Fanfic / The Queen's Mercy

Fanart of The Queen's Mercy

The Queen's Mercy is a fanfiction of Frozen written by the author JYN044. The story is set in an alternate universe in which Elsa, Princess of Arendelle, grew up an only child and thus never came to fear her magical abilities. At the age of twenty three, she has ruled Arendelle for five years following the deaths of her parents. Despite public knowledge of her powers and her status as an unmarried Queen, her reign has been stable and allowed her kingdom to prosper.

But everything changes the night that an orphaned, impoverished thief named Anna mistakenly breaks into her bedroom. Despite her duties as Queen, Elsa takes pity on Anna's situation and allows her to walk free. And after the thief returns the favor by rescuing Elsa from the first strike of a brewing conspiracy, she is invited to lodge temporarily within the Queen's Palace.

It's not long before the two women start growing close. And as Elsa suddenly finds herself under attack from all sides by a mysterious group that will go to any lengths to see her fall, she and Anna have no choice but to depend upon one another for survival.

The story is being hosted on FanFiction.Net and the first chapter can be read here. As of January 2018, it stands completed at 95 chapters, with promises of bonus chapters.

Spoilers up through Chapter 64 will be unmarked.

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The Queen's Mercy demonstrates examples of the following tropes:

• All for Nothing: Anna goes alone to see the trolls, hoping that they'll know something that can help Arendelle identify the conspirators. Unfortunately, Grand Pabbie knows nothing that can be of use at the moment, and on the journey back Sven is killed.
• All Lesbians Want Kids: When pointed out by a noble that she can't produce an heir with a woman, Elsa briefly feels a twinge of Angst over this. She talks about the idea of raising a family with Anna, deciding to adopt one day. During her final battle against the goddess, Anna reminds Elsa of this to help bring her real personality to the surface.

• Alternate Universe: Bonus Chapter 1 shows an alternate Chapter 1 where Anna was the merciful queen and Elsa was the homeless thief. Due to her difficult upbringing in this universe, she only uses her powers sparingly, still afraid of the destruction they can bring.
• Always Someone Better: Subverted. Anna, Eugene, and Rapunzel fear that they will eventually meet an enemy mage as powerful as the seemingly unparalleled Elsa, but it never happens. Instead, Elsa herself (after being possessed) becomes an enemy, which is even worse.
• And I Must Scream: Elsa is subjected to this after her former incarnation (the Winter Goddess) possesses her body. She's forced to watch a monstrous goddess use her body to torment her loved ones and commit atrocities, all while being completely helpless to stop it. That same goddess also intends to do this to much of the world, leaving them frozen forever, but still alive. When she finally does, everyone save herself and Anna are transformed into ice statues.
• Attempted Rape:
  • In an earlier chapter, Anna is nearly raped by Prince Alec but was stopped by Elsa. Though he lies and said Anna tried to mug him, Elsa doesn't buy it, having been warned that he had pulled similar behavior with servant girls in the past.
  • One of the mercenaries tries to rape Kayla during the uprising.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • During an attack in Corona, Rapunzel loses part of her right arm to an ambush. Magic is able to heal the wound and prevent blood loss, but not reattach the limb.
  • Anna gets her hand cut off in the final battle.
• Ascended Extra: Rapunzel and the rest of the Coronan Royal Family are relatively prominent characters compared to the Frozen movie, where Rapunzel and Eugene just make cameos.
• Asshole Victim: Jocasta, King David's advisor, a member of the Faithful and Anna's torturer, is poisoned by Evangeline to mislead the Queen's investigations. David himself, a King who gladly tried to kill Elsa and later tortured Anna for information is murdered by Elsa. After Elsa thaws the world, she executes the Faithful one by one. Starting with Evangline.
