Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Kleks Academy,’ a young girl named Ada discovers a whole new world when she is invited to join the eponymous academy. Processing the mysterious disappearance of their father, who was last seen a few years ago, Ada is in the process of losing her magic because she has become dejected. She doesn’t expect magic to happen because she is too sad to believe it. However, once she travels to the alternate world where magic not only exists but thrives in all its forms, she learns to foster her imagination again. However, this new world also comes with many dangers, and the most notable conflict of the story centers on a man named Prince Matthew, who is half-bird. SPOILERS AHEAD
Does Matthew Change Back Into a Human?
When Matthew first appears in the movie, he seems to be just a messenger of Professor Kleks, who goes around the world recruiting young children to join the academy. Soon, however, Ada discovers his past, and it turns out to be much bloodier than she’d imagined. It turns out that Matthew wasn’t always a half-bird. In fact, he was a human prince who made a grievous mistake. He had been touring the kingdom when, one night, he crossed paths with a mysterious stranger, who turned out to be a wolfur. Scared that he might be killed, Matthew accidentally killed the wolfur while receiving a fatal wound himself.
Luckily, Matthew reached the palace on time and was able to save himself, but the fact that he had killed a wolfur and there would be retribution didn’t escape him. The prince knew that the wolfurs would come for him and they wouldn’t stop until they’d killed him. To help him escape, the doctor gave him a magic hat that would turn him into whatever animal he wanted. The trick lay in the magic button on the hat, which was lost before Matthew could wear it. When the wolfurs attacked, he didn’t bother to check if the button was intact, and when he activated the magic and turned into a bird, the magic only took him halfway, and was stuck in bird form.
In the magical realm, Matthew couldn’t stay in half-human form for long and would be fed magic berried by Professor Kleks to keep him half-human. He has been on the search for the button ever since but has no clue where to find it. Interestingly, the doctor who gave him the hat turns out to be Ada’s neighbor. The man was known to have a way of always talking puzzles, and Ada never quite understood him until she joined the academy.
With the academy’s fate resting on her shoulder, she seeks help from the doctor, who tells her to get over her fears and use her powers of empathy to save Matthew and the rest of her friends. The first one that she should make peace with is the dog outside the building, who always barks at her. Ada decides to do what she is told and goes to the dog, who she realizes is the representation of the wolfurs in the real world. She uses her powers of empathy on the dog, and, sure enough, the magic works, and they become friends. What’s even more interesting is that it is on the dog’s collar that she finds the button. Turns out that the doctor had put the button there for her to find when the time was right.
With the button in her hand, Ada got back to the academy to save Matthew. However, she is caught and held captive by the wolfurs who are ready to execute Matthew. When her pleas to forgive Matthew fall on deaf ears, Ada pleads that they should at least let Matthew die as a human. He had spent years as a half-bird, and his only wish was to be human again. It would only be humane to let him have his wish before he is put to death. While the wolfur Queen doesn’t want it, Prince Vincent decides to honor the wish. Ada gives Matthew the hat with the button, and when he wears it, he turns back into a human.
The Curse Reversal Puts a Ticking Clock on Matthew’s Life
There is a saying, “careful what you wish for,” and no one truly gets its meaning like Matthew does when he gets the only thing he’d ever wanted. Ever since he was stuck in the body of a half-bird, Matthew hoped to get his life back by becoming human again. It had been years since the event happened, but due to the magic, Matthew remained the same. As a half-bird, he went through no changes, even when the seasons breezed past him. When the idea of age had become so alien to him, it made sense for him to believe that whenever the curse was reversed, he would get to pick up where he left off. He expected to be the same young man again, but things didn’t work like that.
When Matthew turns back into a human, he discovers that he is very, very old indeed. All the years, he remained the same as a half-bird, his human part aged as it should have. Now that he has removed the half-bird part, only his human part remains, which is why he is not young anymore. The prince expresses disappointment, but what has happened cannot be reversed now, and he must accept his human part as it comes. Seeing him so old and frail, Ada once again pleads with the wolfurs to show mercy on him. Isn’t Matthew’s current situation proof enough that he has suffered for the crime he committed years ago? Moreover, it would have made sense for the wolfurs to execute him when he was young when he actually committed the crime. But now, they’d just be killing an old man who barely has a year left before he croaks for good. How can the wolfurs find any sense of justice in that?
While the wolfur Queen is not satisfied, Prince Vincent gets Ada’s point. He’d spent his entire life living with the rage of his aunt, who wanted to avenge his grandfather’s death. He had lost his childhood innocence because of this hatred. He decides not to let it control his life anymore and declares that Matthew has served enough and will be pardoned. He can live off the rest of his days in peace and die a natural death. Considering that he is going to die soon anyway, the wolfurs will not bother him anymore, and with this, their decades-long enmity comes to an end.
Read More: Kleks Academy: Where is the Netflix Movie Filmed?
