#frozen analyses

[hafanforever]

More than a week ago, I found this post on Facebook from an all-too famous scene from Frozen...

...and I must say I am perplexed and kind of annoyed that after all these years, there are some people who still do not comprehend why Olaf’s act of true love did not save Anna from her frozen heart.

Though I wrote an analysis on this topic years ago, I want to make it clear once and for all: yes, Olaf lit the fire to keep Anna warm and was willing to stay with her to help think of another act of true love to save her, even though doing so meant that he would melt to death. And even before this scene, Kristoff hurried the freezing Anna back to Arendelle and even gave her his hat to try and keep her warm.

So why didn’t their selfless actions save her, since they were done out of love?

Because ANNA was the one with the frozen heart, and so she had to do the act of true love herself. Pabbie never made it clear that since Anna was infected with a frozen heart curse, she alone had to do the true love act herself, not have someone else do it for her.

So despite Kristoff and Olaf’s best efforts, no one could save Anna but herself...and that’s exactly what she did when she saved Elsa from being killed by Hans.

Anna’s use of the term “true love” throughout the movie obviously only referred to romantic love, and many people in the real world often use the same words to mean just that. However, her sacrificial act to save Elsa out of love for her sister reinforced the idea that Pabbie’s use of said term did not strictly mean romance, but love that is defined as genuine and real, and therefore “true”, so it can include the true love you have for a friend or family member.

But again, Olaf and Kristoff’s acts of love for Anna did not count in saving her because Anna had to act alone to save herself from her own frozen heart. End of story.

[hafanforever]

Bad Blood

Frozen and Frozen II shows two generations of the Arendellian royal family tree. While most of these past and present rulers were/are good, decent, benevolent people, there is one person who stands out from the rest of them in terms of personality and deeds: Runeard.

The third act of Frozen II reveals that Runeard was not at all the kind, giving, generous ruler that his granddaughters and the Arendellians believed he was. Elsa learns this when she comes upon a manifestation of him in Ahtohallan, during which his memory figure reveals his abhorrence of magic, distrust of and bigotry towards the Northuldra because they follow magic, and that the dam he built in the Enchanted Forest was to ruin them, not help them as he claimed. Dangerous Secrets revealed more about Runeard regarding the depths of his cruelty and how distant he was towards his family. And now Polar Nights has uncovered even more of Runeard’s evil ways: he lied about the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Sissel of Vesterland, saying that she was murdered by her Inger, her younger sister, because she was jealous and wanted the crown for herself, and it all had to do with him making sure he could build the dam and ruin the Northuldra.

With the film, the two novels, and the film’s novelization uncovering the malevolence of the former king of Arendelle, I wish to write one more essay discussing his villainy, and how his nature makes him stand out from the rest of his family, making him the bad blood in his family tree. 😉

Lying King, Drama Queen

I’ve said this countless times in my analyses about him, but with what Polar Nights has revealed about him in terms of his malevolence, I will say it once again. Though he appeared to outsiders as a noble, kind, generous, peaceful king, Runeard was truly a cruel, hateful, selfish, dishonest, bigoted, paranoid tyrant who was so obsessed with his power and status that he prioritized it over everything and everyone else. In his position, he arrogantly believed he was the smartest and best person of all in society, and prejudicially considered everyone else who was below him in status to be inferior to him in every way. Such people included his family, soldiers, servants, and even his people and other peasants. Runeard was so dead set on preserving his power at all costs that he wouldn’t tolerate anything he perceived as a competition, challenge, or threat to it, especially magic and beings who had any connections to magic. If anyone got in the way of his schemes, he would try to get rid of them (not excluding murder), though in subtle, secret ways to cover his dark motives and avoid having his people uncover his his good facade. When he and his kingdom met the Northuldra, indigenous peasants who lived far north in the Enchanted Forest with elemental magical spirits, Runeard pretended to accept and make peace with them. In truth, however, he feared their magical ties meant they would try to defy and overpower him, maybe even take over his kingdom, so he refused to take a chance in trusting them and orchestrated a plot to eliminate them. But being fearful of what the spirits’ magic could do if he tried using direct force, Runeard decided to take a more subtle approach by building a dam to ruin the Enchanted Forest and eventually the people. He knew the adverse effects a dam has in a natural environment, and in his arrogance, he knew his people, and assumed the Northuldra, would not have this same knowledge, allowing him to fool all of them into believing his lie that the dam would be built as a gift of peace.

To build the dam, Runeard needed the financial contributing of neighboring kingdoms, one of which was Vesterland, and he invited the heir princess Sissel and her little sister Inger to Arendelle to discuss their patronage. Being an avid environmentalist and aspiring scientist, Inger realized the crushing effects the dam would have to the ecosystem of the Enchanted Forest. It would also lead to the extinction/migration of animals, which would deprive Vesterland of food sources. While Runeard knew the negative consequences of what the dam would do to the forest and to Vesterland, as Sissel said, he just didn’t care. This shows just how selfish and uncaring Runeard was about how his actions affected other things and other people, unless it suited himself. Despite Inger’s persistence, Sissel feared speaking up against Runeard, worried that doing so would lead to him punishing their kingdom by preventing them from receiving food, medicine, and other tradable supplies, since he controlled the port. Inger finally managed to talk some courage into Sissel, who agreed to request a new audience and tell Runeard that Vesterland would not contribute in funding the dam’s construction. In doing so, the sisters could have also told other kingdoms that the dam would actually harm, not help, the forest and convince these kingdoms not to help with building it, either.

Without enough funds needed to construct the dam, the project would never get off the ground, and Runeard’s true sinister intentions could have been exposed to outsiders. However, it was seconds later that tragedy struck when Sissel was swept into the nearby river by a flash flood and drowned as Inger looked on helplessly. Inger and Stig Petter, a shepherd boy who was the sole witness to Sissel's death, went to Runeard to report the accident. Even with Sissel dead, Inger would have never stopped fighting to make sure Runeard could not build the dam. Seeing an opportunity to be permanently rid of a vocal opponent of the dam, and to ensure its construction got off the ground, Runeard blackmailed Stig into lying that Inger killed her sister for the crown. If Stig didn’t do it, Runeard said he would tell people Stig helped Inger do it and face imprisonment, or face an even worse punishment. Though Stig tried to stand up for himself by outright telling Runeard he would tell other people about these threats, Runeard laughed scornfully in his face and said that no one would ever believe the word of a poor shepherd against that of a king. This confirms what I have theorized that Runeard thought lowly of shepherds and other such peasants, meaning his bigotry extended to classism. Fearing for his life, Stig relented and testified in court that Inger had murdered her sister, and Runeard then rewarded Stig for his lie with bribe money. Though he used this money to buy a home in the village outside of Harmon and no longer had to be a shepherd, Stig was too ashamed to ever face the outside world again for what his lie had caused. Runeard then sent Inger on a ship to the gallows so she could be hanged.

