Madoka Magica: Just Sign On The Dotted Line

[Jorlem]

What about wording a wish so it would fix the laws of thermodynamics, retroactively?
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[HoagieOfDoom]

For a being incapable of emotions, Kyubei sure has 'smug' down.

Smug? I think Kyubey was just making sure that Homura was aware of how badly she needs an ally to handle the Walpurgis Night. He's repeatedly stated how he has no real concept of emotions, (how much of that is an act, well...) and his ultimate goal, at this point, is ensuring that Madoka forms a contract.

What about wording a wish so it would fix the laws of thermodynamics, retroactively?

If it were that simple, Kyubey or another of his race would have told them about it point blank and made them wish for that.

You know what I like about this show? Madoka, by this point, is fully aware that Kyubey has no concern for her mental or physical wellbeing and is actively resisting his offer. Yet, it's increasingly, tragically obvious that she's going to have to accept, not simply from knowledge that we, the viewers, can glean from meta-materials (the opening, official art, etc) but just from goings-on in the show.

Delicious, delicious tragedy.

"What is your wish, Madoka?"
"I'd like every member of your species and all and any of their associates to be immediately eradicated from this and any other universe. And your head in a bowl, to keep on my night-table. Every morning I would look up into your lifeless smile and wave, like this. Can you and yours arrange that for me, Kyubei ?"

You get +1 Internet Points for the B5 reference.

Now there's an image: Vir Cotto vs. Kyubey.

[Jorlem]

Well, it was stated that one of the ways that Madoka is special is that her wish can actually break the laws of the universe. It could be that this is the first time that someone with this level of potential has been discovered, so it hadn't even been considered as a possibility, especially since Kyubei's people don't really understand magic anyway.

Also, Kyubei has those rules in place that prevent him from suggesting wishes, and I doubt he can change or alter those rules. It could be that the wish/magical girl thing doesn't work unless the girl makes the wish on her own. Magic can be finicky, sometimes.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[SCM Writer of 2814]

Which could explain why Cubey is tempting Madoka AND why Homura is pulling all the stops to delay her wishing. She wants her to know EVERYTHING, so that, if she IS a reality warper level wisher, she'd try the 'change the laws of the universe' wish. It's not that Cubey hasn't tried to grant the wish before, it's that no one besides Madoka can pull it off. And the reason Homura wne t back in time so many times is because the others Madokas kept wishing for cake...
--------------------------------------
I am the LORD OF THE CRACK!
Check out said crack:
Takamachi Nanoha of 2814- Green Lantern Nanoha. To START! Now with a TvTropes page!
FATE/Holy Grail War of 2814- The Fifth Holy Grail War with Magical Girl Prisma Illya, in the DCAU, from the above story.
Magical Girl Magistra Erebea Molly- the world's first Dresden Files/TvTropes Crossover.
VENGEANCE! The Musical! The Story of Uchiha Sasuke

[paladindythe]

Epsiode 10 stuff:

Spoiler

Homura really has been pushing the reset button, over and over again. It's just that instead of there being multiple copies of her, she 'wakes up' remembering everything and trying to find a way to save Madoka--to keep her from dying one way or another. There's also a hint that there's some kinda of... reduced entropy from her doing this.

[Angryoptimist]

Beat to it a couple times over, it seems. Wanted to say

Spoiler

"Homura's a freaking looper!"

, but it's not quite as much fun without the scoop.

Anyway...

Spoiler

You noticed that too, huh, paladindythe? Probably the most awesome ending would be if the entropy reduction were to turn out to be cumulative and Homura just goes back in time so many times that Kyubey's race just goes, "Welp! Everything's great, so we won't be needing to turn bunches of little girls into liches after all!" Although that wouldn't be so great for Homura, since she'd pretty much have to suicide for a "good end".

She wants her to know EVERYTHING, so that, if she IS a reality warper level wisher, she'd try the 'change the laws of the universe' wish.

Actually, I take that back, the best ending would be that

Spoiler

Homura goes back again and things proceed as before, with the necessary hints of godlike power thrown at Madoka, only this time

at some point Homura shows Madoka TTGL and Madoka makes a wish which involves going beyond the impossible and kicking reason to the curb (big crunch ahoy!).

• XKCD #1288
  
• FoxReplace for Firefox

Two great tastes that go great together!

[ECSNorway]

I'm reminded a lot of Shojo Kakumei Utena, with the lavish, almost stylized architecture, schizo-tech, and the sheer wrongness underlying the whole Magical Girl Quest...

And I'm only up to ep 5, so far.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[ECSNorway]

Okay, so, I just shotgunned the rest of it. And, jeebus chrispie, what a ride.

