Line #91 Film/TheHuntsmanWintersWar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thehuntsmanwinterswar.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"There is an evil within the Mirror that has only grown in power."'']]
3	->''"What does the Mirror show you? What do you see? An oft told tale. [[Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman That of Snow White, how she vanquished the evil Queen Ravenna and took her rightful place on the throne.]] But there is another story, one you have not yet seen. One that comes long before 'happily ever after'."''
4	-->-- '''Narrator'''
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6	''The Huntsman: Winter's War'' is both a prequel and a sequel to the 2012 action fantasy ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'' and combines elements of both the German folktale of ''Literature/SnowWhite'' and Andersen’s ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'', and was released in North America on April 22, 2016.
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8	Decades before she came to Snow White’s kingdom, the evil Queen Ravenna (Creator/CharlizeTheron) had a sister named Freya (Creator/EmilyBlunt) who fell in love with a man of Ravenna’s court. She became pregnant by him, but one night she found that her beloved had murdered their daughter. Her great despair caused Freya’s magical powers to emerge and she became the Ice Queen. Seeking her own kingdom she went to the north, where one by one the once fertile realms are turned into the GrimUpNorth by Freya’s power.
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10	As she lays waste to the kingdoms of the North, she kidnaps their children and trains them to become her Huntsmen, with her one rule being that they must never know love. Soon two of the children stand out as the best ones: Eric (Creator/ChrisHemsworth) and Sara (Creator/JessicaChastain). But when they are discovered to have fallen in love and married Freya seemingly has Sara killed and Eric cast out of her kingdom.
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12	[[TimeSkip Seven years later]], after Ravenna’s defeat at the hands of Snow White and Eric, Freya has completed her conquest of all the kingdoms of the North and turns her eyes towards Snow White’s kingdom and her late sister’s MagicMirror, which has been lost en route to a magical Sanctuary for safekeeping. Eric must embark in a quest to bring the Mirror beyond Freya’s reach before she gets her hands on it and uses its power to conquer the world.
13	----
14	!!''The Huntsman: Winter's War'' contains examples of:
15	* ActionGirl: Sara is an unparalleled warrior, and to a lesser degree all the female members of Freya’s Huntsmen.
16	* ActorAllusion:
17	** Colin Morgan [[Series/Merlin2008 once again]] has an ill-fated romance with a woman called Freya.
18	** It's also not [[Film/IntoTheWoods the first time]] Emily Blunt has had baby trouble in a fairy tale movie.
19	** If one watches ''{{Film/Looper}}'' then it's also not the first time Emily Blunt has to deal with out-of-control destructive powers - though in that case it's her son whose powers go haywire when ''she'' is hurt.
20	* AnimalMotifs: Ravenna continues with her "corvid" theme, while Freya uses owl motifs in her animated-ice spies and the masks through which she controls them. Their mutual use of bird themes makes sense, as they're sisters.
21	* ArrowsOnFire: Sara uses on of these to [[spoiler:blow up the horde of goblins that are attacking Eric]].
22	* ArbitrarySkepticism: Nion and Griff scoff at the idea that goblins stole the MagicMirror, despite living in a world where magic is all around them and Nion himself has personally encountered and fought even more fantastical beings.
23	* ArrowCatch: Ravenna manages to catch an arrow shot at her sister by the Huntsman, revealing her return in the process.
24	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Ravenna is resurrected when Freya conjures the MagicMirror]]. Subverted with Sara though, with the reveal being that Eric only thought she was dead.
25	* BadassBoast: "I never miss."
26	* BadassNickname: Freya apparently has one - one of the dwarves calls her Freya of the Frost.
27	* BigBad:
28	** Freya, the Ice Queen of the North.
29	** [[spoiler:Ravenna once she is released from the mirror]].
30	* BetaCouple: One of the dwarves trumpets out that dwarf maidens are notoriously bad tempered, and he prefers not to. The party promptly runs into the nets of a pair of them. Bitchily ever after.
31	* BrokenBird: Freya is violently temperamental and a megalomaniac. She's also traumatized, sensitive and shows signs of severe anxiety, and seems to genuinely care for the children she steals.
32	* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Ravenna]] and [[spoiler: Freya]] when the latter realizes that the former was responsible for [[spoiler: murdering her daughter and framing her lover, as well as continually undermining her authority and attempting to kill her Huntsmen]].
33	* ChekhovsBoomerang: The pendant Sara gives Eric as a wedding present - which first proves to her that he did not leave her as she had believed. [[spoiler:Also used as proof that she wasn't shooting Eric to kill]].
34	* ChekhovsGun: Sara claims "I never miss" when shooting an arrow. [[spoiler: She shoots an arrow at Eric, but hits the pendant around his neck. Eric remembers the line and realizes she was faking his death]].
35	* ChewingTheScenery: Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt leave no set undevoured.
36	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Finn is nowhere to be seen in the scenes set before the previous movie, nor is he ever mentioned by either of his sisters.