Being so mad with power and protective of it, Runeard did not even care about his own family. He only wanted a child because he needed a successor to rule Arendelle when he passed away, and he got married because it was the only legal way for him to produce an heir. Furthermore, he married Rita because she was a princess in another kingdom, and he saw marriage to another monarch as just another way to increase his status and power, not to mention using the alliance between their kingdoms to his own advantage. To Runeard, Rita and Agnarr were mere assets to his image and their kingdom instead of people to love. Outside of their own royal ranks, Runeard otherwise saw his wife and son as obligations and burdens for whom he did not want any true responsibility. Having been in an arranged married with Rita, he showed her no love or freedom during the years they were married. While Runeard gave her every kind of material good he thought she could ever want, this was the only kindness (albeit superficial) he showed Rita; all other times, he was cruel, neglectful, and verbally abusive to her and refused to treat her as his equal partner. One of their most infamous disagreements was the fate of Inger following Sissel’s death. Rita believed that Inger was innocent since she had gotten to know both sisters during their visit. But being set on destroying the threat he thought the Northuldra posed to him, Runeard was bound and determined that his plans to construct the dam came to fruition, even if it meant lying and getting rid of innocent bystanders who got in his way. When Rita tried to speak up for Inger in court, he silenced her and sent her to her chambers (and most likely locked her in to keep her from interfering) once she became a liability. With another obstacle to his scheme out of the way, Runeard had Inger wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. However, when the prison ship that was to carry Inger to the gallows set sail, Inger was not on it. What Runeard didn’t know was that Rita defied him by secretly arranging a way to help Inger escape by paying several men to take her off the ship and giving her safe passage to another.

As the years went by, Rita did find one source of joy from her union with Runeard, that being their son, Agnarr. She spent a lot of time caring for him and playing with him as he grew, and she even made him the puffin doll known as Sir JorgenBjorgen. However, Rita eventually became so depressed from missing her home that she spent all of her time in her room, lying in bed and crying as she pined for the life she left behind. Unable to understand how she could be so sad when she had everything she could ever desire, Runeard grew impatient with her and accused her of being ungrateful. After enduring years of nothing but mistreatment from her husband, and knowing that he would never allow her to leave otherwise, Rita finally broke down and went to the trolls in the Valley of the Living Rock. She begged Pabbie to erase her memories of her marriage and life in Arendelle just so she could have the free will to leave. After Rita vanished, Runeard was unwilling to accept he had been an awful husband and publicly blamed it on evil spirits. He also sought to remove all evidence of Rita's existence by locking away all her things and banishing anyone who would so much as even speak her name.

Besides feeling superior to other people, being king also made Runeard a very self-righteous, delusional person who believed he could never do any wrong. As a result, he refused to ever take responsibility for his own mistakes and problems that occurred in Arendelle and instead took the easy way out by using scapegoats, but particularly magical spirits since magic cannot defend itself. The best example was when Runeard blamed magic for Rita's disappearance since he refused to believe that he alone drove her away. Runeard cultivated undeserved xenophobia towards magic and its users in his kingdom so often that he successfully manipulated his people into doing the same, in which they would blame their own problems on magical spirits and see magic as an evil entity that is only meant to be feared. This shows that he was a direct influence over the kingdom's distrust of magic and anyone with ties to magic for decades, even long after his death.

Though Dangerous Secrets and Polar Nights are the only sources that have provided anything about Rita, albeit only a small bit, what they unveiled about her paints a portrait of a good (as in better than the kind of person her husband was) yet flawed woman. Polar Nights reveals that she took a big risk when she went against Runeard’s orders and secretly helped Inger escape Arendelle to avoid being executed for a crime she never committed. This proves that Rita was a good, kind, selfless woman who believed in doing what was right and helping those in need, especially the innocent. However, Dangerous Secrets shows she had a selfish side since she left Agnarr behind when she fled Arendelle. Though she had wanted to take him with her, she realized that there were too many risks in doing so, not simply for herself, but for him. If she fled into the night with Agnarr, Runeard would hunt them down just to get him back, though it would have out of him not wanting Rita to get away with taking his heir rather than out of genuine concern for Agnarr’s wellbeing. The worst possibility that he would start a war with Rita’s home country and thus endanger many innocent lives, including Agnarr. While some of my closest friends and I argue whether she was selfish or selfless to abandon Agnarr, I see it as both. Yes, it was selfish for her to just up and leave him, but I felt that for those first five years of Agnarr’s life, he was her only motive for staying; in other words, she loved Agnarr so much that she couldn’t bear to not be in his life. Perhaps she also stayed because she wanted to shield him from Runeard as much and as often as she could so that Agnarr’s nature would never be influenced by that of his father. When Rita finally left, however, I believe that she didn’t take Agnarr because by then, she felt inadequate to care for him all by herself. Perhaps she thought she was no longer a good mother to him and thought he was better off without her. While it still sounds selfish of her since she clearly knew Runeard would never be there for their son, maybe she felt Agnarr had a greater chance of living a good life in Arendelle with the good influences of their servants than with her if she abruptly left and dragged him with her into the unknown.

Once Rita was gone, Runeard was left alone with Agnarr. Not wanting to be responsible for his son’s welfare himself, he apparently left him in the care of the staff, at some point assigning him his own personal guard in Lieutenant Mattias. In the little seen of their relationship through Frozen II, its novelization, and Dangerous Secrets, Runeard was just as neglectful and abusive to Agnarr as he was to Rita. He was hardly involved in actually raising him, and whenever he did give Agnarr his attention, he treated him as an official (and expected him to always act as such) rather than a son. When he informed Agnarr that Rita was gone, he lied to him about it, saying she was carried off by evil spirits and wouldn’t come back. Of course, Agnarr spent many nights in his room, crying for his mother and wishing for her to come back. In response, much like he did with Rita when she spent so much time wallowing in grief and homesickness, Runeard was not sympathetic to his son’s grief. He grew annoyed with Agnarr’s continuous weeping and yelled at him for it, presumably telling him things like “Just get over it. She’s never coming back, and crying isn’t going to help.” Although he obviously couldn’t banish Agnarr for mentioning Rita, there is no doubt that Runeard otherwise refused to let him talk about her or let the staff talk about her if Agnarr tried to ask them questions. In doing so, Runeard persistently refused to let Agnarr have any memories of Rita, and if Gerda hadn’t hid away Sir JorgenBjorgen, he would have surely disposed of the toy. Whatever callous, harsh words Runeard told Agnarr then made him repress many of his emotions growing up, which especially came into play when he was thrust into unofficial kinghood following Runeard’s death and Lord Peterssen taught him the “Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let it show” mantra.

When the dam was finally finished, a celebration was held in the forest to in honor of the union between the two groups of people. Once the two groups came together, Runeard flicked Agnarr under the chin and ordered him to stand tall and be regal before telling him to stay with Mattias. Agnarr watched dejectedly as his father walked off with the soldiers and some of the tribe members, knowing Runeard did not want him around and wanted him to act like a prince, not like a child. A short time later, Runeard and Agnarr had their last interaction with each other during which the king harshly scolded his son for wandering off and exploring, then did so again when the latter voiced his fascination with the magic of the forest. Runeard angrily reminded him that magic is not to be admired but feared, and when Agnarr tried to apologize and explain himself, his father callously dismissed him without even saying goodbye. Later in the day, while many of the people were watching a reindeer riding event, the leader of the Northuldra confronted Runeard on his realizations that the dam was hurting the forest instead of helping it. Worrying someone else could overhear, Runeard suggested they meet privately on the fjord to discuss the matter. Once the two men were alone together, the evil king snuck up behind the leader and mercilessly murdered him, all just to prevent him from telling anyone else the truth about the dam. Immediate following the murder, Runeard claimed it was “For Arendelle”, though in reality, it was all just for his own selfish, sinister desires.

