Ninth scene: Anna’s return
Hans’ interaction with the dignataries is interrupted by Anna’s return.
Anna is clearly very weak, cold and can barely walk. She asks Hans for a kiss.
And Kai, Gerda and the dignataries decide to leave. Some fans have pointed out this detail as unrealistic: it would be very improper, in the XIXth century to leave a unmarried, young couple on their own. But the circunstances make this case a bit special and explain this behavior.
As I have previously explained, no one in Arendelle could expect Anna to come back alive. Her horse came back alone days ago and we know the winter curse gets worse every day. It was just a few snowflakes at the beginning but now, nearer the end of the movie, the climatic conditions are extreme. If Anna survived in the mountains, is only thanks to Kristoff (he even says in Sven’s voice, “she will die if we don’t help her”. And some people say Kristoff “did nothing”!).
So suddenly this mountain man and his reindeer show up in Arendelle, bringing a very weak princess and demanding to take her to prince Hans inmediatly. And then the first thing Anna does when she sees Hans is asking him for a kiss. If you don’t what happened in the mountains, this looks like the last wish of a dying princess, so they decide to leave them some intimacy.
Hans then asks Anna what happened out there.
Elsa struck me with her powers
Hans is horrified and quickly replies “You said she’d never hurt you”.
Yep. “I was wrong”. You have to admit this doesn’t sound very well. Anna just said she was wrong about Elsa. That her sister is not who she tougth she was. She is interrupted by her pain before she can give more explanations.
Please notice Hans’ surprise as Anna says these words.
And only an act of true love can thaw it
Hans then realizes what this means.
So… what does Hans, who knows NOTHING about what happened between the sisters in the the Ice Castle, think?
You have to admit this doesn’t look like an accident at all, does it?
This looks exactly like this:
The evil spell of a wicked witch.
So THIS is what Hans thinks:
Elsa mortally attacked her naive little sister INTENTIONALLY.
Elsa told Anna a “ true love’s kiss” would save her, which sounds as if she was mocking Anna’s “true love” claim. It looks really cruel, considering Elsa knew there was not true love between Anna and Hans (the famous “you can’t marry a man you just met” sentence).
Since Elsa didn’t even mention Anna did actually reach the Ice Castle, Hans thinks she’s hiding this information because she doesn’t want Hans to know what happened there. Elsa has lied to him, her vulnerability and the concern about her sister are fake and just a mask.
Remember Elsa insisted Hans to let her go, so he thinks she just wanted to get away with her crime, not caring if everyone in the kingdom died because of the winter.
Until this moment, Hans has protected Elsa. He defended her from the Duke’s accusations of trying to kill him (”You slipped on ice”). He warned the Duke that he would not tolerate treason. At the Ice Castle, he ordered the guards not to hurt Elsa. When he saw the Weselton guards enter the castle, he hurried in as soon as possible, not waiting until Marshmallow was no longer a threat and risking his own life. There, she saw Elsa totally out of herself and ready to kill. Where everyone else saw an evil witch, he saw a damsel in distress, and was able to stop her with just one sentence, just telling her that he trusted her. He prevented the Weselton guard from killing Elsa, deflecting his crossbow. In addition, it is very likely that he put her in the dungeon for her own safety. When Elsa tells him that she can’t stop the winter, and he understands Elsa HAS TO die to save the kingdom, he was willing to go on a suicide mission to find Anna just so as not to give the order to kill Elsa, not to be there when it happened. He might even have put people’s life at risk, with his reluctancy to kill Elsa to end the winter.
I can hear you say “OK, OK, I get it. So you say Hans now thinks Elsa is evil, and it kind of makes sense. But how do you explain the way he treats Anna?”
Let’s continue to find out. At first, it seems like Hans is going to at least confort Anna with a kiss.
But he stops at the last moment…
And mocks her with his most famous sentence.
Oh Anna, if only there was someone out there who loved you!!
