If you’re reading this, you’ve likely just finished the first episode of the new Netflix anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and yelled something along the lines of “holy garlic bread!” at your shiny streaming device. Because — holy garlic bread! — Scott Pilgrim is dead.

Let’s back up for one second. For fans of the 2010 movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the new Netflix anime series starts in a familiar enough fashion. We meet the unemployed, bass guitar-playing Toronto resident (Michael Cera), a member of the band Sex Bob-omb who is kind-of-sort-of-but-not-really dating a 17-year-old named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). His situationship with Knives gets even more complicated when Scott meets (first in his dreams, then IRL) new girl in town Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Scott and Ramona eventually share a snow-strewn stroll and steamy smooch, after which Scott learns that if he wants to truly date Ramona, he must defeat her Seven Evil Exes. Blah, blah, blah, you know that part already. Here’s where the sliding doors moment comes…

Is Scott Pilgrim dead?

Instead of handily defeating Ramona’s first evil ex, Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha) like he does in the movie, Scott is the one who explodes into a pile of coins on the floor of The Rockit after Matthew lands a killer punch. (Yes, Knives Chau is devastated.) 

“It was the only path,” said Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley of reimagining his IP as an executive producer and writer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. 

Scott’s absence — or his takeoff, if you will — allowed O’Malley and fellow executive producer BenDavid Grabinski to dive deeper into the lives of the series’ other beloved characters; Ramona, in particular. 

“We thought it was a really good device to get to hang out with everybody else in a significant way,” Grabinski said to Netflix. “The movie already gave so much time with Scott, and the books are great and exist forever, but it felt like a lightning-in-a-bottle idea that would allow us to expand everybody else’s stories. Who doesn’t want to spend all of that time with Ramona? That was our feeling.”

O’Malley agrees: “I have a long relationship with Scott Pilgrim fans as the creator of the universe, so it’s funny to me that 20 years in, even the biggest fans will often say, ‘Scott Pilgrim is the worst character.’ This narrative shift gave us so many different meta opportunities to explore everything in more depth and detail.” 

What does Ramona do after Scott’s death?

We’re treated to a new heroine’s journey as Ramona must now contend with the League of Evil Exes on her own without Scott’s help.  

“The idea of Ramona having to interact with the past that she’s run away from, and figuring out more about herself and the decisions she’s made through that process, was something that felt dramatically interesting,” Grabinski says. “Because when she’s on the sideline and Scott’s fighting her ex, and then the ex is defeated, how much can she grow from that? Centering Ramona in those conflicts felt like a great device to use a mystery structure, and to ultimately have her learn more about herself.”

And for fans to — finally — learn more about her. 

Now, we’re going to skip straight to the ending of the finale to explain the big meta question of whether Scott Pilgrim is alive or not. So, even though we started with an Episode 1 spoiler alert, we need to put up a brand new shiny finale spoiler alert here in case you haven’t already gotten there.

So, is Scott Pilgrim really alive?

Yep, Scott Pilgrim isn’t actually dead. What he really is… is a time-traveler. When Scott vanished during his battle with Matthew Patel, it wasn’t because he was killed. It was because he was sucked through a portal by… his future self. In short: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off operates on multiple timelines.

Who is Old Scott? 

The 15 years in the future version of Scott — who has a beard, is in a band with the Katayanagi twins (whose robot Scott uses to create the vegan portal needed for his plan), and crashes in a mansion (thanks to Old Wallace’s Nintendo exec husband) — is referred to as “Old Scott,” and he’s brought present-day Scott to the future so he won’t fight the evil exes and marry Ramona.

“Fighting those exes was the biggest mistake of our life,” says Old Scott, who’s going through a divorce from Ramona and is clearly in his feelings about it.

What about Future Ramona?

Future Ramona — who’s still working as a delivery gal in Toronto — has heard about Old Scott’s plan, and as a safeguard, performed a time-traveling stunt of her own, with the help of a hybrid pair of DeLorean Rollerblades. She was the one who planted the Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life screenplay on Young Neil’s computer, so that once present-day Scott went back to the past, he would hear their love story and try to make it a reality. Now Future Ramona uses her time-traveling skates once more to take Scott to his proper timeline, where she briefly meets — and poses for pics — with her past self. (Still following?) 

With present-day Scott and Ramona reunited, it looks like they’ll get their happy ending. Except… when they try to kiss, an invisible force field repels their lips. Clearly, there’s still unfinished business.

Why can’t Scott and Ramona kiss?

The pair don’t have to wait long to find the source of their frustrations: During a performance of Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Musical, with all of the evil exes in attendance –– and after Gideon (Jason Schwartzman) and Julie (Aubrey Plaza) blow up the place (spoil sports!) –– a looming figure emerges. It’s Even Older Scott, wearing tattered clothes and a grizzled white beard. He sucker punches Scott for not staying away from Ramona like he warned. He’s the one responsible for the force field, having spiked Scott’s drink with nanomachines coded to Ramona’s DNA, and after 10 years of training, he’s ready to fight everyone. 

Scott, Ramona, Knives, the evil exes: They all get in on the action, but their efforts only seem to feed Even Older Scott’s hulking physique. The evil exes are eventually teleported back to the theater, leaving Scott and Ramona to fight Even Older Scott on their own. It’s looking like all hope is lost and then… Future Ramona appears to diffuse the situation, like only she can. But the bleak look at her potential future has left current Ramona uncertain — should she run from love, like always? 

Who is Super Ramona?

Rather than skate away, she stands her ground and chooses herself, giving Future Ramona a hug, and the two merge into Super Ramona (just like Sonic the Hedgehog 3!). 

“Super Ramona was treated as a special character,” explains director Abel Góngora, from the Japanese animation studio Science SARU. “We didn’t really have a solid design, because I wanted something fluid and ethereal that floats in the air, like she’s in water. We can see the sky through her, like she is fused with the environment. Just one of our animators was in charge of the animation, which was extremely laborious and detailed. And the compositing team did a great job in making her look so special, shining, and golden — like the script required.”

Super Ramona sends Even Older Scott back to his proper timeline and breaks his anti-kiss field. Cut to Scott and Ramona back in the theater with their friends. Ramona gives Scott a big smooch, and they walk out hand in hand. 

Do Scott and Ramona end up together?

In the closing scenes — set to the tune “God Only Knows” —  we see Ramona continuing to work as a movie stuntperson, and Scott once again performing with Sex Bob-omb (which now includes Knives Chau). Given that Ramona’s the one now sitting on the couch watching the band practice, it stands to reason that these two will get their happy ending after all…