Knowing that the Northuldra would eventually discover their leader’s absence, Runeard panicked and diverted suspicion from himself by instigating the war with the tribe. He led his soldiers to believe the Northuldra had betrayed Arendelle and had attacked first. But since Runeard carried out this act on impulse, he showed negligence by not thinking about how his actions would affect everyone else, though at worst, if he did think about it, he obviously did not care. This whole move was his final act of blaming something to avoid taking responsibility for his own sins, and in doing so, he committed several more despicable acts, a few of which were even done posthumously:

His actions caused the two groups to fight meaninglessly, endangering many innocents and causing dozens of casualties on both sides. This undoubtedly proved that Runeard’s obsession with his kingship was so great that he had complete disregard for the lives of others around him and how what he did affected them.

His final act of neglecting Agnarr was putting him in great danger upon starting the war. While Mattias tried to protect him, the prince still got caught in the worst of the battle, ultimately being launched into a boulder and slipping into unconsciousness. Had Iduna not rescued him, Agnarr surely would have died, which would have Runeard’s bloodline entirely.

He indirectly trapped both the surviving Arendellians and Northuldra in a magical mist for decades to come, forcing them all to suffer due to his own xenophobia and wrath.

By painting the Northuldra as traitors who started the battle, Runeard made the Arendellians think that the tribe were a hostile group of people who would attack when/if given the chance, causing their hatred of them to grow to the point that they would kill any Northuldra who came upon the kingdom, forcing Iduna to hide her heritage for most of her life in Arendelle.

The Prince and the Pauper

Despite an unhappy childhood and being forced into early unofficial kinghood, Agnarr grew up to be a good man. This was most likely due to the (short-lived) good influences of his mother, Lieutenant Mattias, and his servants (including Kai and Gerda), and the fact that Runeard was hardly ever involved in raising him in the first place. Shortly after the battle in the Enchanted Forest, Agnarr met and befriended Iduna, who, unbeknownst to him, was Northuldra and the person who helped him escape the forest. By the time they were teens, they had become best friends and then fell in love, though they were worried that the differences in their social classes would keep them from being together forever. As the years grew closer for Agnarr to finally officially ascend to the throne, the council of Arendelle began pressuring him to consider marriage with another royal in order to create a political alliance (which is the kind of marriage his parents had) for the good of the realm. Agnarr felt such a transition would be difficult, as he didn’t think he could love another woman as much as he loved Iduna, and that other women couldn’t compare to her.

By this time, Agnarr had discovered the truth behind his mother’s disappearance. He and Iduna decided to visit the trolls for answers, and they learn from Pabbie that Rita married Runeard only out of duty to her own kingdom, and that she had her memories erased and left when she could no longer live with her homesickness and being trapped in a loveless marriage. Although Agnarr initially feels contempt at the revelation that Rita had left him behind, this quickly turns to sadness when Pabbie explains that she felt that it was the best option for him since there were too many potential bad repercussions if she took him with her.

However, Kai and Gerda had done their homework and discovered there was no law in Arendelle that said its reigning monarch must marry another monarch. They revealed this news to Agnarr and told him that they didn’t want to see him end up like his mother. When Gerda revealed she also saved Sir JorgenBjorgen and returns it to him, Agnarr tearfully looked at the stuffed animal and finally recalled the few happy memories he had of Rita. He believed that if his mother could see him now, she would encourage him to marry Iduna because he loved her, rather than marry a princess just for the good of Arendelle, since he was now at the same crossroads she had been when she had been forced to marry Runeard.

Like I said in “Family Matters”, Agnarr vowed to be a better man, husband, father, and king that his own father had been because of his genuine love for Iduna and from learning that his mother was abused and mistreated by Runeard just as he had been. From what both movies and the rest of Dangerous Secrets reveal, Agnarr managed to make good on that promise, with a lot of help and encouragement from Iduna. While he was surprised upon discovering Elsa was born with magic, he accepted her regardless and saw her as his daughter first rather than simply his heir. Though due to the Arendellians' hostility towards magic, Agnarr decided to keep Elsa's powers subdued and hidden from the kingdom as she was growing up.

After the accident with Anna, Agnarr vowed they would protect Elsa and help her learn to control her powers. Iduna initially questions if separating the girls and locking the gates is a good idea. Agnarr assures her that it will just be temporary, and that he wants to do it to protect the girls from the Arendellians’ potential reaction to Elsa’s magic, especially if they knew she had harmed Anna with it (even though it was a genuine accident). Following ten years of keeping the girls separated and no success in helping Elsa control her magic, Iduna finally reveals her Northuldra heritage to Agnarr and while he is initially shocked, that doesn’t stop him from still loving her. And when she tells him about Ahtohallan and that it might hold the answer to Elsa’s powers, Agnarr does not hesitate in accepting Iduna’s proposition to find it. Him saying, “I would go to the ends of the earth to help her” proved that his love for Elsa was unconditional, despite potential risks.

Although they made mistakes in having Elsa conceal her powers and keeping their daughters separated in struggling to help Elsa, Agnarr and Iduna still had good intentions and did what they thought was best for the girls. They put their daughters before their kingdom, ultimately proving that family truly came first for the former king and queen.

Arendelle: The Next Generation

While Agnarr and Iduna cherished and loved both their daughters, Anna and Elsa had unhappy childhoods since they were five and eight, respectively. Following the accident of almost killing Anna with her magic, Elsa was plagued with post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled to control her powers for 13 years. Likewise, Anna experienced loneliness and longing for Elsa after never being told why they had to be separated. Yet despite being somewhat damaged from their childhoods, Elsa and Anna grew up to be utterly kind, selfless, giving, loving people who care more about others than themselves, making them virtually devoid of all the flaws their grandfather possessed. They never show any true care or obsession for the power or status they possess as monarchs, nor do they see other people as being below them. They accept everyone they meet and treat them as equals rather than inferiors, regardless of their differences, including their servants, people, and even outsiders.

While Elsa has magical powers, both she and Anna share a common strength of unconditional love and a selfless desire to do what is right, especially for the good of others around them. When they discover their grandfather’s true motives for building the dam, they aim do what is right by destroying it to free the cursed mist on the forest. In doing so, they work together to bring a real union of peace between Arendelle and the Northuldra, effectively tarnishing Runeard’s legacy forever.

Final Thoughts

Though all the past and present king and queens of Arendelle were flawed, all of them but Runeard were ultimately good people and benevolent rulers. This makes Runeard stand out from the rest of them, almost like a black sheep (or even like a “big bad black sheep” instead of calling him a big bad wolf 😆). While his descendants do contain some of his flaws, like Anna possibly inheriting some of his extreme stubbornness, it’s clear that they otherwise nothing like him, and the good in them was passed down from their parents and Rita (and most likely Iduna’s own deceased parents).

In summary, for every effort he made to heighten the sovereignty of his reign, protect his power, and obliterate the Northuldra, Runeard’s reckless actions ultimately were his undoing. He got himself killed, almost got his son killed, and put Arendelle in danger due to an architectural oversight (the dam was built on the very fjord where Arendelle sits). Furthermore, Runeard also caused his worst fears to become reality, since his son married not a princess but a Northuldran (the very race he hated and wanted to eliminate) and had two children, the oldest of whom was born with magic (the very thing Runeard detested most), who rectified his crimes and formed a true alliance with their people and the Northuldra.

