after getting my heart shredded by chloe gong, here are my reasons why roma and juliette could be alive & why they couldn’t be. hear me out <3 

alive

- the two wanted a world of peace where bloodshed was not tearing apart everything. maybe they left after surviving miraculously and separated themselves from reminders of the white terror, memories being too painful.

- juliette and roma are gangster masterminds. no matter how sudden the explosion was, juliette could have had a plan and could have saved the two or vice versa.

- they survived the explosion. option 1. their ancestors saved them. option 2. a miracle occurred. after, A. stolen transportation and moved to the countryside the two visited or any countryside. B. ran away then bribed people to leave the city/country. C. stolen transportation/bribed people and hide out in shanghai, living with different identities/having different identities as they were too scarred. and, the reasons of the two not reaching out one. they were happy enough in each other’s presence. two. they did not want more painful memories resurfaced. three. one of the two died and the other killed the self or was too heartbroken to care anymore.

- if the two survived yet remained alive, they didn’t want to reveal themselves as alive as it could have their “deaths” be in vain (context. their deaths and star crossed lover story was a reminder of how useless the blood feud was and was a constant reminder of the citizens of shanghai why peace should occur. whenever blood appeared, their story was whispered and helped the slow end of the bloodshed).

dead

- would roma really willingly never see his sister, his cousin, and his best friend ever again? (unless from observations far away but that is highly unlikely seeing as the world is big and information is limited). vice versa to juliette.

- as “evidence” points, they were in the heat of the explosion. it’s impossible they survived without interference or a miracle

conclusion

honestly besides the first point, without imagination and hope, it is easy to believe that the two died. however, as it was supposed to be an open ended ending for our own speculations, i just know in my heart something happened in the midst of the explosion. their story is too full of passion and love and survival and grit to end like that, however heroic and romantical it is.