r/maninthehighcastle

I just finished the series and I was honestly expecting for something more interesting. I get that Smith commits suicide but the other part with the portal just doesn't make any sense. Where are all those people coming from? Why and more importantly how (I bet nobody in their right mind would wanna cross over from thr liberated US to the nazi one).Is there supposedly some divine intervention that takes place once Smith is dead?

I had honestly hoped he'd live. That would have been an interesting alternative. Due to Helen's death he might have changed things truly for the better, idk + the Nazi US had autonomy so he could do as he pleased.

Idk I was hoping something more. Was the show canceled? Or was this really how it was planned to end?

The secret is to read spoilers!

I hated the first episode of season 4 - it was like the show rebooted, advancing a year and introducing entirely new characters while others were completely gone - so I looked online to see if it got better. When so many people said it did not and it was a terrible season that ruined the show, I decided to quit watching and read the spoilers to find out what happens. But then a day or 2 later, I got curious and decided I’d try episode 2 just to see what I thought, with very low expectations … and I LOVED the rest of the series and could even enjoy the end!

I didn’t have the shock, outage and feeling of wasting your time that others did because I already knew about >!the portal people and John Smith killing himself!<! The ending also didn’t feel as abrupt to me as it did others, I thought a lot was wrapped up nicely.

I wonder if others who have watched it again found they enjoyed the final season a lot more the second time.

Since I can't un-see it the ending, and it's not really explained, I decided to turn that into a "feature not a bug." >!As far as we know the fabric of the multiverse has never been ripped in quite this way before. Certain people were key to it in ways we never understand. John Smith's death seems important, but Julianna supposedly was the one constant, the North Star, and she's alive.!<

>!We don't know if/how/why the new people knew about changes and how "the portal" appeared to them on the other side - if it appeared to them at all - maybe it was a bright spot shimmering in the air.!<

>!It could be all the exterminated people, coming back because they can, or for refuge if they're in a worse place, or to fight for this universe. Or - are the universes fusing?!<

Because we don't have tons of answers, we can arrive at our own explanations. >!Something new has happened, we don't know what exactly triggered it, and no one has any idea what's going to happen next. !<

Yes, this is kind of a copout. Maybe other people have better explanations. But to live with the ending I'll just think of it like the ending of The Truman Show. What happens now? We don't know, because for the first time no one is filming his every move. >!Everybody from this world is saying, "OK, this is new. What now?" Maybe the newcomers are saying WTF too - no idea. So may the universes are fusing onto one timeline with a promising future (if you're not a Nazi).!<

I would have liked to have seen Trade Minister coming through!

Having only been through the series once, and having not read the book, my opinion means nothing. I do remember that the tunnel was acting weird an episode or two before. Someone's lighter or cigarette case flew off a table.

ETA: I covered up almost everything because the software reckoned I might be inserting spoilers.

Girlfriend is watching Man in the High Castle for the first time, I watched it live/when released back in the day and joined the subreddit back then. Something I appreciate more watching now is Kido and Smiths journeys - especially in Season 4.

John Smith never feels like he believes in Nazism. It's obvious his own survival and protecting his family is what's most important to him and what drives him. At times it feels like he accidentally rises through the ranks just out of luck due to his North Star being his family's protection. It feels like he gets in over his head.

But then he loses his family, because although he's always told himself he does everything for them, more and more he starts buying into the Nazi way of doing things - and we see with alt-Smith and flashback Smith - he always was inclined to crave power and respected the Nazis power and control (alt-Smith gave up the power though).

In the end it's his family - Helen - that kills him because he's just fully become the next Adolf Hitler and stopped caring about his family in most ways.

Kido is the complete opposite. He's an absolute true believer in the Empire and has unwavering loyalty to the Empire. Even when he oversteps, like killing Frank's family, he never doubts himself. Kido has complete destroyed his family life because of his ideological convictions.

Even when he kills Frank later on, he kills Frank (a man he wronged) because he sees the fact that he didn't also kill Frank with his family as him failing to protect the empire, because him showing mercy created a radical who killed Japanese people with his bombing.

But then Kido goes the opposite direction to Smith. He loses faith somewhat in the Empire because of the General's conspiracy to kill Tagomi and sideline the royal family. And then of course his arc ends with him joining the Yakuza to protect his son - he learns that family is more important than loyalty to political ideology where Smith goes the opposite direction.

I just think it's a pretty fun parallel considering that men sort of occupy similar positions in both structures (for most of the show) and then end up basically at the beginning point of eachother's arcs. These two for me are the best characters

They could’ve made this show truly incredible. Seems like they rushed the last season and did a crummy job of writing trying to wrap everything up. Even without the “alternate reality” timelines, I think a show/series based in this alternate history post ww2 world is absolutely fascinating.
Something based in the 50s/60’s with a resistance populated by those who still remember the America before Hitler wins and has to fight to reclaim the country and way of life. Mix that in with the Nazi figures Himmler/Heydrich/Mengele as character villians in the series and you got something thrilling in so many ways. Even the way they divided the country in TMHC with Japan on the west coast has so many possibilities. Just seems they lost the plot with the film angle and supernatural elements. Just the basic alternate history is fascinating enough. Would love a do over with a more reality based plot.

