The Odyssey: Explaining the Last Scene of Christopher Nolan’s New Epic

Spoilers travel for The Odyssey.

Does it consciousness a small silly to effort to explicate the ending of a communicative that’s been astir for thousands of years? For sure. But astatine the aforesaid time, erstwhile it comes to the movie mentation of The Odyssey, based connected the epic communicative by Homer, writer/director Christopher Nolan goes successful precise antithetic absorption than the root worldly – and the last scene(s) of the movie yet propulsion backmost and outright authorities what the movie is truly about, and wherefore Nolan is making his ain adaptation now, successful 2026. Short version? War sucks, man.

There’s evidently a batch much going connected here, but briefly, let’s recap however the movie ends for immoderate context, and past we tin sermon a small further however Homer (d’oh!) ended the original, and posit a spot astir wherefore Nolan (why you little…) went successful the absorption helium did.

The Odyssey Ending Recap

After yet returning location to Ithaca, Odysseus (Matt Damon) pretends to beryllium a beggar connected the proposal of the shadiness of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie). The second is successful Hades acknowledgment to returning location from the Trojan War reasoning he’d beryllium greeted arsenic a hero, lone to beryllium assassinated by his ain wife, Clytemnestra (Lupita N’yongo). Basically, Agamemnon suggested Odysseus get the laic of the onshore aft astir a decennary away, and it turns retired this is beauteous bully advice… Odysseus’s tribunal has been taken implicit by a clump of rambunctious suitors each vying for the manus of his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway).

Odysseus reconnects with his aged state Eumaeus (John Leguizamo), who doesn’t recognize who he’s talking to (he’s blind, we tin springiness him a pass), though helps Odysseus recognize that his lad Telemachus (Tom Holland) is successful occupation acknowledgment to a crippled by the suitors, led by the cowardly, lying Antinous (Robert Pattinson). Odysseus helps prevention Telemachus, who figures retired acknowledgment to clues successful discourse that this “beggar” is his missing father, though they support the concealed agelong capable for Odysseus to be a meal and observe what the suitors are up to.

At the extremity of the evening, Odysseus is called distant (still successful disguise) by Penelope, who likes to speech to travelers to get imaginable quality of her husband. We’re really going to skip what happens present due to the fact that it’s much important to delve into aboriginal astatine length. Suffice to accidental they person a speech that ends with Penelope offering a situation to the suitors, 1 that ostensibly volition pb to her marrying whoever tin triumph the contest.

The adjacent evening, the contention is revealed: Whoever tin drawstring Odysseus’s aged hunting bow, and past occurrence an arrow done a enactment of axes, volition triumph Penelope’s manus successful marriage. Guess who the lone idiosyncratic is who was ever capable to execute this feat? Odysseus, of course, and erstwhile helium again is capable to implicit it, helium reveals himself. The suitors attack, helium and Telemachus combat them back, and portion galore of the suitors are killed, including Antinous, much crook the knee, welcoming backmost their king.

Odysseus is injured successful the process, but – contempt what it momentarily seems to Penelope – the wounds are not fatal. Instead, helium keeps a committedness helium made to Sinon (Elliot Page), a warrior his actions sent to Hades, to sail disconnected into the West to grant his fallen soldiers. Telemachus is named king of Ithaca to support the onshore safe, and we extremity with Odysseus and Penelope connected a boat. Earlier successful the movie, they had talked astir sailing the oversea and chasing the mounting sun, which is portion of what they bash here. But there’s different facet to it, which is wherever we request to leap backmost and sermon what Odysseus and Penelope speech astir earlier the situation evening, AKA possibly the astir important country successful the full movie.

The Most Crucial Scene successful The Odyssey

See, here’s the thing: Plot is not taxable oregon story. And portion determination are crippled elements that Nolan holds backmost until the last enactment of the movie, the crushed helium holds them adjacent to his thorax are due to the fact that Odysseus’s whole, well, odyssey is astir him coming astir to realizing what helium did during the Trojan War was inherently wrong. It isn’t until helium tells Penelope the existent communicative of what happened with the Trojan Horse and what he’s travel to recognize implicit these agelong years of travel location that helium genuinely understands wherever helium went astray, and what helium needs to bash next.

Yes, helium led Agamemnon’s service to victory. But each movie agelong we’ve been proceeding astir the mysterious menace of the Men From the Sea. Those mysterious, deadly men? They are Agamemnon’s army, sacking villages and raping connected their mode home. We get to spot this astatine 1 constituent arsenic a colony sets itself connected occurrence arsenic soon arsenic they spot Odysseus and his ships approaching, but there’s discourse near retired there… While Odysseus and his second-in-command Eurylochus (Himesh Patel) contiguous themselves arsenic affable allies, determination are gaps successful the story. Why are they inactive sacking that village? Why does the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) deliberation Odysseus’s men are thing but rapist pigs? There’s an underlying consciousness of “not each men” moving done the movie wherever we’re expected to place Odysseus’s unit arsenic heroes, but possibly they are not astir arsenic heroic arsenic they purport themselves to be. Certainly, it’s Odysseus’s ain hubris that leads to them being stuck astatine oversea erstwhile helium unnecessarily shoots an arrow astatine the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), who turns retired to beryllium the lad of Poseiden. While Poseiden possibly goes a small implicit the apical successful response, Odysseus taking petty vengeance for Polyphemus eating his men, erstwhile the cyclops is simply doing what is successful his nature, is not the enactment of a hero.

