Netflix has released a film adaptation of Soman Chainani’s book series called The School for Good and Evil on October 19, 2022, and is bound to work on its sequel and franchise soon with its film director Paul Fieg. Here is what happened in the ending and how it will set up its future films.
The Ending of The School For Good and Evil Explained: What Happened In The School For Good and Evil?
Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) dreams of escaping the village someday, believing in one of her mother’s last words, that she is destined for greater things. Upon landing in a nearby bookstore to reread old fairytale books, she and her best friend Agatha ‘Aggie’ (Sofia Wylie) happened to see an embossing of The School for Good and Evil, where they train heroes (protagonists) and villains (antagonists) to play their roles in their eventual fairytale adventure.
This drives Sophie to write an admission letter as to why she deserves to be in the school for good, even though she had initially promised Agatha or ‘Aggie’ as she calls her, that she would not leave her side. Aggie saw Sophie getting taken away by a Stymph — a large skeletal bird that was trained to take potential students to the school for good and evil. However, instead of Sophie getting dropped into the school for good as she had hoped to, she was instead tossed into the waters in front of the school for evil, while her best friend Aggie ends up in a flowerbed in front of the school for good.
This, of course, leads the students in both schools in awe at the unlikely turn of events, seeing as Aggie’s choice of clothing held a closer resemblance to the school for evil, while Sophie’s long blonde hair and name would presumably land her in the school for good. This becomes the central conflict bubbling up between the two best friends as Aggie’s main goal was to bring them both back home, while Sophie wants to take her destined path of being a princess in the school for good. Also Read: Will There Be a The School for Good and Evil 2?
The Ending of The School For Good and Evil Explained: Were Sophie and Agatha Really Put In the ‘Wrong’ Schools?
Throughout the film, all Agatha had echoed to the school of good’s dean, Dovey (Kerry Washinton), was to bring her and Sophie home, while Sophie completely denies the school she’s been assigned to. Their appearances and characteristics had always come into play when other students would point out they had been in the wrong schools, but mostly towards Agatha.
Agatha, on the other hand, grew up with this mistreatment and paid no mind which school she landed in. Instead, she comes up with a list of potential princes for Sophie’s ‘True Love’s Kiss’ because the sooner they prove the School Master’s ‘mistake’ of their arrival, the sooner they could figure out how exactly they could get out of there. However, Agatha had proven time and time again that she belongs in the school for good, and one of them being how selfless and kind she was. Not only had her only goal been to bring her and Sophie back home, she wished the same to the Wish Fish, which actually brought the Wish Fish back into its human form. As it turned out, the Wish Fish had been one of the students who ‘failed’ in the school for good and so was turned into an animal to fulfill their role in fairytales.
As for Sophie, although her typical princess appearance shows she would be worthy of being cast as a princess or protagonist, along with her ability to talk to animals, her manner of speaking, her yearning to be in the ‘right’ school backfired as it only revealed her true ‘destiny’ — and that is to be a villain.
During a school for evil class where they showcase their powers to the dean, Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron), Hester challenged Sophie out of her pure frustration towards the girl’s whining. When Hester summoned her pet dragon from her back tattoo, Sophie sought help from her animal friends, and instead of trying to prove that she was ‘good’ with speaking to animals, a swarm of bees suffocated the dragon, thus suffocating the owner, as well.
The Ending of The School For Good and Evil Explained: How Did Sophie Become Good In The End? How Did Sophie and Agatha get back home?
Do you remember what happened in Frozen and in Maleficent? Instead of having their ‘Prince Charmings’ kiss them back to life, the films portrayed True Love’s Kiss does not necessarily have to be romantic, but could be broken by a true lasting bond with friends and family. The School for Good and Evil exhibited exactly that, too.
Considering it was Rafal’s (Kit Young) dark blood magic that transformed Sophie’s powers and influenced her to become ‘more evil’, it turned her closer to the form of a witch — it would seem the more evil she was, the uglier she became, which made Rafal trick her into a ‘True Love’s Kiss’ (Evil’s Kiss) to rule both schools. And by ‘rule’, he actually meant destroying the balance of good and evil.
As it turned out, the ‘good’ school master had been long killed by Rafal, all a part of his plan to make the Good become more vain, without realizing that their ‘defenses’ would be considered ‘evil’ in a different context.
Through this kiss, it made Rafal more powerful and only then had Sophie realized she did the wrong thing. In an attempt to save her, Agatha steps in to confront Rafal, but before he kills her with the Storian quill, Sophie jumps in to save her best friend. The school buildings were rebuilt from crumbles and the students were brought back to life.
Meanwhile, Prince Tedros tried saving Sophie and Agatha, but Rafal turned Excalibur away, ending up within Agatha and Sophie’s range. Agatha stood up against Rafal, Sophie used her finger glow magic to slide the sword to Agatha, thus, ‘defeating’ Rafal. Agatha cried for Sophie, thinking she was dead, only to have revived her with her pure teardrops on her best friend’s wounds, and planted a kiss to bring her back to life. Because of the kiss between these two friends, they found a portal back to their Gavaldon, but also managed to bring with them their finger glow magic to stop the bullies in the village. However, their story is just beginning, as implied when Tedros’ arrow flowed through a vortex, being cut in half by a hunting knife. As for how it happened, it is possible that this calls for a sequel, deeming the cliffhanger necessary in teasing Sophie and Agatha’s return.
There are no official release dates yet for The School for Good and Evil 2 yet, but Director Paul Fieg is in hopes of delivering a franchise of the book series.
