“Descendants: The Rise of Red” picks up the story where its predecessor left off, with Uma, Ursula’s daughter, now at the helm of Auradon Prep. The franchise welcomes a new face, Princess Red, the rebellious daughter of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts. Yearning for a life beyond her mother’s shadow, Red finds herself at Auradon Prep, her arrival stirring chaos within the once-peaceful school. As the Queen of Hearts plots a sinister takeover, Red and Princess Chloe, Cinderella’s perfectionist daughter, embark on a daring mission through time to rewrite history and thwart the Queen’s evil plans.
This article contains spoilers.
Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The fourth film of the Descendants franchise opens with a recap. In the previous movie, Mal and Ben freed the Isle by removing the barrier forever and leaving to form alliances with other distant lands, leaving Uma in charge of Auradon. The new headmaster for Auradon is Uma, and Fairy Godmother is in charge of Aurodon University. As the first order of business, Uma says all children will be welcome in Auradon prep, including Princess Red (Daughter of Queen of Hearts) from Wonderland. Furthermore, Uma requests Fairy Godmother to send an invite to Queen of Hearts. Even though Fairy Godmother is reluctant, as Wonderland is banished like the Isle was, she gives in to Uma’s request.
Meanwhile, in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts has earned the reputation of being a tyrant. She is training Princess Red to be the same. In Wonderland, nobody dares defy the Queen’s orders except Princess Red, as she wants to live a life on her own terms and has no intention of being a tyrant. One day, Princess Red disobeys the curfew and tears her mother’s poster. Subsequently, a soldier is blamed for not catching the culprit. When Queen of Hearts asks Princess Red to give the punishment, she cannot bring herself to be ruthless.
Luckily, Maddox interrupts them and shows Queen of Hearts the invite for Princess Red to attend Auradon, and Queen of Hearts accepts the invite. In stark contrast, Princess Chloe (Cinderella and Prince Charming’s daughter) grows up in a loving family with happily married parents. Also, Princess Chloe is kind-hearted and gets a reward in the form of cool-looking glass shoes from Cinderella for being a good person and doing well in academics. Like Princess Red, Princess Chloe is going to be attending Auradon.
Why does Queen of Hearts accept the invite from Auradon?
What surprises Princess Red is Queen of Heart’s willingness to visit Auradon, especially because she hates the school. Despite her mother’s odd behavior, Red is thrilled to get out of Wonderland and live her life without her mother’s rules over her head. Happily, Queen of Hearts, AKA Bridget, enters Auradon. Red cannot understand her mother’s excitement. Before the ceremony, Bridget and Cinderella, AKA Ella, bump into each other. Red is rude to Chloe, just like her mother. The ceremony begins, and Uma introduces herself. However, she gets annoyed with Queen of Hearts for playing with her cards. When Uma tries to stop her, Queen of Hearts uses her powers and throws the cards up in the air, and soldiers fall out, capturing everyone.
It turns out that the Queen of Hearts entered Auradon with the intention of a coup. Now, she is thrilled to rule the land. However, Ella tries to stop Bridget from letting bygones be bygones, making Bridget understand that deep down, she is a good person. The kind words from Ella do not sway Bridget as she cannot forget the humiliation she felt during her first dance in school, which turned her into a tyrant. Since Ella goes against Bridget’s wishes, Bridget forces Red to call out Ella for treason, which means that Ella will be killed. After that, Red is guilty, and Chloe tries to fight her. The time machine (a stopwatch) that Maddox gave Red accidentally gets activated, and both Red and Chloe go back in time.
What do Red and Chloe learn about their mothers?
As soon as they go back to many decades before their time, they realize the school was Merlin’s academy before it was Auradon. At first, Chloe does not believe that they traveled through time because of the time machine. But once she understands, she fights Red to take the time machine so they can go back to their time. The fight concludes with both Red and Chloe joining forces to rewrite history. The time the Princesses enter Merlin Academy is close to the Castlecoming, where Bridget is humiliated. Inside the campus, Red and Chloe bump into Merlin, the headmaster, who takes them to their first class, where they are paired with the younger versions of their mothers. What Red cannot believe is how kind and lively Bridget is, which throws her off completely.
