Frozen Is Cool! Elsa the Snow Queen Rules!

So almost two years since the release of Frozen II, I think this scene, the scene that reveals Runeard’s true colors regarding his feelings towards the Northuldra and magic, has become famous. It’s less than 20 seconds long and he says only approximately 30 words in it, but judging from the things he says, how he says them, and the faces he makes while speaking his words are enough to reveal just how much of a wrathful, egotistical, arrogant, hypocritical, bigoted, hostile, xenophobic, paranoid, supreme, power-hungry man Runeard was.

But even so, almost two years later, fans are undoubtedly curious as to why Runeard hates and fears magic so much. Sure, he explains his belief that magic corrupts people into thinking they are so powerful and entitled that they are better than a king (which is hypocritical since he is clearly displaying his own love of power, sense of entitlement, and supreme belief that he is better than everyone else by being a monarch), but there is no deeper explanation on just why he thinks this. I have explained in several analyses why I believe he has these feelings, and now I want to explain all of my beliefs and thoughts about it in one piece, so here I go. 😁😉👍🏻

As mentioned in Seek the Truth: Unraveling Frozen II, a big project about the movie that was written by @yumeka36, it is not uncommon to fear people and things that are different, with “different” in this case meaning unusual, strange, or foreign (which is what the term xenophobia means). Such fear can eventually blossom into hatred, and this is especially so for a person like Runeard, someone who is in a high position in society with a lot of power. Furthermore, by being in such a high social, political rank, people like Runeard will sometimes get the idea that they are better and smarter than others, they discriminate everyone who is below them in status as being beneath them in all other ways, and they want to have total control over everything. From the one scene in which his true nature is revealed, it’s not difficult to comprehend that Runeard enjoyed the power, authority, and control that came with his kingship, so much so that he abused it, albeit in secret. It convinced him that he was the best person of all, that he was always right and could never do any wrong, so he was extremely intolerant of disobedience, defiance, challenges to his authority and his judgment being questioned. This is all proven by the furious face he makes after his aide tries to reason with him that the Northuldra are not untrustworthy in nature following Runeard ordering him to round up all of Arendelle’s soldiers to bring to the forest. Runeard also hated the idea of anything or anyone being better than him, and particularly anyone who thought they were better than him. As a result, he could not tolerate competitive rivals, challenges, or threats of any kind to his power, and he was obsessively determined not to lose it to anything.

I have always thought that the main reason why Runeard loathed magic is because it is not a normal force in the world; in other words, it is an abnormal, unpredictable, unnatural, otherworldly entity (the latter terms were also said by @yumeka36), making it difficult for him to control or understand it. As a king, Runeard had a deep-rooted need and desire to control everything and everyone in his path, to always be on top of things and other people, to always be obeyed, and he felt satisfied when he had complete control of things that were normal and natural. But much like how he resented his judgment being questioned and authority being challenged, he also resented anything he couldn’t control or understand, and magic is one thing that was far beyond his comprehension and control. So without question, Runeard’s complete inability to control magic is definitely one of the key reasons why he detested it.

And as revealed in Dangerous Secrets, the disappearance of Runeard’s wife Rita was a contributing factor in his abhorrence of magic. After many years of feeling depressed and homesick, combined with Runeard’s inability to be loving, understanding, and sympathetic of her situation, Rita fled after Pabbie erased her memories of her family and life in Arendelle. Like I said in “There Goes the Bride”, I believe Runeard wanted to have total control and authority over Rita since he saw her as his inferior by being his wife, but also as a queen and a woman. But once she left him, he no longer had any control over her, which infuriated him because he had ultimately failed to control her with all the power he could muster and was unable to do anything about it afterwards. As a result, Runeard refused to accept that he had been an awful husband and was the only person to blame for Rita’s departure. He officially said that she disappeared due to evil spirits, making it one of many instances in which he refused to take responsibility for his misdeeds and faults, and instead took the easy approach by blaming them on an uncontrollable force like magic. 😔