• Back from the Dead: Averted. It's repeatedly stated that no magic, not the healing abilities of Elsa and Rapunzel, not even the powers of a god, can bring someone back from "the Realm beyond". However, after Anna dies at the end she's told that currently she's only in limbo and can choose to return.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason Anna falls for Elsa is because she is one of the few people to show her genuine kindness. Similarly one of the reasons Elsa falls for Anna is that her powers do not scare Anna in the least, which she appreciates. And although Anna is clearly intimidated by Elsa's status as Queen for some time after their first meeting, it doesn't stop her from treating Elsa as a friend. Since Elsa's parents died years before the first chapter and left her alone save for her servants, this has an understandable effect on the Queen.
• Black-and-White Morality: Both played straight when the heroes go against the Winter Goddess and her faithful, who are unambiguously evil, making their conflict with the heroes a clear instance of this trope.
• Big Bad:
  • Unknown, at first. Part of what makes the conspiracy such a threat is that no one knows anything about them... or who their leader is. Anna's swordsmaster Drell and his conspiracy group initially seem to take the role; they believe that Elsa is an evil goddess reincarnated who intends to unleash her wrath upon the world.
  • Not long after Drell's defeat, it turns out that Elsa IS the evil goddess reincarnated and, after being possessed by her former life, plans to re-take over the world.
• Big Good: Elsa, as the most powerful character in the story, monarch of Arendelle, and the conspiracy's primary target, plays this straight. This trope is then cruelly subverted after she is possessed by her previous life: a power hungry, ruthless Goddess who serves as the unquestionable Big Bad.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kayla at first seems like a sweet thirteen year old maid dedicated to Anna. But we soon find out that she is part of the Faithful and one of the most powerful mages alive. It turns out she was the one who (willingly) sent wolves after Anna and Kristoff (leading to Sven's death). Later, she also assists in Drell's torture. Out of all the faithful she wants to kill Anna the most because of all the time she had to serve her.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Anna serves as a bodyguard for Elsa, who has incredibly powerful magic. A justified example, because while Elsa is incredibly powerful, she remains human and can be taken down by surprise attacks.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: The goddess chooses to imprison a broken Anna rather than just kill her. Word of God says we will find out why she went through with such a bad idea. It's implied that Elsa is Fighting from the Inside, influencing the Goddess to spare Anna for the time being. Given that Anna was the only real hope to stop the Faithful, this was a very good thing.
• Break the Cutie: Anna undergoes this to some extent when captured by David and interrogated (i.e. tortured) by Jocasta, but her abilities shield her from the worst of the pain. She ends up suffering from PTSD, but her overall psyche survives intact. She gets hit with this far worse after Elsa is possessed by her original incarnation. Anna ends up beaten physically and emotionally to such an extent that she has to remove her own memories just to continue on.
• Broken Ace: Queen Elsa is beautiful, powerful, intelligent, and kind. However, she is unskilled in social interactions, has no qualms about killing her enemies, possesses a significant Guilt Complex, and even kills King David in cold blood.
• Cassandra Truth: To keep Arendelle stable, Elsa cannot reveal to people the truth about the Faithful or her new divine status after her victory. She therefore has no choice but to simply tell her subjects that Anna wasn't a traitor. As expected, not many people believe her.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The story gets darker and more intense after the first fifteen chapters or so, although it still has its lighter moments. The "Fallen" arc in particular gets hit with this — Elsa gets possessed by her former incarnation, who then turns her wrath on Anna.
• Character Death:
  • Sven, of all characters, bites the dust in Chapter 25.
  • Kai later dies during the uprising, and his wife Gerda is forced to poison herself by the eventual Big Bad.
  • General Kale dies in a You Shall Not Pass! moment to allow Kristoff to escape and get help.
  • Kristoff and Grand Pabbie are killed by the Faithful during a raid on the rock trolls.
  • Evangeline reveals before fighting Anna that she killed Drell.
• Cold-Blooded Torture:
  • After being captured by King David of Lucrania, Anna is subjected to this by Jocasta. Drell is subject to this after his imprisonment by Kayla and Evangline.
  • Subverted at the end. An enraged Elsa says she wants to torture Evangeline to death, and she absolutely could...but that's not what Anna would want. So she kills her quickly.
