Yorick Brown is the most tragic character in fiction I've ever seen (spoilers)

[u/BullfrogForeign8840]

Originally posted to r/comicbooks but I thought I might share it here as well.

I finished reading Y: The Last Man yesterday, and still can't get over the ending. The death of 355 was already sad enough, but it's Ampersand's death that made me feel like no other piece of media before. In fact, it was the first time I've ever truly cried after reading anything.

After getting to the last page and thinking about the whole journey Yorick has been through, it made me realize there's so much more to the ending than I initially thought. At first, it's the fact that Yorick was the last man alive. All his friends, family, gone. Only him and Ampersand in the world where almost everyone was either trying to kill him or seduce him. The pressure he was under during pretty much all 60 issues was insane. And by pressure I mean the thing I mentioned in the previous sentence, as well as his role in the journey as the last man alive. Even the thing that presumably kept him going for all those years turned out to be false when Beth told him she initially wanted to break up with him. If that wasn't enough, when Yorick finally realized it was 355 that kept him going and she was the one for him, she was killed in the worst moment possible. After being heartbroken by Beth and losing 355, Yorick was left with Beth 2 whom he even married which I find especially depressing as it was made pretty clear he did that for the sake of his child.

Now moving to the last issue, we start with finding out that 86 year old Yorick is being secretly held in the palace after the government faked his death. In the conversation he has with Yorick 17th, we find out that Hero got together with Beth, which I personally am not a fan of as I think it was pretty out of pocket, and definitely gut wrenching for Yorick in some way. Then it is revealed Yorick didn't manage to say goodbye to Allison before she died, which again, is so depressing considering she was one of the people closest to him, taking care of him during the journey. However the most heartbreaking moment in the entire series belongs to Yorick putting down already close to dying Ampersand on the way to 355's grave. This moment hit me especially after I remembered when Yorick told 355 that Ampersand was always there for him when he was feeling guilty and had to get something off his chest. Although we don't know what happened after, I feel like Ampersand was the last thing left of Yorick's old life, and after his death, all that's left was waiting for death to come.

In conclusion, I feel Yorick's story is about loss, heartbreak, and loneliness, and despite the plague, etc. it's the way how one can relate to some of those elements, among other things, is making it so tragic.

This is my first post like this and I felt like I needed to share my thoughts in order to move on. I apologise if I didn't make something clear and that my post is so chotic - english is not my first language, and I'm just still not over the ending of the series. I also didn't mention everything I wanted because I felt like I would simply be summarizing the entire series which I feel I already did to some extend lol. Y: The Last Man may have some flaws which I'm definitely too blind to see right now, but without a doubt it's my favorite comic book ever and honestly I doubt that anything will able to beat it. Let me know your thoughts on the ending, and the series in general. Maybe there's someone even more tragic than Yorick whom I am yet to meet?

[u/UnitedOccasion7976]

The only thing what balanced for me the emotional impact of 355 as love interest is the fact that neither Yorick or us as a reader did not really new 355 and if she was telling the truth. Hope was never really transparent about organization, their missions and their end goals. There is high chances that she was manipulating Yorick feeding him half truth in order to achieve her goals but fell for him during travels. I think few conversations between Yorick and Alter about the source of the outbreak created such doubt for me about 355

[u/BullfrogForeign8840 → u/UnitedOccasion7976]

Yeah I wish we got some more insight on Culper Ring. Do you think it's a plot hole that it was left totally open or was it intended? Also 711 saying that 355 doesn't know the truth behind Culper Ring is a pretty weird thing to say, even if it's made up.

[u/UnitedOccasion7976 → u/BullfrogForeign8840]

After quick thought about it I come to conclusion that she was an active (comparing to 711) spec ops fed in post-apo world making sure that people will land where they are supposed to be to benefit the organization plans. I also dont think that Alter lied about Culper Ring ties to origin of bio weapon ment to destabilize China by wiping their male population. Did 355 knew about it? Not sure, but its possible considering how vague she was about her work before the cataclism and how she was laser focused on completing missions with any means possible. And in the end Culper Ring became Culper Globe with direct and open ties to new government officials of the new world. Clearly benefiting and becoming stronger from the outcome with access to cloning technology and their own say in who should be able to naturally reproduce

[u/BullfrogForeign8840 → u/UnitedOccasion7976]

Wow, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think it is possible that 355 knew some details, but not everything. And yeah, I also don’t think Alter lied because she simply had no reason to. Unless she wanted to make Yorick angry with a lie, which didn’t work so she told him the truth (about his mother) hoping that this would make him shoot her. So many different possibilities of what really happened I don’t even know which one I’d like to believe in hah

[u/timebomb011]

What if the last man alive is a boy? The tragedy is he becomes a man much too late.

[u/Pretend_Supermarket1]

I agree with your sentiments entirely! Reading the ending was gut-wrenching, especially the part where he puts Ampersand down. That was so sad, it made me cry. It’s such an amazing comic book series.
One part I especially love is the ending, where there’s a throwback to this very random, ordinary scene at the crashed plane wreckage site. (Which wasn’t referenced earlier in the series at all.) Yorick has a nail stuck in his foot, Dr. Mann is tending to him, 355 gets him some peanuts, and Ampersand is just there in the background.
It’s such a random memory, but I think that’s what makes it so beautiful. Those random, ordinary moments are the small moments you don’t realise are great while you’re living them. It’s only when you look back that you realise those were some of the best moments of your life.
And I think that’s one of the things that scene captured so well.
Amidst all the chaos and tragedy, it’s those little, mundane moments with the people you love that end up meaning the most. 🥲

[u/BullfrogForeign8840 → u/Pretend_Supermarket1]

100% agree. This crashed plane scene was such a beautiful conclusion to their journey. When I think about it now, it makes me wish we had seen more of these random moments placed throughout the series.