Damsel ending explained: Does Elodie escape the dragon?

Brown plays Elodie, a young woman whose marriage to a handsome prince called Henry goes disastrously wrong when she finds herself trapped in a cave with a fearsome and fire-breathing dragon.

At first glance, Damsel appears to have all the trappings of a traditional fairytale: princes and princesses, dragons and evil queens.

But it soon becomes apparent that Elodie isn't your typical damsel in distress, as she embarks on a daring escape mission.

Talking about how the film's Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo flips the traditional fairytale narrative on its head, cast member Robin Wright, who plays the wicked Queen Isabelle in the movie, said: "I think it's a really good message for young girls: It's not a damsel in distress that's being rescued by somebody, it's self-survival."

But how does it all end and does Elodie manage to escape the dragon?

Watched the film and need some clarification on how she got on? Read on to have the ending of Damsel explained.

Damsel ending explained: Does Elodie survive?

Although Elodie is initially successful in escaping, the bad guys aren't going to be beaten that easily – and they arrange for her younger sister Floria to be used as a sacrifice instead.

Naturally, this prompts Elodie to go back into the caves and rescue her sister and when she does so she comes face to face with the dragon once again and engages her in conversation. During the exchange, she tries to find common ground, explaining that she is angry as well since they "have both been lied to".

Elodie then admits that she knows the dragon's children had previously been killed by the royals unprovoked, and this is what had initially led to the arrangement requiring the sacrifices. Elodie explains that she was not involved in that, but the dragon insists that she holds all humankind responsible and that she "will take their daughters breath until my final breath".

At this point, they come to blows and Elodie tumbles into a pool of water. When she emerges, she is wounded and weaponless, and Floria desperately throws her a sword, which she takes as the dragon pursues her again, pinning her down and telling her: "Now you will know my daughters' pain."

Just as she is going in for the kill, Elodie successfully stabs the dragon and forces her away, before running at her armed with the sword and yelling: "I am not one of them!"

The dragon picks her up and says she can "smell it in your blood" before disarming her such that Elodie is once again weaponless. "Elodie, accept your fate as I have mine," the dragon taunts. "We are to die alone".

But Elodie remains defiant. "No," she says. "I have an army with me. Every innocent woman whose life was stolen down here."

The dragon retorts that her kind was never innocent, and so Elodie tells her to go ahead and "show me your fire" – and after a brief hesitation, the dragon does just that, breathing fire at Elodie which she narrowly manages to jump away from.

However in doing so, presumably due to the wounds Elodie had previously inflicted on the dragon, she catches fire herself and collapses to the ground at which point Elodie picks up the sword and wanders back to the dragon.

She holds up her hand to reveal the wound that had been inflicted on her at the wedding ceremony and tells the dragon: "My sister had this too. All of us did. That is how they make us royal. That is the blood you smell. They fooled you – you've been killing innocent daughters just like they did."

The wounded dragon simply responds: "Then, end it," but Elodie refuses to kill her.

"No," she says, "I'm through doing what I'm told."

Instead, she uses some magical water to heal the dragon's wounds.

We then cut back to the royal castle, where another wedding ceremony is taking place – only for a battle-worn Elodie to emerge and try to put a stop to it.

"You know nothing of what we've endured," Queen Isabelle tells her in response. "You know nothing of our story."

But after all that she's already been through, Elodie is understandably unperturbed and presses ahead with warning the new princess to take her family and run, before offering the gathered congregation one last chance to do the same.

Isabelle then calls Elodie an "insolent creature", adding: "You think we ought to fear you now?"

But she responds: "It's not me you should fear. This is the end of your story."

What happens to Prince Henry in Damsel?

At this point, the dragon emerges into view and immediately begins setting the entire castle on fire, burning Queen Isabelle and Prince Henry to death in the process.

The film ends with Elodie, Floria and their step-mother Lady Bayford all reuniting and now out of harm's way as they prepare to sail back to their home, with the dragon flying alongside them.

What happens to Elodie's father in Damsel?

Elodie's father tries to save her from the cave at the beginning of the film, but he's killed by the dragon in the process.

Before he passes away, he asks for Elodie's forgiveness for sacrificing her.

What does the ending of Damsel mean?

Damsel writer Dan Mazeau has said he wants viewers to embrace the unclear nature of Elodie and the dragon’s fate at the end.

"The story of their lives has not been written yet as they’re flying away. [We wanted] to leave you with this idea that we’ve been through our inverted version of the fairytale. It’s our inverted version of happily ever after," Mazeau told TheWrap.

"As opposed to the idea that nothing’s going to happen, the idea is anything could happen.

"Elodie wants to travel the world, the dragon has been effectively locked in this emotional prison for hundreds and hundreds of years.

"It ends with, as opposed to the confines of the cave, as open as it could possibly be."

Does the film set up a Damsel 2?

Elodie and the dragon team up to get their revenge against the wicked queen, bringing the story to an end.

Having said that, it's possible that a Damsel 2 could explore their partnership further, with the duo going on to help other kingdoms that have been corrupted.

Damsel is available to watch on Netflix. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news.

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