As an Anna fan, it feels so horrible when people say and blame that Elsa "abandoned" Arendelle and Anna to "be a hippie in the enchanted forest"... God no! She didn't abandon Arendelle or her sister. She didn't leave Arendelle because she wanted to... but because she NEEDED TO, and that's completely different from "wanting".
In fact, there's a book called Polar Nights (2022) that explains just that aspect in a few fragments :
With that fragment, I realize that Ahtohallan/Enchanted forest and Arendelle are Elsa's homes, the fact that she now lives in the enchanted forest ... does not mean that Arendelle was not her home, does not mean that she left the place where she grew up for 24 years,She didn't leave Arendelle forever!,Arendelle has always been part of Elsa's home, however, due to everything Elsa went through, being forced to hide her magic from everyone, locked up and isolated by 4 walls for 13 long years, even I would feel it like a prison! ... Arendelle felt like a prison because of it, because of the fear and guilt she was forced to have. Frozen 2 was precisely her journey to feel more complete, because she finally accepts herself, she is free without fear, without guilt and now Ahtohallan is part of her home now, she can finally be one with her magic. Ahtohallan has undoubtedly changed Elsa, she ... is completely different from what she was in Frozen and she is happier. ✨💗
They also play another fragment that I find very beautiful, where Elsa makes another trip to Ahtohallan for some reason:
It's so beautiful how they describe how happy Elsa is now! , she is no longer afraid, nor guilty, she is free and happy, happy to finally accept herself as she is, happy to now be next to Anna, whose person was so important to Elsa that she had to hide her magic so as not to hurt her, and that partly thanks to Anna Elsa learned a lot about loving you just as you are, I mean... her sister didn't care about how out of control Elsa was with her magic and accepted her just as she was, that's love! And Elsa is very grateful to have had Anna, whose person never gave up on Elsa, and no matter how much Elsa pushed her away, Elsa hasn't left Anna, she didn't abandon her just to "be a hippie in an enchanted forest," but since she's at peace with herself... she can spend more time with her sister, as she says "And yet, she still had her sister" ... it's so beautiful! ✨💗
Finally, I understand, I'm showing fragments from a book that was released almost 3 years after Frozen 2, and I understand that there are people who don't have the book available, however I feel it was necessary to share these fragments from the Polar Nights book with you. It's part of Elsa's story, they reflect more of her feelings regarding her experiences she's lived through for so many years, etc. I just hope people understand that Elsa didn't abandon her sister or Arendelle, stop blaming her for being happy now!