FROZEN: FORCES OF NATURE Podcast – Episodes 3 & 4 – Review, Recap, Speculation, and The Dark Nokk!

Well here we are, only in the second week of the FROZEN: FORCES OF NATURE podcast and already 1/3 of the way through the 12 episode story. Part of me is happy that we are getting two episodes per week, but another part of me is bummed that this journey will end next month. You can find my recap of Episodes 1 and 2 HERE.

This week had some great new character shading, some exciting plot development, and my favorite thing, a hug between Anna and Elsa. It also had the return of the Nokk, Elsa’s water horse from FROZEN II. But this time the Nokk was in a very foul mood. But why? What and who exactly are causing this disruption in nature that really seemed to come to fruition over these two episodes? Well, let’s dive in to the recap.

EPISODE 3 RECAP – “THE STORM“

In episode 3, we pick up where last week’s second episode finished. After Elsa and Queen Disa’s dinner game escalated into a full-blown argument over Elsa’s powers and Disa’s true intentions, a wind blew through the castle, and a storm began to rage outside. Elsa tried to communicate with Gale, but no one or thing was listening. When we return to the castle, we are joined by Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, Queen Disa of Sakershus (who sought shelter in Arendelle for her and her people after a flood in their neighboring kingdom before the events of Episode 1), and Lord Wolfgang, the Duke of Weselton’s nephew. They and the other attendees of the dinner all seek shelter from the wind and coming storm. An elderly man of the Hilton family loses his teeth, and Lord Wolfgang and Kristoff resolve to get Hilton home and to safety. Meanwhile, Elsa resolves to go to the Enchanted Forest to try and make contact with Gale or the Water Nokk (who is also MIA at the fjord).

Outside of the castle, Anna and Disa dodge a runaway windmill sail and bond over Disa’s love of all things mechanical, which reminds Anna of her mother (who had designed the windmill). The two venture to the farm that houses the windmill and secure the rest of the windmill together. Inside the castle, Lord Wolfgang tempts Kristoff into selling his ice in Weselton and mentions that he needs to develop the skills necessary to be a captain of industry: “leadership, forward thinking, and ruthlessness.”

Meanwhile, Kristof, Olaf, and Lord Wolfgang leave the castle and go to a different stable/farm area and attempt to secure all of the animals. Lord Wolfgang is basically useless. Later on, Kristof and Lord Wolfgang return from the Hilton residence and rejoin Anna and Disa who join in a meal for all those that have helped out. No sooner do they settle in than the wind picks up again. Whirlpools begin to swirl in the Arendelle castle fountain. But then, Lord Wolfgang inexplicably opens the wind, and Lord Wolfgang’s happier, positive talking magpie, Magnus, is swept away.

EPISODE 4 RECAP – “THE DARK NOKK“

After the storm begins to brew again, Disa tells Anna that the castle is secure from flooding, and Disa conspicuously mentions that her people have a lot of experience in their kingdom of Sankershus. Anna is not sure what is causing all of this, but she needs to get in touch with Elsa. Lord Wesleton says that if someone was suspicious of magic, this situation would not be ideal. Anna decides to leave the castle to go find Elsa. Disa decides to join her. Kristof and Lord Wolfgang stay behind to secure the castle.

Elsa finds the Nokk at the shore of the Enchanted Forest (presumably where she first met the Nokk on the way to Ahtohallan). The Nokk is not happy, and Elsa soon finds out why. There is a metal contraption that looks like a spider, leaking oil and spinning around in the sea. Magnus (last seen floating away in the wind after Wolfgang opened the window) appears, as do Disa and Anna. Magnus greets everyone, saying, “There is magic in all of us” – and I don’t know why, but I LOVED that moment. I just needed some positivity and those were the right words at the right time.

Back at the castle, Lord Wolfgang and Kristof attempt to secure the castle windows. Again, Wolfgang encourages Kristof to practice some of his “captain of industry skills”. Wolfgang gives Sven some copper bells, and Kristof is pleased with the way they look.

At the shore, Elsa swims into the ocean and attempts to disable the spider-like automaton that is leaking oil. Disa follows and assists. She is able to dislodge the leaking piece from the device, but the rest sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Disa gets very cold due to the water temperature, and when she and Elsa make it back to shore, Disa is not doing great. Still, she survives (at least until the end of the episode) and is happy she was able to help Elsa. Anna tells Elsa privately that Elsa needs to trust Disa. Elsa is still unsure but gives her sister a hug. Before things can really quiet down, the pair notice a fire that has broken out in the nearby enchanted forest. Elsa says that she needs to go make sure Bruni (the wonderful salamander from FROZEN II) is okay—and jets off again.

Returning to the castle once more, Kristoff and Wolfgang continue to bond — suspiciously. Wolfgang even calls the Enchanted Forest the “cursed forest” and finishes the podcast ominously, saying, “I’m sure it [the forest] is lovely.”

FRAME STORY

I’m not really incorporating the frame story into this week’s recaps as they seemed to have enough to mention them separately from the actual story. If you remember from last week, General Matthias was relating the events of the podcast to his troops, which then served as a bridge into the actual story. While it is true that this week, the frame story served mostly to recap last week’s episodes, there were a few VERY intriguing moments. I noticed the soldiers always call Elsa “Queen Elsa”. I’m not sure if this is a sign of reverence, even though she is no longer sitting as Queen, or a hint at future events. I lean towards the former but worth noting nonetheless. After Matthias tells the story of the windmill sail in Episode 3, one of the soldiers also says, “is that one of the windmills that–” before Matthias cuts him off. Definitely felt like foreshadowing to some related windmill event that will occur in the future of the podcast.