The most distracting thing for me is the existence of American post-war cars and rock & roll music. Those two things speak to post-war American affluence and enthusiasm. I don't think you would have had those under fascism.

What do you think The Man in the High Castle world looks like if the U.S. is able to repel the Axis invasion of North America? The Soviets, mainland Europe, and Britain still fall to the Axis. FDR is still assassinated in 1932. The USA still struggles to get out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. However, let’s say Wendell Wilkie or some other interventionist becomes President in 1941 and begins building up America’s military.

The US government or at least the US President happens to be out of Washington the day Germany drops a nuke on DC. So, the country is still able to build its military into a superpower even as US cities are being torn a part by war. The government orchestrates a coordinated counteroffensive and eventually is able to complete its own atomic bomb project.

So, the USA winds up forcing the Axis out of the western hemisphere. They even manage to reclaim Hawaii, Midway, and are able to send a suicide bomber that drops an A-bomb on Japan to show the Axis what America is capable of.

What does the post WW2 look like in this world? Does the USA hold onto its democratic principles or does the damage from war cause the US government to fall anyways? What does the armistice look like that stops the fighting?

I finished the show today. The ending was unsatisfying - open endings usually are.

But my big question is, why did all the planes suddenly start crashing?

Smith orders the attack on the west coast to begin, but then the portal opens and all the planes crash. And I don't understand how the two are connected.

EXT. PENNSYLVANIA APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS - DAY
A high-speed, sleek Nazi transcontinental train thunders through the dense, suffocating green of the mountain forests.
INT. JOHN SMITH'S PRIVATE CAR - CONTINUOUS
REICHSFÜHRER JOHN SMITH (50s) sits alone. He is unrecognizable from the pristine officer of earlier seasons. His uniform is unbuttoned at the collar. His face is slick with sweat, eyes bloodshot and pupils dilated.
On the mahogany table sits an empty glass, a bottle of rye, and a small amber prescription bottle labeled: PERVITIN - REICHSÄRZTEKAMMER. His hands tremble violently.
He stares at a portable film projector. The lens flickers, casting a cold blue light on his face. On the small screen, a film loops: it shows an alternate version of himself, laughing, hugging his son Thomas in a sunny, peaceful 1960s American backyard.
John presses his palms against his temples. Two lifetimes of memories—the loyal Nazi monster and the loving American father—are tearing his mind apart in an amphetamine-fueled psychosis.
Suddenly, a massive EXPLOSION rocks the train. The tracks buckle. Sirens blare as the carriage tilts violently. The projector crashes to the floor, cutting the image of Thomas into darkness.
Outside, gunfire erupts. JULIANA’S RESISTANCE FACTION opens fire from the tree line, executing a precise, desperate ambush.
John’s personal guard, an ARPA OFFICER, bursts into the room, drawing his weapon.
ARPA OFFICER
Reichsführer! We are under attack! They've breached the perimeter! We need to evacuate you to the bunker!
John doesn't move. He looks at the broken film reel on the floor, then up at the officer. His eyes are wide, glassy, completely detached from reality. A manic, paranoid realization floods his face. He believes the films are a script he must force into existence before Julianan's rebels destroy everything.
JOHN SMITH
(whispering, hoarse)
They want to stop it. They want to change the blueprint.
ARPA OFFICER
Sir? We must leave, now!
John lunges across the desk, grabbing his secure military radio communicator. He punches in a red tactical code.
JOHN SMITH
(screaming into the radio)
This is the Reichsführer! Initiate Fall West! Execute the pre-emptive strike on San Francisco! Launch the missiles!
ARPA OFFICER
(horrified)
Sir, the civilian population—the target protocols aren't—
John draws his Walther PPK and shoots the officer dead without looking. He drops the radio, stumbles out of the shattered window of the derailed train, and runs into the smoke-filled woods.
EXT. LACKAWANNA MOUNTAIN RIDGE - MOMENTS LATER
John bursts through the tree line, gasping for air, clutching a wound in his side. He reaches a high rocky cliffside overlooking the valley.
Below him, nestled in the valley, is the massive Nazi Multiverse Portal Facility. Smoke is pouring out of the concrete bunker. Secondary explosions rip through the structure. Julianan's shock troops have already breached the core. The massive quantum rings inside the mountain are collapsing.
John looks at the burning facility. The heavy, paranoid tension in his face suddenly drains away.
He slumps against a rock, sinking to the ground. A profound, heartbreaking sorrow fills his eyes, but it is instantly followed by a faint, genuine smile of pure relief.
JOHN SMITH
(softly, to himself)
It’s over. I couldn’t stop it... but it’s over now. No more.
He looks up at the sky one last time. He raises the Walther PPK to his temple.
A blinding, cataclysmic white FLASH erupts from the portal facility below. The entire mountain core detonates. The shockwave pulverizes the cliffside. John Smith vanishes into the smoke and debris.
EXT. SMOKING FOREST - LATER
Silence, save for the crackle of burning pine.
JULIANA CRAIN (20s) stirs under a pile of ash and shattered rock. She is bruised, bleeding, her clothes torn. She forces herself up, coughing violently, leaning against a charred tree stump.
She closes her eyes, pressing her hand to her forehead, trying to reach out with her mind—trying to feel the hum of the alternate realities, the meditation path she used to travel.
Nothing. The air is dead. The cosmic bridge is gone.
A heartbroken, breathless sob escapes her throat. She realizes her entire strike team, her closest comrades, have just perished in the tunnels below to blow the core. Worse, she feels the devastating truth: she is completely, irreversibly alone. No more magic doors. No help from other worlds.
Slowly, the weeping stops. Juliana wipes the blood and soot from her face. Her eyes harden with a grim, fierce determination. She looks up, turns her back to the ruins, and begins walking resolutely past the camera.
As she moves forward, the camera shifts focus away from her, sharpening on the gray, smoky horizon behind her.
Far in the distance, columns of shiny fire pierce the clouds. ICBM ballistic missiles are rising into the sky, carrying out John Smith’s final, psychotic order. The world is tearing itself apart.
Juliana walks out of frame.
EXT. RUINS OF SAN FRANCISCO - DAY
The screen transitions to a desolate, ash-choked vista of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge stands twisted and broken, its cables snapped, looming over a silent, ruined city.
The wind howls through the debris, whipping soot and scorched paper through the empty streets.
Juliana’s voice-over begins—tired, cold, but frighteningly calm.
JULIANA (V.O.)
We thought those films were promises. Windows into something better. For years, we lived in the lie that somewhere out there, a parallel reality would come and save us when we, as a species, drove ourselves into a dead end. We were wrong.
The camera pans slowly down to the debris-strewn ground. A torn, burnt piece of paper is caught against a rusted piece of rebar, fluttering violently in the wind.
The camera focuses tightly on the paper. It is a page from a banned book. Through the black soot, the title is visible: BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley.
JULIANA (V.O.)
When that Nazi engine inside Lackawanna mountain blew to pieces, the doors slammed shut. The sky locked. Those fractured souls, who had torn their own minds apart just to drag film reels across the universe for us, fell silent forever. There are no more ghosts, no more alternate worlds to escape to. No one is coming to pull us out of here. We are left alone.
The wind picks up. The page from Brave New World rips free from the rebar and drifts up, spinning into the gray, toxic sky.
JULIANA (V.O.)
When John Smith died and Berlin paralyzed, the Nazi empire didn't find freedom—it rotted from the inside out within weeks. Generals turned on each other in paranoia, and the old order drowned in its own blood. But democracy didn't rise from the ashes. In its place came a new, fragmented fear.
The camera tilts up, following the lone paper as it disappears into the dark clouds over the burning ocean.
JULIANA (V.O.)
In the East, warlords and opportunists like J. Edgar Hoover built their own anarcho-fascist shadow fiefdoms. In the West, the rebels' communist ideals crumbled under famine and riots, as brainwashed civilians refused to follow the new course. And out of the darkness crawled religious fanatics, praying and sacrificing human lives to the gods.
The frame begins to slowly fade to total blackness. The sound of the wind begins to dim.
JULIANA (V.O.)
But maybe this is exactly what we deserved. There is no happy ending waiting in another dimension. There is only this scorched earth, these ruins, and the choices we must finally dare to make ourselves from this day forward. Without miracles. We have to learn how to be human again—right here, where it all began.
FADE TO BLACK.
TOTAL SILENCE.
END CREDITS.

