War Sailor ending explained: The long-standing effects of war

War Sailor is Netflix's new three-part series covering the impact of World War II on the common people and those who sailed abroad during this time on merchant ships. The Norwegian-language drama by Gunnar Vikene, which is based on his film of the same name released last year, followed Alfred (Kristoffer Joner), a family man who went aboard a Norwegian vessel for 18 months but got stuck there with his good friend, Sigbjørn 'Wally' Kvalvåg (Pål Sverre Hagen).

The subtle and slow-burning drama took viewers on a journey to explore the undocumented parts of the war. Sailors, typically, have taken a small part in the history books. The series followed both the struggles and the aftermath of the war on the people who lived through it and never quite recovered.

War Sailor set up a hook quite early in the first episode and used it effectively to drive home the story of the finale to a satisfying conclusion. Though the series concluded without a concrete resolution, it was quite a fitting end to the story of two friends.

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War Sailor ending explained: What went wrong between Freddy and Sigbjørn?

Sigbjørn was one of the primary pillars of the entire series. His and Freddy's friendship drew the carriage for the plot, and their tale of survival amidst the constant threat of complete annihilation was a tale worth retelling. However, things got much worse for Freddy in the second episode, which revealed that his family had died during the war.

While viewers were already shown how his family survived the explosion narrowly, Freddy had no idea of this and wandered off at the end of episode 2, leading people to think that he was dead.

The finale opened with Sigbjørn reaching Freddy's house. He slowly started to take care of them and formed a bond with the family. Sigbjørn, having no family of his own, decided to take care of this household in an effort to rebuild after the war concluded.

Over time, he developed a bond with his 'dead' friend's wife, leading to a romantic exchange between the two. But soon, Sigbjørn received the news that Freddy was alive and living in Singapore.

This took viewers back to the first scene of War Sailor, where Sigbjørn was trying to break Freddy out of a drug-induced trance. The former did ultimately manage to wake his friend up and reveal to him that his family was alive. He also revealed that he and the rest of the crew had managed to raise enough money for Freddy to go home.

He revealed that he was not coming with Freddy and would return to life as a sailor, with no one to care for yet again. His feelings for Freddy's wife drew this line between the two friends, something that perhaps Freddy also figured out in the future.

Freddy went back home and met his long-lost family. The final scenes focused on Freddy's struggle to rebuild his life, with the government having marked him a deserter after his ship was bombed. The series time skipped several times in the last sequence.

The final sequence of War Sailor saw a now old Sigbjørn finally coming to meet Freddy. The two friends ended up sitting in uncomfortable silence for a while before the former decided to leave again.

The film concluded with Freddy looking ahead in no particular direction with teary eyes, perhaps thinking about Sigbjørn.

War Sailor is now streaming on Netflix.