'Hindi man lang nag-hug': 'Maria Clara at Ibarra' ends on a high note, more questions unanswered
MANILA, Philippines — It was a bittersweet ending for the top-rating historical portal fantasy "Maria Clara at Ibarra" with its two pairs of lovers having some sort of happy ending and more questions arising and left unanswered.
Spoilers ahead
Seven years have passed and Klay (Barbie Forteza) returns to the Philippines after completing her medical degree in the United States. She revisits her alma mater in the hopes of finding and catching up with her college professor, Mr. Torres (Lou Veloso).
She finds out, however, that her beloved professor no longer teaches at the university but she is told that she can approach his grandson, Barry Torres, who happens to teach in the same university.
Klay gets the shock of her life when she sees that Barry Torres is a deadringer for Crisostomo Ibarra (Dennis Trillo), the hero of Dr. Jose Rizal's novels, "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo," where she was transported inside at the beginning of the show.
She gets even more surprised and teary-eyed when she discovers that he married Clarisse, also a deadringer for Maria Clara (Julie Anne San Jose), the fiancée of Ibarra.
Both Maria Clara and Ibarra fought hard for their love but they both died tragically, as expected and written by Rizal in his novels.
Their real-world counterparts, however, ended up together and are expecting their first child. They also fulfilled their dreams of providing education to the youth. Ibarra desired to build a school for the Filipino youth who were denied the privilege by the colonizers while Maria Clara wanted to teach music. In the real-world, Barry and Clarisse are teachers in Klay's alma mater.
"Thank you, multiverse. Nakuha rin nila ang happy ending," Klay remarked, after hugging the two much to their surprise.
As for her own happy ending with Fidel (David Licauco) who chose to stay inside the book to help free the Philippines from the Spanish colonizers, Klay somehow got her own piece of happiness, albeit in an open-ended way.
While on a medical mission, a firefly appears before her that leads her to a forest. When she stops in front of an old giant tree, she sees an old paper with the words, "Figuras Cabalisticas" magically appearing before her eyes.
Moments later, a familiar portal opens and Klay could no longer contain herself as she sees what appears to be Fidel in a white suit with an intriguing suitcase and a pocketwatch.
With David's single and their love team, Filay's OST, "Kailangan Kita" as their reunion scene's score, Klay and Fidel are finally reunited after seven long years.
No words were exchanged between them, just their voiceovers about finally finding each other and no "babus" (goodbyes) and tears of joy.
The next scene is a message of thanks and tribute to Dr. Jose Rizal, confirming that indeed Klay and Fidel's reunion is the series' ending...for now.
The ending of "Maria Clara at Ibarra" trended on Twitter during its airing and even as of this writing, with a whopping 182,000 tweets. Words, phrases, characters, product placement and even the actors hogged the Twitter trend list last night until the wee hours of the morning.
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Some fans, however, have more questions.
Helena, one of the mujer libres, popped out of nowhere to inform Prof. Torres that they need to get inside the book "Mga Ibong Mandaragit." They both went in with a pocketwatch.
Some viewers are hopeful that this could mean another spin-off is on the way, and some even suggested that it might be based on Amado V. Hernandez's 1969 novel with the same title.
"Birds of Prey follows Mando Plaridel, the guerrilla warrior who discovers his strength and greater purpose as he searches for and finds the treasure left behind by Rizal's protagonist Simoun.This historical fiction examines one country's past but its message resonates with the real and present struggles in societies around the world," reads the book's summary on Google Books.
Some are wondering if Fidel has become a bookkeeper like Prof. Torres as he was seen holding a similar-looking pocketwatch when he got out of the portal.
Most fans, however, are sentimental over the happy ending of Barry and Clarisse, seeing it as a form of consolation for all the heartaches their novel counterparts went through.
While some fans applauded the K-drama feel of Klay and Fidel's reunion, there are a handful who wished they two could have at least hugged each other, if a peck or a kiss is impossible.
But many are just relieved that the man who came out of the portal was the same Fidel that they came to love throughout the show, not his real-world counterpart or "reincarnation," which were affirmed with his voiceover.
"Nahanap na kita. Wala nang babu," Fidel's voiceover was heard. Before Klay left him again, he promised her that he would find her. They also endearingly say "babu" or goodbye to each other in several instances in the show.
Check out these tweets:
still, i'm so happy and relieved that fidel has no counterpart in the RW. it's still the same FIDEL that KLAY met before from the novel. but we need answers for why he was holding the same thing that mr. torres (and helena) was holding to enter the magical books. #MCIEndingYarn pic.twitter.com/Vg1mXZA6KL
— ??? | FILAY Endgame (@thesalamisim) February 24, 2023
Adios y Buena Suerte! Salamat Maria Clara at Ibarra!
— Karlo Rodriguez (@OlrakArts) February 24, 2023
to the whole MCI squad thank you for producing this Masterpiece. #MCIEndingYarn #MariaClaraAtIbarra pic.twitter.com/mOK5pU2GEO
Fidel became a book keeper of "Mga Ibong Mandaragit"!!!
— Joanna | FILAY Endgame???? (@bnibiningjuana) February 24, 2023
FILAY Endgame#MCIEndingYarn pic.twitter.com/faOu2ZH6H8
“Thank you Universe, nakuha rin nila ang happy ending.”
— GMA News (@gmanews) February 24, 2023
JUST IN: Maria Clara and Ibarra are revealed to be alive and thriving in the world of Klay during #MCIEndingYarn, the finale of #MariaClaraAtIbarra, which is now showing on GMA 7 and Kapuso Stream (https://t.co/x9cdtT4IHt). pic.twitter.com/qTBk6eDYdr
looking at these photos of clarisostomo and filay is like an emotional punch…but atleast they were endgame in another universe. #MCIEndingYarn pic.twitter.com/Mx8MLpuImI
— aimee (@ironswasp) February 24, 2023
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