First image here is a fan art of the first Arendellian royal family, made by my dear friend @greatqueenanna. 

[hafanforever]

Royals’ Battle

Before I read the new post-Frozen II novel, Polar Nights, I was hoping that it would especially feature some new information about Runeard and Rita, and much to my delight, it did, and they played HUGE roles in the flow of the story, even as posthumous characters! 😁😁😁

In the book, Anna and Elsa learn from Kristoff the story of Princesses Sissel and her younger sister, Inger, who were from the neighboring kingdom of Vesterland. He says that the sisters hated each other and Inger wanted the crown for herself. About fifty years ago, the two sisters were visiting Arendelle regarding their kingdom being asked to contribute in funding the building of the dam in the Enchanted Forest. At one point, when Sissel and Inger were alone together near a rushing river, Inger pushed her sister into the river and Sissel eventually drowned when she went over a waterfall. A witness reported the murder to King Runeard, who banished Inger from Arendelle (and Vesterland) and put her on a prison ship, which went down in the sea, causing Inger to die by drowning, too. And despite her death, Sissel came back from the dead as a creature called a draugr, seeking revenge on those who wronged her.

Naturally, Anna and Elsa are shocked by the story, particularly by how their grandfather had done something good and just...

...but as the novel unfolds, the sisters discovers that the entire story surrounding Sissel’s death and Inger being accused of murder was a lie.

Halfway into the book, after the sisters have had several encounters with the draugr and deduced it is actually Sissel, Elsa conjures up the memory of what really happened on the day of Sissel’s death using traces of water that have remained in a locket that Sissel was wearing the day she died (brought to Elsa by the draugr itself). Elsa and Anna discover that, not only were Sissel and Inger very close and that Inger was more interested in science and the environment (and thus did not want to be queen nor aimed to steal the throne from her sister), but Inger had figured out that the dam would cut off the water flow and cause other environmental devastations to the forest. It would also affect Vesterland by depleting animals that the citizens hunt for food. She was arguing with Sissel over this matter by the river, and while Sissel understood what Inger was saying, she felt they would be powerless to stop Runeard since he would not listen to them and did not care that his desired project would negatively affect the Northuldra and Vesterland. Sissel was also terrified of Runeard so much that she feared standing up to him, as she believed arguing with him over the matter would only lead to him punishing Vesterland by cutting off their trading partnership with Arendelle, since Arendelle controls the port that allows food, medicine, and other goods to come in from other kingdoms and travel to Vesterland. But due to Inger’s persistence about how harmful the dam would also be to their kingdom, Sissel finally relented and decided to request another audience in Arendelle to tell Runeard that Vesterland would not help to fund the dam.

However, no sooner than the sisters were feeling better about the matter that a flash flood occurred. Inger got in the way of the rushing water as it headed down the river, and when SIssel pushed her out of the way to escape harm, she tripped on a tree root and fell into the rushing water. As she was pulled downstream, Sissel struggled against the strong current and tried to grab something to help her get back to shore. She yelled for her sister to help her, and Inger chased after Sissel on the river bank. When Sissel managed to grab on to a branch near the shore, the witness from Kristoff’s story, a shepherd boy named Stig Petter, raced to help Sissel. Sadly, with the branch breaking as she held on, Sissel accepted her fate to die. Before she let go and went over the falls, she told Inger that she loved her and was proud of her. As a distraught Inger mourned the loss of her sister, Stig vowed to help Inger.

Following the end of the memory, Anna and Elsa realize that the draugr of Sissel was never trying to harm them or anyone else, but rather has been trying to clear her sister’s name and has removed some memories of the Arendellians so that they don’t remember the false story regarding her death. Elsa and Anna search through Arendelle’s court records to find more information, discovering that Stig lied and said that Inger had murdered Sissel by pushing her into the river, and the court believed Stig instead of Inger. Upon finding and meeting the elderly Stig to get the entire truth, Anna and Elsa further learn that Stig was actually blackmailed by Runeard to lie and say that Inger murdered her sister. The former king of Arendelle told Stig that he had to lie or he (Runeard) would tell everyone that Stig helped Inger murder Sissel and he’d have him imprisoned, too (or possibly executed). This was because Runeard (presumably) learned that the sisters were planning to voice their opposition of the dam and would not let their kingdom help fund its construction. In doing so, they would have also told other kingdoms that the dam would actually harm, not help, the forest and convince these kingdoms not to help with building it, either.

Without enough funds needed to construct the dam, the project would never get off the ground, and Runeard could have been exposed as a liar and traitor. Even with Sissel dead, Inger would have never stopped fighting to make sure Runeard could not build the dam. But being the stubborn, xenophobic tyrant who was ruthlessly obsessed with protecting his power and set on destroying the threat he believed the Northuldra posed to him, Runeard refused to let his plan be ruined at any cost, even if that meant lying and causing harm to innocent people who got in his way. So even with a witness present to the real account of Sissel’s death, the king took advantage of the situation by framing Inger for murder and put her on a ship to get rid of her for good, eliminating the sole opposition to his goal.

Yet while Inger couldn’t save her sister or stop Runeard from building the dam, she did manage to escape the terrible fate that almost befell her. Having gotten to know both sisters during their visit, and knowing what a cruel man her husband was, Queen Rita was the only one (besides Stig) who believed in Inger’s innocence. Though she tried to defend Inger in the court, Runeard adamantly refused to let her speak and banished her to her chambers. Not wanting an innocent woman to be condemned for a crime she never committed, Rita secretly helped Inger escape the prison ship (and Arendelle) before it set sail (which was seen by Stig). She paid several men to take Inger off the ship and gave her safe passage to another. Inger was also warned by Rita to never return to Arendelle since she would surely be recaptured and put to death if she did.

All that being said, what this book revealed about Runeard and Rita’s relationship further reinforces what I have believed about them from Dangerous Secrets, but most especially the former in what kind of man he really was: a cold-hearted, selfish, bigoted, power-hungry scoundrel who never cared about anyone or anything other than his kingship and the power and authority that came with it. Runeard’s position as king made him believe that he could do whatever he wanted, that he was always in the right to do so, that he was never wrong, and he didn’t care how his actions could affect others unless they could still benefit himself. But most of all, as I’ve said before many times, Runeard arrogantly believed being a king meant that he was better and smarter than everyone else since he was in the highest place in society. He discriminated all other people as being beneath him, especially peasants (like the Northuldra and shepherds like Stig), and refused to treat them fairly or equally.

Such views are backed up perfectly by the fact that he laughed in scorn when Stig said he would tell others about Runeard’s threats. Runeard also said that no one would ever believe him because he is a poor shepherd, meaning that (to him, at least) no one would ever believe the word of a lowly shepherd over the mighty king of Arendelle.

But most importantly of all, Runeard’s behavior towards Rita completely support what I have said in “There Goes the Bride”. Being the king, it’s crystal clear that Runeard felt that HE had more power and authority than everyone, even more than Rita, the queen and his own wife. Therefore, only HE had first and final say in EVERY decision made, and that the opinions of others, including his wife and the people he ruled, were never important. The fact that Rita tried to voice her belief that Inger was innocent, but Runeard harshly silenced her and sent her out of the royal court (he probably even locked her in her chambers so she couldn’t interfere) reinforces what I believed in him trying to control her and having seen her as his inferior, not his equal partner.

