It may be sad and difficult to bid farewell to a teleserye you religiously watched since its premiere, but we all know that good things like Mars Ravelo’s Darna must come to an end. How the TV adaptation flowed may have stirred fans yet everyone agrees that it had a strong, impressive finale.

In its finale week, we’re able to witness how Valentina came back to life and joined the Super Soldiers in fighting Darna. This posed as a huge dilemma to our mighty heroine as General Borgo wages war against Nueva Esperanza if she would not give what he was asking from her.

Determined to help the city, Brian willingly sacrificed himself by pretending as a Super Soldier in order to help Darna defeat them. He managed to flee after getting caught and tortured, and arrived in the very nick of time to help Darna against the Super Soldiers spearheaded by Valentina. Unfortunately, he was bitten by Valentina’s deadly snakes in his attempt of saving her, which led to his heartbreaking demise.

As she infuriatingly went after Valentina, the Super Soldiers assaulted her yet she was able to topple them down singlehandedly. The Serpent Queen suddenly arrived and was able to incapacitate Darna, who was still hoping that Valentina would come to her senses and return to being Regina. It did happen, but it was already too late since Darna was already heavily wounded and helplessly lying on the ground. That scene indeed brought extreme fear and anxiety to her loved ones and the people of Nueva Esperanza, who were left to fend for themselves as the Super Soldiers ruthlessly invaded the city.

Darna fell into the hands of Borgo, who was bent on using her mighty powers for his disastrous plans of destroying the world and the planet Marte through a deadly weapon from his planet Ludo. Despite getting tortured, she still refused to give him the white stone that he would use to activate it.

Meanwhile, Klaudio (Joko Diaz) was able to talk with his former fellow soldier Vorian (Nico Antonio) and make him realize that he’s actually serving a crazy and selfish monster who aims to dominate the entire universe. Vorian got convinced and agreed to help them by telling them here is Borgo’s hideout.

Determined to rescue his sister, Ding snuck out to search for Narda. However, he was captured by Ishna (Kim Rodriguez) and Borgo tried to use her weakness – her younger brother – to compel her to give the stone to him. Just when Borgo succeeded in getting hold of the stone, Ding was able to escape from the grasp of Force Field Reporter (Joshua Colet) and take the stone away from Borgo. At the same time, Vorian, Klaudio, and Luna arrived to help them.

Before Vorian breathed his last breath after his bout with Borgo, he was able to warn his sister Ishna about Borgo’s real intentions. This enraged her, so she tried to assault Borgo but to no avail. While the rest were busy fighting in another room, Valentina suddenly appeared and expressed her fury against her adoptive dad as she realized that he was only using her for his own advantage.

This ensued to their skirmish, with Valentina getting incapacitated. Meanwhile, Ding was able to find the white stone and returned it to his sister, who immediately transformed into the mighty heroine. Refusing to surrender, Borgo injected a serum to himself that restored and even fortified his strength and superpowers. As their scuffle continued on the streets, Darna was able to successfully unleash the full potential of her superpowers called hiraya, which consist of courage, integrity, self-confidence, hardwork and determination, discipline, patience, and kindness.

As she battled it out with Borgo, Darna was able to transform into her most powerful form which Luna (Kira Balinger) helped her develop. Led by Dr. Rolando Villalobos (Levi Ignacio), the authorities and townsfolks of Nueva Esperanza went hand-in-hand as they fought the merciless Super Soldiers, while Darna was focused on finishing Borgo. Much to everyone’s delight and surprise, the good Extras, which included the Levitator (Enchong Dee), Silent Shocker (Boom Labrusca), Human Urchin (Loren Burgos), The Seductress (Jef Gaitan), and Dragon Mouth (Karl Gabriel), suddenly appeared just in time to help them. Thankfully, Darna was able to kill Borgo and stop his evil plans of destroying the Earth by being able to detonate his destructive weapon.

As the lives of the people of Nueva Esperanza went back to normal, the extras also got back to their normal state through the help of the serum developed by Dr. Villalobos and got imprisoned. Meanwhile, Master Klaudio apologized to Narda and Ding for what he did to their mother Leonor when he was still among Borgo’s henchmen. In order to free himself from the regretful life he’s going to have, he requested Ding to use to him the instrument that would erase all his memories, regardless if they’re happy or sad

A few days later, Ding gave Narda the letter and ring Brian handed to him before he went to his final mission, in which Brian professed his undying love for her.

