This Is What Makes The Series Finale Of 'ASOUE' So Gut Wrenching

After episodes of misfortune, tragedy, daring escapes, and evil plots, the story of the Baudelaires has finally come to an end. The final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events is set to premiere on Jan 1, and though the lives of the Baudelaire orphans has been anything but easy, the show manages to end on a positive note. The Baudelaires get a happy ending in the Series of Unfortunate Events finale, but it comes at a cost.

The final episode of the series takes place on The Island, a tropical paradise that had once been the safe haven for members of VFD, including the Baudelaire's own parents, but has now become a strange and strict island society ruled over by a man named Ishmael. Through a series of unfortunate (and complicated) events, Ishmael harbors a grudge against Count Olaf, and upon discovering his true identity (Olaf had been on the island in disguise, of course) shoots the Count in the stomach with a harpoon.

Fortunately for Olaf's enemies, the wound will prove fatal. Unfortunately, however, the shot went right through the helmet that contained spores of the Medusoid Mycelium, a poisonous mushroom that kills anyone who inhales it within one hour. Olaf was hiding it under his shirt as one last ultimate act of revenge.

The island residents sail away to search for a cure, while Violet, Klaus, and Sunnny comb the island for one, hoping that they might save themselves and Kit Snicket, who is infected, in labor, and floating in the sea on a raft made of books (don't ask). Close to death and unable to locate the cure, the Baudelaires are saved at the last minute by a snake, who brings them an apple that has been crossbred with horseradish, a cure for the Medusoid's poison. The siblings take a bite and rush to Kit, but she refuses to eat the apple because it will hurt the baby. Too weak to bring Kit to shore themselves, the Baudelaires turn to their only hope in the form of their greatest enemy: Olaf.

Olaf, infected with the spores that he himself set loose, at first refuses the cure being offered to him. "I've lost too much to go on," he tells the Baudelaires, "My parents, my true love, my henchfolk, an enormous fortune I never really earned." But after learning that it's Kit who needs help, a woman whom he once loved, Olaf takes a bite of the apple and does the only good deed he's ever done in his life: he brings Kit to shore. He even kisses her when he sets her down, which is disturbing to say the least. Then, having used the last moments of his villainous life to do something truly good, Olaf dies of his harpoon wound.

The Baudelaires try to save Kit, but it's too late. She only has time to hold her daughter close, name her Beatrice, and hand her off to the Baudelaires before she dies. It's a tragic moment to be sure. But with Olaf dead, an empty island to themselves, and an entire book filled with the story of the VFD, the Baudelaires and their new adopted sister are finally able to have some time to breathe after a life on the run.

The series skips forward a year to find the Baudelaires celebrating Beatrice's first birthday, and preparing to leave the island that has sheltered them. Together, these siblings can conquer anything. And so Violet, Klaus, Sunny, and Beatrice Baudelaire leave in the boat their parents once sailed in, ready to rejoin the rest of the world, knowing that no matter what happens, they'll always have each other.

It's a beautiful ending for the siblings who have seen each other through so much. And it's made even more heart-wrenching when a young Beatrice reconnects with her uncle, Lemony Snicket himself, to chat about the story of her life and the Baudelaires who raised her over some rootbeer floats.

Though the series has been so unfortunate, the Baudelaires managed to find their happy ending after all.