[SPOILERS]

Hi so I just finished S4 and I'm curious to what point hawthorne was actually relevant to the plot.

Basically Thomas gets euthanised which causes Helen to become disillusioned with the reich and ultimately tell the resistance where she'll be travelling leading them to blow up the train killing her and her husband takes his own life.

All of this would have still happened without hawthorne yes? Because he didn't create the films or even distribute them.

Also whats up with the end of S4 why did all those people end up coming through the portal?

That finale was ASS WTF.

Why did I ever watch this show 😭

I was surprised by the shift in Jennifer’s stance regarding the Reich; it felt like it came out of nowhere, since the show didn't depict how her opinion evolved during the year she spent in the Neutral Zone. I know it might sound harsh, but it bothered me how she criticized Helen and John for joining the Reich. It’s easy for her to say that—she didn't live through the occupation, and they had to consider their newborn son's future. What else could they have done at the time? Moved to the Neutral Zone, where there are looters and psychopaths like the Marshal?

Just finished the series….

I could not have loved and appreciated the concept of a show more than this. So as we binged and binged, we kept talking about where it could end up.

To have it end with this complete BULLSHIT ending made this one of the worst shows I have ever watched.

* other than inspiration, there was next to zero effect on the base reality?

* in what fucking world would all those people go from a reality where Hitler lost to a world where zero reference to their passing into the shit world makes sense?

*and why the fuck would they walk through the portal like, “oh! This is a cool train station”.

GTFOH.

IM A SCI-FI NERD and this shit was AWFUL.

I'm curious to know

3 episodes in and season 4 is my favorite so far. Finally getting to the nitty gritty