>>273451924>>273452746It's Nietzsche vs. Schopenhauer - a clash between the two major 19th century philosophical constructs.
The original series ends with a very Schopenhauerian concept, Madoka delivering the world from evil through the power of her compassion, which is, according to Schopenhauer the only way out of human misery. Suffering is eternal, but compassion makes it bearable.
Rebellion on the other hand has Homura bypass this concept and replace Madoka's world of compassion by a world created by her own will (Nietzsche's "Wille zur Macht"). As an Uebermensch she's no longer bound to the concepts of good and evil, no longer subjected to eternal misery. Homura's will alone creates a completely new world, in which the Schopenhauerian laws ("suffering made bearable by love and compassion") are destroyed, and love (Homura's spiritual love of Madoka) becomes the central goal, instead of just a means, a path to redemption.
Madoka elevated to the rank of a goddess at the end of the original series, but in Homura's world, there is no need for gods ("Gott ist tot") since Love itself is the highest power in the universe. Hence Homura's transformation into a devil isn't to be understood as a downfall into Evil (remember: the concepts of good and evil have ceased to exist) but as a means to emphasize her status as a rebel against God, or rather, the concept of Schopenhauerian laws, personified and divined by Madoka.
It's interesting to note - and maybe this is the essence and central paradox of the entire series - that Madoka is both the object of Homura's love and the focal point of her rebellion.
Homura loves Madoka as a person, but knows that her love can't manifest itself in its purest form if Madoka isn't stripped of her power, or more precisely of the outdated laws that lend her her power. Eternal, spiritual love can only prosper if its concept itself is changed, from a mere means to survive in a hostile world to the highest divine power.
