Gerda is the secondary antagonist of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, as Queen Ingrith's right-hand woman. She is portrayed by Jenn Murray.
Background
Personality
She has been described by Pfeiffer as a "wonderfully strange, but brilliant" engineer, and that "She's psychotic with this still, cold exterior that gives the sense that she has no conscience whatsoever". "The perfect executor" to Queen Ingrith's "evil plan for all dominance."
Role in the Film
Gerda is Queen Ingrith's personal advisor, assisting her in her secret plan to kill all magical creatures. When Maleficent, Aurora, and Diaval are to have dinner with Ingrith, King John, and Prince Phillip, Gerda announces their presences. After Ingrith provokes Maleficent in a way that causes her to lash out, Gerda shoots Maleficent in the sky when she tries to fly away from the castle which causes her to fall down the water below, only for Maleficent to be rescued by Conall from drowning. Afterwards, Gerda informs Ingrith of what happened and tells her Conall ressembles Maleficent.
As part of a trap, Gerda loudly announces to the creatures of the Moors via loudspeakers that they are all expected to be present at Aurora and Phillip's wedding. She also directs an attack towards the Moors in order to steal Tomb Bloom flowers.
Three days after Gerda's announcement, once all the magical creatures are present inside a chapel, Gerda hears Ingrith's order to "start the music." She then plays an organ that releases red iron dust onto magical creatures inside the chapel, which kills them. Flittle puts an end to Gerda's single-handed genocide by going inside the organ's pipes, causing her to leave behind blue flowers that render Gerda unable to resume playing the organ, sacrificing herself. When Gerda tries to get the organ working again, Knotgrass and Thistlewit avenge Flittle by attacking Gerda and causing her to lose her grasp on the organ's pipes, resulting in her screaming as she plummets to her presumed demise. She is not seen again after this.
Trivia
- Gerda's name is never mentioned in the film itself; however, her name is shown in the end credits.
- Although not explicitly said, it can possibly be inferred and noted that her character was possibly inspired by Lord Duke, a character from the original Sleeping Beauty and Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, as they are both head servants who act as advisors to the monarchs (Ingrith, Gerda; King Stefan, Duke). The differences is that Duke is a good gentleman who follows Stefan’s good laws and deeds while Gerda is an evil woman who follows Gerda’s evil deeds. Another difference is that Duke is a lord and a messenger and Gerda is an engineer.
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