Love it or loathe it, Twilight, the Stephenie Meyer series of novels charting the relationship between Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen, is a bona fide pop culture phenomenon. In addition to book sales exceeding 120 million copies, Twilight has spawned a wildly successful film franchise that has grossed $3.3 billion worldwide. When the series wrapped up with 2008s Breaking Dawn, and its subsequent two-part big screen adaptation, many devoted readers began clamoring for Meyer to pen a follow-up. Although a spin-off novel, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and a gender-swapped retelling, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, have since surfaced, a true sequel has yet to materialize.
What some fans may not be aware of is that an unpublished Twilight sequel does exist (although chances are slim they’ll ever get their hands on it). Titled Forever Dawn, this installment was completed purely for Meyer’s own enjoyment, and effectively replaces official entries New Moon and Eclipse, as well as Breaking Dawn, too. While she’s comfortable sharing excerpts from Forever Dawn with readers, Meyer has made it clear that the book, which largely changes Twilight’s young adult fiction roots, is unlikely to wind up on shelves any time soon. This makes sense, as much of its content is covered by the three canon sequels already available, albeit in a markedly different fashion. With this in mind, we’ve sifted through the tidbits available on Meyer’s official website to pull together this list of 20 Wild Things That Happen In Forever Dawn. It may not represent the actual future of the Twilight series, but it does provide a fascinating insight into how things might’ve panned out!
20. The Events Of New Moon Or Eclipse Never Take Place
We already covered this in the introduction, but for those who dove straight into the list itself, we’ll spell it out again: Forever Dawn completely eliminates New Moon and Eclipse. True, some of the events from those books do come to pass, but in radically altered form. So, perhaps the best way to describe Forever Dawn’s plot is that it’s essentially Breaking Dawn with a sprinkling of New Moon and Eclipse added in for flavor.
Obviously, this has massive ramifications on the direction that Bella’s story takes in the wake of the first novel, Twilight. Most notably, it dramatically revises her relationships with several characters (which we’ll cover later), while on a more prosaic level, it also means that the series’ overall narrative comes to a close far sooner, too.
19. It Omits Bella’s Final Year Of High School
The first Twilight sequel, New Moon, covers Bella’s senior year of high school, which is fitting, given we’re talking about a series aimed at a teenage audience. Admittedly, our protagonist’s education is even less of a focus here than it was in the previous novel, but this is nevertheless the point in time during which the events of the book are set.
This wouldn’t have been the case had Meyer gone ahead and published Forever Dawn, though. Instead, the author would have hit the “fast forward” button, jumping ahead to the events depicted in Breaking Dawn. When she started to work on New Moon, Meyer realized that Bella going from a schoolgirl in one book to a newly-wed in the next overstepped the “rules” of young adult fiction, and she revised the story accordingly.
18. Bella And Jacob Never Fall In Love
Don’t get us wrong: Bella and quasi-werewolf Jacob Black share an undeniable, mutual attraction in Forever Dawn. It’s just that their feelings are nowhere near as intense in Meyer’s canceled sequel as they are in the follow-ups she ultimately published.
Meyer herself has confirmed that, had she stayed faithful to the plotting in Forever Dawn, it would have been abundantly clear that Bella was never even slightly in love with her shapeshifting guy friend. But fret not, those of you who are firmly in the Team Jacob camp: Mr. Black is equally less hung-up on Bella in this iteration of the Twilight story, too. Describing Jacob’s attachment to Bella, Meyer refers to his affection for his gal pal as remaining at “crush level.”
17. It’s Entirely From Bella’s Perspective
Just to recap again: for all intents and purposes, Breaking Dawn is basically a remix of Forever Dawn. The two have a lot in common, from their complementary underlying plots to their similar titles. Indeed, Meyer recycled plenty of material from her aborted sequel for the series’ canonical finale. However, something that she didn’t carry over to Breaking Dawn was Bella serving as the book’s sole point-of-view character. Although the first and third segments of Breaking Dawn are related from Bella’s perspective, the second is viewed through Jacob’s eyes.