• The Conspiracy: The main force opposing Elsa is a shadowy group that so far has not revealed itself. All we know is that they want her dead... and have more than enough resources to make a good show of it. So far, they've managed to nearly kill both Elsa and Anna several times, torture and permanently scar the latter, cause Rapunzel to lose her arm, nearly start a war between two powerful nations, and organize a conservative revolt against Elsa's rule...all while working from the shadows and keeping their true agenda hidden. It eventually turns out that there's more than one.
• Crapsack World: Bonus Chapter 3 shows what the world was like when the Winter Goddess was ruler of the world. If you were Ungifted, you were a slave with no rights and could be killed by the Faithful at any time for no reason at all. You are also killed just for making disloyal statements or for not bowing in-front of the statue of the goddess when you walk bye. The goddess made it winter all year long except for a month or two specifically to grow food. But an amount of worship deemed 'insufficient' was met with a severe reduction in food rations.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • One hundred soldiers vs. Elsa. They never had a chance.
  • Anna does not fare well against Possessed!Elsa, although she does last longer than any before her.
• Darker and Edgier: Like you wouldn't believe! This doesn't merely extend to the film it's based on, but also pertains to its position amongst the entire Elsanna fandom. While it still has its cute moments, the story pulls no punches in terms of death, violence, and loss.
• Deconstructed Trope: Yes, it's enjoyable to see how a poor girl is suddenly ushered into a life of luxury by the Queen of Arendelle. But a great many of people take issue with a commoner becoming so close to the Queen, especially after Anna's criminal past is revealed.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: A member of the Faithful posing as a maid badly injures herself, knowing that Rapunzel will use her tears to heal the wound, and doing so expose herself to an attack. If she didn't a vial of tears on her that someone else then poured on the wound, it would have killed her. In the end, Anna stabs herself in the heart, gambling that Elsa will be so horrified and grief-stricken that she will be able to take control of her body. True Love's Kiss will then kill the Goddess, freeing Elsa and saving the world. Anna sees her own death as worth the price.
• Demoted to Extra: Despite being a major character in the film, Hans only appears in two brief scenes.
• Despair Event Horizon: Anna leaps across it after Elsa seemingly betrays her. After her memories are removed and later restored, she outright states that she doesn't believe the world will ever allow her to be happy. This is thankfully reversed after she learns the truth about Elsa's possession.
• Didn't Think This Through: Anna belatedly realizes challenging the Ice Queen to a snowball fight was a terrible idea.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The reason the Winter Goddess despises Anna. She shared a relationship with her future incarnation and current vessel (Elsa).
• Drunk on the Dark Side: The Goddess and her Faithful are more powerful than any "Ungifted" and revel in exerting their abilities over them.
• The Dragon: Evangline is the Goddess' most powerful servant and the leader of the Faithful.
• Evil Is Petty: The goddess and the faithful despises Anna and wants her to suffer simply for having had relations with the goddess. Evangline in particular murders children just to stick it to Anna.
  • Also Kayla, who was Anna's handmaiden. Anna was always kind to her, but Kayla wants nothing more than to kill Anna simply because of the indignity of having to serve an ungifted.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Discussed and deconstructed. Several characters can't help but note that Anna's experiences make it clear that deserving a happy ending by no means guarantees that one will achieve it. It's taken even further in the cases of Eugene and Rapunzel, who long since won their happy endings only to be plunged back into hardship and tragedy...showing that even if one gets their happy ending, there's no guarantee that they will keep it.
• Fan Art: As expected from a popular fanfic.
  • The pic above.
  • The Thief and the Queen, which is currently being used as the fanfic's thumbnail.
  • 4th Commission
  • 3rd Round Elsanna Commission 03
  • 3rd Round Elsanna Commission 04
  • The Queen's Mercy Concept Art: Battle Scene
• Fatal Flaw: Anna clearly has one, in the form of her recklessness. While her bravery is shown in an overall positive light, her overconfidence and inability to consider potential consequences often has disastrous results.
• Foreshadowing: Tons.
  • It's mentioned in Chapter 5 that there are rumors of cults that are centered around magic and the arcane abilities of their leaders. The true conspiracy turns out to be one, and the leader they're centered around is Elsa.
