King Edmund is a character in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. He is the ruler of the Dark Kingdom and the long-lost father of Eugene Fitzherbert.
Background
Edmund comes from a long line of monarchs and warriors that have sworn to protect the world from the Moonstone Opal, a powerful stone created by a single drop of moonlight that harnesses the power of death and destruction. When Edmund assumed the throne, he also assumed the destiny of his ancestors by devoting himself to keeping the Moonstone's power at bay. In the midst, Edmund's wife gave birth to a baby boy, Horace. During Horace's infancy, Edmund grew tired of the damage caused by the Moonstone and tried to destroy it once and for all. However, upon doing so, the Dark Kingdom was nearly destroyed in a catastrophic event that killed his wife. Riddled with guilt and determined to keep his surviving subjects safe, Edmund ordered for a kingdom-wide evacuation. Horace was taken away by a servant woman and placed in an orphanage. Edmund sent ravens to watch over his son, but eventually, they lost track of him, but they would bring Horace's childhood toys and wanted posters to comfort him. In that time, Horace was renamed Eugene.
Meanwhile, Edmund's most trusted warriors (Quirin, Adira, and Hector) formed a group known as the Brotherhood that was sworn to keep all away from the Moonstone. Edmund, meanwhile, remained in the Dark Kingdom to keep the stone's magic out of the wrong hands.
Role in the series
When Rapunzel's party arrived in "Destinies Collide", Edmund tried to send the group to their doom, by cutting the line to a gondola carrying them. He stopped himself from killing his son when he realized who he was because of his eyes. Happy to be reunited with his son, he explained to him the legacy of the Dark Kings in keeping the Moonstone's power in check, revealing how it killed his wife in an effort to show why Eugene couldn't let Rapunzel near it. However, his son started to resent him because he abandoned him in infancy, but reluctantly enters.
Later in a climactic battle with his ancestors, he was asked by his son to have faith in Rapunzel. He helped defeat the ghost of his ancestors and allowed Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra inside the moonstone room in hope to end destruction for once and all.
Unfortunately, Cassandra took the Moonstone, fused with it, and ran away. Edmund tried to talk to Eugene before Rapunzel and the team left the Dark Kingdom to save Corona.
In "Return of the King", Edmund arrives in Corona to give his son a family heirloom: a sash with their kingdom's symbol. However, the sash is stolen for a ransom of gold. While en route to the ransom's destination, Edmund tries to spend some time with his son and they both discover their mutual love for "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider" books. However, their bonding moment is cut short when the Stabbington Brothers attack them, and Eugene discovers that Edmund had stolen the sash himself in order to spend some time with him. Upset by his father's "lies", Eugene angrily hands him back the sash and leaves for Corona, leaving Edmund hurt and downhearted.
Edmund is soon captured by the Stabbington Brothers as a bait for Eugene. After learning of his father's capture at the hands of the Stabbingtons, Eugene decides to go back to rescue his father, only to fall into the Stabbingtons' trap upon arrival at the scene. Edmund is forced to watch as the Stabbingtons drop a boulder on Eugene, leaving him to grieve over apparently losing his son. Eugene, however, is trapped in a cave behind the boulder and learns that his father had kept tabs on him by holding onto his old toys. Soon, Rapunzel arrives to free Eugene from the cave and assists him in rescuing his father from the Stabbingtons. The two succeed in rescuing Edmund, who remarks how amazing Rapunzel is as he begins to admire her, but the sash is destroyed in the process. Later, Edmund, having decided that he does not want the old sash, gifts his son a new one he has made with assistance from Xavier. The new sash incorporates the colors of their favorite "Flynnigan Rider" books.
In "Cassandra's Revenge", Edmund attends his son's surprise birthday that takes place inside the party hall of Corona Castle and confirms Eugene to be 26 years old (a year older than Eugene thinks he is). He is also shown to have developed a healthy relationship with Rapunzel's parents, King Frederic and Queen Arianna, and exchanges a high-five with Frederic as a sign of camaraderie. Unfortunately, the surprise birthday is cut short when Cassandra crashes the event.