Luna then bade farewell as the leader of Marte, impressively depicted by Miss Universe-Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi, fetched her. Before leaving, she told Darna that she will still be its protector and warned her about the disasters that are yet to happen.

Narda then visited Regina in the facility to check on her and remind her that she would remain as her friend regardless of what happened to them, and that she had the choice on how she would want to live her life. just when we thought that it was already all’s well that ends well, Regina chose to be free and be still Valentina, while Narda will continue her sworn duty of being our superheroine.

The finale episode capped off with Darna telling the viewers: “Hanggang sa aking muling paglipad” and gave us a flying kiss and a wink.

Rave reactions from netizens

Mars Ravelo’s Darna may have received a variety of comments throughout its run, but it’s amazing how it started strong and also ended strong. During the ‘super finale’ episode, its livestream on Kapamilya Online Live both on YouTube and Facebook raked in more than 245,000 real-time live viewers on the former and almost 20 thousand live viewers on the latter

At the same time, the topics and hashtags related to the series made it to the top trending topics on Twitter, such as “#DarnaSuperFinale”, “#JaneDeLeon”, “DARLENTINA HANGGANG WAKAS”, “Celeste”, “Regina”, “Marte”, “#JaneNella”, and “#JanellaSalvador”.

Most of the netizens were clamoring for a DarLentina moment as they continue to fervently ship up to the very end. Besides, there were also some who shared their hot takes on the last episode and on its six-month run, as well as on its open-ended conclusion that got many assuming that there’s going to be either a part 2 or a movie sequel, and that the production will just have a “series break”. It was actually enjoyable to read the tweets about the series, such as the ones we collated below.

Thank you @JRBcreativeprod for giving us the best finale.. since day 1 never disappointing ang mga happenings. mamimiss ko ng sobra si Darna 🥹💖 #DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/DpfiZF3pNx

— 미라럽•Multifandom (@miracle_reveluv) February 10, 2023

Such a powerful scene. Jane de Leon can really do so much with her nuances. I am going to miss this daily experience.
Pero the cheers in this house when they showed her flashbacks with Regina were complete chaos!!!
DARLENTINA HANGGANG WAKAS#JaneNella | #DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/2RqUxESYLM

— Amber 💫🐍 (@AltheyuhMoves) February 10, 2023

Their faces don't have any happiness in them, only relief. They used their powers to save and help the citizens of the city and that's enough for them.

DARLENTINA HANGGANG WAKAS#JaneNella | #DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/8vz7hupLOo

— Asteria | Light (@KabagLangYan) February 10, 2023

Yung ang touching nitong Claudio-Ding moment... Tinawag pang "master" muli ni Ding. Parang he became the father he never had. #DarnaSuperFinale

— Miss France Sajorda (@PrincessFrance) February 10, 2023

JOB WELL DONE, JANE CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE CAST 👏👏#DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/MtzIYcqy26

— Gabriel Elmer (@GabrielElmer11) February 10, 2023

Happy to see miss celeste cortesi again after her miss uinverse stint. #DarnaSuperFinale

— 💎🏹BGYO GelKira (@bgyo_gelkira) February 10, 2023

Taray ni Miss Universe Philippines (2022) Celeste Cortesi special guest ng final episode ng Darna. Ganda talaga❤️#DarnaSuperFinale

— Scarlett (@mera231127) February 10, 2023

Jane de Leon at the end of #DarnaSuperFinale credit said, "Hanggang Sa Aking Muling Paglipad" uy sana talaga may next Darna ulit sa Jane De Leon. she's my favorite Darna 😍😍😍

— ADJ (@shanedilan) February 10, 2023

#DarnaSuperFinale interesting. In all Darna series or movies namamatay si Valentina, either karma or its Darna defeating her. But sa ending na ito, buhay si Valentina at patuloy na magiging masama. So it means may book 2 pa, huhuhuhu

— Uzi (SEMI IA) (@ningmingbratz) February 10, 2023

kakagigil si Valentina hanggang sa huli d papakabog #DarnaSuperFinale

— i_am_Katzky (@gerald_1986) February 10, 2023

i'm actually genuinely satisfied that they didn't go the cliche route and made regina stay as valentina. tho it saddens me that it finally ended with an open ending, i'm really REALLY hoping for a darna movie soon. #DarnaSuperFinale

