Even after a span of more than two decades since it came out, Cowboy Bebop remains unforgettable for its wonderful genre hybridity, the rich narrative takes, and its magnetic protagonist: Spike Spiegel. While Cowboy Bebop is only 26 episodes long, this anime series manages to philosophize life in the most exciting ways.
Especially in the final episodes, which feature the end of an era for Spiegel. Interestingly, Cowboy Bebop is set to receive a live-action Netflix adaptation, with John Cho assuming the role of Spiegel. Set in the year , in the aftermath of a massive event that rendered the Earth almost uninhabitable, Cowboy Bebop sets ups Spiegel as a bounty hunter. Spiegel, a former hitman of the Red Dragon Syndicate, is responsible for chasing criminals amid ever-rising crime rates across the galaxy.
He had a long-standing rivalry with Vicious, another Red Dragon affiliate, with whom he used to be close friends before the partnership turned sour. Cowboy Bebop ends with an epic showdown between Spike and Vicious, who engage in a dance of death while fighting for their individual ideas of justice.
The two decided to flee together to fashion a life away from the crime family. Julia answers his question with a question of her own, "Why did you love me? She asks him to run away together as they had intended to do all those years ago.
Spike and Julia go to Annie's shop only to find she has been shot in the gut. Upon hearing this news Spike decides that he must stay and face Vicious. Julia vows to remain with him until the end. They are soon joined by the assassins of the Red Dragon who chase them up on the rooftops of the city. Despite Spike managing to kill all of the assassins, Julia is shot in the back.
Spike watches in horror as Julia falls to the ground. White doves are seen flying past her as she falls. Spike screams her name and throws his gun to the side as he runs to her and takes her into his arms. Before expiring, Julia speaks her last words to Spike.
They are inaudible to the audience. Then her eyes slowly close. After watching Julia die in his arms, Spike looks up to the sky. Contrary to the expectations of his companions, Spike returns to the Bebop, but only to say goodbye to them permanently. Spike asks Jet to cook him food and then tells the story of his life as a fairy tale. They laugh together one last time , and then Jet lets him go to meet his fate.
At the entrance of the hangar Spike comes across Faye who puts her gun to his head in an attempt to stop him. She reminds him of the time he told her to forget the past and live in the present. Spike then reveals that his right eye is fake because he lost it in an accident. He also reveals that his left eye sees the past, making his past inescapable to him. Faye tells him that she recovered her memory and realizes she had nowhere else to go but the Bebop. She urges him not to die, to which he replies he's not going there to die but to find out if he's truly alive.
Words that ominously echo what Jet said to him earlier that day. As he walks away without a second glance back, Faye, grief-stricken and desperate, shoots her gun at the ceiling and then surrenders into defeated sobs.
The lyrics begin as Spike recalls memories of Julia. His recollections are interspersed with images of Vicious awaiting his attack and flashbacks of a time when Spike and Vicious were still friends.
The song continues to play throughout the majority of Spike's attack on the syndicate. Due to an effective surprise, Spike manages to break into the base of the Red Dragon through the front door and, after killing many of the members of the organization and receiving injuries to his left arm and left side of his head, Spike reaches the top floor and the room Vicious is in.
Spike throws an explosive into the room. The roof is blown off, yet Vicious remains unharmed. He has been waiting for Spike and greets him. I told you before, Spike. I'm the only one who can kill you and set you free. Spike then charges Vicious.
During the final battle, Spike is wounded by a dagger to the left collarbone and a katana to the left quadriceps. Vicious is grazed by a bullet. Amidst the struggle the rivals disarm each other. Vicious getting Spike's gun, while Spike takes possession of Vicious's katana. Locked in a standoff, Spike makes a statement that is of great significance to both of them.
Let's end it all. Immediately, Spike shoots Vicious in the chest but gets sliced across the abdomen. Vicious falls to the ground and dies. Spike spends only a few seconds looking at Vicious's body before looking up to the night's sky. The camera focuses on Spike's right eye. Now calm. Spike sees Julia. This is the first time that Spike is shown seeing Julia with his right eye. The eye that sees his present.
