WARNING: Per wiki policy, spoilers are off on Moments pages. All spoilers are unmarked.
- It ends badly for everyone involved (except Death), but Elisabeth refusing to go with Death at the end of "Elisabeth, mach auf mein Engel" can be this. Especially in the productions where it clearly isn't easy for Elisabeth to break free from his influence.
- Some actors can make the line "Elisabeth... Elisabeth... ich liebe dich..." downright mesmerizing. Given the More than Mind Control thing he has with Rudolf note , the fact that Elisabeth actually managed to snatch her hand back from Death's grip (after reaching out for him as he sings) is awesome, as well as her rebuttal for Death:
Elisabeth: No, I want to live!I'm too young to give up.I know I can liberate myself.Now I use my beauty.Go!I don't want you!I don't need you!Go! - "Ich gehör nur mir". Sophie has just tried to bully Elisabeth into submission, Franz Joseph has abandoned her, and Elisabeth is left alone on the stage. Instead of giving up, she sings about how she belongs to herself. It doesn't last long, but it's still awesome.
- Mari Hanafusa's Elisabeth looking incredibly smug during "Watashi ga odoru toki" (Wenn ich tanzen will), for the entire song, rebuffing each and every threat from Death, who is clearly trying to reassert his control over her. At least for a little while, she is no longer a helpless pawn.
- At the end of the song, Takarazuka Death reaches out for Sisi, but the Empress merely smiles triumphantly and turns away from him (in a manner best described as "I think not, goodbye peasant"), while Death looks furious.
- The Toho production makes it even more awesome with the inclusion of the Mind Control subtext (see trope entry on the main page for details of Sisi's growth). As of this song, he has no hold over her.
- Sadly, this turns into a Tear Jerker as the song immediately after that is "Mama, dokona no?" (Mama, wo bist du?). It's as if the production is telling the audience, "Sure, Sisi may no longer be a helpless pawn... but here, watch as her son falls into Death's thrall pretty much the moment they met." Props to Rudolf for still actively fighting Death (in both Yami ga hirogaru and Mayerling, also detailed on the main page), though.
- The recreation of the Sternkleid (Star Dress, the dress Elisabeth wore for her most famous portrait), right down to the pose, usually gets applause from the audience.
- In the Korean version of "Wenn ich tanzen will", Sisi gets not just Death, but an entire squad of angels, to back away from her, facing them down.
- Pia Douwes still managing to be convincing as a young Sisi in 2019 note , at the age of 55, nearly 30 years after she played the role for the first time.
- Also from the same concert, held in the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace, where the real Sisi once lived: Sylvester Levay, the composer, conducted "Ich gehör nur mir". Douwes, the first musical Sisi, directs the first few lines to him. It's an acknowledgement that no one could claim to completely know or capture Sisi, either her image or her soul. Not her husband, not the imperial court, nor any of the hordes of people who have written about or portrayed her. A rough translation to English:I don't want to be obedient, tamed and bred,I don't want to be modest, loved, and betrayed,I am not your property,I only belong to myself.
- Death's entrance in the Toho version, descending from the ceiling with huge black wings.
- In "Die Maladie", Elisabeth has been told by Death (who has masqueraded as her doctor) that she has caught an STD (implied to be syphilis) from Franz Josef. After it's sunk in, she shouts "Even better, I'll kill myself!" This leads to Death revealing himself and trying to convince her to "flee with me" in a chilling reprise of "Der Letzte Tanz" as the catwalk lowers. Before he can kiss her, Elisabeth breaks free, tells Death that Franz Josef's infidelity has given her reason to break free of her chains for good. For good measure, she throws the necklace Franz Josef gave her during "Nichts Ist Schwer" at Death and screams at him "Begone!" Sadly, it's the last time we see Elisabeth free from Death...
