果て

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 果て(はて) is a noun for a distant spatial limit or the endpoint of a process.
• Basic usage: 海の果て describes a spatial limit; 旅の果て describes the end of a journey.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Different kinds of endpoint
  • It is not limited to a physical edge. 旅の果てに presents a result reached after the course of a journey.
• How the result is evaluated
  • 果て alone does not require an unhappy ending. As in the sentence about returning home, the following content determines the outcome.