Ranlsa wrote:
InuFan05 wrote:
SpikesMrsSpooky wrote:
InuFan05 wrote:
SpikesMrsSpooky wrote:
InuFan05 wrote:
Also, to everyone who's claiming that Spike didn't make it, remember that a star disappeared soon after he collapsed, which, according to Laughing Bull (if I recalled the name correctly), takes place when a life ends. Besides, despite the fact that I'm sad that Spike died, I like to think that when he said "Bang" before collapsing dead, that was his way of going out with a bang...
Well, Bull ALSO said "do not fear death. Death is always at your side. If you show fear it will spring on you faster than lightning. If you do not show fear it will only gently look over you." Did you see any fear on Spike? And if one believes Vicious died too, why didn't two stars fade out at the end? Gren got a falling star, wouldn't Vicious get one too? Only one star faded (didn't fall), so....
There is enough ambiguity based on these and other things that it's just as reasonable to think he survived. I think both are reasonable conclusions even though I and most of the people I talk to offline think he lived. There you go. 
Spike was definitely calm and cool when approaching the whole conflict. But I just don't see any way he could've survived that. It was obvious he was losing too much blood and was fatigued from all the running and fighting he did. He only had the energy to walk up to the enemies and say "Bang" before finally collapsing. Besides, he fell on enemy territory of all places after all of that fighting and destruction; there's no way they would have helped him. Even if he did survive, how would he be able to leave without getting shot down? They surely would have been on him as soon as he recovered, or worse yet, he would have been locked away somewhere and kept prisoner. Furthermore, I noticed that Bull mentioned that he had a dream of Spike's demise not too long before the confrontation; the disappearing star only increases the likelihood that it was a prophetic dream. Moreover, I thought I caught something else when he was talking about falling stars. Unless if I misunderstood, I'm pretty sure he meant that the falling star was representative of "a lost [and]... pitiful soul" above all things, which I don't think really applies to him... Besides, I think they would want to show Spike's star over Vicious's, since he is the main character...
That wasn't in enemy territory. Spike was the heir apparent of the Red Dragon, Vicious was a usurper. The guys seeing Spike was alive would know that he was their boss and would help him. Notice that the guys at the bottom of the stairs were not only NOT aiming their guns at him, but one of them actually lowered his weapon. They weren't going to hurt him.
Bull did not mention any kind of prophetic dream before Spike's demise. The only time falling stars were mentioned was in Jupiter Jazz in connection with Gren when he died.
I have the entire series memorised I'm afraid. 
I won't be debating any more why it's legitimate to think Spike survived because I'm comletely burned out on the subject. if you want to visit my blog (link in my signature), it's all there. My two and a half year Cowboy Bebop obsession has been replaced by a Death Note obsession, so I'm not that interested in discussing the end of Cowboy Bebop any more. Besides, that's kind of hijacking the topic of this thread.
Yeah. I'll just throw out my opinion on the matter and I'll bow out as well.
First off, before I forget, cool blog! I'll take a look at it when I have a better chance.
Alright, even if that were the case with the men showing their allegiance to Spike, I maintain that the wounds and the fatigue would have taken their toll on Spike; he was fatally wounded and there didn't seem to be much hope in saving him.
I remember Bull telling Jet that he had a dream about Spike's death a few days before his visit. Jet was visibly shaken by what he had said and was continuing to lose his cool as their conversation continued (and something tells me it didn't have to do with just the name that Bull gave him 
). Could it have been just another dream that means absolutely nothing? Of course. That's always likely. However, considering that it came from a spiritual man of all people, on top of the way everything played out, it seems to increasingly become more like a prophetic dream. (Obviously, we can't tell that a dream is prophetic until we have the hindsight.)
But yeah, it's high time we let this conversation drift back to Jet and Faye...
You're wrong, wrong, wrong, 100% wrong!! Spike. Does. Not. Die. Look at what you wrote, Jet was visibly upset with what Bull said. Now if Jet was THAT upset he obviously didn't want Spike to die. So why would he just stand there and clean his windows knowing Spike was going out to someplace dangerous when he was so upset before? He didn't.
He went to the Hammerhead, followed Spike secretly, helped him in, took him to the hospital, fixed him up, and brought him back to the Bebop! Because he's Spike's best friend and that's what friends do!
And again, Sp[ike would come back to the Bevbop cause he's Jet's best friend and the Bebop is his home. He would come home.
As to how he would survive...simple..HE'S FRIGGIN SPIKE SPEGAL!
Woah! No need to get upset. It's merely my opinion, and it can't be wrong, especially for something so open-ended.
I got to rewatch the second half of the episode and noticed the bit with Jet doing maintenance work on the ship. Maybe he did plan on following Spike secretly. I admit that there's no way that he and Faye could sit and twiddle their thumbs when someone they loved was about to put his life on the line. There's no way they would have shown those bits in the montage if they didn't have any significance in the outcome or aftermath of the final confrontation. Besides, they both are pretty strong-willed and stubborn, so it stands to reason that they won't accept Spike dying young as fate. I concede to all of that. I also realize that I misinterpreted the actions of the gunsmen at the end. They were awestruck as Spike came down the stairs following Vicious's death and apparently put aside the thoughts of using their weapons. I guess it stands to reason then, with that reaction, that they wouldn't be that much of a threat to Spike and would even try to get some help, even if Faye and Jet weren't there to help him immediately. Furthermore, when you look at the freezeframes after he collapses, it looks as though some of the men are actually running up to him, probably to get him to a safer and more convenient area.
I still have a few problems with this, though. First off, even if Jet and Faye were on standby and ready to spring into action, I still think it would take some time to get to Spike and get him the help he needed. The place was a chaotic mess, so how would they be able to get to him easily? Really, despite the fact that the theory that they were there to look over and help him is plausible and quite desirable, I didn't really see any direct evidence of that there, or anywhere nearby. Secondly, Spike looks extremely banged up after the fight. He's clearly lost a lot of blood. Even if people were there to get him help, the blood loss might have been too much to counteract. I'm not saying they couldn't heal him, but still, he looks beyond saving there. Moreover, there's what Bull said. He's not one whose words should be taken lightly as the spiritual figure of the story. His predictions and comments definitely carry a lot of weight. You simply cannot disregard what he says about his dream about Spike or the fading of the star. Finally, I noticed something interesting from the last few lines that we see and hear in the episode. As the star fades out, the corresponding lines of the song playing in the ending are, "Everything is clear now. Life is just a dream, you know? It's never-ending." An important theme of this episode is brought to light when Spike compares everything he's gone through to having a dream and saying that he'll know whether he's awake once the ordeal is over. I think that the lines imply that in death, Spike has found enlightenment and can now understand the realities of life. It's also interesting that of all things they could've put as the send off card at the end, they put an image of Spike after he collapsed. Interestingly, he has a peaceful expression on his face, perhaps going back to what I said about the last lines of the song.
Like I said, this is open-ended, so any way of looking at it is valid. Do I want to think that Spike survives? Uh, yeah! No doubt about it. I just feel like there's more proving his death than his survival. Does that mean that I think that the other interpretation is wrong? Absolutely not! It's totally plausible.
I'll always be by your side. 
You can always count on me."My meeting you was no coincidence. It's more than that..."
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