— noah (@marshmyouillow) February 10, 2023

Kudos to @Imjanedeleon for giving justice to such an iconic Pinay superhero. Mabuhay ka!!🙌🏻! #DarnaSuperEndGame #DarnaSuperFinale

— kinopotter 🪐 (@kinomarinay) February 10, 2023

Di na ako makapaghintay kung ano man to huhu. Regina is back as Valentina tas yung sinabi ni Celeste "Kailangan mong maging handa dahil may paparating na malaking panganib". Basta Congrats po sa buong team!! Fighting!! Hanggang sa muli! #DarnaSuperFinale

— JR ♤ ❁ (@jrdolana) February 10, 2023

SHE IS VALENTINA! 🐍 Valentina 2.0 introduction is very pleasing to my eyes. I’m a Valentina Apologist for a reason tho. #DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/h7BsOMeWDK

— niji | feliz fierhoe’s (@jeasluvr) February 10, 2023

valentina has a new motivation and that is homosexuality bc the way she looked at that engagement ring was so suspicious 🤨 like do u have something to share with the class

DARLENTINA HANGGANG WAKAS#JaneNella | #DarnaSuperFinale pic.twitter.com/Y9h2KABb9E

— LEX | WILL SEE MAMAMOO 🥺 (@byul_byul2) February 10, 2023

sana may director's cut or longer version ng ep sa iwanttfc for the finale episode dahil ang dami pa naming tanong nakakaloka hahahhahaha#Darna #DarnaSuperFinale

— . (@ThoughtsOfBryle) February 10, 2023

REGINA SLAYED TIL THE END!
VALENTINA IS BACK!!! 🐍#DarnaSuperFinale https://t.co/A44BVvSLtk

— Ninang Nikki 💚 See you on MYCON Day! (@MariNicolei) February 10, 2023

JANE DE LEON played the role well. Congratulations on the excellent job @Imjanedeleon #DarnaSuperFinale

— MAD kief 🐺 103%👒 (@PinkLocos) February 10, 2023

We are grateful that Darna has been part of our lives and that she instills moral lessons in us along with her seven abilities, notably the "hiraya."

We are therefore wishing and manifesting for a new season.#DarnaSuperFinale

— Jonathan cortez (@jnthncrtz27) February 10, 2023

Valuable takeaways

Just like in any narrative, it’s definitely impossible to not at least have one significant takeaway from Mars Ravelo’s Darna. Being a superheroine drama, it was able to successfully inculcate to us a lot of values, such as courage, integrity, self-confidence, diligence and perseverance, discipline, patience, and kindness, that constituted hiraya or the most powerful form of Darna, as those helped her to become who she is at present. Furthermore, it also made us appreciate more the importance of our family, friends, special someone, and other significant people around us, who serve as our wellspring of love, support, strength, inspiration, and courage in everything that we do.

Ever since the beginning, it has instilled to us the adage: “Ang pinakamalaking kasalanan ay kapag may kakayahan kang tumulong pero wala ka namang ginawa,” which the prime Darna Leonor, amazingly portrayed by Iza Calzado, reminded her children Narda and Ding over and over again before she died. And the two indeed ingrained it into their minds and hearts and put it into practice.

Narda’s advise on Regina about living her life according to how she wanted to live it and Darna’s monologue in the latter part of the first episode also reminded us with the oft-quoted lines, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,” from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. While we have the Almighty God to guide and provide for us, it still upon us on how we are going to live it to the fullest or the way we like it to be. Life is all about making choices and standing by those choices.

Furthermore, it also reiterated the oft-quoted saying from an international superhero movie: “With great power comes great responsibility,” which really spoke truth not only to Darna, but to the extras most especially.

The flow of the story and conclusion may not be the way many of us arguably expected it to be, but it still impressed the netizens, particularly those have watched it religiously since Day 1.

Jane de Leon’s being picked as this generation’s Darna may have met with various comments, but she is able to prove that she really can do it in spite of the injuries, concussions, and accidents that she had to endure just to give justice to her portrayal of the superheroine and for the sake of the people she worked with. The same goes for Janella Salvador, who was also able to prove that taking risks and plunging into challenges, just like what she did when she accepted this iconic role Valentina, can definitely take you places in life.

Job well done, Mars Ravelo’s Darna fam!