  • Anna directly compares Elsa to a Goddess in Chapter 10...
  • Anna has a dream sequence in Chapter 23 of Elsa kicking her out of the Castle and back to her old life. Come chapter 68. The Goddess takes over Elsa's body, but instead of throwing her out imprisons her...
  • In Chapter 24, Kristof mentions a war between gods that shaped the world humanity knows today, and notes that it may have ended by the Gods banishing themselves. Turns out that indeed happened, but one Goddess remained: Elsa.
  • Anna sees Elsa practicing her powers in Chapter 32, and notes that she's glad that they will never have to fight one another. Thirty-five chapters later, and a possessed Elsa ends up attacking and nearly killing her.
  • Rapunzel, Eugene, and Anna agree in Chapter 33 that it would be unthinkable to have to face an enemy magic-user with Elsa's level of powers and none of her morals. Elsa herself ends up an enemy, and is possessed by a Goddess with zero empathy.
  • A crack of thunder splits through the air (and wakes Anna up) the very second that King David is mentioned to have arrived for a conference. He turns out to be an enemy who has Anna tortured.
  • Jocasta's comments are filled with hints. She all but tells Anna that she doesn't know the real Elsa and will eventually be betrayed by her. From a Certain Point of View, this indeed comes to pass.
  • In Chapter 46, after Jocasta is captured, she ends up treating Elsa with respect, and not in a sarcastic sense. Evangeline also convinces Elsa to cease striking the chained up woman. Twenty chapters later, it turns out Evangeline and Jocasta were allies, both members of a cult desiring to restore Elsa's divinity.
  • A very subtle one: Drell's version of the central prophecy is missing some key words that were said during its first reciting (which Anna glimpsed in a dream/flashback.) This turns out to be significant: the other conspiracy knows the correct version, which requires Elsa to regain her memories before reclaiming her divinity.
  • Another hard to spot example: When Elsa rescues Kayla during the uprising in Chapter 50, the young maid responds with "G...Y...Your Majesty?" It turns out that in a moment of distress, Kayla nearly slipped up and referred to Elsa as 'Goddess'.
  • Kale notes in Chapter 53 that the initial group of kidnappers clearly did not want to kill Elsa, but Anna brushes him off. Though he is wrong in suspecting Anna, he's completely right about there being two different groups.
  • Everything about Evangeline's POV moments can be seen through a different light after her true intentions are made known. Her reaction to the King of Eldora's death was probably the biggest clue.
  • Rohan tells Anna in Chapter 60 that he hopes for her sake that she dies from her wounds; otherwise, she will face a Fate Worse than Death when Elsa shows her true colors. While he doesn't know that Goddess!Elsa is a separate personality from the real one, he still ends up being completely right. The Evil winter goddess personality also intends to do this to most of the world, including Anna and her "family", freezing them but leaving them alive...trapped forever as punishment for her betrayal.
  • Elsa and Anna watch the sunset as they leave for Eldora. It symbolizes the coming end of their relationship and the darkness that will soon consume their lives after Elsa is possessed.
• Fantastic Racism: The Faithful and the Goddess believe that the consorts of the gods did not deserve the powers they received simply because they were not BORN with them, and consider it a perversion of the highest order. This is one of the reasons they despise Anna.
• Glass Cannon: Elsa, just like in the film. While she has incredible powers, she is still as fragile as any human and can be taken by surprise. Once her divine magic returns during the climax, she becomes far less vulnerable.
• Godzilla Threshold: The heroes certainly cross this 'Fallen' arc. Up against the most powerful woman alive and a cult of powerful mages, they show willingness to go through with any plan, no matter how risky or unlikely to succeed, because they're simply that desperate. It culminates in Anna, Kristoff, and Eugene breaking into the country's most secure prison by burning a church to the ground (albeit an empty one.)
• Good Is Not Soft: Elsa is kind, loving, and a benevolent ruler. She's also completely willing to kill people and is downright vicious when it comes to protecting the innocent. When disgruntled nobles launch an attack on her castle and kill many innocent people, she doesn't even offer them the chance to surrender. After the fighting's done, she has the leaders of the revolt hanged.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Prince Consort Eugene of Corona joins the heroes throughout the final arc, becoming a prominent POV character. Luckily, he's been brushing up on his swordsmanship.
