The Last Unicorn

After touching Prince Lír with her horn, the unicorn brings the prince back to life, and Molly remarks to herself that the unicorn moves with a sort of sadness that she hasn’t seen in her before. Using his magic, Schmendrick brings Lír and Molly back to where the castle once stood, though nothing of it remains. Haggard’s henchmen, suddenly young again, run to Lír, crying and laughing, rejoicing as they shout, “Long live King Lír!” Lír tells Schmendrick that he will spend his life chasing after the unicorn, to which Schmendrick reminds him that she can never belong to any mortal. Although Lír grieves Lady Amalthea’s loss, he agrees to see Schmendrick and Molly off.

Lír, Schmendrick, and Molly ride off together and find the land changed, as though spring has finally come. When they arrive at the town of Hagsgate, however, they see that the witch’s old curse has come true: disaster has ravaged the town in the form of an earthquake and storm. Lír introduces himself to the townspeople as the new king and a once-abandoned child. At that, Drinn runs up and reveals that he is Lír’s true father. Drinn grows angry when Lír speaks to him distantly, and the townspeople become upset, too, when they learn that Schmendrick cannot fix their town with his magic due to the rules by which magic must abide. Together, the trio leaves the town.

Lír, Schmendrick, and Molly journey through Lír’s kingdom. One night, after they lay down to rest, Schmendrick dreams of the unicorn, and she asks if he’s happy now that he’s reached his full potential as a magician. Schmendrick apologizes for hurting the unicorn by enabling her to experience human emotions, as she is now unlike those of her kind: she now understands the emotion of regret. In response, the unicorn says that she can only be glad that she’s no longer the last unicorn in the world. In the morning, Molly and Lír reveal that they also dreamed of the unicorn, though Molly refuses to share her dream and Lír states that the unicorn said nothing to him; she only looked at him. After Lír parts from Schmendrick and Molly, Schmendrick asks Molly what she dreamed, and she laughs and refuses to tell, now more beautiful than even Lady Amalthea.

Schmendrick and Molly set off on a new journey together, wondering if they’ll ever see the unicorn again. But only 10 minutes after leaving Lír’s kingdom, they come across a princess in need. She’s wearing a torn dress and is the daughter of a murdered king. Schmendrick gives the princess his horse and points her in the direction of Lír, telling her the man she needs is just that way.