Now, there’s a nice uniformity to Bella’s being the only viewpoint in the series; it creates an unbroken (and therefore more intimate) connection between her and the reader. But, breaking from this tradition in Breaking Dawn allowed Meyer to share valuable information that solely following Bella wouldn’t have allowed for.
16. Jacob Imprints On Renesmee Much Later
This shouldn’t be taken as a dig at the Twilight franchise necessarily, but, as with almost any fantasy yarn, some objectively weird stuff goes down in these books and their adaptations. Arguably, the most bizarre moment in the series sees Jacob mystically “imprint” himself on Edward and Bella’s newborn baby, the uncomfortably-named Renesmee, bonding them as soul mates.
This still happens in Forever Dawn, weird undertones and all, but crucially, the timing involved differs. Since Bella and Jacob aren’t as close here as they are in Breaking Dawn, he’s unsurprisingly not present for the birth of her child. So, it’s actually several weeks after Renesmee is born that her special link with Jacob is forged.
15. Jacob (And The Werewolf Pack) Are Less Prominent Characters
Given that the Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle evolves into a central component of the Twilight series, it makes sense that we get to know Jacob’s werewolf pack reasonably well. In order to flesh out her original sequel plans, Meyer beefed up the pack’s presence, with its members taking on supporting or antagonistic roles as required.
However, the narrative she devised for Forever Dawn didn’t necessitate such a prominent role for Jacob’s furry friends. After all, the Bella/Jacob romantic subplot doesn’t exist in Forever Dawn, so it stands to reason that Meyer would downplay the part played by the pack. Consequently, Jacob’s fellow werewolves aren’t all that well-defined in Forever Dawn, collectively or as individuals. For instance, some of them don’t even have names, much less personalities!
14. Victoria And Laurent Are Alive And Well
If you treat Forever Dawn as a surrogate for Breaking Dawn (and we do), then certain differences between the unpublished and published version of this story become more pronounced. Take the fate of Victoria and Laurent, for example. In the official Twilight continuity, the pair are already pushing up daisies long before Breaking Dawn draws to a close.
Laurent meets his end after running afoul of Jacob Black’s werewolf pack in New Moon, while Victoria’s demise is equally unpleasant in Eclipse! But, neither New Moon nor Eclipse existed when Stephenie Meyer was jotting down Forever Dawn. As a result, Victoria and Laurent are both granted a stay of execution, surviving longer than they otherwise would have!
13. There’s An Additional Epilogue Centered Around Max
Twilight devotees who only follow the film franchise won’t be familiar with Max, the assistant to crooked lawyer J. Jenks, introduced in Breaking Dawn. Given his relatively minor role, which boils down to being a supporting character attached to a supporting character, Max was omitted from the cinematic version of the story, with Jenks apparently operating alone. Interestingly, had Forever Dawn been adapted for the screen instead, he almost certainly would have made the cut.
That’s because Forever Dawn features an epilogue not present in Breaking Dawn, and it revolves entirely around Max! In this extended ending, Max finds himself in a tight spot, which almost proves dangerous until someone, whose identity we’ll reveal later in this list, comes to his rescue in spectacular fashion…
12. Riley Is Made A Vampire For A Different Reason
Poor Riley Biers, transformed into a vampire by Victoria, then deceived into becoming her unwavering servant by false declarations of true love. However, Riley’s circumstances aren’t overly better in Forever Dawn than they are in Eclipse, the third chapter in the Twilight canon. In both the canceled and the released sequel, Riley is bitten by Victoria and tricked into doing her bidding.
Where things really diverge is in the rationale behind why Victoria turned Riley. In Eclipse, her motivation is simple: she felt threatened by Edward Cullen and his coven, and forcibly enlisted Riley to serve as her personal bodyguard. In Forever Dawn, Victoria’s intentions are more underhanded. See, Victoria wants to get the Cullens in hot water with vampire royalty, the Volturi, for breaching the laws of their kind, so she brings Riley into the fold to do it for her!