• Healing Hands: Rapunzel and Elsa both have the ability to heal others. Elsa's is easier to use, but Rapunzel's is stronger (her tears can heal anything that isn't dead.)
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Anna attempts this twice, first taking an arrow for Elsa and later staying behind to hold off any overwhelming force of enemy soldiers. She survives both times, but only through incredible luck.
  • Kale chooses to remain behind and fight to the death against the Goddess's minions, buying time for Kristoff to escape and keep the truth alive.
  • In the end Anna fatally stabs herself in front of the Goddess, knowing that the shock would be enough to bring the "real" Elsa back in control. During this short time Elsa kisses her completely freeing her of the goddess and saving the world.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Anna's first confrontation with a possessed Elsa certainly comes across as this. It's painfully obvious throughout the entire duel just how outmatched she is. For the story's narrative to continue, it's also necessary that she lose. Their second fight proves much the same; even with the Goddess in a weakened state Anna cannot win by brute force.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: The Faithful wanted to bring back Elsa's past incarnation to create a world where they rule over humanity. However thanks to Anna, the real Elsa regains her body and keeps her power, allowing her to punish the Faithful for their crimes and protect humanity FROM THEM.
• I Lied: The goddess lied about only being able to release her power on the winter solstice, in order to give a slight amount of security to her enemies. It all works out for her as she engulfs the planet on December 2nd with no interference.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Defied. Anna is mildly alarmed by Elsa's willingness to execute the nobles who tried to kill them. She cites that "We're supposed to be better than them," but Elsa points out that they clearly are better.
  "Did we start this? Did we ever try to hurt them? Our only crime was loving each other. I never asked for this war. But I'm going to finish it."
• Imperiled in Pregnancy: Rapunzel - who is heavily pregnant at the time - goes to save a fatally wounded Celia who then near-fatally stabs Rapunzel in the chest in an assassination attempt.
• Instant-Win Condition: One for the villains. If the Goddess regains her divinity, it's game over for the protagonists. No questions asked. Worse, it's apparently destined to happen. Anna manages to pull a Loop Hole Abuse, returning the real Elsa to her body before the ritual can be completed.
• Invincible Hero: Averted with prejudice. Anna loses battles on a regular basis and frequently fails in her goals. Elsa initially has shades of this, but only until her possession. Wordof God has confirmed that this trope (a common occurrence in Elsanna fics) was intended to be subverted from the very beginning. Anna's first practice bout was intended to set the tone for the rest of the story. Facing off against an unsympathetic, sexist opponent, Anna appears to initially have the advantage...and then loses in perhaps the most humiliating manner possible.
• Jerk With A Heartof Gold:
  • Kale is a sexist, arrogant man who makes it clear he dislikes Anna because she is a female knight. But he does not allow Anna to rot in the Queen's dungeon when he knows that she is innocent.
  • Anna also fits the bill after getting her memories back. She gets better after learning the truth about Elsa's possession.
• Just Like Robin Hood: Sort of. Anna steals for herself (she's very poor,) but only from those who can afford it (and nothing more than a handful of coins at a time.)

• Kick the Dog: Possessed!Elsa breaking up with Anna was cruel enough, but she somehow makes it into the most despicable act imaginable. First, she lies by saying that Elsa had just been using Anna from the very beginning and never actually cared for her. Next, just to twist the knife, she claims that Rapunzel was in on it as well. Then she forces Anna into a duel, beats her to near death, and locks her in a dungeon to await torture. Evangline mocks Anna about how much she took from her and about the suffering that Elsa went through because the Faithful arranged for her parents to die.
