You know, in all honesty, I thought the whole "the big battle was a vision" thing was well played. I was only vaguely familiar with how the book ended and I thought maybe I had been mistaken or they had changed it. I was honestly shocked when Carlise was killed because he was a likable character, felt for Alice when Harpo got killed, etc. And then it was all a vision from Alice. I really thought it was well-played. A good way for the movie to have its cake (having a climatic battle) and eat it to (have it ending with the Vampire Vatican shrugging, saying "nevermind"and walking away.)