In fairness, Hans never said he loved Anna, but I guess a marriage proposal counts. He then tells Anna he just wanted the throne and, since “no one was getting anywhere with Elsa”, he planned to seduce Anna and then stage “a little accident” for Elsa.
But is his “villain monologue” true? Or is he making a performance? As @wrath-of-zirro said in her analysis, “ his expression when he says he planned to kill Elsa all along is so theatrical I really think he threw it in just to mess with Anna further”
Let’s analyze the two options.
A. His villain monologue is true. Then a lot of things don’t make sense. It makes no sense Hans protected Elsa for so long. Take the situation in the Ice Castle, for example. Anna is lost in the mountains, everyone else thinks Elsa is an evil witch, wouldn’t it be better for him to let the guards kill Elsa and end the winter curse? They don’t know if Anna is still alive but, if she still is, bringing back summer as soon as possible gives her far more survival chances than allowing the winter curse to continue: he needs Anna alive to marry her and become king after all!!
Hans not even trying to save Anna with a kiss doesn’t make sense either. Everyone agrees that Elsa HAS TO die to end the winter curse, Elsa attacking Anna makes her death fully justified (she has comitted an horrible crime) and an alive princess heir to marry is a better claim to the throne than some wedding vows with no witnesses. Even if he was afraid the kiss would not work, not even trying is against logic.
B. His villain monologue is just a performance. Then Hans just makes up a story to mess with Anna. But why would he do such a thing?
First of all, Hans doesn’t even try to save Anna with a kiss. Instead of it, he just tries shortening Anna’s agony (he does not “try to kill her”). This means that, for some reason, he’s 100% sure the kiss won’t work, and there is nothing him of anyone else can do. But the fact he makes up a story to cruelly mock Anna’s naivety needs and explanation. Some people have argued Hans dislikes Anna and thinks she’s stupid. But as I have exposed in this analysis, this doesn’t seem to be the case: Hans seems to genuinely like Anna and care about her.
So here’s my theory: Hans blames Anna. He blames Anna for the whole situation. It was Anna, with her refusal of Elsa’s request of a private conversation, with her “true love” claim, making a scene on Elsa’s coronation, who made Elsa lose control and indirectly caused not only the eternal winter curse, but also Elsa’s attack against her. It’s her fault that Elsa has became a monster. Hans puts the blame on Anna, mocking her naivety for believing the lie of his love with a bigger lie: his villainy.
Many fans have made a parallel of Hans taking off one of his gloves and revealing his “true self” with Elsa taking off her gloves while singing “Let it go” and revealing her true self. But, as some have pointed out, Hans only takes ONE glove off. Remember when did Elsa take just ONE of her gloves off?
Exactly. In the Coronation Party, it’s Anna who takes off one of Elsa’s gloves and an important secret about her (her magic powers) is revealed. People who doesn’t know Elsa (the Duke of Weselton) see this and think Elsa is an evil witch. It’s a false “villain reveal”. So if this is a parallel, maybe Hans’ villain reveal is false too? And an important secret about him is revealed in this scene?
Let’s continue and analyze his villain monologue:
“As thirteenth in line, in my own kingdom I didn’t stand a chance. I knew I’d have to marry into the throne somewhere.
As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her. But you… you were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me just like that!
I figured after we married I’d have to stage a little accident for Elsa. But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her”
What is the secret here? Did Hans try something with Elsa?
The “she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her” sentence sounds to me like Hans is very frustrated. He has done his best, but the sisters are doomed. It’s their own fault and there is nothing he can do about it.
To finish this very long post, the “You’re not match for Elsa” thing. Remember what Hans THINKS has happened between the sisters. This is Hans telling Anna, “He fooled you poor idiot, but she won’t fool me”. Hans then says he’s “the hero who will save Arendelle for destruction”. This totally contradicts the “Hans saved Elsa in the Ice Castle to look like a hero argument”. It’s killing the witch what would make him a hero, not saving her.
Screencaps from animationscreencaps.com
First post of there series here