• Lack of Empathy: The goddess and the Faithful beleive that empathy for others, especially non-gifted, is weakness. They are all completely cruel and outright enjoy murdering non-gifted for gain or fun. Notably, Evangline takes sadistic pleasure in murdering two groups of children and cruelly taunts Anna about how she ruined the lives of both her and Elsa.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Anna quickly latches onto Elsa for support and affection, as the Queen is the first person to show her a shred of real kindness throughout her life. By the time she officially moves into the Castle, it's clear she's become dependent on her. Painfully deconstructed after Elsa seemingly betrays Anna.
• Master of One Magic: Humans only have magical power if they are descended from a God or are consort to one. Even then they can only do one thing: Anna is bequeathed Super-Strength, Enobaria can control water, Kayla controls animals and makes them stronger, Evangeline teleports through shadows, Will can generate electricity, etc. The same rule does not apply to Gods and Goddesses, which is why Elsa has healing abilities in addition to her power over ice.
• Meaningful Name: The person named "Evangeline" just so happens to be the Goddess's most devout follower and head of the Faithful, and operates under fascist ideas of supremacy over everyone other than those who are a part of her religious organization.
• Might Makes Right: The Goddess and the Faithful certainly abide by this philosophy. They believe that morality is for the weak, and considered the original King of the God's attachment to the "Ungifted" humanity as an unforgivable weakness.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Anna and Elsa are the heroes and kindhearted, although neither is morally pure; Anna turns to theft to survive, and while Elsa is willing to extend her mercy because she sees she meant no harm, she is will not be so merciful to people who do. Drell and his followers mean well, as their only goal is to prevent an evil Goddess from conquering the world. Their methods, unfortunately, make their conflict with the heroes a case of White-and-Grey Morality. However, the Winter Goddess and her faithful are unambiguously evil, making their conflict with the heroes a clear instance of this trope.
• My Greatest Failure: Anna feels this way after learning that Elsa has been possessed. She feels horrible guilt not only for believing the goddess's lies but also for failing to stop the ritual in the first place. Eugene disagrees.
• Near-Villain Victory: The Goddess successfully performs her ritual, turning every living thing except Anna into an ice statue. But Anna's sacrifice kills the Goddess, allowing Elsa undo it the damage.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: Anna wants to confront Jocasta, to prove that she has recovered from the torture the woman put her through. Elsa feels she isn't ready. Elsa's right, Jocasta nails Anna with a Hannibal Lecture and Anna later has a full-on panic attack at a most inconvenient moment.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Rapunzel loses a hand in a botched assassination attempt. It is not referred to or made a big enough deal until she is referred to as being "one-armed" after all of the conflict has ended.
• Orphan's Ordeal: Both Anna and Elsa are orphans by the time the story starts, and both are affected by the loss. Anna arguably has it worse, as she never even knew her parents and had to grow up alone.
• Our Mages Are Different: It is established that the Gods possessed a mass arsenal of magic abilities and a high reserve of raw magic power. Mortal descendants of them or mortals chosen to be consorts to gods possess an individual magic ability. The only magic-user with abilities completely unrelated to this is Rapunzel, having received her magic hair from the magic of the sun-flower as was in-canon and possessing magical tears long after her hair is cut. The fact that she is cousin to Elsa is a complete coincidence.
• Physical God: The gods roamed the Earth before the war led to their extinction. By the end, Elsa becomes this, overpowering the Goddess's personality and retaining the overwhelming power the ritual grants her.
• Politically Correct History: Downplayed. While Elsa and Anna's relationship is generally accepted (especially for the era), there are a few other parties that find it abhorrent, be it for political or religious reasons.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: When Elsa and Anna's relationship is revealed many of her higher level subjects lead a revolution because Anna is a woman. Subverted with Kale, who does not believe that women should be allowed in Arendelle's military and constantly berates Anna for going against his beliefs. Yet he eventually proves that he is not a villain and eventually makes a Heroic Sacrifice.
• The Power of Love:
  • A recurring theme in the story. It is stated that Gods can imbue magic into their mortal consorts, hence how Elsa is able to grant Anna her magical powers, even saving Anna from near death by proposing to her. True Love's Kiss is even stated to be the cure-all for curses, and Rapunzel uses it to save her dying brother.
  • It fails to free Elsa from her possession, but later works after Anna briefly manages to bring her real personality to the surface.