SPECULATION

• Lord Wolfgang is definitely not a good guy, but is he the real bad guy?
  • Wolfgang gave enough clues to really show that he is probably not a good guy. Whereas last week he played more of a loveable putz, his words and actions in episodes 3 and 4 revealed a more sinister intention. He pushes Kristof to be “ruthless”, he opens the windows in the middle of a storm, he floats the idea that people might be right to be worried about Elsa’s magic, and he refers to the Enchangt Forest as the “Cursed Forest”. I think Lord Wolfgang be more like the Duke of Weselton than we previously thought. But could he REALLY be the only bad guy? I said in the first episode that making another Weseltonian evil would be very unlike Jennifer Lee or FROZEN stories generally, which tend to undermine expectations. Maybe he’s not a great guy but perhaps he is working in concert with someone else.
• How much is Queen Disa involved in the ecological events around Arendelle, the storm, flood, and fire? Was she manipulated by Lord Wolfgang or also a part of his presumed plans?
  • Could Disa still be the real bad guy? By “real bad guy” I mean the one pulling the strings, that is the ultimate final boss, the one maybe not revealed till deep in the third act of this story. Maybe she’s manipulating Lord Wolfgang and not the other way around. I’d like this but after seeing the way things are going in this episode, I’m not sure if Disney will cross that bridge in this podcast. I feel like they wanted the audience to have their suspicions about Disa in episodes 1 and 2 (like Elsa does) – and even though Disa has some questionable moments in this episode, she also has heroic moments, even bonding with Elsa as she helps her dismantle and remove the portion of the automaton that was leaking oil. And with Anna vouching for Disa, it would be devastating to see her “break bad” – but we have eight episodes left, so there is a lot of track left for twists to happen.
• The Magnus mystery…
  • When Lord Weselton opened the window in the middle of a raging storm, was it to let the wind in, or let Magnus out? He does not seem very bothered when Magnus is lost to the storm, and it made me think, is Magnus flying off to go execute something on Lord Wolfgang’s behalf? Or maybe Magnus is attempting to communicate with someone on Wolfgang’s behalf, While Magnust does eventually catch up with Elsa, Anna, and Disa, there have presumable been HOURS since he left the castle through the window. And shortly after Magnus appears, the fire begins to rage in the Enchanted Forest, something that Lord Wolfgang seems to know about at the end of episode 4, when he makes insinuating remakes about the adventure that Anna, Elsa, and Disa are all on. Also, although magic is prevalent throughout Arendelle, I find it odd that Lord Wolfgang has two magpies that can talk, the only two animals that have the power of speech in the entire FROZEN saga so far. Wolfgang must have some connection to our knowledge of magic. What is it and could Magnus’ journeys be a clue to where the magpies have received their powers from? Is Lord Weselton manipulating that power?
• What exactly are the copper spider automatons?
  • Although Disa was able to disconnect the part of the automaton that was leaking oil, the rest of it floats to the bottom of the ocean, quite conspicuously. What was this machine’s purpose? What does it do? How is it affecting the surroundings? Did Disa build it? Did Disa build it for Lord Wolfgang? Disa would presumably know but she’s out of it right now as she recovers from the freezing temperatures.

NOT FOR NOTHING

In one of my more interesting deep dives today, I searched high and low to find a windmill somewhere in the world of FROZEN. While I could not find one, I did discover “The Old Mill”. This 1937 Silly Symphony Oscar-winning short features Disney’s first use of the multiplane camera for animation, predating even SNOW WHITE. The short is centered around a group of animals dealing with the effects of an oncoming storm. The animals take shelter in an old windmill which, over the course of the storm, threatens to blow apart. Sound familiar? Could this be some kind of foreshadowing, a nice easter egg, both? Ultimately this was still more food for thought than full blown speculation, but I wanted to include it in this blog nonetheless – as the imagery alone made me feel like I was right there next to Anna and Disa. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some Disney imagery to compliment the podcast episodes this week. It is available on Disney Plus.

REVIEW AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed episodes 3 and 4 – even more than episodes 1 and 2. Although the first two episodes had their fair share of action, they were mostly devoted to introducing all of the new characters and their relationships and dynamic to Anna and Elsa. Episode 3 and 4 felt like our story was really moving along. Some things felt obvious but could also be obvious misdirects. I also enjoyed seeing the subtle character growth of Lord Wolfgang from loveable putz to a villain the mold of his uncle, the Duke of Weselton. I am on the edge of my seat listening to his interactions with Kristof – a genuinely good guy who can sometimes make a bad decision. And I am so glad that Elsa and anna were not separated for very long. When Episode 3 ended, I was worried that the two might go their separate ways for the next few episodes but I need these sisters together – and the story delivered!

What did you think? Who do you think is the real bad guy? Maybe in true Jennifer Lee fashion, it is neither Lord Wolfgang or Disa! Let me know in the comments.

Well, until next week – when we will reach the halfway point of FROZEN: FORCES OF NATURE, see you then!