Ultimately, Polar Nights helped prove that Runeard was so hellbent on creating the dam just to bring down the Northuldra that he sought to keep even Rita out of his way when she became a liability to his scheme. 😠😡

But since Inger managed to escape with Rita’s help, she managed to live a long life (though she never became the ruler of Vesterland) and had a family (including a granddaughter named after her deceased great-aunt). And in the end of the book, Inger returns to Arendelle and manages to reunite with the spirit of Sissel after the draugr sheds her form following the truth being revealed about her death. 🥲😭

Second image here is a fan art of Queen Rita, made by my dear friend @greatqueenanna. 

[hafanforever]

Analyze These

In honor of the second anniversary of Frozen II, I decided to celebrate by writing an analysis, but one unlike any I have ever done before: an analysis that discusses the meanings of the pun titles for those I wrote about the movie (some of which also discuss the original Frozen)! Now how is THAT for an idea?!?! 😁😄

While I have almost sixty essays for Frozen II, only half of them actually have titles. Many of them are puns of movie, book, and song titles, and even terms, phrases, and idioms/expressions, which includes words that rhyme with or are spelled similar to words from the original sources that inspired the titles. The titles are also puns in at least one other way, as they are the key to and underscore what I discuss in the body of the text. And before any of you ask, yes, this analysis ALSO has a pun title, which is a reference to the film Analyze This! Since I’m analyzing the titles of my past essays, I can’t think of a better title to emphasize this concept! 😆

So here are the names and definitions of all my titled essays about Frozen II, and if you want to read them for yourself, I included their links for easy access as well. Enjoy! 😁

“The Color Purple”

The title is an obvious allusion to the famous novel and film of the same name.

The words refer to the symbolic meanings of this color and how they relate to Elsa in connection to the few purple clothes she wears.

“Identity Unknown”

The title is a reference to a film of the same name.

The words refer to the then-unknown identities of the Arendellian boy and Northuldra girl (later revealed to be Agnarr and Iduna, respectively, as children) who were prominently shown in the second trailer of Frozen II.

“Two Songs, One Woman”

The title is a reference to the phrase “two halves, one whole”.

The words further connect to this phrase because the two main songs sung by Elsa, the one woman, act as the two halves that complete a whole circle about her accepting herself and her magic.

“Let Down Your Hair”

The title is a clear nod to the famous line spoken to the titular character in the fairy tale Rapunzel.

The words stress that, from the first movie to the second movie, Elsa transitions from wearing her hair up in a tight bun to letting it down and flowing loose.

“Frozen in Time”

The title is a reference to a nonfiction book of the same name.

The title also refers to an idiom of the same name.

The words emphasize that Elsa freezes while in the bottom cavern of Ahtohallan, after seeing a memory of the time her grandfather killed the Northuldra leader before starting the war in the Enchanted Forest.

Just as she finds out what really happened in the past, Elsa dies and literally becomes “frozen in time”.

“King Runeard, the Lying Hater”

The title is a reference to the nickname given to King Richard, which is “the Lionheart”.

The words between these two titles further connect because they are spelled and sound extremely similar in phonetics, and share the same places. “Richard” and “Runeard” each have seven letters and differ only by three, “lion” sounds like “lying”, and “heart” and “hater” are anagrams of each other.

The words stress how such an informal title fits this tyrant due to the fact that he was a liar with a deep fear and hatred of magic since he believed it was a threat to his kingship.

“The Last Word”

The title is a reference to the idiom of the same name.

The words underscore the meanings of Elsa saying “Anna!” as her last word just seconds before she freezes in Ahtohallan.

“Free Spirit”

The title is a clear nod to the term of the same name.

The words refer to Elsa’s journey of becoming free and fully accepting herself, including her magic, which she finally does once she discovers that she is the fifth spirit.

Elsa becomes a literal “free spirit”, though she has always been one in personality, after she learns everything she had always wanted to know about herself.

“Born (to Be) Free”

The title is a pun of the nonfiction book and movie title Born Free.

There is a second reference to this movie because that ALSO features a character named Elsa...Elsa the lioness! 😮😵😆

The title is also a pun of the song “Born to Be Wild”.

The words reference that Elsa was the fifth spirit from the moment she was born. She was always meant to be this, and therefore free.

“Mum of All Tears”

The title is a pun of the movie title Sum of All Fears.

The words stress that Elsa sheds tears upon seeing her mother (for which “mum” is a nickname) during the sequence in “Show Yourself”.

“Mother” is also defined as the greatest or most significant of something. In this case, Elsa cries the mother of all tears when she sees Iduna again.

“The Truth Shall Set You Free”

The title is an allusion to the almost-verbatim statement in the bible.

The words refer to the brief moment in Ahtohallan, where Elsa sees a memory depicting Iduna wanting to tell Agnarr the truth about her being Northuldra. After doing so, she finally felt free (relieved) after having kept this secret for so many years.

“Girls in the Mist”

The title is a pun of the book and movie title Gorillas in the Mist.

“Girls” is spelled similar to and almost sounds like “gorillas”, making the title another pun of the aforementioned book/film.

The words underscore that both Elsa and Anna (the titular girls) were needed to lift the mist and free the Enchanted Forest.

“Keep Your Hands to Yourself”

The title is a reference to the expression of the same name.

The words refer to Elsa’s habit of placing her hands on her elbows, as a way to avoid releasing magic through them. In assuming this posture, she keeps her hands facing inward and to herself.

“Pride and Prejudice”

The title is an obvious reference to the famous novel of the same name.

The words emphasize that Runeard clearly displays pride and prejudice in the scene where he reveals his true nature and voices his hatred, distrust, and bigotry towards magic and the Northuldra.

“A Royal Title”

The title is an allusion to the term of the same name in reference to monarchy.

The words underscore how the title of Frozen II is written as if it is a title for a person of royalty due to the use of the Roman numeral for 2 rather than the Arabic numeral, similar to a regnal number for a monarch.

“Kindred Spirits”

The title is a reference to the expression of the same name.

The words refer to Elsa discovering that she is a kindred with the elemental spirits of the Enchanted Forest, as the fifth spirit.

Elsa’s role makes her a literal “kindred spirit” amongst the other four elementals.

“Striking Resemblances”

The title is a nod to the term of the same name.

The words emphasize how the two separate scenes of Anna and Elsa freezing in both films are so striking in their resemblances, especially since they both feature the main villain about to strike down someone with a sword. 😉

“Going off the Deep End”

The title is a reference to the idiom of the same name, which means to make an irrational or irresponsible move.

The words refer to Elsa’s decision of going as deep as she can into Ahtohallan to find the truth about the past, even if it means reaching the end (dying) to do so.

When she makes such a big, risky choice, one that some might call irrational, Elsa literally “goes off” a cliff and into “the deep end”.

“Distant Relative”

The title is a reference to the term of the same name.

The words emphasize that, while Runeard was Agnarr's relative as his father, he was a very distant (aloof, neglectful) parent, only treating Agnarr as an official rather than as a son or person.