• Pregnant Badass: Despite being heavily pregnant, Rapunzel still dedicates herself to the people of her kingdom, Elsa, Anna and the rest of her family.
• Prevent the War: Anna convinces Elsa to try and avert a brewing conflict between Albion and Lucrania over recently discovered copper mines, using her powers to threaten to both Kings. Deconstructed as it leads to King David trying to kill Elsa and torturing Anna, though the conflict is indeed averted.
• Princess in Rags: Averted. Per Word of God, Anna does not have a wealthy background, nor was she Elsa's sister taken at birth.
• Rags to Riches: Anna goes through this, thanks to Elsa. It's not all sunshine and roses, thanks to some of the nobility resenting her rise. Still, she's clearly grateful to get off the streets. Then Elsa is taken over by an evil Goddess, Anna ending up back where she started.
• Rags to Royalty: Several characters comment that Anna is all but certain to eventually end up as this. It seems poised to happen after Elsa proposes to Anna, but then the Queen's former incarnation gains control...
• Secret Relationship:
  • Due to the inevitable backlash, Elsa and Anna agree to keep their relationship secret for a few months until the rumor mill can brace the public for the revelation. Anna accidentally outs them in a moment of rashness.
  • We don't find out until after Vlora's death, but she and Evangeline were in one. Vlora (correctly) knew her aristocratic family would not approve.

• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Despite a romance between a poor thief and a magical Queen taking center stage, the setting is far closer to the cynic end of the scale than you may expect. Noble characters die for no good reason, protagonists are more than willing to kill their enemies, and some of the aristocracy hates the situation to the extent that they plan to launch a revolt.
• Smug Super: Downplayed. Elsa is the most powerful user of magic on the playing field and knows it, but she is willing to admit that her arrogance blinded her to the fact that she can be caught off guard.
• The Sociopath: The Goddess of Winter, Elsa's previous incarnation, is this full stop. She is completely ruthless and plans to subject much of the planet to A Fate Worse Than Death, simply as punishment for her previous defeat.
• The Social Darwinist:
  • The entirety of the Winter Goddess's attitude is founded upon the belief that since she is the most powerful being in the world and willing to use that power, she decides right from wrong. In her eyes, those without magic are worthless and should only exist to serve her. Her followers share this attitude and see this as justification to rule over, torture and kill innocent people who are "Ungifted."
  • Possessed!Elsa: "Morality is a concept created by the weak; strength is all that truly matters in this world."
• Spanner in the Works: Anna. By pure chance, she ruins the villains' initial kidnapping of Elsa, and from there on proves the single greatest thorn in the side of the Queen's enemies.
• The Spymaster: Evangeline is this for Queen Elsa. Initially, she's unable to make much progress in uncovering the conspiracy, something that frustrates her to no end. Of course, it turns out that she is a member of the "Faithful" who wish to bring back Elsa's evil past life to retake the world.
• Story-Breaker Power: Played with.
  • Elsa is far and away the most powerful sorceress in the world, and it's well understood by her enemies and allies that she is virtually untouchable in open combat. Both times she enters a fight prepared are crushing victories in her favor. Unfortunately, The Conspiracy works around this by using ambush and less direct tactics, which come close to succeeding several times.
  • This is turned around hard on the heroes after Elsa is possessed by her former incarnation. She quickly and easily defeats Anna in combat, without suffering so much as a scratch. All of the remaining protagonists are well aware how slim their chances are at overcoming her.
• Super Supremacist: The Faithful are a religious group of magical individuals that believe that all non-magical humans are lesser than them and therefor deserve to be killed and/or enslaved by them. This even includes humans who gain magic but were not born with it like Anna and Rapunzel.

• Taking Advantage of Generosity: Anna is often accused of this, given that the Queen rescued her from poverty and gave her a new lifestyle soon after they met. Jocasta in particular mocks her for it during an interrogation session.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Averted by both Elsa and Anna, though the latter is more reluctant than the former.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • After being exposed to Elsa's magic, Anna gradually develops superhuman strength and enhanced durability. The mechanics of this are unclear, as Anna was far from the first person to be healed by Elsa's magic. Word of God claims that the answer will be revealed eventually, and is central to the plot. She actually gains this through her relationship with Elsa, thanks to the Queen being a reincarnation of a Goddess. Divine consorts receive magic from their relationships, and the stronger their relationship grows the stronger Anna becomes.