11. Laurent Doesn’t Walk Out On Irina
In the first Twilight novel, troubled vampire Laurent joins the Denali coven, who don’t prey on humans, in an attempt to turn over a new leaf. While among the Denali, he gets involved with one of their members, Irina, and everything starts to look rosy. Sadly, by the time New Moon rolls around, Laurent has returned to his former wicked ways, walking out on Irina and teaming up with antagonist Victoria once more.
But, that wasn’t what Stephenie Meyer originally had in store for Laurent and Irina’s relationship. It turns out that the couple didn’t split up in Forever Dawn, with Laurent opting not to bail on the Denali either. It’s a decision that saves his life, as leaving Irina and her coven is ultimately what leads to his demise in New Moon!
10. Renesmee’s Hybrid Nature Is More Widely Known
Bella and Edward’s daughter Renesmee is a hybrid: an extremely rare half human/half vampire life form. In Breaking Dawn, Renesmee’s true nature isn’t a widely broadcast fact: her inhumanly fast gestation period, coupled with the Cullen coven’s guarded nature, means there’s really not that much time for word to spread among the vampire community.
Indeed, problems arise when outsider Irina mistakes Renesmee for an “Immortal Child,” a human child transformed into a vampire, forbidden by vampire law, and reports this “crime” to the bigwigs, the Volturi. Forever Dawn adds an extra wrinkle to this: while the Volturi still believe Renesmee to be an Immortal Child, at least one other vampire outside Edward’s coven (namely, Victoria) knows that this isn't the case!
9. Bella’s Pregnancy Is Presented In Greater Detail
A sizable chunk of Breaking Dawn is dedicated to depicting Bella’s near-fatal pregnancy. At the same time, between the book shifting perspective from Bella to Jacob (and back again) and the need to resolve plot points inherited by Eclipse, Breaking Dawn doesn’t dwell on Bella’s childbearing experiences, either.
Forever Dawn does, however. This is largely a consequence of Bella being the only point-of-view character in the novel. Since she doesn’t switch to Jacob’s viewpoint, Stephenie Meyer could allocate this narrative real estate to delving deeper into what Bella goes through as the supernatural child within her grows. What’s more, as Forever Dawn hails from a pre-Eclipse era, Meyer doesn’t need to deal with the ramifications of that book. Again, this gives her more freedom to fully explore Bella’s whole maternity situation, instead.
8. Victoria Squeals On The Cullens
The conflict at the heart of Breaking Dawn boils down to a showdown between the Volturi and the Cullen coven. Ostensibly, the Volturi are acting in accordance with vampire law: they sincerely believe that the Cullens have created an “Immortal Child,” which is a serious crime among their people. In reality, Volturi head honcho Aro is merely using this as an excuse to attack a coven he’s been envious of for some time.
This scenario, as well as its resolution, where the Cullens prove that baby Renesmee is actually a vampire/human hybrid, instead, is nearly identical to what is described in Forever Dawn. Where Twilight’s final volume and its unpublished sequel differ is that out-and-out baddie Victoria, not misguided antagonist Irina, is the person responsible for releasing the Volturi on our heroes!
7. Irina Survives
As you’d expect from the coven in charge of policing Twilight’s global vampire community, the Volturi straight-up do not mess around. If you cross these supremely powerful guys and gals, even unintentionally, you’re liable to find yourself wiped from the face of the earth. Just ask Irina, who was ended by the Volturi after she provided them with bum intel regarding Bella and Edward’s baby girl, Renesmee, who she erroneously believed to be an “Immortal Child.”
Intriguingly, this particular act of pitiless retribution only occurs in Breaking Dawn, it doesn’t happen in Forever Dawn. There, it’s Victoria who is to blame for supplying the Volturi with false information, sparing Irina from their subsequent wrath over being misled.
6. Laurent Sides With The Cullens
As we’ve already touched upon, unlike in the official Twilight continuity, Laurent doesn’t walk out on Irina in Forever Dawn. The upshot of this is that he remains with the benevolent Denali coven, and makes it to the end of the canceled sequel’s alternate timeline in one piece. Better still, Laurent’s unswerving commitment to Irina and their coven also ensures that he sides with the Cullens during their confrontation with the Volturi.
