Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Roar Uthaug, Netflix’s ‘Troll 2’ serves as the direct sequel to ‘Troll,’ continuing the saga of humanity’s coexistence with these mythical lifeforms. The first movie centers around the surprise awakening of the mountain king troll, who then proceeds to wreak havoc on his path to vengeance; the second movie takes place a few years after his death. The protagonist, Nora Tidemann, still carries the emotional scars of that battle and wishes to find a bridge between trolls and humans. When the opportunity arrives with the discovery of a new sleeping giant, she eagerly joins the team of scientists investigating him. However, a series of mistakes results in the troll breaking free of his shackles and making his way towards civilisation, this time with a murderous rage that is a notch higher than before. Thus, Nora finds herself reunited with her old team, prepared to end the cycle of violence for good. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Troll 2 Plot Synopsis
‘Troll 2’ opens with a flashback to Nora’s childhood, where her father reads a children’s book about the legend of Saint Olaf and his battle with the trolls. Her curiosity about their history and emotions is evident even then, and continues to persist in the present. Now a recluse scientist who spends her days researching trolls, she is surprised by a visit from Andreas, who is now a writer. On top of that, Andreas also happens to have access to a top-secret government project, and wishes Nora to be a part of it. She agrees, and together they fly off to Vemork Power Plant, where she discovers that the government has gotten its hands on a second troll. This giant, named Megatroll by Andreas, appears to be in hibernation, and Nora’s expertise is needed for any meaningful progress to be made. Furious about how they have been experimenting on this unique lifeform, Nora tries to make physical contact, unwittingly waking him up in the process.
Megatroll cuts through the lab’s security measures with ease and quickly makes his escape. With the nation now at high alert, the military quickly gets into action, and Nora reunites with Kristoff, who has been promoted to Major. The military’s plan is to scorch the troll with UV ray-enabled helicopters, and while Kristoff has no intentions to bring Nora along on this dangerous mission, he reluctantly has to agree. The helicopter charge does not go as planned, however, and Kristoffe’s military partner, Amir, is killed in the exchange. The troll then continues its march, forcing Nora and crew to step back and rethink their plans. This time, she guides them to the mountains where they found the original Mountain King troll, and then to a secret system of caves that lies underneath. Here, she reveals that the king had a son, who survived and has grown to be her friend over repeated cycles of communication. The entire team meets this troll, who is named Beautiful.
Nora urges Beautiful to talk to Megatroll and get him to calm down. However, when the two giants eventually meet, the conversation goes off the rails, and Megatroll knocks Beautiful down into icy waters. Forced to escape once again, Nora feels utterly crushed, but soon figures out Megatroll’s ultimate destination: the city of Trondheim. As the original seat of the throne, the city marks the starting point of the war that decimated troll populations, and Megatroll is likely out for revenge. However, with the only way to the truth about the past being through Saint Olaf’s hidden grave, she has to get inventive. As Megatroll slowly nears Trondheim, the entire community joins hands to bring him down, and everything depends on what Nora, Andreas, and their team come up with.
Troll 2 Ending: Who Wins the Troll Battle? How is Megatroll Defeated?
‘Troll 2’ ends with Andreas jumping into Megatroll’s mouth to detonate the holy water bomb, destroying the giant from the inside out. From there, Beautiful ends the fight by clawing Megatroll’s heart out, instantly killing him. This conclusion is a callback to the first signs of life detected inside Megatroll in the form of a faint heartbeat. Although the city of Trondheim is at last rescued, the battle with the troll leaves its footprints, both literally and figuratively. At the start, it serves as a binding agent for the community, with volunteers from all walks of life coming together to transform the holy water from Olaf’s spring into weapons that can hurt the troll. While these initiatives do manage to temporarily slow him down, on the whole, they prove futile. This is consistent with the troll’s resistance to UV light, as previously seen in his battle with the UV-charged helicopters. The key to defeating Megatroll, as it turns out, lies in attacking him from the inside.
A small bit of foreshadowing to Megatroll’s defeat is in the way Olof is depicted taking down the trolls. As Kristoff and Nora correctly figure out, their silver swords are simply the medium, which can be doused in holy water to then cut down the giant forces. However, it is the sword’s ability to pierce into the trolls’ internal organs that makes them particularly lethal, something which the holy water bombs failed to recreate. By the time Nora and her team figure this out, the Megatroll is almost upon them, and his victory seems certain until we hear a rumble in the distance. As it turns out, Beautiful the troll survived being swallowed by the ice waters and managed to track Megatroll down for a round two. Given that his father managed to survive being crystallized for centuries, this should come as no surprise. Still, given his lifetime spent inside a cave, Beautiful fails to gain the upper hand in combat, but gives Nora just enough time to devise a counterattack.
While Megatroll is an antagonistic presence in the story, Nora soon uncovers that his hatred towards humanity, and Trondheim in particular, is not without reason. To that end, it is implied that he is a member of the final generation of trolls who were viciously decimated by the Church, and thus wants revenge. This is symbolized in his fight with Nora and the military, as pieces of wreckage continuously hit the Trondheim Church. However, the desire for revenge ultimately blinds Megatroll, especially to the plight of innocent civilians. This is a major departure from the actions of the Mountain King in ‘Troll 1,’ who avoided pointless bloodshed wherever possible. This only amplifies Beautiful’s desire to protect Nora and company, adding to the stakes of his final battle. While the Mountain King died before he could make peace with humanity, his body was still preserved in the form of rocks. The same, however, does not happen in Megatroll’s case, as he slowly burns away, signaling an end to his vicious rampage.
