Secret Level Episode 2 Ending & Sifu Connections Explained

The following contains spoilers for Secret Level season 1’s episode, “Sifu: It Takes A Life,” now streaming on Prime VideoSecret Level‘s reimagining of the video game Sifu recreates the game’s central premise while using it to tell an ultimately different story. Secret Level is an ambitious animated anthology series that takes inspiration from several different video games, allowing the show to shift style and focus between each stand-alone episode. The adaptations include Sifu, an action-packed story where a single skilled fighter must overcome a horde of killers as part of their mission to bring down the gang that killed his father. In the world of Sifu, resurrection allows the main character to repeatedly bounce back from otherwise fatal wounds.

However, the consequence of each revival drains years from the man’s life, steadily transforming the driven young man into an elderly fighter. It’s a compelling story that takes inspiration from the game’s visual and story while making some clear changes to the ending and themes of the tale. This allows both versions of Sifu to stand out from one another, even as the animated shorts replicate the distinct style of animation employed in the game. Here’s how Secret Level‘s adaptation of Sifu recreates the intense action from the original game while drastically changing themes at the core of the story.

Sifu’s Resurrection Abilities, Explained

Sifu‘s Mysterious Talisman Is The Story’s Only Truly Supernatural Element

Sifu‘s inventive approach to combat and respawning is reflected in Secret Level‘s adaptation of the game, including a consistent but visually striking exploration of resurrection. In both versions of Sifu, the main character is a fighter who is driven by a need for vengeance following the death of his father. Having been killed in the same attack as a child, the main character (who is only referred to as the Student in the game and MC in the credits for Secret Level) hunts down the murderers. Each time he dies, he’s resurrected by a mysterious talisman. Each resurrection ages MC.

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This is consistent across both versions of Sifu, and offers an in-universe explanation for the beat-em-up game’s habit of respawning the player character whenever he’s killed. In Secret Level, this is represented by MC training between each demise, adapting to the blows that previously killed him before reviving. While Secret Level doesn’t delve into the full story of the tailsman, the game reveals it was possessed by MC’s father and that his former students rebelled against him when he refused to share it with them. The changes “Sifu: It Takes A Life” makes to the story could affect that arc.

Secret Level Gives Sifu A Different Final Boss

How Sean Goes From A Minor Boss To The Big Bad

In “Sifu: It Takes A Life,” the primary villain is Sean. The bulky gangster is a brutal fighter, having become a powerful crime boss in the story. Flashbacks reveal Sean snapped the neck of MC’s father, and ultimately killed the boy with a machete. Since then, Sean and his gang have run the underground criminal elements of the city. MC’s mission is to find Sean and enact revenge on him, leading to the bloody events of the episode. Although their final battle isn’t shown, the ending of the episode suggests MC successfully brought down Sean, albeit only after several resurrections.

Main Villains In 2022’s Sifu

Yang

Jinfeng

Kuroki

Sean

Fajar

While Sean is a boss in the original Sifu, he’s just one of the five former students of MC’s father who rebelled against him. Sean’s base of operations is in a city, and he uses a staff like his game counterpart. However, he was just one of the villains targeted by MC in the game, as opposed to being the central target of Secret Level‘s adaptation. In the game, Yang is the leader of the rebels who betray MC’s father and serves as the final boss. Notably, this shift underscores a major thematic change in Secret Level‘s version of Sifu.

How Does Secret Level’s Sifu Changes The Moral Of The Original Game

The Original Sifu Is About Mercy, While Secret Level Changes The Final Fight

Sifu and “Sifu: It Takes A Life” are both initially about vengeance and the cost of its pursuit. In both versions of the story, MC aka the Student gives up most of his life as part of his mission for vengeance. He willingly allows himself to be aged with each resurrection, spending decades of his life in a single day to avenge his father. However, the final stretch of both stories is very different. In Sifu, the player eventually brings down Yang and his allies, including Sean. That’s when the Student learns about the importance of Wude from the talisman.

“Sifu: It Takes A Life” does not touch on that secret ending, and instead resolves the plot in a more straightforward and violent manner.

The “morality of martial arts,” Wude preaches concepts like mercy and forgiveness. To achieve the true ending of the game, the Student must defeat all five bosses but spare each of their lives. Refusing to spare them only repeats the cycle of violence and vengeance. Once the student lets go of his rage, he’s able to end the fight with Yang permanently and is implied to find a semblance of peace as a martial arts teacher. Secret Level‘s “Sifu: It Takes A Life” does not touch on that secret ending. Instead, it resolves the plot in a more straightforward manner.

The True Meaning Of Secret Level’s Sifu

A Life Well Lived

“Sifu: It Takes A Life” ends with MC returning to the dumpling shop he was eating at in the episode’s beginning. Now an old man, MC sits down to eat and openly reflects on whether it was worth spending his whole life perfecting the skills he needed for his revenge. Speaking with Li about how she spent her life growing as a cook, the episode ends with the pair sharing a moment of empathy and understanding. The episode doesn’t include any clear reference to the game’s message about mercy and morality, and instead focuses on the personal cost of perfection.

Sifu
is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

The moral of “Sifu: It Takes A Life” seems to be different than the game on a very deep level. In the animated episode, MC’s quest for vengeance is implied to have been worth the effort, even if it’s tragic that he’s lost a full life in the process. This is a stark contrast to the more merciful conclusion of the game, which forces the players to choose a moral path to conclude their story. While both versions of Sifu utilize a similar visual aesthetic and lore, it’s interesting to see how Secret Level reinterprets the moral of the tale.