Secretsofthestorymakers - Where The North Wind Meets The Sea

Frozen 3 & 4 Theories and Analysis

So the Frozen 4 announcement

I am cautiously optimistic and here's why - I had previously said that I think they should make 4 movies to match with the seasons and I think that is exactly what they are doing.

3 and 4 will be Spring and Summer, though not in that order necessarily. And yes I know the first movie had brief summer, but c'mon guys we all the first movie was winter! The bulk of that movie took place in winter and that movie explored wintry themes!

Frozen was winter. It explored the dual nature of winter - beauty and danger. How winter can be as much fun as it can be dangerous. How viewing through love or fear can make all the difference. It discussed how to survive the winter, you have to let people in. How love can thaw the cold. How the primary focus during this time of year is to hold onto each other until the warmth returns. It was all metaphorical, but still.

Frozen 2 was autumn and this one was almost certainly not metaphorical. Autumn is considered the transformational season. We are moving from Summer to Winter. Nature is decaying, the harvest has come, and we must release what we no longer need. Elsa transformed and let go Queen of Arendelle for The Fifth Spirit. Anna transformed and let go of Princess of Arendelle for Queen of Arendelle. Olaf literally said that Enchanted Forests are, metaphorically, places of transformation.

Now for Frozen 3 and 4... the narrative, in my opinion, could work with Summer into Spring, but also Spring into Summer

Spring is considered the season of rebirth - the growing fruit that came from decay and death (autumn and winter). Rebirth is healing, murky, and in the beginning it can be difficult. But it also means hope. The air is light. The warmth is coming. Snowbells and daffodils are breaking through the frozen grounds. The worms are waking. Life is returning! To many, this is their favorite season (warm after the cold, but not heavy like summer).

Summer is the season of celebration! Warmth has returned! Life is flourishing! It is so green and so hot that even the nights are a comfortable temperature. All plant-life, insects, and animals are awake! It's time to go on vacation, go to the beach, travel the world! It's a time to be lazy because it is just so hot. In the old days, they valued this season because they had survived the winter! We are alive! Let's party!

So in terms of F3 and F4 (with absolutely no plot beats to go on except for the seasonal metaphors), it could either be:

F3 is Summer. Anna and Elsa have actualized and they are doing what they have always wanted to do! What they were always meant to be! They are killing it as the Fifth Spirit, there is a wonderful peace between the two lands. They are happy... until something comes along to threaten that peace. Something bad enough to shake up the stability they thought they had... leading to F4 with Spring. Whatever they went through in F3, the next installment is the time of healing and hope. But this rebirth is easier than what they went through in F1, because they know who they are now and they love each other all the more.

OR

F3 is Spring and they are appreciating all the fruit that this new world they have created has to offer. It's a difficult peace to be sure. The Northuldra and the Arendellians are still having trouble getting along, and it brings visible stress to the sisters. Whatever happens in this installment leads to the breaking down of something because rebirth is hopeful, but not stable. But it is an aha! moment for the sisters because it leads to even greater stability that can be felt in F4 - the installment of summer and truly the everlasting happiness the sisters and their family and poeples have been hoping for.

Ooh I hadn’t considered that, but I love it! Frozen is so much about opposites and that duality is especially apparent in Elsa’s power. From love & fear to beauty & danger, it is clear that Elsa’s power can and does represent both for us as viewers and in her own view of herself. Her powers shift as her view of them does throughout the story.

Now I’m really curious and I’m gonna have to pay special attention to which hand she is using next time I watch the movies! 😂 I know a lot of times she uses both, which could represent how she’s accepted both sides of her power exist, but that she chooses how she uses it.

(also, I’m not actually a leftie haha, sorry if that was misleading lol)

I had noticed this a while ago but just learned something in Latin class today that makes this even better, so here we go:

When Anna pulls off Elsa’s glove at the coronation, she pulls off the left glove, which means that all of Elsa’s accidental magic as she flees Arendelle was with her left hand. Traditionally, left handedness and the left hand in general was associated with evil, or the devil. Even the Latin word for left or left handed, siníster, also means harmful or ill-omened. For many years, left handed people were considered strange or wicked and were forced to use their right hand instead. I think this was absolutely an intentional detail that reinforces Elsa’s negative perception of her magic, up until “well now they know,” when she pulls off her other glove and starts using both hands. The magic that caused the initial destruction in Arendelle was from her left hand and therefore symbolically associated with evil in her eyes and the eyes of the townspeople.

Ahtohollan can see the future

Nobody seems to talk about this:

"...A sharp pain of regret stabs at my stomach.

I never did get back home.

I stare down at the water, my vision blurry from the driving rain. To my surprise, a wavering image seems to float up from the depths of the sea.

A girl, laughing, and dancing in the wind.

Is it me? But no... it looks more like...

I turn and ask Agnarr, "Are you seeing this?" But he's gone off to confer with the captain.

I turn back to the water, desperate for another look. But the girl is now gone, too. In her place stand two women. One dressed in a glowing white gown with white-blond hair tumbling down her back. The other - a redhead - clothed in rich greens and black and purples, with a familiar-looking crown atop her head. Both women are smiling.

Smiling at each other.

My breath hitches. Tears well in my eyes. Could it be? Could these two beautiful women really be my daughters? Not as they are now... but as they will be?

Only Ahtohollan knows... a voice seems to whisper in my ear.

The waters churn again and the vision vanishes. I cry out in alarm, causing Agnarr to rush to my side. "What is it?" he asks urgently.