Does Andreas Survive? What Happens to Sigrid and her Baby?
Although Megatroll is defeated at the end of the movie, it comes at a cost. Andreas Isaksen, who has been Nora’s foremost ally since ‘Troll,’ ultimately sacrifices himself as a human detonator, leaving behind his wife, Sigrid, and their unborn child. Andreas’ death is foreshadowed earlier in the story, when Kristoff considers not including him on the deadly mission. Despite expecting a baby soon, Andreas volunteers to join the operation, knowing how important it is for humanity to get past this ordeal. In the final leg of the battle, he attaches an explosive to a jug of holy water, hoping to land it precisely into the troll’s mouth. However, while on the helicopter, the device accidentally goes flying, and the bomb slips out of his grasp. With no way of remotely detonating the jug now, Andreas finds the next best thing: a hand grenade. Still, using it means certain death, and Andreas realizes that he must step up for the greater good.
The shot of a troll gulping down a human being can be found in both ‘Troll’ and its sequel, and has cemented itself as an iconic visual. Andreas’s final charge flips that imagery on its head by turning it into the moment of Megatroll’s defeat. The exploding holy water ruptures his insides instantly, making the writer’s sacrifice count. Prior to that, however, we get an emotional goodbye between him and Sigrid, who comes to understand her husband’s decision to choose the world over his own life. In the aftermath of the final battle, we see that Sigrid has decided to raise her child on her own. Andreas’ legacy also continues in the form of his book, ‘A Fistful of Zen,’ which now attains a whole new meaning in light of his passing. To that end, it is fitting that the movie ends with his narration about how the world has started to heal, step by step.
Does Beautiful the Troll Live or Die?
Despite coming close to death numerous times, Beautiful survives the ending of ‘Troll 2,’ and now rules over the mountains as the only troll that is known to be alive. What makes him stand out from his predecessors is his willingness to coexist with humanity, which is best depicted by his joining their side in the final battle. This suggests that the gentle giant has moved on from his traumatic past and has happily embarked on this new chapter in his life. In his childhood, Beautiful was used as a trap to lure the Mountain King into a cave laden with traps. Due to this, he spent centuries calling that cave system his home and spending time in utter darkness. His meeting with Nora, as such, comes as a literal shining light in his life, opening his eyes to a flurry of new experiences. This prolonged isolation also means that he is a blank slate in some ways, and likely knows little about the good and bad humans are capable of. This allows Nora to develop an organic relationship with Beautiful, forging what is likely a life-long bond between the two.
The final scene of the movie features Beautiful striding along the snowy mountains while Nora, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf enjoy their newfound safety. Given that there has been a timeskip, we can infer that the government likely formulated a peace treaty with the troll, respecting his sovereignty as the mountain king. However, while he is the last known troll for now, that statement might not hold true in the future. As the movie uncovers the Church’s hidden relationship with the trolls, it is possible that there might be others like Megatroll who are currently in a state of hibernation or under government supervision. In that case, Beautiful’s reign as the mountain king might come under challenge once again. However, with human civilisation beginning to envision a peaceful coexistence with the trolls, it is possible that in a future battle, the humans will fight alongside Beautiful and not against him.
What is the Truth About Saint Olaf and the Trolls?
‘Troll 2′ begins with a peek into Nora’s childhood, where her father, Tobias, narrates a children’s book story about Saint Olaf’s conquests against the trolls. While the stories paint the giants as irredeemably evil forces, both Tobias and young Nora see through the farce. Towards the end of the movie, this ancient myth about Saint Olaf and the trolls gets subverted yet again, as we learn that he was never against them to begin with. The bulk of government information on this subject relies on a torn piece of paper containing Saint Olaf’s declaration, where he seemingly writes that all trolls must be driven out of human territory. However, when Nora and company make their way to his burial site in Trondheim, they discover a hidden compartment containing his actual tomb. While it provides Nora with all the means to defeat Megatroll, ranging from the holy water to the silver sword, the real twist comes with the missing half of the declaration that she retrieves from his tomb. When the two halves are combined, Saint Olaf’s message turns out to be the exact opposite, speaking in favor of the trolls’ right to their own territory.
While it is possible that Saint Olaf’s message got distorted along the way, Nora realizes that the real culprit in this entire false narrative is none other than the Church. Centuries ago, the Church likely conspired against Saint Olaf and later killed him to ensure their wrongdoings never saw the light of day. From there, they intentionally manipulated his directive about the trolls, reframing it to wage war on them. With all of Norway paying heed to Saint Olaf’s now corrupted message, the trolls were quickly backed into the corner. This also explains why Saint Olaf’s body was buried in secret, and it took this long for the truth to come out. In the present, Nora and the team bring the truth about the former king to the world, showing how trolls have been persecuted for ages due to humanity’s falsely held beliefs. This revelation likely plays a key role in improving the world’s relationship with Beautiful, shaping a peaceful future in the process.
Read More: Movies Like Troll
You must be logged in to post a comment.