The 2019 Disney animated film Frozen 2 chronicles the adventures of Arendelle royalty Anna and Elsa; however, the complicated Frozen sequel has left many parents wondering: what exactly happened to Elsa and Olaf? Frozen 2 follows Elsa's journey of discovery as she seeks out the difficult truth regarding her family's history with the Northuldra people — an indigenous people living in the neighbouring Enchanted Forest.
The fast-paced series of events in Frozen 2 sees Elsa awakening elemental spirits, which leads to the kingdom being overrun, and Elsa — echoing the climax of Frozen — freezing solid. Olaf, who was with Anna in a cave, disintegrates immediately following Elsa freezing, seemingly signifying that the magical ice queen has died.
No doubt many families will be streaming Elsa's second feature film this weekend, since Disney+ has released Frozen 2 three months early in response to the coronavirus pandemic — a move that is intended to help struggling families get through this tough time. Such parents may have trouble explaining the plot of Frozen 2 to their young children when asked "what happened to Elsa and Olaf?"; however, the answer is more straightforward than it seems.
Why Elsa Froze After Discovering The Truth In Frozen 2
Elsa froze solid while in the depths of the Ahtohallan, fulfilling the prophecy described in the lullaby "All is Found." In Frozen 2, flashback sequences with young Anna and Elsa interacting with their parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, reveal legends from the area that prove to be true (at least partially) throughout the film's events. The film opens with the King telling his daughters the story of their grandfather establishing a treaty with the Northuldra people; this story proves to be more problematic than Agnarr lets on, and the relationship between Arendelle and the Northuldra tribe is a key conflict in the film's plot.
In another flashback scene, Iduna is shown singing a lullaby to young Elsa and Anna, "All is Found." As Anna and Elsa discover after meeting the tribe in the Enchanted Forest, Queen Iduna was herself Northuldra. This lullaby is revealed to be a Northuldra song when Honeymaren sings it along with Elsa. According to Honeymaren, the lullaby is about the Ahtohallan, an ancient river with great significance to the Northuldra tribe's culture. The lullaby's lyrics suggest that the mystical river possesses "memories," but also warn of the river's danger:
In her waters deep and true
Lie the answers and a path for you
Dive down deep into her sound
But not too far or you’ll be drowned
Elsa explores the Ahtohallan's caverns, which contain memories of the past frozen in the ice; these memories are acted out through snow sculptures (Elsa repeatedly states that "water has memory"). It's through these memories that Elsa learns the truth of her grandfather's actions: rather than wanting to establish a treaty with the Northuldra tribe, the grandfather built the dam as part of a plan to colonize the area. He initiated the conflict between the two people with an unprovoked act of aggression. Elsa's death in Frozen 2 is the result of her going "too far" into the Ahtohallan and being overwhelmed by the magic — in other words, she "drowned" in it.
The symbolic explanation for why Elsa froze is more straightforward. Elsa freezes in response to the trauma of discovering her family's colonial past. Similar to the plot in Frozen, Elsa is overcome with emotion and loses control of her powers — she is so overwhelmed by her own ice magic that she is literally frozen. In the first movie, the ice in Anna's heart causes her to freeze; it's only through an act of love (which turns out to mean her making an act of love, sacrificing herself for her sister) that she thaws out. In Frozen 2, Elsa symbolically has "ice in her heart," and it's up to Anna to once again save the day by making a great sacrifice.
Why Olaf Died When Elsa Froze
Olaf disappeared when Elsa froze solid, further confirming that Elsa had died. Olaf is an enchanted snowman Elsa's subconscious created when she first embraced her powers in the original movie. Olaf is based off of a snowman in Frozen that Anna and Elsa made together the final time they played together as children. Olaf befriends Anna in the first movie, and becomes a part of the sister's family.
In Frozen 2, Olaf accompanies Anna on her quest to solve the mystery of the Enchanted Forest's mist. She is trapped in a cave with Olaf when Elsa dies. As Olaf explains, without Elsa's magic, he cannot exist, and is reverting back to snow flurries. Realizing that his time is short, the snowman warns Anna that her sister is in trouble. The two embrace, and with his dying words, Olaf restates his catchphrase: "I like warm hugs."
How Elsa (& Olaf) Were Saved In Frozen 2
In Frozen 2, Elsa is eventually reborn as the fully-realized fifth element; thus, Elsa's transformation parallel's Gandalf's in Lord of the Rings. With her dying breath, Elsa sends a message to Anna using her ice powers. Anna, being the second side of the bridge connecting the people of Arendelle and the Northuldra tribe, uses the information to deduce that destroying the dam is the only way to resolve the conflict. She heroically travels to the dam, getting the attention of the Earth spirits along the way, and taunts the gigantic beasts into hurling boulders at her, destroying the dam in the process.
As soon as the dam is destroyed, the curse on the area is lifted and Elsa thaws out. When Elsa reunites with Anna, however, she is visibly different, having embraced her role as one of the elemental spirits. Notably, her hair is down, she is barefooted, and her general demeanor is serene. Stating again that water has memory, Elsa is able to revive Olaf drawing from the memories in the Ahtohallan.
Frozen 2 ends with Elsa opting to live among the Northuldra tribe in the Enchanted Forest, leaving her sister to be Queen of Arendelle. As two sides of a bridge, Frozen's sisters Anna and Elsa need to work in together to maintain peace between not just Arendelle and Northuldra, but also between the mundane world and the forces of magic.