Lightyear may not be terribly connected to the larger Toy Story universe however, its huge Zurg twist does connect on one of the show’s most memorable jokes.
The idea behind the spin-off is that Andy might have watched which made him a fan of Buzz and it’s not the story that started the development of Buzz. Buzz. It’s the film that was the inspiration for the toy we all recognize and love of Toy Story.
Lightyear is now available on Disney+, which means that even if you didn’t see it in the theater it is now possible to go through it and decide whether it deserves the mediocre reaction. You can also catch up on the many Toy Story references and the closing scene revelation.
Big spoilers are in store as we get into the story of Lightyear‘s finale, so make sure to look for yourself in case you haven’t watched the film already.
Lightyear ending explained
Buzz’s many efforts to locate an appropriate hyperspeed crystal (after breaking the previous one) are the result of him time-traveling into the future for four years at one time.
He’s already lost the lives of everyone who he traveled with in the beginning however, he is determined to pass one last test. The test is a success however, it leads to him being transported further into the future. The world he lands on is quite different from his previous one because Zurg and his robot army have gained control.
Along along with Izzy, Mo and Darby, Buzz attempts to get to the ship of Zurg in orbit in order to take it down and end all robots. They fail, but the good news is that Zurg appears eager to get in touch with Buzz and take Buzz to his ship.
In reality, instead the idea of Zurg being a robotic being it’s actually a person wearing a robot suit, and it’s a person who appears much like an old Buzz. When Zurg comes out the first thing Buzz thinks of is normal: “Dad?”
Toy Story fans will immediately recognize this as a reference at Toy Story 2‘s most memorable gags and one of the most memorable jokes from the series since it poked on Star Wars and included Zurg confess the truth to Utility Belt Buzz that he was actually his father.
Because of Rex’s tail Zurg is sent crashing through the lifting shaft and causing a causing a devastating Utility Belt Buzz. Fortunately, he’s not dead, and we were able to see the second Buzz and Zurg playing with his father and son bonding time during the play of catch.
But, Lightyear isn’t planning to explain the reason of the reasons Zurg the toy thinks Buzz is Buzz’s father. Instead, the film offers an interesting twist: the older Buzz who is wearing Zurg’s suit of robotics is just this Buzz: An older Buzz.
He’s an Buzz who, unknowingly, traveled into the future to repair the crystal that was hyperspeed, but after his return in the future, he was ridiculed by the Commander Burnside for his conduct.
After the movie’s theatrical release the director as well as co-writer Angus MacLane revealed that they had a plan to have Zurg as Buzz’s father but it didn’t work since viewers were anticipating it.
“What we really were trying to achieve was the notion that Buzz’s biggest adversary is himself, both literally as well as metaphorically, and that it’s his desire to return in time to rectify the error that is more destructive to himself and the world because of his arrogance,” he noted.
The Buzz was then determined to travel to the future and realized that if he used hyperspeed to speed up time and backwards, he could also go backwards to correct the original mistake that left them trapped in the world.
He began travelling back to the past over the course of several years, taking his crystal of hyperspeed, however, he could only get back to a weeks after Buzz returned from his final test of hyperspeed.
With this Buzz dominating the world by using his robots as Zurg the Buzz returned from his tests in a brand new timeline. This meant that our Buzz joined forces along with Izzy as well as co to help save the day rather than being punished by the commanding officer due to his behavior.
Older Buzz would like younger Buzz to unite and go back in time using the latest hyperspeed crystal. Buzz’s Buzz has grown over his relationship with Izzy however, and does not want to alter the timeline as the older Buzz does, and so Buzz refuses.
A fight ensues, and ultimately Buzz, our Buzz beats the old Buzz and appears to blow the spaceship up in order to destroy the crystal of hyperspeed. Buzz is unable to return to Earth as he had in mind, but he decides to continue living the life the one he’s now living.
