A Series of Unfortunate Events - Olaf's Death (Season 3 Episode 7)

[yiacope]

I think the saddest scene of this entire series is that one of Sunny's first normal words were Olaf

[mynameisreza]

"I haven't apologized" is a damn powerful line

[Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Olaf quoting poetry in his final moments means something. A Series of Unfortunate Events makes a point of establishing that the good characters in the story are generally (and this is a direct quote) "well read" and enjoy literature, poetry, and knowledge while the villains scoff at such things. Olaf knowing a poem well enough to recite it from memory means he, at least to some degree, was well read.

And this perfectly fits with the point of the scene. Olaf just saved Kit, illustrating how even the worst person has some good in him. Olaf reciting poetry is yet another piece of evidence in this final scene that he has good in him.

[spadinnerxylaphone]

I love the acting in this scene. The Baudilaires have every reason to hate this man and even to enjoy his suffering, but they see just how much pain he's been in his whole life, and that he has humanity and poetic depth. It doesn't redeem him and it doesn't bring back those he murdered, but they learn how grey the world can really be. Olaf's grievances with the world are legitimate, even though his actions arent.

That look Klaus gives to Violet when she closes Olaf's eyes; he seems... not angry, but astounded that she would give the dead his due when Olaf probably deserves to be chucked into the ocean unceremoniously. She seems confused by her actions too. Sunny saying "Olaf?" is the worst because, as messed up as it is, she was raised and influenced by him in the most formative stages of her life. He was the one constant in their lives since their parents' deaths, and now he's gone.

I think they realize that Olaf's pain and suffering isn't too dissimilar to their own. But they see how he dealt with it, by becoming a villain and "handing on misery to man" as the poem says. They acknowledge this but they surpass him by continuing to do what's right to the best of their knowledge. They themselves become guardians to a young orphan, but they don't "hand on their misery" to her. They give her love and knowledge and protection. They saw in Olaf and in the rest of VFD what they could become, took the lessons to heart, and broke the cycle.

In the books (and you can see it in the show if you pay attention), it's said that Olaf's mouth stayed open as he died as if he wanted to tell them something. I wonder what that something was, and if it could be expressed in words at all.

[ApetureTestSubject]

For good or for ill, whether you consider him redeemed or still a monster, Olaf was the one terrifying constant in the Baudelair's lives for the longest time.
And that is why his death feels tragic despite his evil. Why the Baudelairs seem so shocked.
Because through bad guardians, incompetent bankers, conspiracies and VFD, Olaf was always there.
And now, after a single good deed, he's gone.
They're finally free of him. And they don't know what to do.

[jamestolbert]

I love Neil Patrick Harris as Olaf! He’s so dramatic, cartoonish, emotional, poetic, dark, sadistic, and just plain evil but still a human being

[kademarlowe]

I'll never forget reading this part as a kid. It was really enlightening, almost feeling pity for pure evil

[AcroStiel]

His death was the saddest of the series. I hated him throughout the whole series but this final episode, which also happens to be his death made me change a lot of my thoughts on Olaf. His death made me tear up, I couldn’t help to ask myself, why? Why was his death the saddest? He was with us so long and he did have his reasons to hate the Baudelaires. There was plenty of times where he was a manipulative, lying, cold hearted murderer. But I think the thing that makes this the saddest is the reason he hated the Baudelaires and how he saved kit’s baby.

[goldenstatewarriors]

I’m glad they didn’t suddenly make Olaf a good guy and act like he was a victim all of a sudden. He is an evil man. Just because you do one good thing doesn’t suddenly change everything. Still his story is really sad. His actions were his own choices but he was at the end of the day a lost and angry orphan who was found by the worst people at the wrong time. The Sinister Duo caught him at the worst time in the worst place possible when there was a parent sized hole in his life that was filled by the worst people. Once you get involved in that kind of business, it’s hard to get out. You’re not even the same person anymore. I’m pretty sure that was what was meant when he had the harpoon gun and said “it’s all I know how to do.”

