The series finale for Arthur hit the internet Monday, and fans are going crazy over the reveal of what the characters from the beloved animated TV show look like all grown up.
The premise of the episode centers around the aardvark and his gang of friends stumbling upon a fortune-telling octopus in the back of the school library which accurately tells them what their occupations will be. We then flash forward to find the toy was surprisingly accurate.
In a meta twist, Arthur grows up to become a graphic novelist whose first book is the autobiography named after him about the time he needed new glasses — the same plot of one of the first children’s books in the series from which the show, and its pilot episode, is based.
For many millennials who grew up watching the show, it was an emotional experience to see it come to an end, to say the least.
The show surprisingly drew some comparisons to the more mature-rated Euphoria for centering on a group of friends occasionally dealing with serious issues — in Arthur’s case things like bullying, dyslexia, diabetes, or even dealing with cancer.
The show’s astounding feedback-loop of a plot, with Arthur being the very author of the show, was enough to choke one fan right up.
By the way, did we mention Arthur author Marc Brown made a cameo in the episode?
Brown is the library employee who hands Arthur the book on how to draw, becoming the catalyst for his interest in graphic novels. Not only that, but the voice of the mammal as a grown-up is none other than original voice actor Michael Yarmush.
Another fan pointed out how this was seemingly planned from the beginning since DW can be seen reading an Arthur book in the show’s opening credits.
But some Twitter users had to give pause — Arthur’s new look is raising some questions.
The producer finally acknowledging the character’s anatomical inaccuracy to actual aardvarks was enough to make one fan giggle.
The finale of the longest-running kids animated show in U.S. history may be over, but you can still watch full episodes of Arthur on PBS Kids’ website, where more content featuring the character is expected to roll out for years to come.