Wildwood Ending, Explained
With a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Wildwood is easily one of the most anticipated and highly celebrated movies of the year.
Lovingly crafted by LAIKA, who also made Coraline, this stop-motion animated adventure follows teenager Prue as she sets out on a quest to rescue her baby brother after he is kidnapped by crows and taken into the dark and mysterious woods. In these woods, where animals talk and a fearsome Dowager Governess looms, Prue and classmate Curtis find themselves flung into an adventure and world much bigger than they are.
Everything in Wildwood leads up to its exhilarating final act, with the stark divisions of the world within the woods leading to an all-out battle between good and evil. There’s a lot to digest in this particular film’s finale, so whether you’ve already seen the film or want to get a sense of what is happening in advance, we’re here for you. Just bear in mind that, obviously, there are spoilers ahead.
What Is Prue’s Parents’ History With The Dowager Governess?
After Alexandra, the Dowager Governess, lies to Prue and tells her that her brother is dead, she returns home, devastated and defeated. It is there that she is told about her family’s twisted history with Alexandra. Before Prue was born, her parents were unable to conceive a child. So, as a last resort, they were put in contact with Alexandra. She told the couple that while she would give them their first child for free, she would take their second child.
Assuming they’d never have a second child, the couple agree: Alexandra then uses her magic to make Prue’s mother pregnant. This is important later on. Obviously, the couple end up having a second child anyway, which is why they are overprotective about him going outside. After hearing this confession, Prue figures out that Alexandra was lying about her brother being dead. Enraged, she returns to the woods, also known as the Impassable Wilderness, on a mission.
Why Does The Dowager Governess Want Prue’s Brother?
It should be noted that the reason Alexandra needs Prue’s brother is for a specific murderous ritual. Killing a child “born of magic” and spilling their blood will essentially awaken the Wilderness’ sentient ivy, which is a destructive force that Alexandra would be able to control. While controlling this Ivy would destroy the woods, Alexandra is driven mad by grief and is convinced that she’ll be able to revive her own dead son a second time.
How Does Prue Get Her Brother Back?
After the Council Tree speaks to Prue, the Mystics agree to help her. The Bandits, who escaped Alexandra’s imprisonment with the help of Curtis, also decide to aid in this battle as they have their own axe to grind with Alexandra. As Alexandra journeys to the Ancient’s Grove to perform the ritual and awaken the Ivy, her Coyote Army battles the Bandits. Fellow faction the Avian Principality quite literally swoops in and helps even out the odds, too.
As all of this is going on, mystic Iphigenia tries to reason with Alexandra, to no avail. Prue and Alexandra then have it out, and Prue slices her hand on Alexandra’s dagger. As she lies on the ground Prue grabs hold of the ivy, begging for help. Because she was a child born of magic, her blood awakens the ivy, The sentient plant ultimately saves Prue’s brother and kills Alexandra by impaling her. Iphigenia urges Prue to stop the ivy, which she does. Without the backing of the Dowager Governess, the Coyote Army retreat, meaning that the Bandits win and can reclaim their homeland.
But there’s still more work to do. Prue heads over to Pittock Mansion and makes them release Owl Rex from prison and forces Governor Regent Lars Svik to resign. With the forest's various factions now at peace with one another, Prue and her brother return home, where they are reunited with their family.