In "Once a Handmaiden...", Edmund appears in Corona, to celebrate festival. Cassandra, who realizes that Zhan Tiri used her to furfill her plans, feels remorseful for what she did, so she goes under disguise so she can redeem in Rapunzel's eyes. However, Zhan Tiri takes off the disguise and Cassandra is revealed. Hector and Adira, who are mind-controlled by Moonstone, arrive and confront everyone. Lance Strongbow unwillingly fights with Adira, while Edmund fights with Hector. Edmund defeats Hector and tries to convince his son not to stay in the castle too long to fight. He, along with the others, is seen smiling when Rapunzel wakes up. He is last seen in the background, angrily glaring at the fallen kingdom.
In "Plus Est En Vous", Edmund is among the crowd that Rapunzel rallies to take back Corona after it was conquered by Cassandra under Zhan Tiri's machinations. His admiration and fondness for Rapunzel has grown to the point he smiles at a prospect of having her as a daughter-in-law one day. Later, Edmund and the citizens of Corona storm into Corona Castle, and make their way to the throne room. While Rapunzel goes off to face Cassandra, the others build a portal—the same portal that Lord Demanitus once used to banish Zhan Tiri to the Lost Realm thousands of years ago—in the room to send Zhan Tiri back to the realm. Edmund and Eugene leave the room to investigate a sudden earthquake and return to the room to find everyone else gone; during their brief absence, Hamuel has accidentally activated the portal, causing the citizens of Corona to be sucked through the portal and into the Lost Realm. Before they could rescue the others, a brainwashed Quirin and Hector attacks the two. Eugene informs Edmund about a Mind Trap that is in Cassandra's Tower, so they go to the tower find and destroy the Mind Trap. Upon arrival, Adira steals the Mind Trap, which also brainwashes Edmund, leaving Eugene to fight against the Brotherhood all by himself, only to be quickly defeated. As the mind-controlled Edmund prepares to finish off Eugene, Eugene makes an emotional plea to his father, confessing that while he initially resented his father for sending him away as a baby, Eugene has come to understand that his father's reasons of doing so was to protect him and thus, he forgives him. Eugene's words reach Edmund, who willingly destroys the Mind Trap, freeing himself and the Brotherhood from its effects.
As Edmund embraces his son, Eugene reminds him of Rapunzel's fight for their kingdoms, prompting both of them to hurry back to Corona. They arrive just in time to witness Zhan Tiri, who has transformed into a demon, emerging out of the castle. Edmund then joins the citizens of Corona (who are rescued from the Lost Realm by Quirin) in the battle against Zhan Tiri, but like everyone else, he is weakened by the demon's Decay Incantation and is later revived by Rapunzel's Healing Incantation following Zhan Tiri's defeat at the hands of Rapunzel and a redeemed Cassandra. With peace restored to Corona, Edmund proudly watches as Eugene, Rapunzel, and Cassandra share a group hug.
At the end of the series finale, Rapunzel's spirit inspires Edmund to return home with the Brotherhood to rebuild the Dark Kingdom. He smiles at the sight of life returning to his kingdom and thriving once again after all the Black Rocks that had originally overridden the land have completely disappeared. Eugene also narrates that he and his father have never lost touch again.
Gallery
Trivia
- King Edmund lost his right arm after touching the moonstone.
- The necklace with the purple gem that he wears is the same one his wife was wearing in the portrait.
- Despite not making a physical appearance until season two, King Edmund was part of the original pitch for the series.[2]
- Similar to how King Frederic's paranoia has morphed him into an overbearing parental figure eerily similar to Mother Gothel, Edmund sending Eugene away to protect him mirrors Gothel's abandonment of Cassandra, as these circumstances led to both Eugene and Cassandra feeling like they were worthless and had to prove themselves. The difference is Edmund's actions are out of genuine love, while Gothel's were out of selfishness for power.
References
- ↑ "Bobby Pontillas post". Tumblr. Retrieved on December 4, 2018.
- ↑ "Tangled Series Pitch Twitter Post". Twitter (March 5, 2020).
