8 Fantasy Show Endings That Are Genuine Masterpieces

Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for multiple TV shows.It’s tough enough to make a fantasy TV series that’s amazing from beginning to end, but to make one that sticks the landing in such a perfect way that its ending can be called a masterpiece? That’s an even rarer occurrence, one that all fans of the genre always know to treasure. Throughout history, there have been certain fantasy show endings which have earned their spot among the greatest of all time, and then some.

There are several ways in which a fantasy show can have an ending that’s a total masterpiece, depending on what kind of series it is. Some can have elements of comedy, others are lethally serious; some are explosively magical, others tone down the fantastical elements a bit; some are from award-winning “prestige” shows, others are from cult favorites for younger audiences. Regardless of the case, when a fantasy show has such a resounding conclusion, it makes the series a must-see for all fans of the genre.

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (1997–2003)

Image via UPN

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fundamentally revolutionized teen genre television, and over the years, it has proven to be one of the most influential fantasy shows of the ’90s and 2000s. It introduced a blend of monster-of-the-week episodes with overarching serialized elements, something that wasn’t particularly common on American broadcast television at the time. And just like that, it quickly became one of the biggest cult classics in the history of fantasy television.

Part of what makes Buffy so great and so undeniably timeless is that it has one of the most satisfying fantasy show endings of all time. “Chosen” is a hell of a final episode, reconstructing and elevating the feminist mythos that the whole show spent seven seasons building. Instead of remaining the Chosen One, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) uses Willow’s (Alyson Hannigan) magic to empower every potential Slayer around the world. Character arcs get satisfying conclusions, thematic threads are powerfully resolved, and the whole mythology of the narrative gets rebuilt.

Image via Bones

Hiromu Arakawa‘s manga series Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the best of the 21st century, so even though the 2003 anime series was great, fans were craving an anime experience more faithful to the source material. That’s precisely what Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was conceived as: a direct adaptation of the manga series stripped of any kind of filler or narrative fat there could have been. The resulting experience is one of the most universally beloved anime series of all time.

One of the big advantages of following the source material more closely was that the ending was right there for Brotherhood to simply pick up and adapt; and what a faultless adaptation it is. Operating on the same philosophical law of Equivalent Exchange as the rest of the story, the finale is both structurally perfect and emotionally stirring. Watching Edward (Romi Park) give up his ability to perform alchemy to restore his brother’s human body is poignant and satisfying in equal measure.

‘Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace’ (2004)

Image via Channel 4

Part fantasy, part sci-fi, part horror, and 100% one of the funniest comedy miniseries that Great Britain has ever produced, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a brilliant cult classic parody poking fun at low-budget ’80s television and the auteurs who created it. There’s terrible acting, nonsensical writing, and hilariously bad special effects here, but it’s all fully intentional and in service of the story and its comedic intentions.

This series of endless intentional failures couldn’t have possibly concluded with a more deliciously disastrous ending. In the finale, Garth’s (Matthew Holness) fictional alter ego must confront a viral alien sexually-transmitted outbreak. The plot moves at a frantic pace without making a bit of sense, the microbudget makes for several hilarious moments, and the show brings its themes to an intellectually satisfying breaking point. It’s an absolute masterclass in how to write and execute the ending of a fantasy comedy show.

‘Gravity Falls’ (2012–2016)

Image via Disney XD

There’s a strong argument to be made that Gravity Falls is the biggest cult classic in the history of the Disney Channel, and it’s almost undoubtedly one of the best fantasy shows of the 2010s. This fantasy sci-fi cartoon inspired by the likes of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks may be primarily aimed at children, but all those who love genre television—regardless of their age—should be able to have an absolute blast with it from beginning to end.

The show’s climactic final arc, “Weirdmageddon,” takes place over the course of three episodes. It’s an absolute masterclass of a final story arc that takes a cosmic apocalypse and resolves it through the driving force of the whole series: the beautiful dynamics between the main characters. It’s visually striking and satisfyingly epic, striking the perfect balance between the bittersweetness of saying goodbye to a show you love and feeling entirely happy about it going out with a bang.

‘The Good Place’ (2016–2020)

There aren’t very many fantasy sitcoms out there, but even if there were hundreds upon hundreds, The Good Place would likely still be one of the very best. With its perfect blend between a high-concept comedic premise and surprisingly deep philosophical themes, it remained one of the greatest comedies on television throughout the course of its entire run. Quite fittingly, it came to one of the best TV endings of the last 10 years.

“Whenever You’re Ready” is one of the best final episodes of any sitcom in history, taking the philosophical depth and comedic sharpness of the whole series to their absolute pinnacle until bringing the whole thing to the credits. The characters realizing that an eternal afterlife eternally drains life of its meaning is quite a philosophically and spiritually daring statement, but it’s pulled off with such a wonderful, artful sense of poetry that it just works.

‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)

Image via HBO

HBO’s The Leftovers is without a doubt one of the greatest TV dramas of the 2010s, but it’s also a remarkably difficult show to categorize. Is it sci-fi? Technically, yes. Is it supernatural fantasy? Technically, also yes. But while its genre elements are subtle, the way they elevate this absolutely wonderful tale about grief, trauma, and the human condition is absolutely remarkable.

Those who prefer more bombastic, showy fantasy elements may prefer to look elsewhere; but those who love to see the genre pushed to its very limits will be enraptured by The Leftovers all the way until the very end. Many fantasy shows collapse under their own weight at the finish line because they try too hard to explain their own mythology, but this masterpiece sidesteps that obstacle brilliantly. Subversive, emotional, and mysterious, it’s one of the best ambiguous endings in all television history.

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ (2024)

Image via Netflix

Written by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude is not only one of the best books of all time, but also one of the most hugely important and influential in the history of the Spanish language. It’s worth reading in any language, just as Netflix’s television adaptation of the book is worth watching regardless of where one is from. Faithfully adapting the source material while adding plenty of its own gorgeous visual spice, it’s one of the best book-to-small-screen adaptations of recent years.

Just like the book, the show comes to a conclusion that serves as the perfect temporal magic trick, taking this centuries-spanning family epic and ending it in a moment of pure inescapable destiny. The whole ending is one big, jaw-dropping meta twist that’s as tragic as it is thought-provoking. It’s not a feel-good ending, that’s for sure, but it’s one of the best-executed tragic endings of any fantasy show in history.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005–2008)

Image via Nickelodeon

Anybody who thinks that cartoons are worthy of less respect than live-action shows only needs to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender to likely have their minds changed. It’s the highest-rated animated TV show of all time on IMDb, and for good reason. Epic, exciting, mature, visually delightful, and full of riveting character development, it’s just as much of a masterpiece as history’s best live-action fantasy series—if not perhaps even better.

Indeed, Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best 2000s cartoons worth revisiting, because there’s always some new detail to discover here. Quite likely, a few of those new discoveries will come from the show’s thrilling four-part final arc. “Sozin’s Comet” is the absolute pinnacle of fantasy show endings because of just how satisfyingly it resolves the entire narrative, bringing every plot thread to a flawless close and every character arc to where they needed to get.