  • It's almost completely reversed when the Goddess takes over Elsa's body and shuns Anna, who loses her power upon believing the Goddess's lies. She does retain her swordsmanship training, however, as that was gained through normal means. Later, it is revealed that Anna still has a small sliver of her power, probably because 'her' Elsa still loves her while trapped inside the goddess. After discovering the truth about Elsa, she gets her full power back.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Anna takes a significant one after her memories are removed. Even after they're restored, it's clear that she's a far different person than she used to be. She gets better after learning the truth about Elsa's possession.
• True Love's Kiss: Can cure any curse... but only a curse. It's specifically said that it won't undo a memory loss potion, as that isn't a curse. When it fails to work on the Goddess possessing Elsa, everyone takes that to mean this isn't a curse. In reality, it didn't work because Anna kissed the Goddess, not Elsa. When Elsa briefly regains control of her body and kisses Anna, the Goddess is considered a curse and destroyed.
• The Unchosen One: Anna is certainly this. She has no remarkable background, and her involvement in the plot is the result of pure random chance. This is only reinforced by the story's central prophecy, which fails to even allude to her existence.
• Unequal Pairing: Anna and Elsa are about as unequal as you can get. Elsa is Queen of one of the strongest nations on earth, rich beyond measure, and (thanks in part to her unparalleled magic) is directly stated to be the most powerful woman in the world. Anna is a homeless orphan without a penny to her name; even after she moves into the Castle, it's clear that any status/wealth she gains are entirely dependent on Elsa's good graces (a fact brought up by multiple characters, including Elsa herself.) Despite their difference in rank, the two usually manage to make their relationship work. The darker side of this trope comes into full force after Elsa is possessed by her previous incarnation. Everything Anna had gained is instantly taken away, leaving her worse off than ever before.

• We Have Reserves: While the Goddess does appreciate her Faithful and doesn't kill them at a whim, it's no secret that she considers even the most powerful and loyal expendable. Not that the Faithful mind.
• White-and-Grey Morality: Drell and his followers mean well, as their only goal is to prevent an evil Goddess from conquering the world. Their methods, unfortunately, make their conflict with the heroes a case of White-and-Grey Morality.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Word of God says that the Goddess has no Freudian Excuse for the way she acts; she is simply a sadistic and power hungry woman whose mind has been warped from centuries of near-unlimited power.
• World's Strongest Woman: Elsa, even without her armies and vast wealth. This is a source of great comfort for the heroes until she is possessed.
• Would Hurt a Child: In ancient times the Faithful crucified a little girl (along with her grandfather) simply because she made disloyal statements concerning the Goddess. In the present Evangline murders TWO classrooms of children between the ages 8 and 16 just to lure Anna into a fight.
• Written by the Winners During her reign of the earth the Goddess claimed that she had ruled since the dawn of time. In reality she was part of a pantheon...until she started a war that led to the king banishing all of the divines save her. Only the Faithful were allowed to know this truth.
• You Are Too Late: Evangline mocks Anna and Eugene for thinking they had until the Winter Solstice to stop the Goddess from performing her ritual. It can be done the moment it's ready, and it's ready now.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Prophecies are incredibly rare, but any magical prediction made by a Seer is said to be absolutely true. This is bad news, as the last prophecy made states in no uncertain terms that the Goddess's divinity will be restored. Many of the Faithful delight in lording this fact over the heroes. Given how the rest of the prophecy has already come true, it's hard to argue their claims. It's ultimately played with more than anything else. The prophecy of divinity returning to power does come true, but Anna manages to bring back the "Elsa" personality before the ritual is finished.
• You Killed My Father: Evangline reveals she caused the death's of Elsa's parents. At the end, Elsa kills her in revenge for them, Gerda, and Anna.

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