The Ending of 'Love, Death + Robots' Volume 3 Has a Dance to the Death
Published May 20 2022, 10:22 p.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Love, Death + Robots Volume 3, Episode 9.
A deaf soldier encounters an enchanting siren who lures men to their death with her scream. There isn't a single sentence strung together in the concluding chapter of Love, Death + Robots Volume 3, but words aren't necessary for the episode, titled, "Jibaro."
Academy Award-winning director Alberto Mielgo is the creative visionary behind "Jibaro," a stunning piece of animation with a story to tell.
So, how did Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 wrap up with the soldier and the siren? Let's break the episode down. And yes, this beautiful episode is completely animated!
The siren lures men to their doom in "Jibaro"
'Love Death + Robots' Volume 3 ending, explained
Once upon a time, a brave knight wandered too far into the woods with his fellow comrades. The knight was pleased when he found gold, failing to realize what hell he had unleashed upon the rest of his men.
A beautiful siren, clad in the finest gold and jewels, awakened from the river in the woods. Rather than seduce the knight's friends with an enchanting song, the siren screamed with all of her might. The screams reduced the knights to madness. The lake is filled to the brim with their blood.
Only our hero, the deaf knight, emerged unscathed, which confused the siren. Why wasn't she able to kill him? What made him different? She trails him, watching him sleep with an almost childlike curiosity.
The knight awakens, reciprocating her curiosity. She flees, and he follows. They meet at a waterfall.
But who will save the knight from his own destruction?
The two finally meet, sharing a blood-soaked kiss. The knight pins the siren down and knocks her unconscious. He tears the gold and jewels from her body, not caring at all that she's bleeding. Once the knight has completely removed every piece of precious metal from the siren's body, he throws her down the waterfall.
The river now overflows with the siren's blood. However, the knight, exhausted from carrying his new bag of treasure, drinks from the river. It cures his deafness.
As a result, the knight is vulnerable when the siren awakens. She may have lost her jewels adorning her body, but she can still scream. And scream she does, until the knight finally succumbs, sinking into the river of death and despair.
Alberto explained there's a metaphor for "Jibaro."
Alberto had a clear message for "Jibaro" from the start.
He told Animation World Network that his concluding chapter of Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 was a metaphor for toxic relationships. He explained, "These two love each other for the wrong reasons, and that's what is happening nowadays in modern relationships. We use and we choose people for a completely wrong reason. And they choose us for a completely wrong reason as well. And we end up all suffering."
The talented director wanted to play with a story that didn't have a clear definition of who the audience was supposed to root for, noting in the same interview, "None of our characters here are heroes. In fact, both of them are pretty sketchy. There are moments when the audience is going to favor one over the other."
You can stream Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 now on Netflix.
