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[This entry assumes the reader has played the game Immortality, thus not only contains spoilers but also will probably only make much sense to you if you did.]

Immortality by Sam Barlow and company is a story that has greatly influenced the way I conceptualize art ever since I first played the game. Told through snippets of the production of three separate movies featuring the seemingly never-aging actress, Marisa Marcel, the events of the story speak mainly of love: Love for humanity and love for the arts, as experienced by The One, an immortal being which lives on through the people it consumes.
Despite it's non-human status, The One is undeniably a person, an artist, one with similar struggles as many of us. The same self-hatred, the same fantasies of grandeur, the same wish to make a change to the world through its art, the same need to consume others, the same aversion to being consumed itself. The message told through this humanity is simple; To me it speaks of the way true ascension is obtained not through creating something so great it changes to course of history irrevocably and forever, but through placing oneself inside history's chain, taking from those that came before to give it to those that will come after.
Not exactly "sitting on the shoulders of giants", more so "climbing on the backs of your ancestors, so descendants can climb on your own".
As said before, this isn't a complex message, it has been said before Immortality and will be repeated again. But what makes its exploration through the game special is the emotional substance that underpins it. The One is tired of consuming others, of taking from them without ever giving back, but it does not know any other way to interface with the world. It tries to repay its debt to humanity through "the greatest story" again and again, believing if only it can change things for the better through its efforts, then it'll have been worth it. It doesn't work, simply because it hasn't realized that it's not the one who's going to change the world, those are its descendants, the ones who consume it.
The violence inherit to the story's perception of love is also, I believe, poignant; The One points out throughout the game the dichotomy between love/creation (artists), and fear/destruction (law), seemingly not noticing that it as an artist continues to destroy those around itself, just like they have destroyed those around them. Its violent, gross and it IS love, though it requires the last step of accepting one's own destruction to become something beautiful.
This specific element is what inspired me to start my current digital horror series, spirit.avi, actually. The first episode was meant to be a standalone, until I played Immortality and saw the ways in which its perspective on love played into that one episode's story. The violation always present in wanting to be closer to someone, the willingness to be hurt needed to be truly connected to others, these inspired me and reminded me of other stories I love.
The second episode I ever idealized (currently planned to be the forth) was meant to be a meta-textual expression of that. I'd destroy my most beloved inspirations, of course not aiming to hurt its creators (many of them are my personal friends, so I'd never do something to them with the intention of causing harm), but definitely aiming to misshape their art, distort it to my own desire and invite viewers to do the same to my own, trusting that everyone involved would be okay. Because I truly believe that's what creation is. Nothing is completely new, everything is an adaptation of something that came before it and what we call authenticity is simply the perception of genuine care; Some many people around me know this, but some little have pointed out the beauty of that. That's what I hope to steal from Immortality. That's what I love about it.
So much I hope others can steal if from me, make it into a new, better adaptation. Until the greatest story is created, not by the work of a single artist, but by the work of everyone, or rather, everything that has ever existed.

I do believe there’s something very special about Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Not only because of its genre subversion which has come to influence magical girl anime for years to come, but also because of the enthralling plot and loveable characters. So I hope it means a lot when I say that its third movie, Rebellion, is in every aspect better than the original series.

There’s no doubt in my mind that both its start and middle are great executions of a great concept, because of this it came to me as a surprise when I found it so hard to form a concrete opinion about…

The Ending

Homura’s final decision to steal part of Madoka away and rewrite the rules of the universe so they can stay together in sinful happiness is one which shouldn’t surprise anyone. That being said, her ability to actually do so is… questionable. I’m not the first, nor will I be the last one to point this out. She just… should NOT be able to do that.

No, I mean, she really shouldn’t. Stop typing your explanation in the comments.

You see I’ve found a multitude of explanations online, but none of them actually satisfy me, both because they have underwhelming relationships to the moment’s emotions and themes and because they tend to go against canon. So, before we go into why I’ve come to love the ending, I’d like to that about…

Why it doesn’t make sense

Nutcracker Witch

Homura’s witch form, Homulily, is classified as The Nutcracker Witch. Our first theory then states that her ability to split Madoka in two, and thus rewrite the laws of the universe simply comes from her status as a nutcracker. Her ability is to split things, you get it? Yeah, I think some of you can see why I don’t like this one.

Not only is it an extremely boring concept, it also just ignores the whole damn scene, like, why would her soul gem become tainted by a new, never seen before, color if she’s just a witch? Why would she describe love as what gave her the power to do it if in reality that’s not the case? It simply being part of her abilities as a witch really makes no sense at all in context, it’s too far of a reach.

Unfinished Wish

Our second theory centers around Homura’s wish:

“I want to redo my meeting with Madoka, but this time instead of her protecting me, I want to become strong enough to protect her”

If you stop to think about it, in the original series that wish is never granted. So it stands to reason that what we see, although sudden, is simply the power given to Homura so her wish can be fulfilled.
Well, I do think this is a slightly better concept than the first theory, but it still ignores the scene which surrounds Homura’s action in the exact same way. It also works with the assumption that a magical girl’s wish MUST become true, which is not really the case. It is established that girls who don’t have enough karmic potential may not have their wish fully granted. And well… the queen of social anxiety who spent years bed-ridden with no friends nor the ability to leave her room too much doesn’t really seem to have too much karmic potential from my perspective.

Karmic Potential

Our last theory is actually the one I think comes closest to the right interpretation, and it’s centered around Karmic Potential. So let's remind ourselves of what that is real quick.

Karmic potential in the Madoka Magica refers to the amount of positive influence a magical girl has over the people around her before she has made a contract. Basically the more loved a girl is, the more karmic potential she has, and thus, the more powerful she will be once she has made a contract.