All series long Spike was only shown seeing Julia with his left eye. The eye that sees his past. Spike has a vision of himself holding Julia in his arms before she passed away. Julia is cast in a white light. Her last words to Spike are revealed. He glumly concurs with her. Just a bad dream. The scene fades to white. Transitioning into the final scene of the series, it is now day and the white light continues to shine over the syndicate.
Spike walks down the stairs, holding his side tightly, and is met with the astonishment of the surviving men. Spike's final line could be a callback to Wen. In session 6 , Sympathy for the Devil , as Wen was dying he asked Spike if he understood the relief that came with one's own death. In response, Spike threw Wen's harmonica up in the air, pretended to shoot it while saying "bang", but then said "as if".
This time when Spike says "bang" he does not follow it up with a denial, suggesting that Spike now understands that relief all too well. Although it is commonly believed that Spike is dead from his wounds, Shinichiro Watanabe , the creator, never actually confirmed the character's death.
An indication for Spike's death might be a fading star at the very end of the camera's upward movement in the credits. Yet some believe this fading star actually belonged to Vicious. A lost soul who has finished his battle. A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm. Where the great spirit awaits us all. It seems unlikely that Vicious of all people would have found his way.
The story of Cowboy Bebop finished with Spike laying still on the floor. White doves are shown flying over Spike's motionless body, reminiscent of the doves that flew by Julia when she was fatally shot. The song "Blue" plays as the credits roll. At the end of the credits is the aforementioned fading star, which goes out completely followed by a monochrome still of Spike's profile. During the first work by Shinichiro Watanabe on Cowboy Bebop , the first image that came to him was of Spike.
At first, though, his backstory isn't apparent. The Spike we meet in episode one seems easy-going, the very definition of carefree. But as the story develops, we gradually learn that Spike is nursing a broken heart, one that has left him melancholic almost to the point of nihilism.
During their time together, Spike fell in love with his partner's girlfriend, Julia, and the two had an affair. When they wanted to run away together, Vicious told Julia that she would have to kill Spike or he'd kill them both. But of course, she was unable to do that, so instead, Julia went into hiding.
From that point on, Spike seems to exist in a liminal state between life and death, between consciousness and unconsciousness. But across 26 episodes, everyone's favourite Space Cowboy eventually starts to develop real connections with his fellow bounty hunters aboard Bebop. Jet, Faye, Ed, and even Ein create a chosen family together, one that has the potential to bring Spike back from the brink of emptiness. But then Vicious tries to overthrow the Syndicate's leadership in part one of 'The Real Folk Blues', and suddenly, everything starts to spiral once again for Spike.
That is, until a chance encounter with Faye reunites Spike with Julia, his lost love. At that point, it really does look like the pair might find a way to stop Vicious and finally be free to live out the rest of their lives in peace, perhaps aboard the Bebop with the rest of Spike's new "family".
But hope is fleeting, and soon after they're reunited, Julia dies in a shootout with the Syndicate. Just like Spike, she too has struggled to connect with the waking world since they were separated from one another. And with that, Spike is untethered completely. Reality is utterly meaningless without Julia, and life might as well be a dream. This cruel twist of fate sticks the knife in further for people watching back home when Spike realises that the only way out is a fight to the death with Vicious, one where his own survival no longer matters.
Bereft, Spike feels more alone than he ever thought possible, and that's why his goodbye talks with Jet and Faye hurt so much. Then came the Bebop. Then came the psychological resistance. Maybe they could take out Vicious and finally be free of syndicate goons.
Maybe they could join Faye and Jet on the Bebop. Their old friend Annie dies, perhaps believing some version of this might come to pass. Then the bullets start flying again. What happens instead is a character death, but it also leaves Spike feeling as if he has nothing left. With Julia gone, so goes what he thought was his last best shot at a meaningful relationship with another person. As if they were searching frantically for proof that they were alive.
He wants his partner in the bounty-hunting business to stick around, and he wants his friend to stay alive. Spike responds with this story:. There once was a tiger-striped cat. Then one day the cat became a stray cat which meant he was free.
He met a white female cat and the two of them spent their days together happily. Well, years passed and the white cat grew weak and died of old age.
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