It’s A Good Thing The Divergent Movies Ended Early (& Allegiant’s Controversial Book Ending Proves It)

In the 2010s young adult dystopia was at a fever pitch, and one of the many popular movie franchises the craze spawned was the Divergent movies, which may not have been finished, but were probably better left that way. The Divergent movies were based on a series of three books written by Veronica Roth. The story followed Beatrice, a young woman who lives in a society split into factions based on personality traits. Although Beatrice seems dedicated to joining the faction of her parents, her life changes when she chooses the more rebellious faction instead.

Considering the frenzy for young adult dystopia at the time, the Divergent franchise seemed to have endless potential. The first movie came out in 2014, and although it was constantly criticized and compared to other popular franchises like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, it succeeded with fans and the box office. From there, the series had two more books to adapt, which should have been a promise of even more success. However, the Divergent franchise ended up seeing a stark decrease in popularity, and ultimately, only three Divergent movies of the four planned films were made.

The Divergent Movies Never Got A Proper Ending

Although the Divergent film franchise was intended to have four movies in total, only three were made, leaving the franchise without a proper ending. Divergent came out in 2014, Insurgent came out in 2015, and Allegiant came out in 2016. The final film, entitled Ascendant, which would have adapted the final half of Veronica Roth’s third book, never came to fruition due to lack of popularity and interest. Therefore, Allegiant ended on something of a cliffhanger, and in the end, avoided the original ending that Veronica Roth had written.

The final Divergent film, Allegiant, ended with Tris telling her community about the Bureau, an organization outside their dystopia that is in control of their city. This is certainly a triumphant moment, but it is far from the end of the story. If anything, Tris’s reveal is a call to action that is implied to continue into the next movie. By alerting her city of the Bureau’s existence, Tris is promising a final battle between her and the Bureau, but unfortunately, this never got to occur on screen due to Divergent’s final movie Ascendant being canceled.

The Ending Of The Divergent Books Was Controversial

Though the Divergent movies never got their true ending, Veronica Roth’s books did, and the conclusion wasn’t exactly what fans were expecting. As previously mentioned, Tris does bring a fight to the Bureau at the end of the Divergent series and a climactic conflict ensues. Tris, along with her friends, end up successfully taking down the Bureau, however, the book ends tragically when Tris is shot and dies. This was a major shock for readers, who never would have thought that the book’s protagonist would actually die.

More than that, fans were not only surprised by this ending, but upset with it as well. Although Tris did what she set out to do, it wasn’t enough to make up for her untimely death. Without Tris, the entire book series felt like a waste. Plus, this ending was only made worse by the fact that, in general, readers felt that the Divergent book series decreased in quality from book one to book three. While “Divergent” brought a fresh story of violence, justice, and dystopia, the final book felt dull and overly focused on boring settings and conflicts. Ultimately, the end of the Divergent books was a controversial one.

Ascendant’s Cancelation May Have Been For The Best

Considering how upset readers were by the end of “Allegiant,” it’s probably for the best that Divergent is an unfinished movie franchise. If the fourth Divergent film did happen, there definitely would have been a new surge of audience members that felt cheated by Tris’ tragic death, and the movie franchise would have ended on the same bitter note that the book series did. Therefore, although Ascendant’s cancelation means that Divergent failed in terms of audience interest and box office earnings, it is for the best that fans did not have to relive the pain and disappointment of the book’s original ending.

In the end, both the Divergent books and movies are a perfect example of a particular time in which teen dystopian films were at their peak. With The Hunger Games making a resurgence in 2023 with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it is interesting to reflect on the young adult craze and how both books and movies succeeded with audiences. Although Divergent didn’t get all the time it deserved, it seems fateful that it ended where it did. Hopefully, audiences can remember the series on its more hopeful note rather than its true tragic ending.