Solo Leveling is the most loved manhwa series with lots of exciting mysteries, all revealed towards the end. The anime version is also a big hit, showing how engaging Solo Leveling is. However, despite its big fan following, the ending of the series surprised and even disappointed many fans.
In the end of Solo Leveling, Jinwoo finds out why magic beasts and gates started showing up on Earth. He also learns about powerful beings called the Rulers and the Monarchs.
The Monarchs want to destroy the planet. After a tough battle where Jinwoo almost dies fighting three of the Monarchs, he gets all the power of the Shadow Monarch.
He’s ready to take on the Monarchs. Jinwoo gets ready to fight the toughest Monarch, Antares, the Monarch of Destruction, who commands an army of ten million Dragons.
Jinwoo beats Antares and the other Monarchs, helped by the Rulers. But because so much damage happened and many lives were lost, he uses a special tool called the Cup of Reincarnation.
This tool turns back time to before the gates appeared. Then, in a different world, he fights and defeats the Monarchs once more. This way, Jinwoo becomes the hidden hero who saved the world without anyone realizing it.
Solo Leveling Chapter 163
In the last parts of the series, Jinwoo discovers that Earth is the place where a huge battle will happen between the Rulers and the Monarchs. The Rulers are made of light, while the Monarchs are from darkness.
They were both made by something called the Absolute Being, and they’ve been fighting each other forever. To end the constant battle, seven of the eight Rulers who worked for the Absolute Being rebelled.
They learned that the war was just for the Absolute Being’s enjoyment. They succeeded in defeating the Absolute Being and Ashborn, the only loyal Ruler left. That’s when Ashborn discovered a hidden power inside him and became the Shadow Monarch.
The Rulers used a special tool made by the Absolute Being called the Cup of Reincarnation to go back in time and try to stop the tragedy. But each time, humans died in every timeline.
So, they used the Cup again, going back ten years before the story we know. This time, they made Earth stronger by adding mana and made humans stronger as hunters by opening gates.
Then Jinwoo learns that he was chosen by the former Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, to be his vessel. His ability to level up was just to get his body ready for Ashborn’s powers. But when Jinwoo goes back to the Double Dungeon, Ashborn decides to give his powers to Jinwoo instead, making him the new Shadow Monarch.
After thinking a lot, Jinwoo decides he has to beat the Monarchs because they’re made from darkness and only want to destroy and kill. So, he gets back with the Shadow Monarch’s official army and gets ready to fight Antares.
Antares is the Monarch of Destruction, also called the King of Dragons, and he’s the toughest of all the Monarchs.
Solo Leveling Chapter 171
Jinwoo’s big fight against Antares in the last part of the story begins when he arrives at the battlefield in Canada. Antares has been wrecking everything with his ten million-strong army, waiting for Jinwoo to come. Soon enough, Antares surrounds Jinwoo with his army.
Jinwoo remembers his shadow soldiers and uses a skill called Dragon’s Fear (which he got from Kamish’s runestone) to make Antares’ troops unable to move for a while.
Antares is surprised too, and Jinwoo takes advantage of this moment. He uses Shadow Exchange to teleport both himself and Antares to a faraway island across the world. Here, they continue their fierce battle.
The Monarch of Destruction tries to trick Jinwoo by saying he’ll leave the planet alone if Jinwoo helps him defeat the Rulers. But Jinwoo sees the bloodlust in Antares’ eyes and doesn’t fall for the trick.
Solo Leveling Chapter 177
After helping the Rulers, Jinwoo asks to use the Cup of Reincarnation one more time. He says he’s lost too many people in the fight and wants to bring them back.
Jinwoo’s wish to turn back time shows he wants to save not just his loved ones like Go Gunhee and his father, but also all the lives lost worldwide. This includes those lost since the start of the war against the Monarchs and even since the gates first appeared.
The Rulers caution Jinwoo that if he fails, the Monarchs will return to life with memories of this life intact. They also warn that the Cup of Reincarnation can’t be used again as it’s been drained. Despite this, Jinwoo sticks to his choice. The Rulers use the Cup one final time.
Jinwoo then wakes up in his younger self’s body and enjoys some peaceful time as a regular schoolboy. But soon, he heads to the dimensional gap to fight the Monarchs. For 27 years, Jinwoo battles the Monarchs, saving Antares for the end.
Meanwhile, in the real world, two years have passed. Jinwoo returns and goes back to living a regular life. However, he starts changing his appearance slowly to make it seem like he’s aging.
As the story nears its end, Jinwoo starts meeting people from the old timeline again, like Go Gunhee, Jinho, Juhee, Jinchul, and most importantly, Cha Haein. Many characters who would have died if they became hunters now live full and happy lives. Only the Rulers’ vessels know about Jinwoo’s sacrifice.
In the end, while the not-so-exciting final fight with Antares might have disappointed some fans, Solo Leveling still ties up its loose ends quite nicely with a satisfying end to Jinwoo’s story.
The series doesn’t show much of Jinwoo’s battles in the dimensional gap, but these are just pacing problems that the anime adaptation of Solo Leveling could hopefully fix. Readers can find Solo Leveling on platforms like Pocket Comics, Tapas, and Tappytoon.