I shake my head. "Nothing," I say. "I just... I thought I saw something in the water."

Was it a vision from Ahtohollan? Or simply a mother's heartfelt wish on a wave? I will never know for certain. But still, I draw that image of my beautiful girls deep into my soul. Their wide smiles. The joyous looks in their eyes. It seems an impossible future.

And yet...

Why couldn't it be? They are strong; they are smart. They will be able to shape their own destinies. Make their ways as Agnarr and I once did. Find their owns happily ever afters.

I just hope they find them together."

-Queen Iduna, Dangerous Secrets

Now this isn't strictly canon because Jen Lee doesn't really consider anything outside of the main 2 movies canon. But I am going to talk about it like it is because the idea that Ahtohollan can see into the future could lean into my whole "Ahtohollan is a way across the veil" theory.

Now, Iduna's vision could be two things:

A visualization from the spirit of Ahtohollan

A true vision of the future

It obviously was not Iduna's wishes as a mother because the description of the girls matched what they looked like at the end of F2 down to the detail. So, I think we can nix that theory.

But what I will say is that it was Iduna's fear the they wouldn't make it, that she would never see her daughters again, and her regret over not seeing her home again that triggered this beautiful blessing for Iduna before she passed on. Ahtohollan showed her this on purpose. No matter which theory below is correct, Iduna was effectively shown the future.

In defense of A Visualization from the Spirit of Ahtohollan

Anna and Elsa were created to be the fifth spirit. They were created to break the dam, reconnect with Ahtohollan, liberate the forest from the mist, bring the spirits back, bring peace between the Northuldra and Arendelle, and carry on their work as the Fifth Spirit, the bridge. They were tied to Ahtohollon, through blood and spirit, from the beginning. They were always going to find their way to the Enchanted Forest because they were created for it. They would always be drawn back. Nothing in life is a certainty... but for once, this was. And Ahtohollan showed that to their mother.

In defense of A True Vision of the Future

Water has memory. Ahtohollan has access to All Memory. But what if, considering the magical nature of Ahtohollan, it's definition of "memory" is different from ours? Take a look at the way the memories work in the glacier, for example. It seems like the more forgotten a memory is, the deeper it is within the glacier. And yet, somehow, the memory is still there! Even though no one remembers the memory!

In magic, water is the connective element. In tarot, water represent relationships, love, emotions, and our inner worlds. In astrology, the water signs are intuitive, emotional, and compassionate. In Frozen, it has memory - a force that connects all of us. And what else is connective?

Time.

From the past to the future. And some say Time is a construct, but many physicists argue against this concept. In physics, it is the fourth dimension. It is a provable dimension of creation.

What if Elsa has yet to actually tap into her full power, as a spirit who can solidify the most (arguably) spiritual element?

What if Ahtohollan showed Iduna the future of her daughters?

Conclusion

Look, you all know I hate the whole thing in fiction that you have a shadow of what you actually want and somehow that is supposed to be comfort. Like in Harry Potter, with him holding the memory of his parents in his heart as comfort. Or the fact that Harry saw them in the 4th book with priori incantatem only for Dumbledore to promptly crush Harry's dreams because "the dead can't really come back" (no they can't but they were there).

I personally think that whole concept is a bit of a copout. I think Iduna was truly calling Elsa from the other side to bring her to Ahtohollan. I think Iduna truly saw a glimpse of the future of her daughters.

But either way, the whole point of that vision wasn't what it truly was. The whole point was to show Iduna what she needed to know: Your daughters are going to be okay.

Wish Analysis Pt. 2/3

The songs in Wish felt very classic with a modern twist, which I loved. They somewhat followed the established “song formula” with Welcome to Rosas as the opening song, This Wish as the I-want song, This is the Thanks I Get?! as the villain song, and I’m a Star as the fun, upbeat “wake up song.” A couple of the songs were very unique though. At All Costs is really interesting as one of the few times the hero sings a duet with the villain (I think Love is an Open Door is the only other time?). In this song, Asha sings about protecting and following the wishes wherever they go, while Magnifico sings about holding the wishes and keeping them as his own. In addition, Magnifico is controlling the wishes and moving them around to create his view of perfection, while they are naturally flocking to Asha. And Knowing What I Know Now! This song, man, it was incredible. And very unique to have a power song for the heroes in a Disney movie. It wasn’t so much the “all hope is lost, but I’ll find the answers within” like I am Moana (although I do love that too), it was more of a “now is the time to fight back,” rallying song. And This Wish (Reprise) was beautiful! I was sobbing so hard. This was sort of a “all hope is lost, but I’ll find the answers within” song, but it was unique in the aspect that it brought everyone together and wasn’t just about the main character’s development. It was also unique that the song itself was the climax of the movie. It was so amazing, visually and thematically and musically and I just LOVE IT.

I had noticed this a while ago but just learned something in Latin class today that makes this even better, so here we go:

When Anna pulls off Elsa’s glove at the coronation, she pulls off the left glove, which means that all of Elsa’s accidental magic as she flees Arendelle was with her left hand. Traditionally, left handedness and the left hand in general was associated with evil, or the devil. Even the Latin word for left or left handed, siníster, also means harmful or ill-omened. For many years, left handed people were considered strange or wicked and were forced to use their right hand instead. I think this was absolutely an intentional detail that reinforces Elsa’s negative perception of her magic, up until “well now they know,” when she pulls off her other glove and starts using both hands. The magic that caused the initial destruction in Arendelle was from her left hand and therefore symbolically associated with evil in her eyes and the eyes of the townspeople.