37	* CreepyRavens: Ravenna’s theme of ravens continues in this movie, [[spoiler:only this time they’re gold ravens]].
38	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Ravenna's outfits and makeup are all gold and black, Freya's are all silver and white.
39	* ContinuitySnarl: Several points of Eric's backstory and the way his wife's death is depicted on screen directly contradict what was shown in the previous movie. In the first film, Finn told Eric that he had raped and murdered his wife and judging from [[HeroicSecondWind Eric's reaction]], Eric appeared to believe him. In this film, Eric, thanks to Freya's illusion, seems to believe that his wife was directly murdered on the spot by Tull, not leaving much room for Finn's involvement. In the end, all of this was more than likely the result of Kristen Stewart having an affair with the previous director and subsequently [[RealLifeWritesThePlot getting written out, with the writers having no choice but to go in a completely different direction in the sequel]].
40	* CostumePorn: Especially for Ravenna and Freya's gorgeous, huge, intricately designed dresses. Ravenna's look at the end is especially gorgeous.
41	* CreativeClosingCredits: The credits play over gold and ice objects being destroyed by weapons, with the materials clearly representing Raveena and Freya. The only exception to this is Eric's ice pendant deflecting a flying arrow, referencing [[spoiler:Sara pretending to shoot Eric]].
42	* DemotedToExtra: William’s role is much reduced in this movie, and Snow White herself is only ever seen from the back for a quick scene.
43	* EliteMooks: The Hunstmen are the elite of Freya's armies, her handpicked special forces and generals.
44	* EqualOpportunityEvil: Freya doesn't discriminate between the genders and races in her army.
45	* EvilIsHammy: Ravenna and Freya both ham it up, though Freya switches between emotionless and ColdHam at any given second.
46	* {{Expy}}: Freya is very similar to Elsa from ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen\|2013}}''. Not only are both of them pale, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds traumatized]], cryokinetic queens. They both have their powers fluctuate based on their emotional states, both build isolated ice castles for themselves to dwell in and both make a sacrifice for someone they love. For bonus points, Freya is also the name of a deity from Norse mythology, while Elsa rules Arendelle, which is the Disney's fictional counterpart of Norway. However this is more justified than most, as both films borrowed from the Creator/HansChristianAndersen story ''Literature/TheSnowQueen''. Freya is quite close to what Elsa was originally imagined as, before they decided to rewrite her into a misunderstood AntiVillain.
47	* FairyTaleMotifs: This one has plenty to do with ''Literature/TheSnowQueen''. It involves childhood friends being separated and one of them needing to be redeemed by ThePowerOfLove, as well as being imprisoned in an ice fortress. Uniquely though the 'Gerda' role is played by the male, while a female plays the 'Kai' role.
48	* FakeShemp: Creator/KristenStewart does not reprise her role, so Snow White's only scene involves an obvious body double that was filmed from behind.
49	* FreudianExcuse: Freya's child is killed by her lover. Therefore she becomes a villainess, brutally conquers a kingdom, kidnaps children and forbids love.
50	* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Ravenna would be the smart sister - wanting to conquer kingdoms and build an empire. Freya would be the pretty sister - wishing to fall in love and raise a child.
51	* GrimUpNorth: The kingdoms of the North were once verdant and fertile, but Freya’s power has turned them into a frozen wasteland.
52	* HamToHamCombat: Their first scenes together are subdued, but by the climax Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt hold nothing back in seeing who can chew the most scenery.
53	* HarmlessFreezing: Freya has a room in her palace full of people she has frozen as punishment. [[spoiler:They all thaw out once Freya dies]].
54	* HorseOfADifferentColor: Freya rides something between a polar bear and a snow leopard.
55	* HeelFaceTurn:[[spoiler: Freya, after Ravenna is revealed to have been the one who killed her daughter and she tries to kill Freya's Huntsmen, turns on her and helps the protagonists to defeat her]].
56	* HijackedByGanon: While Freya is hyped throughout the film as the BigBad, when she gets hold of the mirror, she releases [[spoiler: Ravenna]]'s soul, who promptly takes over her army and [[DemotedToDragon makes Freya play second fiddle]].
57	* AnIcePerson: Freya has the power to freeze things and create ice constructs.
58	* InTheBlood: All the women in Ravenna's family have the potential to become powerful sorceresses.
59	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Partial subversion. Freya's baby dies in the prologue, but all of her {{Child Soldier}}s make it to adulthood.
60	* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Ravenna and Freya.
61	* KillerGorilla: The goblins resemble monstrous apes with huge ram-like horns. Their behavior is also remarkably ape-like.
62	* LargeHam: Theron hams it up even ''more'' than in the previous one, and Blunt, likewise, matches her in overacting.
63	* LighterAndSofter: The first film was straightforward DarkFantasy with very little humor. This one is a bit more tongue-in-cheek, has a bit more comic relief and is closer to HeroicFantasy. Eric notably is more of a wise cracker than the humorless brooder he was in the first film.
