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I posted this (rather late) to the ep14 thread and I guess it really belongs here more.
I actually found this last episode amazing, but when I saw it I took away something totally different than everybody else - Asuna died for realz!
I mean, why is everybody so convinced that she's alive? They didn't say that anywhere in the episode at all. Instead, we see her die, and we're all like "Asuna, nooooooooo!" Then our hope are raised when we see her in heaven, but then Kirito ends up apologizing and they end up saying good bye. It was pretty clear to me that they expected her to die if not both of them to die when the game finally finished. Why else would all the *other* players get logged out? Why else would their farewell be so tearful? If they were escaping they should be celebrating and planning how to meet/communicate quickly in the real world.
Also, in retrospect I think she *has* to die. The show began brilliantly by making us feel the impact of a virtual world with real death by the early killing of Kirito's guild and girl friend. Since then the possibility of real death has lingered over every character. That's what all the running away and honeymooning episodes were based on as well. Then before the last boss battle with all their discussions about how they'd deal with each other's deaths and why they have to risk death, dramatically is has to lead to one of their deaths.
If it ended with this, it'd be a great tragic ambiguous conclusion. Since it's not the last episode it feels like a huge cliffhanger!
It would be heart breaking. But that's what I'm expecting. I mean I was heartbroken when Asuna first took the sword for Kirito.
In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the 'return' was the first step in a grieving Kirito turning into the kind of obsessive psycho that set up this kind of game in the first place.
Well actually now that I write that 'aloud' I guess that wouldn't be very satisfying third arc either, but... gah! I'm still on pins and needles until I see Asuna's smiling face again!
Sadly a more reasonable third arc would be about the 'return' to the real world, burdened by the grief and tragedy of loss that no one could under stand because it was all virtual. Who of their band would lose it in real life? And how would Kirito find meaning and renewed purpose in a world without Asuna. Maybe Yui would play some role in that...
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