This, you must remember, is part of what gave Madoka her overwhelming power. Homura, through turning back time over and over, centered her love for Madoka from many different timelines into a single one, making Madoka the most beloved girl to ever exist, but also making herself the girl to love the most out of all timelines. So it makes sense that it gave her power similar to Madoka’s. Right?

I actually agree with this in a sense. I do think Homura’s love for Madoka is what gives her the power to split Madoka into two, after all, she states that herself. BUT, relating this to karmic potential doesn’t make sense. At no point loving someone else is established to increase one’s karmic potential, nor do we see that increase Homura’s own power, especially not to the same degree as Madoka. Simply put, Homura’s power has all to do with her love for Madoka, but nothing to do with karma.

—

So, if none of these theories are true, then what do I think actually happened? How did she get such incredible power?
She just loved Madoka so much that it tainted her soul gem and made her into something other than a magical girl or a witch, something that has the ability to reach the incredible feat of splitting Madoka into two and changing the laws of the universe. As she explains herself right as she’s doing it. There doesn’t need to be anything more to it.
Now, I see how this feels like generic anime nonsense, which is below the same series that has its protagonist pull a fast one on the whole damn universe so she can become a god while having it all still make sense. But that’s the thing, in Homura’s case, it indeed makes no sense, and...

That’s great, actually

Puella Magi Madoka Magica as Mythology

Actually, before we go into why I love the fact Homura’s ascension to power makes no sense, I’d like us to focus on a certain aspect of this story: Its presentation as a religious myth. Religious symbolism and terminology are recurring elements in the anime, especially with how Madoka and Homura are referred to and presented. What we currently have of this story can, in fact, be separated into two parts, each acting as a different myth: The birth of the god, encompassed by the original series; and the birth of the devil, encompassed by Rebellion.

I find this important to point out because religious myths don’t acquire significance through their tight well thought-out plot, like how we tend to treat our stories nowadays, they matter because of their meaning. These myths were usually created either to explain away natural phenomena which we as humans weren’t able to understand yet, or to convey a moral message. And thus, they are known for being willing to bend reality and forgo logic to reach these goals.

This is the lens through which I want us to look at Madoka Magica today. Not because I believe this story to actually be religious scripture or whatever, but because stories have value outside of just being a peep into a fictional but believable universe, they have themes, and messages, and subtext which we should value as much as the story itself, and I believe the anime’s recurring comparison of its own content to mythology serves as an invitation for us to focus on those so we can get a clearer picture of what story the writers were trying to tell.

This also isn’t to say Rebellion isn’t a tight well thought-out plot, by the way. The whole movie is a really creepy and really well executed mystery, which should be a good indication that the choice to forgo the logic which had been so integral to the story until this point wasn’t made at random. This weird ending has a reason to be there.
With this in mind, let’s talk about…
The Devil

What do you think is the difference between Madoka and Homura, that makes Madoka a god, while Homura is a demon? One could point out the story’s themes of altruism vs selfishness. While Madoka sacrifices herself to save everyone else, Homura goes against her lover’s wishes so she can get what she, and only she, wants.

Today, though, I’d like us to take a different approach. I’d like us to focus on a different duality presented by the story.

Rationality vs Emotion

Both are constantly put against one another, especially by Kyubey, who also sets the tone in which both are talked about. While Rationality is placed as holy and unquestionable, as simply the natural response to the rules of the universe, emotion is presented as destructive, as antithetic to civilisation. This view is never challenged in any way other than being described as inhuman.

With this in mind, we can look at the methods used by each of our deities to change the rules of the universe.

First, Madoka. She finds a pathway to reach her goal through logic. Seeing the facts with which she is presented and working with them to reach godhood. That is, if she has so much karmic potential that she can wish for anything, and regardless of what it is, it will come true, she can wish for witches to not exist anymore, even if they are part of the laws of the universe. This places her not only as a symbol of selflessness, but also as a symbol of ingenuity and rationality, both holy, both traits of a god.

As for Homura. She develops an irrational love for Madoka, one greater than any living being has ever experienced. Through the profane power of this love she is able to break the laws of the universe. It’s tempting to look at this and see it as wrong or a plot hole, since it doesn’t make any sense, but I’d like you to remember that this irrationality is what makes her a demon.

If she had used the rules in her favor, like Madoka did, that wouldn’t be an act appropriate for the devil. If she’s to serve as a foil to Madoka, to be her opposite, she needs to be a representation of not only selfishness, but also emotion and irrationality. The story accounts for this by making this emotion into what single-handedly grants her the power she needs to become the devil, not the same ingenuity which allowed Madoka to become a god. Basically, her ascension to power needs to go against the rules established by the story so far, or else it would lose part of what makes it unholy.
And honestly, isn’t this much more fitting? Tonaly, I mean. A wild-card antagonist moved by nothing but the overwhelming emotion of her desires, willing to manipulate, mess with and even kill the others in the main cast so she can reach her selfish goals. Now with amazing power brought by magic no one else understands, not even Kyubey, not even you. Don't you think it's exciting?

Conclusion

It’s rather sad for me to not be able to point out this story’s thematic conclusion. In the same way that Rebellion’s ending brought these themes of rationality vs emotion to the forefront, it also left the story open to continuation, and as of the release of this video, the 4th movie Walpurgisnacht: Rising still hasn’t been released.
What I hope is that it will account for these themes by actually foregoing this duality. Instead of treating Madoka, or Homura as the right side. It may recognize both sides as innately human. We aren’t only rational creatures, not only emotional, and the mixture of both is part of what characterizes humanity inside of the anime’s universe. Using this as a celebration of our species and its potential would make for a nice conclusion in my opinion.

Regardless, this is why Rebellion’s ending makes no fucking sense, and also why that’s great actually.