Encanto’s Confirmed Theory About Leaving The Town Changes The Ending
A popular theory about leaving the Encanto was confirmed by the director, which adds a new layer to Mirabel and Abuela's heartwarming ending.
Encanto co-director Jared Bush confirmed a sad theory about what happens when characters leave the town, which changes the circumstances of Abuela and Mirabel’s ending. The relationship between Mirabel and Abuela Alma serves as the core emotional conflict of Encanto, with the ending seeing the two reconcile their differences when Abuela finds Mirabel at the river where the miracle was born. While the heartwarming moment allowed the family to reunite with Mirabel and Abuela helping preserve the magic, Abuela may have been motivated by more than simply a reconciliation.
The confines of Encanto’s town suggest the characters are kept in by the mountain ranges, with one boundary perhaps being at the riverbank where Pedro died. Within the Encanto, the characters are protected and led by the magic of the Madrigal family, suggesting they have never quite had a need to leave the town. Jared Bush actually confirmed as much on Twitter about the Encanto, stating that none of the characters (bar Alma and the babies) have left the town since the magic was created, which is due to the fact that if someone leaves, it’s virtually impossible for them to find the protected town again.
Upon the realization that those who leave the town may never return, Abuela’s motivations for finding Mirabel at the end and reconciling with her may have been much more immediately concerned with keeping her inside the Encanto rather than sincerely admitting her shortcomings. The Madrigal family was unaware of how far Mirabel would go when she ran away, with Mirabel’s outcasted position and hurt perhaps even leading her to try to explore the world beyond the Encanto she’s lived in all her life. As such, Abuela Alma, who truly does love Mirabel, was likely motivated by finding Mirabel and making sure she was able to bring her back home before she could leave the town’s boundaries, otherwise she could have been lost to them forever.
While Mirabel and Abuela’s reconciliation was inevitable, the notion that Mirabel could have been gone from the Encanto forever changes Alma’s motivations within the heartwarming moment. However, it’s also suggested that the town is open to the outside world when the Madrigals regain their magical gifts, as the mountain range is still cracked in Encanto’s ending. As such, Mirabel may not have been entirely lost from the family had she gone beyond the river or mountain range, but Abuela Alma isn’t the type of matriarch to risk this happening. As curious as Mirabel is, Encanto’s future could perhaps see the family finally exploring the outside world again, with the citizens still having the freedom to leave the town and return without fear of being lost forever.
One version of Encanto’s ending saw Mirabel and Alma make amends in the village that Alma and Pedro had fled in the Thousand Days' War, which would have finally seen Mirabel leave the confines of the town. However, it’s more powerful to see Mirabel and Abuela reconcile at the Colombian river where the magic was born, but where neither of them reaped its gifts. The ending of Encanto sets up the Madrigal family to have a much more healthy relationship with the outside world, as the town can still enjoy the benefits of the magic while being able to engage with more communities in Colombia. Since Alma hasn’t been to her village since the day she and Pedro fled with the triplets, Encanto could also finally see the Madrigal matriarch return to her own roots and reconcile her tragic past.