Dispatch’s ending is so bad that it kicked it out of my GOTY list 

After weeks of mounting speculation about its ending, Dispatch Season 1 finally concluded on November 12. Unfortunately, it dropped the ball in its conclusion, focusing more on setting up the sequel and haphazardly wrapping up storylines in an unsatisfying way. In case the title wasn’t a big enough hint.

What makes Dispatch’s disappointing ending even worse is that it was a prime candidate for my 2025 Game of the Year list. The first six episodes were incredible, hyping me up even further for the finale, with numerous theories about how the story would unfold and what would happen to the characters at the end. 

The Escapist recaps

• Dispatch is a narrative-focused adventure game about a former superhero who becomes a dispatch operator, sending other heroes out to emergencies as needed.
• The game was released in weekly chunks of two episodes, culminating in Episodes 7 & 8 on November 12. 
• Most of the choices made throughout Dispatch Season 1 affected two specific characters, changing the ending.  
• While there are some different outcomes, the ending left the door open for Dispatch Season 2. 

What happens at the end of Dispatch Season 1?

While there are multiple ways the endings can play out in Dispatch, they boil down to a few choices. Shroud dies in most of the endings, though it’s possible to spare him. Either Sonar or Coupe will join the villain team, depending on who you cut in Episode 3, and they’ll be arrested at the end of Episode 8. 

Invisigal has a few potential endings, as it’s possible for someone who romanced her or treated her right to redeem her, leading her to take a bullet for Robert and join the Z-Team at the end. Those who spurned Invisigal can watch her turn to the dark side, killing Shroud and taking his mask at the end of the game. 

Chase, who nearly died in Episode 6, survives the story after Blonde Blazer gives him her magical amulet, granting him superpowers and transforming him into a new hero, Star Blazer. This left Blonde Blazer

Dispatch Episode 8 culminated in a massive battle with Shroud and his army. Shroud showed up in a spider mech that was powered by his attempts at copying the Astral Pulse, which is the power source of the mecha suit. In the end, the heroes saved the day, and the Z-team was finally shown the respect it deserved. 

Why the Dispatch ending dropped the ball

While Dispatch has always been a comedic series, it’s also had a dark and somber tone, showing that not all superheroes are, well, super. The Z-Team is composed of washed-up villains who care more about themselves and their petty grievances with one another, though this dynamic changes over time. 

All of Dispatch’s endings are far too saccharine, and it doesn’t match the tone of the other episodes, even with the darker Invisigal ending. Even if she’s the one who murdered Shroud, she still got rid of an incredibly dangerous villain, while keeping Robert’s hands clean.

Possibly the biggest example of watering down the content from previous episodes involves Chase. His final scene in Episode 6 was absolutely perfect. The story had set up that using his superspeed powers again would probably kill him, and the fact that he used them to save Invisigal after they argued was the perfect cap to his storyline. He was giving his life to save someone who could lead the next generation of heroes.

Except that he doesn’t die. Instead, he’s given a Deus Ex Machina in the form of Blonde Blazer’s amulet, which allows him not to die of aging. The incredible sacrifice of Episode 6 was undone, all with an ass pull at the last minute that added nothing to the story.

Shroud showing up in a giant spider suit also goes against everything we had seen of him so far. The entire point of the character was that he was secretive and operated out of the shadows, because he didn’t have superpowers on the same scale as someone like Blonde Blazer. He was a master manipulator, yet he turns up in the thing from Wild Wild West for a big punch-out at the end. 

In the end, there’s no real sacrifice to the ending, even if Invisigal turns into a villain, because she mostly turns heel in the runs where people are leaning into Blonde Blazer and don’t really care about her. Everyone survives, the villain most likely dies, the cut party member goes to jail for being a turncoat, and the Z-team gets a big, cheesy photo op at the end. Whether Dispatch has a good or bad ending depends entirely on how much you like Invisigal, and if you treated her right, you’ll get a positive ending. 

Everything was just far too clean, too simple. Where was the heroic sacrifice? Where was the difficult decision that players agonized over? Why was the Shroud fight a big anime battle when it doesn’t match the kind of villain he was? 

I was expecting a gut punch or bittersweet ending, where victory was won at a cost. Everyone wins and gets pizza just doesn’t match the rest of the series, and I felt jibbed, as it wasn’t the payoff for the hard decisions made in earlier chapters. 

Dispatch wasted its traitor storyline

I’d previously written about how Blonde Blazer was clearly playing the player. She’s far too perfect, being the ideal of what a superhero should be. Not only that, she’s a gorgeous Amazonian woman who falls for a shlubby nerd like Robert Robertson. I thought that she was working for Shroud and was trying to worm her way into Robert’s life to find the Astral Pulse, while weakening the superhero side from within. 

On the other hand, it was far too obvious for Invisigal to be a traitor because of her villainous past and the nature of her invisibility powers. It was so apparent that it would not affect the story, especially considering how most characters already don’t trust her. Fans had also guessed from the start that Invisigal planted the bomb on the Mecha Man suit in Episode 1, and that she likely worked for Shroud in the past. 

So, what happens in Dispatch Episode 8? Turns out, Blonde Blazer genuinely is the perfect superhero who happens to fall in love with an office worker, while Invisigal was working for the villains the entire time, and she did indeed try to blow up the Mecha Man suit. Even the fact that she tried to destroy the suit is meaningless, as she didn’t even know you at the time, and the plan didn’t succeed. 

Just to clarify, I’m not salty because my Blonde Blazer theory was wrong. I’m salty because Invisigal was literally the worst choice for the traitor. Hell, Beef would have been a better choice, being the shifty-looking hound that he is. It was too obvious, and depending on your story route, it doesn’t even matter. 

If you spent the game trying to get into Blonde Blazer’s cape and put Invisigal down at every turn, then why would you care if she’s the traitor? On the other hand, if you pursued her for the entire game, you’re clearly going to forgive her, especially if she helps you at the end. 

The finale of Dispatch Season 1 left a sour taste in my mouth. If it had stuck the landing, then it would easily have been my 2025 GOTY. As it stands, it fell at the last hurdle, and while I enjoyed the ride, it stuttered and stopped right at the end. 

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