64	* TheLostLenore: In the prologue, Sara is apparently killed by order of Freya. Her lover, Eric, is affected by her death. Years later, he still mourns her and he constantly wears the pendant she gave him. {{Subverted\|Trope}} [[spoiler:when she is revealed to have survived]].
65	* LoveIsAWeakness: Freya becomes a firm believer that love is the source of all the world’s problems after the man she loved murders their daughter, making [[LoveIsACrime love illegal]] as a result. It's implied that Ravenna feels this way too.
66	* MagicMirror: After Ravenna was defeated, it was believed that her mirror’s power would fade into nothing, but it only became more of an ArtifactOfDoom. [[spoiler: This is because Ravenna’s soul was trapped within the mirror]].
67	* ManipulativeBitch: Freya and Ravenna both (though arguably Ravenna more so than Freya).
68	* MeaningfulName: Freya is named for the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse goddess]] of fertility and black magic.
69	* TheMole: [[spoiler: Sara has been acting as one for Freya. But by the time this is revealed, she's now one for Eric]].
70	* NamedByTheAdaptation: The Huntsman’s name is revealed to be Eric, after being unnamed in both the previous movie and the source material. However, the subtitles on the home video release of the previous film did give away the Huntsman's real name.
71	* NeverTrustATrailer: Combined with TrailersAlwaysSpoil. The trailer presents the film primarily as EvilVsEvil with the two Queens fighting, and the heroes caught in the crossfire. Instead, [[spoiler:Ravenna only shows up in flashback until the last half hour of the film, at which point the film is HijackedByGanon. The two only start fighting when Freya has a HeelFaceTurn]]. The trailer also shows that [[spoiler:Ravenna killed Freya's child,]] implying that it's the driving force behind the conflict. Instead, it's a plot-point that comes up in the final few minutes of the film.
72	* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The female protagonists. Doreena is nice, Bromwyn is mean and Sara is in-between.
73	* NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:Once Freya dies the perpetual winter in the lands of the North begins to disappear and all the people she froze alive suddenly thaw out]].
74	* OffingTheOffspring: Freya's lover kills their child, though why is not apparent. [[spoiler: He's revealed to have been framed.]]
75	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: These goblins are huge, brutish goat-gorilla type creatures.
76	* PowerDyesYourHair: Once Freya's ice powers are activated, her blonde hair turns white.
77	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Freya turns on Ravenna to protect her Huntsmen, who she sees as her children, and dies battling her to save them]].
78	* RememberTheNewGuy: Freya is Ravenna's younger sister and the one who raised Eric the Huntsman and trained him to become a badass, and yet she was never mentioned in the previous movie.
79	* RetCon: Freya is nowhere present in any of the first movie, nor do Ravenna and her evil brother even mention her during the events of the first film.
80	* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The narration and one of the magic mirror birds have hints of this.]]
81	* SleevesAreForWimps: Sara's costume is notably absent of sleeves.
82	* {{Snowlems}}: Freya's spy owls are magically-animated white ice.
83	* SoulJar: It is revealed that [[spoiler:Ravenna]] turned the golden mirror into one, with all the attendant weaknesses that entails.
84	* TheStinger: The extended cut features a scene in which [[spoiler: the golden crow at the end of the movie lands on a balcony next to Snow White.]]
85	* SuddenlyShouting: Freya is a big fan of this.
86	* TownGirls: The three female protagonists in TheTeam. Acid-tongued BrawnHilda Bromwyn is the butch, sweet flower-loving Doreena is the femme and EmotionlessGirl Sara is neither.
87	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: [[spoiler:The trailer shows Ravenna and Freya dying.]]
88	* TykeBomb: Freya kidnaps children and trains them to become her Huntsmen.
89	* TheUnfairSex: {{Subverted}}. Freya doesn't discriminate between the genders in her army. The rule is merely that no one may fall in love. It seems as though it was an inversion - killing Sara and merely throwing Eric out. But she only made Eric think Sara died, and made Sara think Eric had run off and left her.
90	* WaxMuseumMorgue: Victims of Freya's ice powers are posed like statues in the gallery of her castle.
91	* WinterRoyalLady: Freya displays all the trappings of this trope once she comes into her power.
92	* WolverinePublicity: Despite Freya being the main antagonist, with Sara and Eric as the protagonists, Ravenna is front and centre on most of the posters and is heavily featured in all the advertising despite being in the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes.
93	* WomanScorned:
94	** Freya becomes evil after her lover betrays her and kills their child. [[spoiler: It turns out this was invoked by Ravenna]].
95	** Freya also exploits this when it comes to Sara. She merely makes Eric think Sara died, while she makes Sara think that Eric abandoned her.
96	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Queen Freya has embarked on a quest to conquer the world and destroy all love, but this is born out of the loss of her child and the betrayal of the man she loved.
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Context Film / TheHuntsmanWintersWar