Moving on, because of the abnormality and unpredictability of magic, it would be the only form of power considered to match or be greater than that of any monarch, the only type of power that could stand in Runeard’s way as a ruler. So since the powers of magic could present themselves as a competition, threat, and challenge to his kingship, it is another reason why he abhorred it, and this ties into his bigotry and wrath towards the Northuldra. The Northuldra are peasants, people of the lowest rank in society, which puts them below him in society by default, and he already believed he was better than them and saw them as uncivilized people. But even more so, Runeard just couldn’t stand the fact that these peasants follow magic, the very thing he saw as being in the way of his kinghood. He also couldn’t stand the thought that the Northuldra might think their magical ties made them think they are far more powerful and greater than him. So Runeard saw them as being an obstacle to his kingship in two separate ways that combined together, and because of this, he felt the need to obliterate them. As I said in “King Runeard, the Lying Hater”, Runeard’s xenophobia and paranoia of magic was so extreme that he probably believed that the Northuldra might try to usurp him and take control of Arendelle using the magical spirits. They wouldn’t have, of course, but Runeard wasn’t going to take the chance of any such thing happening, or anything else that could lead to him losing his power, and he had to come up with a plan to get rid of them.

But then why did he want to use the dam to do so?

Because Runeard had built up a facade of a benevolent, generous leader to his kingdom and the Northuldra, and he had to keep his real malevolent nature under wraps. If he tried to take down the Northuldra using direct, unprovoked force, his entire cover would be blown instantly and he would lose everything he had gained from his artificial image. But it’s also because Runeard feared what the spirits could do to him if he acted by force. So he decided to take a more subtle approach by building the dam in the Enchanted Forest and using it to weaken the lands and, by extension, the magic. As we see in the film, the dam caused a massive blockage of water, which completely disrupted the flow of the once free-flowing river, so it can be assumed that this was one way the dam was harmful to the environment. Like other real-life effects of a dam, it also may have disturbed the sediment composition of the water, which practically eroded the river, and harmed or killed the plant life that grew on the fjord beneath the dam. Runeard knew all of this since, as a king, he was a very educated man and had more privileges regarding such knowledge than other people. It could even be assumed that his soldiers and the Arendellian citizens did not have the same amount of knowledge he did (at least not regarding what harmful effects dams do in a natural setting), which might explain why no one ever questioned him (on screen, at least) if the dam would actually help the forest. However, out of arrogance in thinking he was better and a lot smarter than the Northuldra, Runeard assumed that they wouldn’t have this knowledge, either, or that it would take them a very long time to figure it out. So he thought he could get away with his true intentions by presenting the dam as a gift of peace, which would also easily fool his people into thinking he was doing an utmost good deed and keep them on his side if the Northuldra suspected otherwise.

I previously explained in “Panic Attack” what I think Runeard’s long-term plan was to eliminate the Northuldra, so I don’t want to explain all the details. I will say, though, that, since his actions were subtle, I am wholly convinced that he never intended to wipe out the tribe and start a war with them on the very day of the gathering in the forest. However, his plans instantly changed and began to crumble once the Northuldra leader told Runeard that the dam was harming the forest rather than helping it as promised. In a panic, and knowing his whole ruse could be exposed, he knew he had to act fast and get rid of the leader to keep anyone else from discovering the truth. But immediately after carrying out his murderous deed, Runeard panicked again since he knew that the tribe would eventually discover their leader’s absence and be searching for him. So not really knowing what else to do, given the circumstances, he started a full-fledged war between them and the Arendellians to turn any suspicion away from his crime...but his desperation to hide everything clouded his thoughts and caused him to make such a poor, impulsive move which ultimately drove him to his death.

Up until his death, Runeard’s xenophobia towards magic made him want to destroy anyone with magical powers or who had ties to magic that came his way. Little did he realize, though, that his own actions to try and eliminate the Northuldra would lead to the births of Anna and Elsa (who was born with magic, the very thing he abhorred most in the world), who would one day rectify his sins. The subsequent revelation of Runeard’s murderous, treacherous acts would forever ruin his legacy, causing his own worst fear to become reality, and rather than the Northuldra be obliterated like he had aimed to do, they would come together with the Arendellians to form a true union of peace, thanks to Elsa and Anna. 😉

Introduction

When I saw Frozen II on its opening day of November 22, I purposely did not read any specific details about the plot because I wanted to be surprised and not come across anything that could be major spoilers (although weeks before, I did come across a brief leak of the ending, but I’ll save that for another time). I went in thinking that the film might not have a main antagonist, especially because the trope of surprise villains in Disney animated films was waning and becoming somewhat predictable. Needless to say, I was very shocked to find out that the film did indeed have a villain: King Runeard, the father of Agnarr and grandfather of Anna and Elsa!

