Summary
Scene 13 (The Boy Is The Answer)
Hiding in the woods, Aurora practices telling her "aunties" that she plans to leave home and live in the Moors. Prince Phillip, son of the King of Ulstead, overhears Aurora and approaches her, asking for directions to King Stefan's castle. The two converse and accidentally touch hands, hinting at a romantic attraction. Aurora subtly invites Philip to return to see her again.
Maleficent and Diaval watch this interaction from behind a tree. Diaval excitedly proclaims that Philip "is the answer," meaning the prince's romantic kiss might break the curse. Maleficent, however, is unconvinced, as she put the stipulation on her curse because she does not believe true love exists. Still, Diaval contests that Aurora might believe in true love, meaning they shouldn't discourage Phillip.
Scene 14 (Aurora Learns The Truth)
In the cottage, the three fairies fight over whether or not they should bring Aurora back to the castle on her sixteenth birthday or the day after, as they cannot accurately remember King Stefan's instructions. Aurora enters the cottage and explains her plans to leave home. Shocked, Knotgrass accidentally reveals the truth about Aurora's identity and Maleficent's curse.
Heartbroken, Aurora then confronts Maleficent, who reveals she is the one who cursed Aurora. Maleficent expresses her regret and moves to comfort Aurora, but Aurora runs away, calling Maleficent "the evil that is in the world." Maleficent then orders Diaval to "find the boy," meaning she plans to use Phillip to break the curse.
Alone, Aurora rides to the castle and greets King Stefan, who is planning with his generals for Maleficent's arrival. Aurora hugs her father, and, shocked, he does not return her affection. Though Stefan proclaims that Aurora looks "just like [her] mother," he immediately sends her to be locked in her room. He curses the three fairies for bringing her back a day too soon.
Scene 15 (The Curse Is Fulfilled)
As the realization of Aurora's curse rapidly approaches, Maleficent encounters Prince Philip in the woods, placing him in an enchanted sleep. She rides Diaval, in horse form, to the palace, bringing Phillip's unconscious body along. Meanwhile, locked in her room, Aurora finds a secret door and escapes; a servant tries and fails to stop her. While preparing for Maleficent's arrival, King Stefan and his guards do not notice Aurora's disappearance.
Maleficent's curse leads her to find the room where Stefan hid all the spinning wheels. One wheel reassembles itself, and Aurora pricks her finger, falling into an enchanted sleep. From her horse, Maleficent feels the curse resolve. She rushes to the castle, where Stefan has "pulled the guards," meaning the halls and grounds are empty. Diaval warns Maleficent that they will not leave the castle alive; he and Maleficent enter and wade through the iron barrier of thorns Stefan has constructed to kill Maleficent.
King Stefan berates the fairies in Aurora's chambers, believing it is their fault that Aurora succumbed to the curse. Though the fairies insist Aurora is "only sleeping" and will be woken with "true love's kiss," Stefan dejectedly replies that "true love does not exist."
Scene 16 (True Love Doesn't Fall From Trees)
Maleficent floats Prince Philip's body to Aurora's chamber. The fairies allow him to enter, believing that his title of "Prince" makes him a romantic hero capable of breaking the curse. They then invite Philip to kiss Aurora, though he protests that he is uncomfortable kissing an unconscious woman he only met once. Still, the fairies scold him until he kisses her, but it does not break the enchantment. The fairies then shove Philip from the room, declaring they "have to keep looking" for someone who can break the spell.
Analysis
In "The Boy is The Answer," Maleficent reveals why she cursed Aurora only to be awoken by "true love's kiss." To Diaval's surprise, Maleficent cursed Aurora this way to make the curse unbreakable, as Maleficent does not believe in true love. This reveal adds depth to an earlier example of verbal irony; when Maleficent adds the "true love's kiss" stipulation to her curse, she feigns being merciful once Stefan humiliates himself and begs her lenience. In actuality, Maleficent's "mercy" is intended to make the curse unbreakable while simultaneously shaming Stefan. This reveal also heightens the film's narrative stakes, as Maleficent and the audience suspect that the curse is likely unbreakable, effectively ending Aurora's life. Thus, King Stefan, Diaval, and Maleficent feel pressure to prevent the curse from ever taking effect.
Prince Phillip's role in Maleficent references and expands on the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. In the original animated feature, Prince Phillip breaks Aurora's curse by fighting Maleficent and giving the unconscious Aurora a romantic kiss. However, audiences criticized this choice, as the characters of Phillip and Aurora only met once and thus could not have formed a strong enough bond to break the spell or make kissing an unconscious partner appropriate. Though Prince Phillip still kisses the unconscious Aurora in Maleficent, he objects to kissing her and only acquiesces after the fairies bully him. Additionally, Maleficent and Diaval only bring Phillip to Aurora out of desperation, as neither truly believes he can break the curse. Furthermore, by making Prince Phillip's kiss ineffective, the narrative affirms that "true love" at first sight is unlikely and kissing unconscious people is inappropriate.
The scenes "The Boy is the Answer" and "True Love Doesn't Fall From Trees" expand on the theme of "true love." First, Maleficent, Diaval, and the three fairies initially assume that "true love" is synonymous with "romantic love," as the characters assess Prince Phillip's ability to break the curse. Second, Diaval argues that just because Maleficent does not believe in true love does not mean Aurora cannot experience true love. This point demonstrates that love is relative and takes many forms. Though the original film, Sleeping Beauty, presented a narrow view of "true love," Maleficent suggests that genuine connection can take many forms, depending on a person's emotional vulnerability.
Locked in her room, Aurora contemplates her finger, staring at it as if imagining being pricked. This small action demonstrates Aurora's lack of choice in her fate. Unlike in the 1959 film, Aurora is not passive; she actively seeks relationships with others, makes her own choices, and attempts to save herself. However, Aurora cannot escape how the adults' actions affect her future. Aurora's victimhood as a byproduct of Stefan's and Maleficent's feud is a poignant example of the theme of cyclical violence.
The scenes leading up to the culmination of Aurora's curse sharply contrast Maleficent's relationship with Aurora to King Stefan and the fairies' relationship with Aurora. While Maleficent risks her life and tries everything to break the curse, the three fairies complain about having to care for Aurora and minimize her suffering by claiming she is "only sleeping" while cursed. Similarly, King Stefan is hardly moved when he reunites with his daughter after sixteen years and focuses more on exacting his revenge on Maleficent than protecting his daughter.
These scenes use powerful, striking visual imagery to create a mood of tension and dread. For example, Stefan recreates the wall of thorns within the palace, forcing Maleficent to burn herself while walking through. This unusual, elaborate trap is not only visually arresting but symbolically and narratively important. The wall, inconsistent with the rest of the castle's interior space, demonstrates how Stefan used innumerable resources to punish Maleficent rather than protect his daughter. Just as Maleficent's wall of thorns symbolizes how her pain distances her from others, Stefan's wall of thorns demonstrates how his grudge against Maleficent emotionally separated him from his family and became his sole goal and focus.
A second striking visual is a room full of broken spinning wheels. In a trance, Aurora walks through a cavernous room containing piles of broken spinning wheels. However, the spinning wheels are clearly identifiable, as Stefan's efforts could not fully destroy them. One spinning wheel quickly and easily reassembles itself. Thus, this visual illustrates the futility of Stefan's efforts against Maleficent's magic. To further enforce this idea, the room is lit with the eerie green light associated with Maleficent's evil spell.
