My Thoughts On The Hades 2 Ending

Hey everyone. I know that everyone is complaining on the Hades 2 ending so I'll try not to delve too much into it. I guess I just wanted to go through it, bring up my honest thoughts concerning it and maybe what could've been done better.

So first off, I will say the ending is believeable enough, in my opinion. Zagreus is the type to try forgiving and redeeming people, maybe even giving them a chance. If you played Hades 1, you probably know how good he is at that.

Furthermore, he pretty much held the cards and knew what could happen via Melinoe. He had the means to permanently kill Chronos if he became a threat, and knew what to say or try to do to get him accepted into the household. In a way, he could de-fang Chronos and his army entirely before they even became a threat. Given enough time, he could've became a real member of the family.

Only him and Chronos being able to percieve this time is kind of a tragic drawback of his plan, but I do agree that Melinoe and Hecate have every right to be angry at him. That also said, they have been said to be taking measures to ensure Chronos doesn't have his old power via Hecate sealing them.

And then there's Melinoe who is usually seen as being forced to go against her goal. Imo, killing Chronos in a way is a means to an end. Her biggest want was to see her family again. At the very least, by Chronos getting defanged and him releasing her family, she did get what she wanted if not in the way she wanted. Her own arc words were "Remember what he took from you."

But the ending does have storytelling flaws and should've had a different Aesop it could've brought up.

I won't go into too much detail on each since so many complained on them already, so please bear with me.

• It didn't give Chronos a full redemption arc (Show, Don't Tell). This is self explanitory, so I won't go further.
• It seemingly didn't give him enough points to showcase him in a more sympathetic light, despite some being present. As it stands, he has tried persuading Melinoe to his side even as she stands against him, even saying he's trying to be polite. He sounds more like a toxic father to his children, one who is too wrapped up in his behavior to change. He did imprison the Hades 1 crew, but he even said his quarrel wasn't with them and didn't harm them. If he had more of a chance to show that he tried to love his kids, even as a tough love variety, that would help more.
• It feels like a forced rehash of Hades 1's aesop (They're family, you need to get along with them). This personally is one of the two things that disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, I love Hades 1 and how it ended, but just because someone is family, it doesn't entitle them to be in your life or demanding things. Family can be those you choose, and you can cut out those blood related in your life. It would be a nice opposite to Hades 1's aesop and it could be realistically played on here.

That all being said, I do think it could've been improved in the following ways, or at least have addressed or used missed opportunities.

• The aesop that toxic family does not need to be part of your life should've been used. I went into this above so I won't explain more.
• Killing Chronos should've been acknowledged as having consequences. This would make a reason to keep him alive much more viable, as he is Time Incarnate. A world without time would be terrifying indeed and should've been said in story. Furthermore, his banner of a new Golden Age outlines the grievances mortals had with gods, with several Gods being dismissive or thinking of punishing all mortals for siding with him.
• Chronos should've been imprisoned in Eternal Slumber and reruns would be established as Melinoe playing her role as "Goddess of Nightmares". It would further play into the above aesop. It really felt like Moros would've played a bigger role in the end of the game, maybe a pivotal one in dealing with Chronos. It would also avert the "Killing Chronos is bad cuz no more time" issue and keep him alive for further runs. They could also make it an aesop about toxic family members being placed into prison and fighting to keep them out of your life, with Chronos trying to awaken himself from his slumber.
• Chronos could've had a redemption arc within these new Nightmare Runs. The idea being that the slumber is a prison cell for him to think about his life and what he's done, the runs could be a form of rehabilitative justice or trying to make him see or learn what he did wrong. Maybe he'd eventually decide it's better that he doesn't interact or interfere with his children's lives.
• It should be established that the prophecy that he'd be overthrown by his children gave him not much reason to care or try to love them, and it would play into the above aesop. The idea being that Chronos knew that he'd be overthrown by his kids, even when they were babies. If you were a parent and were told your children would overthrow you or kill you, could you find it in you to try building a relationship with them? Maybe it could play into the cycles of abuse and/or revenge, because Chronos himself would be as much a victim as he is a perpetrator.
• The point that mortals have their grievances with the Gods should not be swept under the rug. This is the other part I'm disappointed on. I will admit, I was rooting on the idea that part of Chronos and Prometheus's motivations were building up a Golden Age for mortals again and caring for them, and that the Olympians have caused so much trouble and anguish for mortals that there are many legitimate grievances. There's also many points where Melinoe is forced to confront the fact that the Gods are equally the bad guys as much as anyone else (Arachne, and Pandora's suffering, Odysseus's statements on the gods and even Nemesis stating that perhaps the Gods need retribution). Even Hercules being sick of being their errand boy and dragged out of the Underworld, and the bit of Prometheus stating that "The gods need to be held accountable but there's no one to do so" struck a huge chord with me, and it disappointed me immensely that it doesn't seem to be played on or acknowledged.

This is the end. If you got through this wall of text, congrats! You get an internet!