What tone is created with the use of "In the end ...."?

Of course, ostensibly, the tone created is one of
finality, of things being finished and having run their natural course.  One of the
things about the ending of the book though, is that in some ways the end is just
beginning, things are just beginning to really fall apart.  This one village has seen
its champion hang himself, but the really terrible clash between the cultures has just
gotten its start, though it won't take long to perhaps run its
course.

So in some ways, I would suggest that the use of
the phrase is also suggestive, paradoxically, that things are not going to come to an
end, that they will continue and knowing the story will perhaps help us to move in a
better direction.