Current speculation:

Spoiler

Madoka goes into Walpurgisnacht, and decides to accept a contract in order to save Homura. Her wish? That she'd become a Magical Girl in time to save Homura from having to be so dark. Cue repeat of Timeline One....

--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Black Aeronaut]

GAH! You mean that this whole thing is really

Spoiler

a giant multi-stage time-loop!? If that's true, then I'd bet that Kyubei has got some sort of cheat that let's him send whatever energy he collects back to his people.

[Jinx999]

Someone posted this on rpg.net. It MIGHT cover all possible ends.

[Jorlem]

I'm in favor of the 'What Has Science Done end'.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[ECSNorway]

For the curious, at least one of the spin-off manga is being serialized on MangaFox:

http://www.mangafox.com/m...t_malice/v01/c001/1.html
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[SCM Writer of 2814]

For some reason, I like 'Morning Rescue' end, if only because the image of those jumpsuited guys rappelling down to use orange juice to save the world is HILARIOUS!
--------------------------------------
I am the LORD OF THE CRACK!
Check out said crack:
Takamachi Nanoha of 2814- Green Lantern Nanoha. To START! Now with a TvTropes page!
FATE/Holy Grail War of 2814- The Fifth Holy Grail War with Magical Girl Prisma Illya, in the DCAU, from the above story.
Magical Girl Magistra Erebea Molly- the world's first Dresden Files/TvTropes Crossover.
VENGEANCE! The Musical! The Story of Uchiha Sasuke

[paladindythe]

For those of you that have watched episode 10, or just don't care about spoilers, here's a scorecard for guessing the ending.

[Ankhani]

*Points to previous page*

My "totally clueless never seen a clip" vote for the ending: Perspective Switch! The Big Bad is actually the Hero, and gets gunned down in a tragic ending by the evil magical girls. The world falls into an dystopia of rainbows, unicorns, and sunshine.
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The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Jorlem]

Depending on how you look at Kyubei, that... could actually work, minus the rainbows, unicorns, and sunshine.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[Black Aeronaut]

Looks like we won't be seeing the ending anytime soon, if at all. Modoka's been shit-canned, along with a whole slew of others due to the quake. (Cue the 'Yah right's.)

Article at Sankaku Complex (beware of NSFW adverts)

[nemonowan]

There is actually some uncertainty about when and where the last episodes will air. In one hand not all stations have announced the suspension, but on the other hand Urobuchi has said that they are glad for the delay because production is late and they could use an extra week to keep polishing the end. Link at AnimeNewsNetwork

[Berk]

It was not canned, there are simply delays.

Having half the country go underwater is certainly a valid reason to have other things to worry about, especially since Madoka was being produced right up to the last minute, old school style, on each episode.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Jorlem]

I just rewatched episode 10, and I was wondering: did anyone else catch Kyubei's Cheshire Cat style fade in, right before he offered to grant Homura's wish? Wasn't that creepy?
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[Berk]

Looking back through the show, QB's pretty much Nightmare Fuel the whole way through.

He gets MORE horrific in retrospect when you watch it a second time.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[SCM Writer of 2814]

Man, people think about this show a lot. Presenting the population dynamics/cycle of predation among PMMM: http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Population_dynamics
--------------------------------------
I am the LORD OF THE CRACK!
Check out said crack:
Takamachi Nanoha of 2814- Green Lantern Nanoha. To START! Now with a TvTropes page!
FATE/Holy Grail War of 2814- The Fifth Holy Grail War with Magical Girl Prisma Illya, in the DCAU, from the above story.
Magical Girl Magistra Erebea Molly- the world's first Dresden Files/TvTropes Crossover.
VENGEANCE! The Musical! The Story of Uchiha Sasuke

[ECSNorway]

And the latest crack to spill from the mouth of the director is that he'd like to do a "second season" of "slice of life stories" for the "strong, beloved characters" they've created for this.

Yeah. Right.

He's said so much so far that's been clearly BS'ing us that I think we can take it as a given that it's going to be a Bad End.

My money's still on "Madoka punches the 'reset' button and we're back to Timeline 1" ending.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Berk]

Shinbo isn't the one you should be scared of, Shinbo is just an avant garde director.

Gen Urobuchi is the dangerous one, he's the writer and feels 'nothing but contempt' for 'so-called happiness.'

I've commented on other forums that it would be FASCINATING to see an aftermath, perhaps a final reset where everything goes Right for a change. Homura would be amazing to see in that, if her character is handled intelligently, having to re-civilize herself.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Jorlem]

I noticed something rewatching, that hadn't clicked before. The theme song, read the lyrics for it as if Homura was singing it.
Edit:

SCM Writer of 2814
wrote:

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Man, people think about this show a lot.
Presenting the population dynamics/cycle of predation among PMMM: http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Population_dynamics

The pictures on that are great!  Whoever drew those is awesome.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.