Because Runeard was not personally involved in raising Agnarr, he acted more like a literal “distant relative” than a true father.

“Family Ties”

The title is a reference to the TV series of the same name.

The words reference the kind of ties between the royal family of Arendelle, mainly because Elsa and Anna have mixed roots of Arendellian through Agnarr and Northuldra through Iduna.

“Split Decision”

The title is a reference to a term of the same name.

The words refer to Elsa’s decision that she and Anna must split up now, and she has go to Ahtohallan alone since crossing the Dark Sea would be too dangerous for them to do together.

“Raise Your Voice”

The title is a reference to a movie of the same name (which co-stars Jason Ritter, the voice of Ryder in Frozen II 😮😵😆).

The title is also a reference to the idiom of the same name.

The words refer to the possible reasons why the voice calls to Elsa for the first time in this movie, and that it occasionally raises (gets louder) in volume and becomes more frequent in trying to get Elsa to respond.

“Names of the North”

The title is a reference to the documentary film Nanook of the North.

“Names” starts with the same couple of letters as “nanook”, making it another pun of the aforementioned.

The words reference the meanings of “Northuldra” and “Ahtohallan”, two names of things that are found far north of Arendelle.

“Panic Attack”

The title is a reference to the term of the same name.

The words refer to Runeard going into a panic once the Northuldra leader realizes the truth about the dam, so he decides to attack and kill him just to keep him from telling everyone else the sinister truth.

When he realizes his lie about the dam is about to be exposed, Runeard literally has a “panic attack”, then another after carrying out his murderous deed.

“Go with the Wind”

The title is a clear pun of the famous novel and film title Gone with the Wind.

The words refer to the role that Gale, the Wind Spirit, plays during the movie.

“Bridge of Spirit”

The title is a pun of the film Bridge of Spies.

“Spirit” is spelled almost like “spies”, making it another reference to said film.

The words reference how Anna and Elsa together are the fifth spirit, the bridge that links the Arendellians and the Northuldra.

“Three of a Kind”

The title is an allusion to the poker hand of the same name.

The words refer to Elsa's three main, unique kinds of dresses and what their appearances symbolize in connection to her personality.

“The Men with Two Faces”

The title is a pun of the film The Man with Two Faces.

The words reference how Hans and Runeard, the main antagonists of the films, are two-faced men, meaning they deceive others into thinking they are good people when they are actually bad.

“Princess Protection Program”

The title is a nod to a TV film of the same name.

The title is also an allusion to the popular program known as the Witness Protection Program.

The words reference how the two princesses have different ways (or unofficial “programs”) of protecting one another, and other people.

“Let It Show”

The title is a combination of words from the titles of Elsa's two main songs, “Let It Go” and “Show Yourself”.

The title is also a pun of the song “Let It Snow”.

The words emphasize how Elsa gradually then completely accepts herself and her magic, and in doing so, she finally “lets it show”. 😉

“Marry-Go-Round”

The title is a pun of "merry-go-round", which is another name for a carousel.

The words underscore that Anna goes around with two different love interests who ask them to marry her, with each one having a different motive for doing so.

By going from one love interest to another, Anna goes on a figurative “marry-go-round”. 😆

“Safety Worst”

The title is a pun of the common phrase “safety first”.

The words underscore how Anna twice fights back against Elsa forcing her away to safety, making the situations worse for herself.

“Family Matters”

The title is a nod to the TV series of the same name.

The words reference vital matters (which, as a noun, also means “affairs” or “topics”) about the royal family of Arendelle.

The words also stress the fact that family mattered (which, as a verb, means “to be important”) to Agnarr more than anything, while Runeard prioritized his power over everything else, even his family.

“Canon Fodder” (a collab with my good friend @greatqueenanna )

The title is a pun of the term “cannon fodder”.

The words emphasize my and @greatqueenanna’s discussion of Frozen fodder (which is another term for “material”) that is canon and not canon to the franchise.

“Reflections of a Mad Man”

The title is a pun of a book titled Reflections of a Man.

The words refer to Runeard being a man who is mad with power and how this and other traits make him a dark reflection to his descendants (and even a darker reflection of Hans).

“Hello, Goodbye Dolly”

The title is a pun of the play Hello, Dolly!

The title is also an allusion to the song “Hello, Goodbye”.

The words underscore the temporary goodbye to Agnarr’s childhood toy, Sir JorgenBjorgen (the titular “dolly”, which is what young children sometimes call dolls), when he is hidden away, then the hello in reference to when he is unearthed years later.

“Middle Link”

The title is a pun of the movie title Missing Link.

The words emphasize that Olaf acts as the middle of the bridge, of which Elsa and Anna each act as one half, that links the Northuldra and the Arendellians.

“There Goes the Bride”

The title is a pun of the popular wedding march theme that is colloquially known as “Here Comes the Bride”.

The words reference that Rita, the bride, ran away from Runeard, the groom, after years of an unhappy marriage. Her actions of going away are a reverse of the aforementioned song, since “here” and “there” are opposite locations.

“Sinister of Magic”

The title is a pun of the Harry Potter occupation “minister of magic”.

The words refer to Runeard’s xenophobia of magic and that he had sinister intentions to destroy the Northuldra just because they followed magic.

[hafanforever]

So the more I listen to “What Else Can I Do?”, the more it gives me a vibe of being similar to “Let It Go”. Yes, it’s true! 😁

I mean, think about it! Both songs are sung by a woman who possesses a magical gift related to nature. Both women are 21 years old (yes, Jared Bush confirmed on Twitter that Isabela is 21) and the oldest daughter (also grandchild/granddaughter, in Isabela’s case) in a family. Both are regarded as their families’ golden child, are loved by the townspeople, and have an estranged relationship with their younger sisters. Both women are also about to face a big change in their lives that their families expect of them, with Elsa about to be crowned queen, and Isabela about to get engaged to her boyfriend, Mariano.

But then later, Isabela and Elsa both reveal liberated sides to their personalities. They have been repressing their true feelings of wanting to be free to make their own choices and not wanting to be perfect, as well as to expand their powers in the same way. Burdened by the high standards to which they are expected to live up, they did not want to go through with said expectations and were only doing them for their families (and in Elsa’s case, her kingdom since she is the first-born child and is obligated to rule by default). When Elsa and Isabela sing their songs, they finally unlock a greater potential of their powers since they finally feel free to be themselves without needing to be so perfect.

Additionally, does Isabela’s pose in this shot look familiar?

Look anything like this?

Or this? 😉

[hafanforever]

Hello, Goodbye Dolly

In Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, audiences were briefly introduced to Sir JorgenBjorgen, a stuffed knitted puffin doll that was a toy Elsa owned in her childhood and kept as her companion during the years she and Anna were kept apart. Then when Elsa grew up, Sir JorgenBjorgen was stored away in her trunk, which was later placed in the attic.

When the prequel novel Dangerous Secrets was released in November 2020, it was revealed that Sir JorgenBjorgen had been around a lot longer than fans had thought. Over 40 years earlier, the doll was created by Queen Rita as a toy for her baby son, Prince Agnarr. Sir JorgenBjorgen was Agnarr’s favorite toy and always brought a smile to his face. When Rita fled the kingdom after having her memories wiped by Pabbie, Runeard locked up all of her belongings and anything that reminded him of her. However, he did not know about Sir JorgenBjorgen, and Gerda secretly saved it and hid it from him, waiting for the chance to return it to Agnarr one day.

