Anime

The Promised Neverland's Emotional Ending, Explained

After four years of The Promised Neverland, we say goodbye to our favorite orphans as the manga reaches its finale.

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Beyond Destiny," the final chapter of The Promised Neverland by Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu, Satsuki Yamashita and Mark McMurray, available now through Viz Media.

After 181 chapters, The Promised Neverland has finally reached the end. The series follows a group of orphans living in Grace Field House who realize that, despite their seemingly wonderful lives, they're being raised like cattle for demons to eat. Written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, the manga was first serialized in 2016 and three years later, it received an anime adaptation, garnering it a huge increase in popularity. What kind of send-off do the kids get?

After escaping the Grace Field House, our young heroes find themselves in danger after danger. They realize that there are two worlds: a human and a demon one. In the process of finding a way to get to the human world, Emma and her friends discover that the reason why children are being fed to demons is the result of a "Promise" forged long ago. This Promise prohibited hunting between humans and demon but in order to satiate the demons’ hunger for human meat, farms would be built to cultivate children to feed the demons.

But, just as there are good people and bad people, there are good and bad demons and unfortunately, eating humans is the only way to avoid degeneration and eventual death. From that point on, Emma is determined to find a way for humans and demons to live in peace and decides to reforge a new Promise.

The kids get sent to the human world after bidding farewell to their demon friends Mujika and Sonju and land on the shores of America in the year 2047. Everyone’s safe and together; all except Emma. Thrown into a panic, the kids wonder what exactly Emma offered as a reward to secure the Promise. Was she still back in the demon world? Did she sacrifice herself in order to have all the humans, children, Mamas and Sisters, in the human world? The kids set off on a mission to find her, determining that because of the Promise, she has to be somewhere in the human world.

It turns out that Emma is in the human world but is lying in a desolate snowy field with no memories of who she is or everything she had gone through. Her serial number has also disappeared. In a flashback, we see Emma with the God of the Demon World, in the middle of creating a new Promise.

In exchange for transporting all the humans, children and adults, to the other side, the Demon World God asks for a reward -- one that, customarily, is the one thing that’s most important to the negotiator, which is Emma’s family. However, they reassure her that they won’t kill her family. Instead, they’ll take away her memories and future with them. Emma says that, to her, this isn’t a sacrifice, it’s only a means for settling her selfish desires of having the future she wanted where everyone was free. With a small heartbreaking smile, Emma agrees to the new Promise.

Emma has no recollection of this. She gets rescued from the snow by an old man but can’t remember her name, who she is, her family, or what transpired -- let alone the Promise. Even after a month passes, the only thing that remains from her past is an eye-shaped necklace. She also can't sleep because of recurring dreams of the shadowy figures of Yugo, Mama, Norman and Ray and although she can’t recognize them, she feels an overwhelming feeling of sadness and warmth.

Two years pass and Emma accepts that she won’t ever remember who the people in her dreams are and happily settles into her new life instead. In another part of the world, the Grace Field orphans have been madly searching for her but to no avail. Eventually, every corner of the world was searched save for the forbidden zones that nobody is allowed in.

A small team consisting of Ray, Gilda and Phil head toward a forbidden zone. Unbeknownst to them, they pass Emma, who’s walking in the opposite direction with the old man. Empty-handed, they plan to head home when Ray feels someone, a familiar young girl carrying a stuffed bunny dressed in Grace Field clothes, pulling at his backpack, telling him to turn around.

It’s Conny, with the spirits of Yugo and Mama looking on. Without even thinking, Ray runs back to the village. At the same time, Emma runs back to the streets to search for the necklace she dropped. She looks up and meets the shocked faces of Ray, Norman and the rest of the Grace Field House orphans.

The reunion is a flood of emotion. Everyone rushes to hug her but the first words to out of her mouth are: “Who are you?” Tears welling in his eyes, Norman says that he’s thankful that Emma is happy, safe and not alone. He updates her on what happened after they arrived in the human world. They’re all going to school, those from Lambda are recovering and Chris has woken up. Their happiness was all thanks to Emma but Norman wants her to be part of that happiness as well.As tears flood down Emma’s face, she confesses that even though she doesn't know who they are, she feels like she has always wanted to see them. Norman tells her that it doesn’t matter if she can’t remember them, they’ll live together as a family once more.

The finale of The Promised Neverland has been a long time coming. The callback to Conny brings the story to a full circle: it was Conny’s death that revealed the truth about Grace Field House and sparked the desire to create a future that was their own so it makes sense, during this time of uncertainty and confusion, for Conny to be the one to bring Emma’s family back to her.

The ending is bittersweet knowing that Emma will never get her memories back but The Promised Neverland has always been about the power of family. Emma’s dreams and Conny, Mama and Yugo being the ones to guide Ray to Emma are the manga’s way of saying that your loved ones are never really gone. The love and faith you have in your family can do the unlikeliest things. They have the power to change people for the better; they give you strength and even, every once in a while, the power to reverse destiny.

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