Why Sukuna's death in Jujutsu Kaisen is perfect for his character, explained

With the release of the latest Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers earlier this week, fans saw the series all but officially conclude thanks to the death of Ryomen Sukuna at Yuji Itadori’s hands. Likewise, most of the discussion surrounding the upcoming chapter 268 has been focused on Sukuna’s ultimate conclusion, which is unsurprisingly very divisive.

Many are arguing that his demise is extremely underwhelming, offering no Heian era flashback, additional backstory, or even “grand finale” to the strongest sorcerer in history. Others counter that it’s a perfect end for Sukuna, both as it relates to his character and how mangaka Gege Akutami wrote their series (especially as of late).

While there are good points being made on both sides of the aisle, there are aspects of Sukuna’s death per the latest Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers that are very fitting for his character. These specifically revolve around his views on love and how those views relate to and/or are influenced by his origins, his title in history, the series’ themes, and more.

Sukuna’s end in Jujutsu Kaisen highlights his views on love and what it means to be the strongest

Expand Tweet

One of the earliest introduced and most central themes of Jujutsu Kaisen is the concept of receiving love, either in a platonic or romantic sense. The former, specifically, is more predominant and is established at the very top of the series with Wasuke’s words to Yuji; what is it to receive love in either of the above senses if not to be surrounded by people when you die?

Beyond Yuji, one character who also heavily revolved around this theme was Hajime Kashimo. This was made especially apparent throughout his fight with Sukuna, culminating in the pair’s final conversation, which saw the latter express his ideals on love. Essentially, Sukuna says that to be loved is to be strong and admired and challenged by others for your strength, and to return love is to accept the challenge in kind at full strength.

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 238 also sees Sukuna follow this up with the claim that while he understands love, he feels it’s worthless. It’s a philosophy that likely stems from the pedestal he’s been placed upon as the strongest sorcerer in history, much like how Gojo was put on a pedestal for being today’s strongest sorcerer.

Expand Tweet

Yuji and the “new age” of sorcerers, on the other hand, oppose this old view of isolating and idolizing the strongest, as well as the idea of “the strongest” itself. Yuta Okkotsu’s desire to become a “monster” alongside Gojo is a great example. It’s likewise why Sukuna’s death coming as the result of a dozen different people’s efforts is so fitting; to have him defeated by a single apex predator who stands above him would confirm his own ideals of love.

Having Yuji land the final blow further intensifies this message, as Sukuna often referred to Yuji as a talentless, idealistic brat who couldn’t do anything or save anyone. However, thanks to the efforts of everyone else, Yuji was able to utilize his talents to land the finishing blows on Sukuna. In this way, Jujutsu Kaisen's ending both allows Sukuna to stick to his ideals in the end, and validate Yuji’s own ideals by having him be the one to defeat Sukuna.

The fight also validates Sukuna’s interpretation of love, as in the end, the Shinjuku Showdown arc was a giant proclamation of love from all those involved to him. Each took their turn challenging him, very rarely teaming up in bunches larger than three or four, and more often going in pairs or singles. Even in the strictest possible interpretation of Sukuna’s words, there were still moments in the campaign that would serve as proclamations of love in his eyes.

Sukuna's demise in Jujutsu Kaisen is incredibly fitting for and consistent with his prior characterization (Image via MAPPA Studios)

Likewise, this is what makes Sukuna’s final moments in Jujutsu Kaisen so satisfying. When posed with the option of abandoning his ideals of love in exchange for being able to live on, he simply rejects it and maintains that he’s a curse to the end. On the level of his ideals, it shows that he truly did interpret the Shinjuku Showdown as love. This drives home that even to the end, he believes in being “the strongest,” how he’s lived with that title, and what his love is.

In turn, this all relates back to his King of Curses title, which to him is likely the ultimate proof of the love he received and was able to give back. After reaching such a pinnacle and getting to experience “love” like he was shown during the Shinjuku Showdown, it makes sense that he’d reject Yuji’s offer. It’s quite possible that Sukuna even died with a relative level of satisfaction and consent, even if he wasn’t very happy about it or still clearly feared death.

The suddenness of Sukuna’s end in Jujutsu Kaisen also makes sense given that chapter 265 was his final possibility of redemption or changing his ways. There was no need for Sukuna to second guess himself before his death because Yuji already gave him that opportunity, which he rejected. By having Sukuna’s end be swift, it provided the level of definitive and strictly interpretable end that his character required following chapter 265’s events.

As he said himself in chapter 238, he lives according to his ideals, eating what he wants, playing with what he wants, and killing what he wants. Chapter 268 sees Sukuna stick to his words here, dying according to his own ideals as well. He rejects Yuji’s offer because it fundamentally disagrees with his interpretation of love. He accepts his death because it validates his interpretation of love. The strongest died as the strongest lived, and it’s a perfect end.

Final thoughts

Expand Tweet

While Sukuna’s demise in Jujutsu Kaisen is divisive, it is narratively incredibly fitting for his character and drives home his ideals as he’s professed them to readers all along.

Although fans are entitled to take issue with what they didn’t receive, most everything about the death is consistent with Akutami’s prior writing and themes. For that, Akutami deserves to be commended for crafting one of the most well-written villains in recent shonen history.