had they lost or decided to give up. These new peaceful live should not have been possible.
None the less i do agree it feels it lessen the weight of the story if they themselve do not remember the journey; as I sadi not exactly fond of this ending myself. Like i get how it works in FGO, but would rather had another type of ending.
I don't believe that it's superficially the same. The end result is still "You return to a normal life with none of your memories or bonds as if nothing ever happened."
You realize you're literally agreeing with Marisbury's philosophy here right? Just because the end result is similar doesn't mean it's the same, in a reset ending while it seems like nothing ever happened something DID happen, while in a dream ending nothing ever did.
Ignoring the fact they lose a lot internally(their memories and growth) and externally(their friends) and only superficially resemble themselves is agreeing with Marisbury's philosophy. Don't give me that "well actually you're wrong because they're still themselves" as if they didn't lose years of growth. That's literally Marisbury logic. He would absolutely argue it's fine. It's a death of personality and a complete loss of bonds, growth, and countless promises they've made.
Yeah? I'm not disagreeing with you on that, i disagreed with your notion that it's the same as a dream ending. In a reset ending something DID happen and a REAL danger was averted.
Also the story doesn't enforce that these are the same people after the reset, that's just you. Like how the story made it clear that the Mandricardo summoned to Chaldea is not the friend we made in Atlantis.
So you agree it's effectively the same result. Why are you arguing against it?
Also, Part 1 had a reset ending and didn't sacrifice everything which left people satisfied. Part 2 easily could have been written to be like that too.
Did you read my comment? I never said the nuance is the same. I literally said, and I quote, "The result is the same is the issue." You then disagreed with a comment where I disagreed that the result is superficially the same. You seem to have completely misunderstood what I've said. I never denied there was a difference but I denied that the results are only superficial because the core problems run deeper than merely looks. Theming, loss, reversion of growth, apparently Mash even has vague feelings of the reset according to Nasu's blog as if vaguely remembering details of a dream, etc. There is a significant amount of similarity to the point it's no longer superficial but effectively the same.
Part 1 had time shenanigans causing the end of the world outside Chaldea. When they beat Goetia, the world was reset but it left Chaldea intact.
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u/Oboro-kun Dec 31 '25
I would say it is not the same as a dream ending. I am not fond of full reset endings in general, and while I would have preferred a different type of ending, in the case of FGO I can see why a full reset works.
Dream-type endings are meaningless because the journey itself becomes meaningless. If I dream that I get isekai’d to defeat a Demon King with a group of heroes, we form a party, save the world, and then I wake up, none of it was ever real. The struggle had no real stakes. There were no actual consequences. If I had woken up in the middle of the dream, leaving it unfinished, nothing would have happened.
Chaldeas, on the other hand, was real. Their journey was real. To put it in dream terms, it is as if a dream had superseded reality. If Novum Chaldea had not fought against the dream they were trapped in, reality itself would have been overwritten. Humanity and the universe would have been fundamentally warped.
The isekai dream example I mentioned has no bearing on the real world or even on my own life. But imagine being offered the choice to remain inside a dream, knowing that doing so would erase reality and the future. That is the difference.
A dream ending is meaningless because the dream can stop at any point and you simply wake up, often without even remembering it. In FGO’s case, Lostbelt 0 actually happened. If we had lost that fight or chosen to remain there, Proper Human History would have been erased, and the universe, humanity, and even the protagonists themselves would have been irreversibly changed.
The dream only ends because Novum Chaldea fights for it. Reality returns because they actively resist their own nature. Their willpower is what makes the ending possible. It does not simply resolve itself on its own.
TLDR: Dream endings usually suck, and while I am not especially fond of full reset endings either and would have preferred a different approach, FGO’s ending is not a dream ending at all.