Ever since I read Dangerous Secrets and learned that this doll originally came from Rita and belonged to Agnarr, I got to thinking about what Runeard would have done with it had he known about it. Firstly, if he discovered Sir JorgenBjorgen when Agnarr played with it as a child, and with this, I mean before Rita left, I have a strong hunch would have disapproved of the doll, and enough so that he would have taken it away from Agnarr.

Why? Because I get the impression that Runeard would have thought that dolls, regardless of dolls being depicted as male or female, were only for girls, not boys. Therefore, I think he would have been outraged by the idea of his own son playing with a doll. Heck, Runeard probably also would have thought that boys who do or once did play with dolls are weak and inept, and thus are not or never would be real men. If he had truly hoped to mold Agnarr into the same cold, ruthless man/king he was, then I have no doubt Runeard would have seen Agnarr as weak for owning and playing with a doll, and taken Sir JorgenBjorgen away from him.

But there’s more to it than just that; as mentioned by a line in the prologue of the Frozen II novelization and an almost verbatim line quote by Agnarr in Dangerous Secrets, during the gathering in the Enchanted Forest, Agnarr knows that his father wanted him to act like a royal figure instead of a boy. In other words, even though Agnarr was 14 and still legally a child, Runeard only saw his son as a prince rather than as a person, and always wanted him to act royally only. He did not want him to act or behave like a normal person, meaning he never wanted Agnarr to act like a non-monarch, and thus, like a child, ever.

Therefore, Runeard additionally wouldn’t have wanted Agnarr to have Sir JorgenBjorgen because he would think that owning a doll is childish and Agnarr was not supposed to behave like a child even when he was one.

However, if Runeard discovered Sir JorgenBjorgen after Rita left, I don't think he would have simply hid it away with everything else; I think he would have burned it or permanently disposed of it through some other means.

Now why do I think Runeard would go such an extreme measure, you may ask? Because it would have been a guaranteed way for him to completely deny Agnarr any memories of Rita and sever anything that tied him to her. Agnarr had said that after his mother disappeared, his father constantly scolded and shouted at him for crying and being sad about her absence. This shows that Runeard had a total lack of sympathy for his son’s sadness (just as he did for Rita when she became so depressed over missing her home) and a ruthless determination, if not obsession, to get Agnarr to completely forget about Rita.

I feel it's one thing for Runeard to have locked away all the things that belonged to or reminded him of Rita so he could forget about her himself, and another for him to immediately banish anyone who spoke her name so that his people would attempt to forget her, too. But if he discovered anything that linked her to their son? Again, based on how he coldly chastised Agnarr for wallowing in sadness over Rita when she was gone, it is crystal clear to me that Runeard wanted Agnarr to forget her, too. Therefore, he would have had Sir JorgenBjorgen destroyed just so that Agnarr would have absolutely nothing left of her.

But luckily, Runeard never knew about Sir JorgenBjorgen, and Gerda successfully hid it from him before returning it to Agnarr when he was an adult.

And then years later, Agnarr gave the doll to Elsa to keep her company during her separation from Anna.

While we have yet to know what Rita was like, what she looked like, or what became of her when she fled the kingdom, at least we know there is still a keepsake and reminder of her in Arendelle Castle. And even though Elsa is no longer the queen of Arendelle, I am hoping that Sir JorgenBjorgen will become a childhood toy for one or more Anna’s children and any other future descendants of the former queen of Arendelle.

While Runeard won’t be fondly remembered by his family due to the revelation of his betrayal to the Northuldra, what little they know about Rita will be forever cherished through Sir JorgenBjorgen. 😄😉

[hafanforever]

Let It Show

In honor of the first anniversary of Frozen II, I wanted to write an analysis about Elsa and all three of her songs. I have previously discussed how “Show Yourself” is the true successor and counterpart to “Let It Go”, and that the two songs make up two halves of the one circle that is Elsa.

However, “Into the Unknown” is still vital to Elsa’s characterization because it acts as a middle bridge between the other two songs. With that in mind, you realize that each song plays a purpose for Elsa regarding her feelings about her magic and are stages of Elsa moving forward and accepting them: “Let It Go” is the beginning, “Into the Unknown” is the middle, and “Show Yourself” is the end. 

“Let It Go” - This song is about Elsa’s acknowledgement of her magic. Elsa acknowledges the fact that she has powers, and now that they have been revealed, there is no point in hiding them anymore. For the first time since childhood, Elsa is happy because she doesn’t have to repress or conceal her magic anymore. She is free to be who she really is, free to use and fully enjoy her powers. As she sings, Elsa realizes in order for her to be truly happy and to be herself, she has to have a degree of freedom; a freedom from the limitations and restrictions that were thrust upon her, which she obviously disliked.

This song shows the beginning to Elsa’s quest for freedom, but when the song ends, it isn’t TRULY over for her. While she does become happy and lets go of her fears upon reaching the mountain, these positive feels are only temporary. Elsa doesn’t find TRUE freedom, peace, or completion. Even though she is no longer hiding her powers, she is still afraid of them. She still feels burdened by her own self-loathing and insecurities. She is still haunted by the pain of the past.

Simultaneously, Elsa does not want to run away. She does not want to be entirely alone. She wants to be accepted for her magic. She wants to be loved...but Elsa believes that none of that would ever happen. So she felt the only solution was for her to run away and live in seclusion. But by choosing to run away to protect her kingdom, Elsa makes an irresponsible decision since she abandons it and her role as its queen, and she later learns that she can’t run from her problems forever.

“Into the Unknown” - This song is about Elsa questioning her magic. After three years of ruling Arendelle, Elsa has gained acceptance from Anna and their people. This acceptance has made Elsa feel more confident in herself and her powers that she is now totally open about them. She no longer tries to hide or repress them. She has reached whole new levels of comfort and confidence in her magic, which allows her to control it without having fear of harming people. 

Despite all this, Elsa is not content with her place, as she is stuck with many questions about who and what she really is. She wonders from where her powers come, why she is the only one in her family who has them, and if she is meant to use them for a different, if not greater, purpose in her life. A purpose other than ruling Arendelle, and using them to solve crises and entertain her people. Simultaneously, Elsa longs for the freedom she had in “Let it Go”. She does feel freer now than she did then because she no longer fears her powers, fears harming people with them, or fears what people will think of them. At the same time, however, Elsa still feels a degree of repression and confinement because she does not feel free to be who she really is due to her role as the queen.

This song shows the internal battle between what Elsa wants and what she needs to be for everyone else. It and her earlier scenes in the film show that Elsa considers her life situation to be all or nothing. She feels her only choices are to either abandon her leadership role and her family in order to be completely true to herself, or takes up her part as queen while simultaneously forcing herself to conceal everything about who she really is, since being her full self goes against what is expected of her as a ruler. In all, Elsa is afraid that if she was truly herself, she would only make another big mistake that could endanger her kingdom.