This is such a departure from how Laurent is portrayed in New Moon, where he spies on the Cullens and very nearly claims Bella’s life! In Forever Dawn, his incarnation is practically a different character. Arguably, the distressed, flawed Laurent of New Moon is a more compelling figure, but part of us likes the idea of him finally finding some measure of peace in Forever Dawn.
5. Victoria Takes Part In The Final Confrontation
Victoria graduates from a minor villain in Twilight to the full-blown Big Bad of New Moon and (most of all) Eclipse, but that’s where her story reaches its abrupt climax as she doesn’t live to see the events of the final book, Breaking Dawn, after being dispatched by Edward in decisive fashion late in Eclipse.
However, had Stephenie Meyer deemed Forever Dawn worthy of publication, Victoria would have played a central role in said events. Since neither New Moon nor Eclipse have any bearing on Forever Dawn, this red-headed villainess made it through to the Twilight grand finale that nearly was. As more astute fans would already suspect, the mischief caused by Irina in Breaking Dawn is attributed to Victoria (already well-established as a villain) in Forever Dawn, instead.
4. Bella Gets To Show Off Her Vampire Powers
Remember when we mentioned that Forever Dawn concludes with an extended denouement absent from its official counterpart, which involves J. Jenk’s associate Max in need of rescue? Well, we can now reveal that the character who swoops in to save the day is none other than Bella Swan! Stephenie Meyer refers to this as Bella “play[ing] Superman,” as she is at last shown cutting loose with the supernatural powers at her disposal as a newly-minted vampire.
While we understand why Meyer excised this content from Breaking Dawn (closing on a moment between Bella and Edward makes more sense), logically and emotionally, we also kinda miss it. After all, this is a literal female empowerment moment that would have gone a long way.
3. Aro Is Intentionally Deceived
Just to reiterate: when the Volturi show up in Breaking Dawn with the intention of eliminating the Cullen coven for creating an “Immortal Child,” their intentions aren’t exactly pure. Sure, transforming a human child into a vampire is a crime according to vampire law, but really, that’s just a justification for Volturi leader Aro to lash out at the Cullens.
Nevertheless, Aro at least believes he is reacting to a genuine transgression that has a lot to do with Irina (the vampire who tattled on the Cullens), likewise thinking she’s telling the truth. Yet, that’s not how things go down in Forever Dawn, where Victoria knows that Renesmee Cullen isn’t an “Immortal Child,” but forwards this accusation to Aro anyway!
2. Edward Never Leaves
Bella and Edward spend the majority of the first Twilight sequel, New Moon, apart. The couple separates after Edward freaks out over the potential danger his surrogate vampire family poses to his very human, very vulnerable, girlfriend. A heartbroken Bella spirals into sadness and self-destructive behavior, before pulling herself together in time to save Edward from rashly throwing his life away.
It’s the kind of melodrama that only young adult fiction can deliver, and it almost didn’t happen. Why? Well, before Stephenie Meyer pulled the pin on Forever Dawn, she intended for Edward to stick around rather than cut and run. The knock-on effects of Edward not leaving Bella are wide-reaching, but easily the biggest is that it sidelines Jacob, whose shoulder Bella no longer has a reason to cry on!
1. The Werewolves Are Responsible For Victoria’s Demise
Let’s be clear: there is no version of the Twilight series where Victoria survives. And the question isn’t if she is taken out, but rather, when it happens. In the official canon, Victoria’s exit takes place in the penultimate novel, Eclipse, courtesy of Edward Cullen. In scrapped follow-up Forever Dawn, she doesn’t bite the dust until lines are drawn for the final battle.
With Victoria assuming the role that was undertaken by Irina in the published version of the story, it makes sense that she would meet her doom at roughly the same point in the narrative. What does come as a surprise is how Victoria’s demise unfolds in Forever Dawn: rather than being bumped off by the Volturi, she’s on the receiving end of a fatal attack by Jacob’s werewolf pack!
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What are some other wild things that happen in Forever Dawn? Let us know in the comments!