In the 1963 Czechoslovak science fiction film *Ikarie XB 1*, the "better" or "worse" status of characters depends on whether you evaluate their physical survival, their professional success, or their personal emotional state.
### **Who Ends Up Better Than at the Start?**
* **Steffa and Milek (The New Parents):** This couple experiences the most significant positive development. Near the end of the film, Steffa gives birth to a healthy baby. In the context of the mission (and the film's utopian socialist themes), the birth of the first child born in deep space represents the ultimate triumph of life and the future of human colonization.
* **The General Crew / Humanity:** At the beginning of the film, the mission is an ambitious but uncertain gamble to find extraterrestrial life. By the end, the crew successfully reaches the "White Planet" in the Alpha Centauri system. They discover an advanced, benevolent civilization that has been protecting the *Ikarie* with a force field. Professionally and existentialy, the crew ends up "better" by fulfilling their monumental purpose.
* **Anthony Hopkins (The Mathematician):** The elderly mathematician (played by František Smolík) celebrates his 110th birthday during the voyage. Despite the strain of the journey, he lives to see the mission succeed and his calculations regarding the White Planet proven correct. He represents the endurance of human intellect.
* **Michal and Erik Svenson:** Although both suffer severe radiation poisoning from a "dark star" (Michal specifically suffers a violent mental breakdown and attempts to sabotage the ship), they are ultimately **better** at the end because they are saved by the compassion of the crew and the ship's doctor. Unlike the "capitalist" ancestors they find on the derelict ship, their society chooses to heal and reintegrate them rather than abandon them.
### **Who Ends Up Worse Than at the Start?**
* **Commander MacDonald (The Second-in-Command):** MacDonald (played by Radovan Lukavský) is the character who carries the heaviest personal burden. At the start of the film, his wife is pregnant. Due to **time dilation** (they travel at near-light speeds), he realizes during a video call that although only months have passed for him, 15 years have passed on Earth. By the end of the mission, he has "lost" his daughter’s entire childhood and his wife has aged significantly, while he remains unchanged. Though he succeeds professionally, he ends the film in a state of profound personal sacrifice and bittersweet isolation.
* **Kubeš and Herold (The Deceased Crewmen):** These two researchers die during the mission. While investigating a derelict 20th-century Earth ship (the *Bernhard*), Kubeš accidentally triggers a nuclear warhead. Both men are killed instantly, making them the only primary crew members to experience a definitive "worse" ending.
* **The 20th-Century Crew (The "Ancestors"):** Though they are dead before the film starts, their discovery serves as a dark mirror to the *Ikarie* crew. They were wealthy "capitalists" who escaped a dying Earth only to murder each other to conserve oxygen. They represent the "worse" path humanity could have taken, ending in greed and self-destruction.
* **Patrick the Robot:** The ship’s 80-year-old robot is a source of comic relief but is repeatedly mocked for being obsolete and malfunctioning. He is eventually rendered non-functional or experiences a "demise" of sorts during the mission's hazards, representing the inevitable decay of technology that cannot adapt.
### **Summary Table**
| Character | End Status | Specific Detail |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Steffa** | **Better** | Gives birth to a healthy baby, symbolizing a "new dawn." |
| **Anthony** | **Better** | Survives to age 110+ and sees his life's work fulfilled. |
| **Michal** | **Better** | Recovers from a mental breakdown through medical/social care. |
| **MacDonald** | **Worse** | Loses 15 years of his daughter's life due to time dilation. |
| **Kubeš/Herold** | **Worse** | Killed in a nuclear explosion on a derelict ship. |
| **Patrick (Robot)**| **Worse** | Breaks down/demises due to age and technological obsolescence. |