Olaf doesn’t deserve redemption or sympathy. But he does deserve pity. It’s possible he had the most tragic journey of all.

I also find it cathartic how the schism caused so much destruction, fires and murders, that left children as orphans (like Olaf said in his speech after the opera scene), and Olaf is the first one to be orphaned as a result of it, and the last one to fall. It’s also tragic how Olaf and Kit, the two people at the opera who didn’t do anything, still had their lives destroyed by the choices of their best friends. Their relationship was broken apart by it, and ultimately they died on the island buried side by side because of it.

The children have every right to hate Count Olaf, to be glad to watch him suffer and die. They have every right to toss his body into the ocean like he deserved. Olaf got what he deserved for his actions. But they pay their respects as they understand that while he was undoubtedly wicked, he was a monster created by the circumstances they can relate to.

The difference is in their actions: Olaf decided to “pass misery on to man” while the children rose above their grief and anger.

[marathiboi]

Olafs life was different, he was in love once, had friends, had a father who loved him and he loved him back. That one death of his father made him vengeful and his actions aren't remotely right, it's a downfall of a man, cause of one unfortunate event

[crystalcloudc]

His last sentence…. : DONT HAVE ANY KIDS YOURSELF.
Thank you olaf. Thank you.

[lilyjpotter]

lmfao klaus' face after violet closes olaf's eyes

the pure disgust, he's like wtf, he literally cant even ask violet why

[AlastorAltruistGaming]

Both Kit & Olaf’s deaths really hit my heart like a freight train with a ton of bricks attached to the front when I first watched the finale. I always assumed that Olaf was a terrible person & the reason why he made the Baudelaires’ lives miserable; after realizing that he wasn’t all that bad, it goes without saying that even the most vile & awful people have a few redeeming qualities, but you never really see it under all that fog & smoke that clouds their hearts & shrouds their souls. The worst part, concerning Olaf, is that he had all this time to change into a better person; only when Kit was on the verge of both pregnancy & death was Olaf able to give a damn. It’s as if God looked at Olaf’s misery, decided He must grant Olaf mercy & freed his soul after all he went through. The Baudelaires never understood it, the adults never understood it, ordinary humans still don’t understand it, but everyone must come to realize that there are some good people in this world as long as we look past their wickedness & hope they turn to the good in them instead of feeding on evil & worldly desires every single time.

[yokaiwatcher]

Him turning to the Baudilaires one last time, saying “And don’t have any kids” almost seems to me like him accepting his role as their guardian. Yes he’s a wicked man, but he was also the constant in their lives. And maybe, in a sick, twisted, Count Olaf way, he did care for them. Just enough to give them one last piece of advice.

[_Peridot_]

I think that this was one of the saddest death scenes I’ve ever watched, not only because of the elegant music, acting quality and overall tone of the scene, but also because this was the moment when the Baudelaires realized that their constant was gone. The one thing that they probably never thought would change (even despite their desperate want to make it so) has left their world forever

[SquarecowStudios]

The End is the longest book in the series. I don't understand why it's the only episode that isn't a two-parter.

[jamestolbert]

I love how this doesn’t redeem him, it just shows that even he is still a human being, who’s also been wronged

[JeremyB]

The significance of this moment, is that the Boudelaires never considered the possibility that Olaf was capable of love, and suddenly, it all made sense.

[harryfleutv]

Count Olaf isn’t dead, he just transported to another land where his soul was rebuilt into a pure and innocent snowman

[adamdonnelly]

Olaf is a despicable monster of a man. I’m glad he doesn’t get redeemed but rather merely takes ownership of the harm he’s caused. We can argue he’s a monster of other people’s making, and yet, for all the torment he’s put them through, the Baudelaires remain good, adjusted and sound people.

Quoting Philip Larkin is about as beautiful a ribbon as you could have for tying up this chaotic series of unfortunate events. Man passes misery onto man.