Hey guys, just finished binging this awesome series and I am near thoroughly satisfied! I have not read the LN so I can't base any of my interpretation from the source material, just the anime! I have seen similar posts, but have yet to browse through them all so I do apologize if my thoughts have already been voiced. If you haven't finished, or even started, then please stop now!

I want to state that obviously the ending is somewhat ambiguous so that the audience can somewhat decide how it ends. Besides this mechanism being somewhat irresponsible on the director/author's part, I would like present my argument for why the Major is alive. (I apolgize if what I'm about to do is very MatPat).

Let's first disect some of the scenes from the Battle at Intense. We know that Violet (from hence on referred to as V) and the Major (M) are heading down a spiral staircase towards what seems like a courtyard. When the fort collapses, it seems as though M lurches and grabs onto V. Assuming that they descended together, I can't fathom why M's body at least was not recovered.

Two counter-arguments could be that the stairway also collapsed thus separating them, or that the major was buried in the rubble. Well to those nay-sayers, I say that V revisits the EXACT place where they had the million flashbacks to, bloodsplats and all. Thus I would assume the stairway had enough integrity to be still intact thus they just tumbled down it and not gotten separated. Second, when we see V start to remove the rubble, presumably where M might have been, it was not a large pile. Unless the troops didn't really care that much, I feel like they should have located him and not just his dog tags. Like seriously, this guy tumbles down the stairs and drops everything then out of existence?

So if they did recover M, why did they keep it a secret? I think this was something orchestrated by M, his Brother (B) and his friend, Hodgins (H). During and after the battle, M faces the reality of everything, or rather V's reality. She has lost 'both her arms, and everything else', so she might as well lose her master. That she gains freedom from the only life she has known, the only life she was granted, as a weapon of the military. If M was found not only alive, but also somewhat combat capable then he would have to continue leading the Special Forces, he would continue to force V down this path of killing. This guilt is somewhat expressed in the extended flashback in the last episode. Even though M loves V so much, V's mental state is literally not much more than a dog to its master; loyal and dutiful, but bound and unaware of the full scope of their relationship with its uncomfortable dynamics set in place since their introduction. If you rewatch the extended flashback, it seems as though M was about to confess his love for V, but V can only respond by saying that his orders are the only thing keeping her going. M understands that true love is not such a one-sided affair. Its give and take, push and pull, but V is complacent being dragged along (honestly, M was on that next level feminist shit). So that's why he sets V up to live a comfortable, peaceful life after everything. To break free and start anew.

So what changed? Why was V allowed to see M? All because of B! B hates, no abhors V. This thing that he could never even see as human has broken his beloved little brother down. M should have been a war hero after the decisive Battle at Intense, they mention how taking down that stronghold would essentially make or break the war. But now he hides away, dead to the world that should be praising his name. This is why B seems to be such a contradictory character. He can only see V as a tool, yet mocks her for still needing to follow orders. He rejects everything about her, but his love for his brother is greater so he tolerates it. The incident on the train not only showed him that V is more than a tool, but shows compassion, sacrifice, and a reformed approach to life. This warrants her an audience with Mother.

As he was nosing in on V and Mother's heart-to-heart conversation, it becomes apparent that not only has V truly become something more than a tool, but she also loves M back!

What sealed the deal was his last test to her. Ordering her to 'live a long life (not a happy life?) and die (rude)'. V didn't need to take orders anymore, she had autonomy! And with that M could be relieved of his guilt and V could love him in that slightly selfish yet so selfless way that he wants to be loved.

Other loose ends: Of course they don't tell Mother because she has dementia and can't be trusted with the knowledge that her son is a deserter in case she spills the beans. (Cattleya and Benedict are definitely f*kn). Of course H knows, because he was at the battle, probably found M, and never explicitly states that he is dead. M could also have been spirited away from the batlefield with some lame ruse like 'Oh my, he has only a few days to live so we would like to send him home for it.'.

What are your thoughts everyone? Sorry about my writing style and everything else about this, mods I swear there is a lot of thought put into this. Its either this, or it ends up being that astronomer/now world traveling book collector finna make some moves on our V. Which no. Just no