u/Gorgo_yak

So, I know that the publicly accepted version is that Spike died at the end there and while I cannot disagree with that, I kinda like to interpret it as not literal. What I mean is that the star going out at the end symbolises Spike dying in the sense that the man he was until that point, the man tied deeply to his past, unable to move on and look towards the future, died, so that a new Spike - a free one - could be born. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it fits the story very well. Not like it's impossible too - we've seen Spike survive a lot, after all.

Well, whatever the truth may be, I know that I am going to carry the weight of what I have seen.