Quote Originally Posted by animus
Something makes me think Nagisa will die. And Tomoya + Ushio will end up in the same situation, as Tomoya + his dad.
Aye, since they've still got Tomoya's Dad's issues to wrap up. I'd think that because of how things will turn out, Tomoya will be able to forgive his dad (though perhaps it'll be too late, adding to the melancholy of this second season). I can see Tomoya+Ushio reflecting Tomoya+Dad's relationship, but it should end on a higher note. Tomoya has the support from his friends, while his dad's seemed reliant solely on alcohol, and perhaps on whoever called Tomoya about the cops.

The most concrete simile this episode was the construction scene. There's a saying in Chinese: "If the old doesn't go, the new will never come." In much the same way, Nagisa's life will be forfeit to bring a new being into the world, just as the forest makes way for a hospital.

Furthering that, alternate universe may represent the relationship between Nagisa & Ushio -> In a world where there is nothing, a woman gives a body to a new soul and, when the time is right, shows it to a new world.