Odysseus’s whole, well, odyssey is astir him coming astir to realizing what helium did during the Trojan War was inherently wrong. “

And that’s what Odysseus, successful disguise arsenic a beggar, lays retired for Penelope. She’s been waiting each these years for her hubby to return, but helium mightiness arsenic good person died the time helium hatched the program to usage the Trojan Horse to breach the walls of Troy. There’s a batch of speech successful the movie of “Zeus’s Law,” which states that you can’t crook anyone distant arsenic they mightiness beryllium a deity successful disguise. Odysseus utilized that to instrumentality the Trojans into accepting the horse, which broke that law; and further, arsenic Odysseus lays out, it broke the delicate equilibrium of rules we person that signifier a society. He watched arsenic “10 years of rage” spilled into the walls of Troy, starring to the decease of a priestess of Athena (Zendaya), beheaded arsenic helium watched. Yes, the service spurned the gods, and Odysseus was punished for it; but much than that, they broke society. The walls of Troy crumbling and falling down are a precise literal practice of however warfare destroys civilization, and portion Odysseus spent years denying it, yet helium has travel to judge his precise singular relation successful this peculiar rhythm of darkness.

This is specifically utilized to spur connected Penelope to seemingly springiness up the representation of her husband, though there’s an mentation that she knows – oregon hopes – the beggar is Odysseus, and puts distant a situation that lone helium could complete. But it besides ties into the last country arsenic Penelope and Odysseus straight-up speech astir however civilizations ever autumn due to the fact that of war, entering periods of darkness, but done a reminder of past there’s anticipation that adjacent clip they won’t repetition those mistakes. Again, they are rather virtually chasing the fading airy of civilization, which volition soon autumn into darkness; but each mounting of the prima yet leads to a caller dawn… Only for the rhythm to repeat.

And that’s what Nolan is getting astatine here: We are currently, successful the modern time of 2026, starring to our ain inevitable demolition by breaking our ain laws, spurning our ain gods, by warring with each other. It’s a taxable that Nolan has embraced repeatedly, astir precocious with Oppenheimer, the movie straight preceding this one, wherever the filmmaker attempted to amusement however our hubris successful splitting the atom was some a technological leap and besides broke the world. In The Odyssey, helium goes thousands of years backmost successful clip to explicate however this is thing new, and humanity volition ever pb to its ain downfall. And heck, it's a taxable done each his movies. Sure, Batman mightiness beryllium a lighter taxable than the improvement of the atomic weaponry oregon the autumn of the Greeks. But that trilogy is threaded done with concepts similar “escalation” and the celebrated “some men conscionable privation to ticker the satellite burn” code from The Dark Knight.

How The Odyssey Ending Is Different From Homer’s Original

This is decidedly antithetic from what Homer laid retired successful The Odyssey, which follows Odysseus’s reunion with Penelope with different reunion: He yet meets his father, Laertes, erstwhile again. The second does not look successful the movie, but is saved for past successful Homer’s original, repositioning the communicative arsenic 1 of fathers and sons and returning heroes. There are a lot of interpretations of Homer’s epic, arsenic you tin apt imagine, but portion there’s been assorted discussions astir whether Odysseus is simply a leader oregon not, helium is triumphant astatine the end… And besides returns to being king of Ithaca, alongside Penelope arsenic his queen. It’s a blessed ending, careless of what you, the reader, deliberation of Odysseus’s actions.

Nolan doesn’t needfully extremity his mentation of The Odyssey connected a sour note, but by excising Laertes, and focusing alternatively of Odysseus and Telemachus, helium repositions this arsenic however the older generation, mired successful everlastingly wars, has failed, and it’s clip for the younger procreation to instrumentality their ain plaything astatine things. Whether they volition marque the aforesaid mistakes is up to them.

Penelope and Odysseus’s last lines successful the movie boil down to however we whitethorn disregard the written word, but stories built to instruct america however to navigate the acheronian volition past successful opus – oregon successful this case, movies. Basically, Nolan is utilizing the erstwhile king and queen arsenic his mouthpiece to thrust location that the crushed helium is making a movie mentation of The Odyssey present is due to the fact that we successful the assemblage and humans astatine ample are nary longer learning the lessons Homer laid down thousands of years agone successful the written word, and these stories request to survive. Not simply due to the fact that of the oral tradition, but arsenic a reminder that those who disregard past are doomed to repetition it.

Or successful short? War sucks, man.

You tin chat with Alex Zalben connected BlueSky @azalben.bsky.social, oregon find him regularly yapping connected the Comic Book Club podcast.