mang's ending of ultimate compromise:
the hero achieves the effect he/she wanted
however, they get squished in the process
but, he/she survives and has to fade out in the background (like when jack bauer faked his own death and went underground)
but the people who were awoken to the hero's doings carry on.
thus the central figure is removed and yet is commemorated.
it's not a totally happy ending, isn't totally nihilistic either