“Show Yourself” - This song is about Elsa’s complete acceptance of her magic. Before this, she has learned (with Anna’s realization) that she was born with ice magic as a reward for when her mother rescued her father during the battle between their peoples in the Enchanted Forest years earlier. But by the end of the song, Elsa has uncovered EVERYTHING she has ever wanted to know. She knows why she has these powers, and that they are a gift. She has found the voice that has been calling her, which is the memory of Iduna vocalizing for Gale to help with rescuing Agnarr. She has discovered that she is the fifth spirit, the one who will unite and serve as a bridge between the Arendellians and the Northuldra.

So at this point, Elsa finally has all of the answers. She understands herself, and who and what she truly is. Now that she knows her true purpose in life, and knows for sure that her powers are a gift and meant for good, Elsa can fully embrace herself, magic and all, at last. There is no more hiding, no more questions, no more holding back, and no more worries for her.

At the end of this song, Elsa is TRULY free, complete, and at peace. She is FINALLY happy…but this time, she’s not alone nor is she unloved.

And I couldn’t be more proud of my girl for finally conquering her inner demons and accepting herself, magic and all! 😁😁😁 I love you, Elsa! 😁😊❤️

[hafanforever]

There Goes the Bride

For me and other Frozen fans who have read Dangerous Secrets, we have learned about Agnarr and Iduna’s pasts as well as small, yet simultaneously crucial, pieces of information about Runeard and Rita regarding their marriage.

Despite Runeard having only a few lines in said book, what Agnarr reveals about his father strengthens what I have believed he was just from his short time on screen and key lines in Frozen II, and that he was just as bad, if not worse, than I initially thought he was. First of all, given that he was revealed to be a very distant, neglectful husband, I strongly believe that Runeard never cared about marrying for love or saw marriage as a partnership based on love and devotion. Due to his status as a king, the only benefit he saw from marriage was that it would increase his political status and power, which he knew would be done by him marrying a princess from another country so that their kingdoms could form an alliance and then he could use the alliance to his advantage.

Now I have said this before, but I want to mention it again: based on his sneer, scowl, and gruff voice in which he speaks in the scene below, it’s perfectly clear to me Runeard saw himself as a supreme being who was above everyone else by being a king. Since was in the highest social rank place and had more power than anyone else in society, he believed he was better and smarter than everyone else, and hated the idea of anyone or anything being better or more powerful than him (which included magic).

As a result of his feelings regarding his status, Runeard discriminated everyone else as being beneath him based on their social class, race, and even gender. He was also bigoted towards magic, and so he held great wrath and bigotry towards the Northuldra just for following magic. At the same time, Runeard also was prejudiced towards the tribe for their race and social class, making him a racist and classist at the same time. And while I think Gaston is the Disney Villain who is the best example of a misogynist, I also think Runeard had a degree of misogyny and sexism towards women. 

Following their marriage, Runeard never saw Rita as a person or as his partner, but as his possession and personal property to what he could do whatever he pleased. While Gaston believed that a married woman is supposed to be her husband’s slave and sex object, I don’t think that Runeard saw Rita as his personal slave since they did have servants who did and would do any and all manual tasks and labor for them in their castle home. However, similar to Gaston’s beliefs that married women must obey orders and commands their husbands give them, I do think Runeard expected Rita to do whatever he told her to do, to obey any order he gave her without argument or defiance, just because she was his wife. As her husband, Runeard saw himself as Rita’s superior while she was his inferior. He believed that she must honor and respect him as a wife should honor and respect her husband like the marriage vows say, though it’s not hard to determine he never extended her the same courtesies.

In summary, despite her own rank as a queen, Runeard viewed Rita as being beneath him, not only because she is a woman, but because he believed a queen is still below a king in status. He refused to treat her as an equal partner and felt her only significance to him was to bear him an heir who would succeed him as Arendelle’s ruler.

Based on what Pabbie and Gerda revealed about Rita growing homesick and depressed over missing her kingdom and her old life during the years she was married, and Runeard growing impatient with her instead of being understanding, it’s easy to figure out that Runeard was everything but a wonderful husband. He may have given her all the lavish gifts, riches, and material goods one could ever want, but even that was never out of true love, affection, or kindness on his part. The fact that she was completely cut off from her country shows that Runeard utilized two typical abuser's tactics with Rita: isolation and control. Due to her prolonged grief from missing her home, she probably never even went back to visit because Runeard completely forbade her from doing so. But just why would he have forbidden her from visiting her home? Perhaps because he believed that if Rita went back, she would never return to him. Now of course, it would never have been out of care or concern for her, but in seeing her as his property, Runeard adamantly wanted to have total control over Rita and deny her any basic rights. He probably would say or did say to her, "You're mine! You are my wife, and you are going to stay here with me!" Such a thought goes to show that Runeard used other typical abuser's tactics of domination and possessiveness with Rita.

Whether Runeard ever physically abused Rita is unknown, but given that he was driven to extreme measures of violence when he murdered the Northuldra leader years later, I don’t think it’s a far-fetched idea. Despite appearing calm and composed in public, largely to protect his false image of benevolence and kindness, I have a hunch that in private, Runeard would explode into a violent rage when angered. If he ever became angry at Rita, I think he would get violent and physically assault her, especially if he felt that doing so would “put her in her place”. I even wonder if Runeard ever tried to beat Agnarr when he was angry with him, but Rita would step in and take the beating herself because she loved Agnarr so much and did not want Runeard to hurt their son.

Given the chances that his abuse towards Rita bordered towards physicality, combined with everything else he did and didn’t do to make her so unhappy, I believe that she went to the trolls to have her memories erased so she would consequently have the will to freely leave Runeard because he never would have allowed her to leave him otherwise. In other words, if Rita attempted to run away and announced to Runeard that she was leaving, including by packing her things as she announced her intention to leave, Runeard would have prevented her from leaving by getting physical, including beating her severely. But could his abuse have been bad enough that he would he have killed Rita to permanently prevent her from leaving? Yes, I think Runeard would definitely have killed Rita if he caught her trying to leave him (and make it appear to be an accident), because he wouldn't have accepted it or allowed it to happen. Since Runeard didn’t like anything that challenged or threatened his power and authority, he wouldn’t have accepted or allowed Rita to challenge him by confronting him, standing up to him, and trying to leave him.

And so when Rita could no longer take living with Runeard due to his cruelty and abuse, she went to the trolls and had Pabbie remove all memories of her family and life in Arendelle. The other major reason she did this was so she could live with having to leave Agnarr behind; though she wanted to take him with her, she realized that doing so would cause Runeard to come after them. He would stop at nothing to prevent her from escaping with his only heir, and Agnarr’s life would be put in great danger. Therefore, the best choice Rita felt she could make to keep Agnarr safe was for him to remain in Arendelle.

What became of Rita after she fled is unknown, as it wasn’t made clear if she returned to her home or simply vanished into the dark and started a new life as a nomad. It is also not made clear how Runeard discovered that Rita left him and how he realized magic was connected to her leaving him. Regardless, once Rita left him, Runeard no longer had any power over her and couldn’t do anything about it. I have total confidence that the situation made him enraged since he had lost control over something he wanted to control with all the power he had and could muster, and especially so because magic, which is something that he cannot control, was involved with her disappearance.

Once he knew Rita was gone and was not going to return, Runeard became in complete denial that he had been an awful husband and was the only person to blame for her departure. He took the easy way out by claiming that she was carried off by evil spirits, scapegoating and blaming magic, the thing he detested most in the world, just so he could avoid taking responsibility for something wrong he did.