Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for the Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts season 3 finale.

The Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts season 3 finale ends the war between Kipo and Dr. Emilia, deciding the future for both humans and mutes. Premiering earlier this year, all three seasons of Kipo debuted in 2020 on Netflix. The series hails from DreamWorks Animation and Studio Mir, a collaboration that had previously resulted in Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Kipo, however, is a show more in the vein of Steven Universe than Voltron. Created by Radford Sechrist and developed for TV by Bill Wolkoff, Kipo stars Karen Fukuhara in the lead role and includes Sterling K. Brown and Dan Stevens among its cast. Kipo is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth where animals have become sentient and are called mutes, while humans have been forced underground. But when a young human girl, Kipo, is lost on the surface and discovers she has both human and mute DNA, she becomes the key to making peace between the two groups.

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Dr. Emilia Defeated

Dr. Emilia comes scarily close to winning the day in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts season 3 finale, and it’s really only due to her own hubris that she’s defeated at all. Kipo as the Mega Jaguar isn’t strong enough to stop the grotesque, two-headed Mega Mute that Dr. Emilia transforms into, even with the help of her friends. Instead, it’s only when Dr. Emilia loses herself in this monstrous form – forgetting who she is because she transformed without first finding an emotional anchor to her human life – that Kipo even stands a chance.

Rather than leave Dr. Emilia as she is, confused and frightened in a Mega Mute prison of her own making, Kipo chooses to use the cure on Dr. Emilia and turn her back into a human. “Nobody deserves to have their mind taken away from them,” Kipo says, emphasizing not only the cruelty of Dr. Emilia’s wish to do exactly that to the mutes, but also that she won’t even condemn her worst enemy to that fate. Of course, Dr. Emilia quickly blows her one shot at redemption when in return to Kipo’s kind gesture she tries stabbing her with broken glass, only to be stopped by Mandu.

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Dr. Emilia then tumbles over the edge and into the ruins of her old burrow where she’s taken by Fun Gus, trapped for the rest of her life with a mute who wants nothing more than to be her friend. Dr. Emilia is cruel and hateful and so consumed by her desire to rid the world of mutes that she can’t even entertain the idea she might be wrong, and as such she receives, as Benson puts it, “as good a punishment as any.”

Scarlemagne Redeemed

For much of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Scarlemagne has been the villain, but that changes with season 3. Beginning as Kipo’s prisoner following his defeat in the season 2 finale, Scarlemagne slowly earns the trust of the other mutes, and more importantly reconnects with his parents, Lio and Song. In the season 3 finale, after Lio and Song protect Scarlemagne from the fireworks-released cure, all three embrace as a family again in what’s easily the episode’s most heartwarming moment.

From there, though, things take a tragic turn as Scarlemagne sacrifices himself in order to buy time for Kipo during her fight with Dr. Emilia’s Mega Mute. It’s a noble moment for the character, allowing him to not only stand alongside his sister but also get some revenge on Dr. Emilia for all the harm she caused him and his family. Given the character’s villainous past, it isn’t too surprising Scarlemagne doesn’t make it out of the finale alive. But in his final moments, he reclaims his original identity as Hugo, and that in a way feels like a victory.

Humans & Mutes Coexisting

The biggest triumph, however, is that of Kipo’s success in bringing humans and mutes together. Her Prahm idea works even better than she hoped. Of course, it also endangers the mutes by gathering them all in one place and giving Dr. Emilia the chance to cure them with one big fireworks show. But it also gives the gathered humans a chance to prove they’ve overcome their prejudices and fears, and when the fireworks go off, the humans protect every mute from the cure-laden ash.

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This is the moment when Dr. Emilia truly loses because it proves her hateful rhetoric hasn’t poisoned the other humans against the mutes. It’s triumphant not only for Kipo and her friends, but for the future of this world that remains home to both groups. The conflict throughout all of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts has been the divide between humans and mutes, and in getting one side to stick up for the other, Kipo finally closes the gap between them.

The Future of Kipo

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts season 3 has already been confirmed as the final season of the show, so there don’t currently appear to be any plans to continue the story. And frankly, that makes sense given that it ends with an epilogue set five years in the future, which nicely wraps up most characters’ stories. Benson and Troy, now a couple, operate a popular restaurant. Dave has a gig as a guest lecturer, giving talks at the observatory now run by Billions and Kipo’s parents. Wolf’s corgi has given birth to puppies, and now she has a pack all her own.

Strangely, the epilogue doesn’t give many details for what Kipo is now doing with her time, but it does show her visiting a statue that’s been erected to honor Hugo – another nice touch that connects his sacrifice to the peaceful world his family can now enjoy. It’s there that Kipo is seen having a picnic lunch with her friends and family, enjoying the hard won peace. The ending of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeastsseason 3 leaves the door open with Kipo, Wolf, Benson, and Dave riding off on various mega animals towards new adventures, but more importantly, it delivers a satisfying end to this chapter of their stories.

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Sarah Moran
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Sarah Moran is a news editor for Screen Rant and has been contributing to the site since 2014. She primarily writes features and covers the ongoing development of current movies and television shows. Sarah is a graduate of THE Ohio State University where she earned her B.A. in Film Studies in 2009.

Sarah’s favorite movies range from studio era classics to the latest sci-fi and superhero blockbusters. Her favorite TV shows are animated, and she’s always up to watch a documentary. Sarah spends her free time playing too many video games and proudly supporting the Columbus Crew, the greatest team the world has ever seen.

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