Song of the Sea - Ending Explained

The central twist of "Song of the Sea" is the revelation of the family's true nature and the parallels between their story and the myths. The mother, Bronagh, was a selkie who had to return to the sea on the night of Saoirse's birth to save her daughter's life, leaving behind her coat. Saoirse, being half-selkie, is bound to this magical world. Without her coat, she cannot find her voice, and her life force slowly drains away, causing all magic to fade with her.

The father, Conor, in a grief-stricken attempt to prevent Saoirse from following her mother, locks her coat in a chest and hurls it into the sea, unwittingly endangering her life. The journey reveals that the figures of myth are direct allegories for the human characters. Macha the Owl Witch is a reflection of Granny; both are mothers trying to protect their children from pain in controlling, misguided ways. Macha's giant, stone-hearted son, Mac Lir, is a parallel to Conor, both rendered immobile by immense sorrow.

In the climax, Ben overcomes his aquaphobia to retrieve the coat. Saoirse wears it and finally sings her song, which not only saves her but also liberates the bottled emotions in Macha's home and frees all the stone faerie creatures. This act allows the spirits to travel to their homeworld, Tír na nÓg. Bronagh appears in her spirit form to take Saoirse with her, but seeing the family united, she offers Saoirse a choice. Because Saoirse is half-human, she can choose to stay. Bronagh removes her selkie coat, making her fully human and severing her connection to the magical world, allowing her to remain with her father and brother. The ending signifies the family's acceptance of their loss and their choice to live fully in the human world, while keeping the memory of their mother and her magic alive in their stories.

One prominent alternative interpretation views the entire magical journey as an allegory for Ben's internal psychological process of coming to terms with his mother's death. In this reading, the magical elements are not literal but are manifestations of a child's imagination trying to make sense of trauma. The mother didn't magically return to the sea; she likely died during childbirth, and the story of her being a selkie is a comforting narrative the family has created.

From this perspective, Macha the Owl Witch and her bottling of emotions represent the unhealthy coping mechanisms of the family—denial and repression. The parallels between the mythical characters and their real-world counterparts (Macha and Granny, Mac Lir and Conor) reinforce this idea. The journey through the mythical world is Ben's journey through the stages of grief. The film's climax, where Bronagh appears and Saoirse chooses to stay, symbolizes the family's final acceptance of their loss. They are letting go of the idealized, magical version of their mother but choosing to keep her memory alive in their now-healed family unit.