The Ending Of Infinity Train Season 4 Explained
"Infinity Train" has reached its terminus, though fortunately, it went out in style. The HBO Max animation's fourth and final season once again focuses on a brand new set of main characters, and their adventures on the impossible, never-ending train that seems to help them deal with various emotional issues through outlandish adventures. As conflicted best friends Min-Gi (Johnny Young) and Ryan (Sekai Murashige) end up aboard the train and traverse the cars with the magical and much-maligned concierge bell, Kez (Minty Lewis), they meet yet another batch of the show's enormous set of recurring characters — from returning favorites like Amelia (Lena Headey) and The Cat (Kate Mulgrew) to a pig baby voiced by the incredibly versatile vocal performer J.K. Simmons, and character actress Margo Martindale's Morpho.
Interestingly, the season takes place well before the three previous ones, so Season 1 villain Amelia isn't in full control of the train quite yet. As such, Season 4 is free to tell its own story in a familiar context, yet with fairly little baggage from its predecessors. But what, exactly, does its ending mean, both to the season and the series in general? Here's the ending of "Infinity Train" Season 4 explained.
Where does the ending of Infinity Train Season 4 leave everyone?
The ending of "Infinity Train" Season 4 finally fixes Ryan and Min-Gi's issues, as they rejoin to make music, open up to each other, and learn to communicate more openly. However, they refuse to leave the train unless they can both do it at once, and end up in conflict with Morgan the Castle (Margaret Cho) and all the characters Kez has managed to anger over time. Fortunately, Kez also gets her redemption when she learns to own up to her errors, and Ryan and Min-Gi finally return to the real world and reform their band.
Because of the series' anthology format, Season 4 is fairly standalone, especially since it focuses on characters who get out well before the events of Season 1. In fact, in the grander scheme of things, one could argue that the season's most important contribution to the grander lore — apart from a bunch of cool new characters and cars, of course — might be the brief glimpses of Amelia's transition from passenger to conductor status, as well as the way the season further expands on the Infinity Train's nature (a sort of therapy purgatory where you're stuck until you deal with your trauma) and the glowing numbers (the smaller they get, the closer you are to getting out).
In a way, the ending is a fitting series finale, since it shows a successful redemption arc, while providing an idea of what's actually been going on right from the beginning. On the other hand, the chronological finale remains the ending of Season 3.
An unintended ending
Now, here's where things get double weird. According to series creator Owen Dennis, this wasn't supposed to be the ending at all. In a 2020 interview with io9, he specifically said that he had many, many more twists and turns planned. "We've written more, but it's all sitting on a server waiting for a greenlight [for the then-unmade Season 4]," he said. "We have rough ideas for themes and which characters we'd like to follow for five more seasons, up to [Season 8]. Feels like 8 is a good place to stop because it looks like an infinity symbol." He also expressed interest in making a full-length movie about Amelia, as well as digging deeper into the presumably lengthy history of the train itself.
If Dennis wasn't joking about the eight seasons, this means the series ended barely halfway through its intended duration. Soon after Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the show will end after Season 4, the creator tweeted a long message that made it clear he had more plans for "Infinity Train" — and is hoping to follow through on his vision one day. "Maybe someday we'll be able to make more, I don't know, but for the foreseeable future, this is going to be the last season and I hope you all have a good time watching it," Dennis wrote. "Continue to support it however you can!"
It remains to be seen how — or, for that matter, if — the story continues, but if "Infinity Train" Season 4 is indeed the show's definitive swan song, its heartfelt story ends the series on a high note. Chicken Choice Judy, rock on.