OVERLAY REPORT

In the 2014 film *Maleficent*, the primary conflict is the personal and political rivalry between **Maleficent**, the fairy protector of the Moors, and **King Stefan**, the ruler of the human kingdom. ### **The Origin: A Betrayed Bond** The conflict did not begin with hatred, but with a childhood friendship that turned into a tragic romance. * **The Meeting:** As a young fairy, Maleficent meets a human orphan boy named Stefan after he is caught stealing a gem from the Moors. Instead of punishing him, she shows him kindness, and the two develop a deep bond. * **The Promise:** On Maleficent’s 16th birthday, Stefan gives her a "true love’s kiss." However, as they grow older, their lives diverge: Maleficent becomes the powerful guardian of her magical realm, while Stefan moves to the human kingdom, fueled by a desperate ambition to rise in rank. ### **The Inciting Incident: The Theft of the Wings** The conflict officially ignites when the human King Henry attempts to conquer the Moors. Maleficent defeats his army, leaving the king fatally wounded. In his dying breaths, Henry declares that whoever kills Maleficent will be named his successor and marry his daughter. Stefan, driven by greed and a desire for power, exploits his past relationship with Maleficent to fulfill this task: 1. **The Deception:** Stefan returns to the Moors and reunites with Maleficent, pretending he has come to warn her. She trusts him and forgives his years of absence. 2. **The Betrayal:** While she is asleep (after he gives her a drink to drug her), Stefan intends to kill her. Unable to bring himself to do it, he chooses a different form of "murder": he uses **iron** (which burns fairies) to crudely cut off her powerful wings. 3. **The Rise of King Stefan:** He takes the wings back to the palace as "proof" of her death. King Henry dies, and Stefan is crowned King. ### **The Escalation: The Curse** When Maleficent awakens to find her wings gone, her heart "turns to stone." The primary conflict escalates from a personal betrayal to a full-scale war: * **The Christening:** Years later, when Stefan’s daughter, **Aurora**, is born, Maleficent arrives at the christening uninvited. As ultimate revenge for her stolen wings, she places a curse on the child: on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a death-like sleep, which can only be broken by "true love's kiss"—a concept Maleficent no longer believes exists. * **Paranoia vs. Protection:** Stefan becomes obsessed with destroying Maleficent, burning all spinning wheels in the kingdom and eventually losing his mind to paranoia. Meanwhile, Maleficent watches over Aurora in secret, eventually becoming her "fairy godmother" and realizing that her anger was misplaced on the innocent child. ### **Conclusion of the Conflict** The conflict concludes when Maleficent attempts to revoke the curse but fails. It is her own "motherly" love for Aurora that ultimately breaks the spell. In the final battle at Stefan's castle, Stefan attempts to kill Maleficent one last time, but she recovers her wings (which Stefan had kept locked in a glass case). After a brutal struggle, Stefan falls to his death, ending the rivalry and allowing Maleficent to unite the two kingdoms in peace.