Six years ago, when Frozen first came out, one of the things I enjoyed most about it was how Hans was set up as the main antagonist. Unlike in their past animated features, rather than subtly showing him as the villain from almost the beginning, Disney purposely and completely misled viewers into thinking Hans was the (initial) male hero, another typical heroic prince, like their previous fairy tales. His true colors were finally revealed in the third act, and until the very end, Hans had continued to fool almost all other characters with this facade. At the same time, though, there were subtle clues of his villainy during many of his earlier scenes, so his revelation did not come totally out of nowhere. Still, the concept and twist of a hidden main antagonist, one that was a prince, no less, was a part of the film that I thoroughly enjoyed because it was something so different and unexpected.

So in the years since Frozen, Disney continued a trope of surprise villains (which began with Wreck-It Ralph and was also included in Coco and Incredibles 2 from Pixar), But after a few years, figuring out the villains started to become easier and less exciting, at least it did for me. And in Ralph Breaks the Internet last year, the Arthur virus that duplicates into clones of Ralph after scanning his insecurities didn’t exactly produce the same effects of setting up and revealing a true hidden villain. This is why I wasn’t at all anticipating for there to be a villain, hidden or not, in Frozen II. So when I realized that Runeard was the villain, I was very shocked. Not like how I was when Hans’s true nature was revealed, but for a variety of other reasons (which I will explain below).

And because I had SO much fun writing analyses about Hans and his villainy (especially this one big analysis) for the first film years ago, I am excited to share with all of you my first analysis about Runeard and my thoughts and opinions on his villainy! And who knows? Perhaps I will be able to write more about him after this!

In Frozen, the Duke of Weselton is a red herring. In his first appearance, he reveals himself to be wanting to "unlock Arendelle's secrets and exploit its riches" in a monologue. He follows with "Did I say that out loud?" This "giveaway" seems to make first-time viewers believe that he is the villain, especially with how low and sinister his voice sounds when he says what he wants to do to Arendelle.

Then it happens again with the way the Duke reacts to Elsa's "sorcery." He, again, speaks in a scary voice, he and his thugs run after her, saying to stop her. When she accidentally shoots ice from her hand and makes the Duke slip, this prompts him to call her a monster in front of Arendelle's citizens.

Then there is a third time that seems to indicate, once and for all, that the Duke is the villain when he secretly tells his thugs to eliminate Elsa should they find her when they go on a search party with Hans.

However, throughout the entire movie, the Duke is merely a cover-up for the real villain, Hans.

Hans finally reveals himself to Anna as she starts to die from her frozen heart. He refuses to kiss her after she says that an act of true love can save her, and coldly reveals that he never loved her.

Interestingly enough, after Hans is revealed to be the true antagonist, the Duke is still fussy, but much more tame in terms of antagonistic behavior. An example of this is seen when he actually shows concern over Anna after he's told she was killed by Elsa.

Before Hans' revelation, the Duke apparently didn't care for anyone's well being, other than his own, and was apparently against Anna. This is particularly shown after Elsa reveals her powers, then when Hans gives out cloaks to the people.

It's most likely this is because the red herring aspect of the character was no longer needed, thus revealing the Duke to actually be nothing more than a cowardly, greedy, and paranoid antihero, though if anything, he is also comedic and sure is good for a lot of laughs in the movie! XD

In all, the Duke was an excellent use as a red herring in order to cover up the fact that Hans was the true villain. This is a case I have never seen before in a Disney movie, including with how Hans is revealed to be the villain in the film's third act. So I can say that they were both among the many parts that made the film such a hit, and I thank Disney for doing something so different with villainy. :)