The Boy and the Heron Ending, Explained

Key Takeaways

• The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, marking his farewell to creating new stories for the world.
• The movie revolves around a magical world created by a granduncle where a tower’s blocks maintain existence.
• Despite returning to reality, the characters, including Mahito and his family, forget the magical world’s existence over time.

The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki’s last film. This is his Swan Song. His last gift to humanity. Studio Ghibli will still produce more movies and TV series in the future, but we will no longer see any new stories from Mr. Miyazaki, one of the most beloved, respected, and influential directors that the world has ever seen. The man is already well into his twilight years and the time has finally come for him to put down his pencil, rest, and spend his precious time with his loved ones.

The Boy and the Heron still bear the hallmark “timeless beauty” that we all know and love from Hayao Miyazaki’s works. That being said, this is by far Hayao Miyazaki’s most cryptic film. You can immerse yourself in the story for more than 2 hours and still feel rather confused with what you just saw. So with that in mind, here are some explanations for the ending of The Boy and the Heron.

The Fragile World, Explained

• Character’s Name: Mahito Maki
• Voice Actor: Soma Santoki (JP)/Luca Padovan (EN)

Mahito’s original purpose in going into the mysterious world is to find his stepmother, Natsuko. But in the process of doing so, he unknowingly embarks on a journey that leads him to the creator of the world itself, his Great Granduncle. As it turns out, the granduncle was the one who created this strange and fascinating world and he’s the one who keeps it alive all this time.

Once every three days, this frail old man has to stack pieces of blocks to create a tower of blocks. If the tower stays intact, then the world and everything in it will live on for another day. If he messed up and the tower block fell, however, then this fragile world would immediately start to unravel back to nothingness.

The Fall of the Magical World, Explained

• Character’s Name: Granduncle
• Voice Actor: Shōhei Hino (JP)/Mark Hamill (EN)

The granduncle knows that he is near the end of his life, so he needs to pass the responsibility of maintaining his creation to a successor. Unfortunately for him, only his blood relative can take on his mantle. Fortunately for him, his great-grandnephew Mahito suddenly comes from the real world.

Naturally, the granduncle asks Mahito to be his successor and takes on the responsibility of being the pillar that holds this strange world together. Mahito refuses. He only wants to find his stepmother and go back together to the real world. With nobody adding a new block to the tower, everything quickly falls apart. The ground trembles, the sky splits open, and within minutes, this magical world ceases to exist.

The Different Timelines, Explained

• Character’s Name: Lady Himi
• Voice Actor: Aimyon (JP)/Karen Fukuhara (EN)

One of the people who greatly helps Mahito during his brief stay in the magical world is a girl named Lady Himi. As it turns out, she is actually Mahito’s mother. Decades ago, when she was just a teenager, Himi entered a mysterious tower in the woods and was stranded in this magical world. She’s been living here ever since.

So how is it possible for Mahito to meet the younger version of her late mother? Well, think of this magical world as the Time Variance Authority (TVA) from the MCU Loki TV series. Just like in TVA, time flows differently in that magical place. It has doors that connect to every place at every time, but once inside the tower and into the magical world, everything exists in the same plane of existence. That’s why the teenage Himi can meet his teenage son, which incidentally gives Mahito a chance to say a proper goodbye to his mother.

The Return to Real Life, Explained

• Character’s Name: Shoichi Maki
• Voice Actor: Takuya Kimura (JP)/Christian Bale (EN)

When the magical world collapses, the manic pelicans, the man-eating parakeet, and the four humans in this magical realm—Mahito, Natsuko, Lady Himi, and Kiriko—rush to the doors that will lead them back to Earth. At this time, the Parakeet King and his deranged citizens not only try to outrun the destruction but also try to kill the one who caused this catastrophe, which is Mahito who refuses to take on his Granduncle role.

However, the moment they enter the door and are transported back to Earth, the giant parakeets, the talking pelicans, and other magical animals return to their original form. They gained those peculiar forms because Mahito’s granduncle wanted them to. Now that he and his magical world cease to exist, the animals are free from the effect of his magic, that’s why they are back to their true form.

The Return to Tokyo, Explained

• Character’s Name: The Gray Heron
• Voice Actor: Masaki Suda (JP)/ Robert Pattinson (EN)

In the very last scene of the movie, we see Mahito and his family ready to leave the house to go back to Tokyo, and then the screen cuts to black. There’s no mention of the magical world whatsoever. There are two explanations for this. First, the war is finally over, so they can finally back to their house in Tokyo. Since his father’s main factory is in Tokyo, it makes sense for them to come back now that everything has calmed down.

The second reason is because Mahito and Natsuko have forgotten about the existence of the magical world and everything that had happened while they were there. When they escaped the implosion, the Grey Heron told Mahito that he would forget about the magical world. That’s what happened to those who got back to Earth, like Mahito’s mother. Even if Mahito keeps a piece of his granduncle’s creation block, the memory of that world and the significance of that piece of block will inevitably be forgotten as time goes on.

“Forgetting is normal. You’ll forget in time. You Should. So long, friend!”

These are the explanations for some of the most significant events that happen at the end of the movie. Bear in mind that these are merely surface-level explanations. There are more than meets the eye to The Boy and the Heron. So we implore you to put on your philosophical hat and watch this movie once again. You’ll find more meaningful questions that will lead you to even more meaningful answers. And that holds true for all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films.

The Boy and the Heron is available to stream on Netflix.