Eventually, Red and Chloe are introduced to the Villan Kids Hades, Uliana (Ursula’s sister), and Morgie, who prey on the innocent and find joy in bullying. The kind-hearted Bridget has made cupcakes of flamingo feathers, and Uliana, who wants to be known to be worse than Ursula, eats all the flamingo feathers, turning her into a half-bird. As Uliana tries to chase Bridget around, she falls into the enchanted water and turns into herself. However, Uliana’s words of wanting revenge on Bridget make Chloe and Red realize why they were brought back to this specific time.
What is Uliana’s plan to seek revenge on Bridget (Queen of Hearts)?
After the chaos, Prince Charming asks Ella to attend the Castlecoming with him. Chloe also learns that Ella hates royalty. However, Bridget is upset because no one has asked her for the dance, and Ella asks to go with her. In the dorms, Chloe and Red discuss how different their mothers are in the future and everything about their lives that led to it. Meanwhile, Red and Chloe meet Ella. Accidentally, Chloe breaks a vase, making the evil stepmother punish Ella.
Through Ella, Red, and Chloe learn where to find Uliana. Once they follow the Villian Kids, they realize Uliana is planning to use the sorcerer’s cookbook to seek revenge on Bridget. The only way to know about the cookbook is to meet Bridget, and once they enter Bridget’s room, Red sees the Looking Glass. As Bridget looks for the book, Red looks into the looking glass and realizes the future is still bleak, and they need to fix the problem soon. Through Bridget, Red, and Chloe learn that the banned books are safely secured through enchantment in Merlin’s office.
Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Can Red and Chloe steal the sorcerer’s cookbook?
Now that the plan is clear, Red wants to sneak into Merlin’s office and steal the book. However, Chloe thinks it’s against the rules, and they need to tell Merlin about the situation. In a heated debate, Chloe says Red is evil like her mother, which upsets Red, but she decides to steal the book anyway. Meanwhile, Chloe visits Ella and asks for advice. Ella suggests there is nothing wrong with getting one’s hands dirty if it is for a good cause.
Immediately, Chloe realizes she needs to get the book to save Ella’s life. At the same time, Red breaks into Merlin’s office, which Uliana and the Villain Kids watch before they make a move. When Chloe decides to join Red, Red is surprised but happy to have Chloe by her side. Inside, they spot the book, and as they try to get a hold of it, swords turn into soldiers, and owls start moving to give the message to Merlin.
What Consequences Will Time Travel Have in the Descendants Universe?
Luckily, Red and Chloe fight them off, and as they get their hands on the book, Uliana enters and takes the cookbook from them. When Uliana opens it, all the Villain Kids, including Uliana, are enchanted by the magic, making them freeze in their position. Taking the book from Uliana, Red opens it. However, nothing happens to her, and they hear Merlin’s voice. So Red and Chloe run away, and Merlin punishes the Villain Kids, sending them to detention. Now, Bridget will not be humiliated. Red and Chloe come back to the present and are joyous as Bridget, the Queen of Hearts, is positive and loving. The entire school breaks into a dance celebrating the new term. In the end, Uma’s narration says everybody got what they wanted. But that can be dangerous, especially when someone messes with the fabric of time.
The ending suggests that the story has not ended and that there is more to come, especially because time travel and changing the course of history can have repercussions. Even though Red did not lose her mother, many other aspects would have changed. In the subsequent films from the franchise, this story will be explored. Unlike the other three films from the franchise, this film had a lot more music and dance and added an element of time travel to it. This story primarily focuses on Red and Chloe, the good and evil bonding like the rest of the films. However, the way the bonding happens is slightly different in this film. The main characters, Uma and Fairy Godmother’s roles, share significantly less screen time in this film.
