Unforgiven ending explained

What happens

Munny gets drunk, walks into the saloon and kills the owner, Little Bill and several of his men, then warns the survivors to bury Ned properly. He rides home in the rain. The old killer was never gone.

The last image

Munny rides out of Big Whiskey into the rain and back toward his children and his farm.

What it says

The ending refuses to make the killing a triumph. Munny wins only by becoming the man he swore he'd left behind. It's revenge, not heroism, and the film wants you to feel what that costs.