Damsel Plot Summary
Damsel revolves around a brave young princess who is definitely not a damsel — Elodie. Elodie is kind and noble but that does not feed her starving kingdom. With no food or money, even her father, Lord Bayford, is at wits end. So when a marriage proposal for Elodie arrives from a rich kingdom’s prince, they are all too ready to accept. Elodie is told that it’s her duty to get married so her kingdom can survive.
So, off they to the kingdom of Aurea, where Elodie gets married to handsome Prince Henry. Afterwards, the newlyweds are taken to a cave in the mountains for an ancestral ritual. Queen Isabelle describes how a king had encountered a dragon and made a deal with the creature — three young daughters in exchange for the kingdom’s safety. Every single generation. The queen then smears a bit of Henry’s blood with Elodie’s, on her palm, and throws her into a dark pit.
Things seem pretty bleak for Elodie, but does she make it out alive? How does Damsel end? Read on for a full, detailed explanation.
Where does Elodie find herself?
Elodie wakes up in the mountain’s caves and soon finds herself chased by the dragon. She runs and uses the various parts of her wedding ensemble to hide and protect herself. She gets burned but she also finds a cave of blue glow worms that heal her injuries. While running from the dragon, she ends up in a section of the tunnels where she finds inscriptions made by many women, with their names scribbled on the wall.
Who arrives to help Elodie?
One of the inscriptions has a map of the entire place that seems to lead to an escape. Elodie follows the map and even climbs a wall of crystals which leads to an opening, but it is simply a window on the sheer mountainside. There is no way down. From up high, she sees three men arrive at the base of the mountain. The dragon attacks her again but they both get distracted by the sound of a man calling for Elodie. It’s Elodie’s father! He’s come back to save her, along with two soldiers and a peasant who showed them a passage to the cave.
What is the truth about the dragon?
Elodie follows her father’s voice and comes to a chamber where she finds scattered gold jewellery and in between it all, three dead bodies of young dragons. Elodie realises that all those years ago, the king killed the dragon’s three young children in order to steal the gold they were born with. That’s when the dragon attacked. When only the king was left, he begged for mercy. The dragon decided to inflict the pain she’s felt on the king himself and so the bargain of three daughters per generation was struck.
Lord Bayford and his men keep calling out to Elodie, which inevitably attracts the dragon’s attention. She takes care of the other men and Lord Bayford is the only one left. Elodie reaches in time to see the dragon corner Lord Bayford. Lord Bayford admits that he chose to trade Elodie for the good of his people, but in the end he couldn’t accept the gold. When Lord Bayford refused to call Elodie out, the dragon fatally attacks him and then begins to hunt Elodie out.
How does Elodie get out of the mountain?
The dragon gets distracted by the sound of the peasant who came with Bayford and flies in that direction. Elodie goes up to her dying father, who tells her to go towards the ropes they used to enter the mountain and then get to the ship, where Floria and her stepmother are waiting. After killing the peasant, the dragon realises that Elodie is climbing the ropes. She attacks but Elodie makes it outside. She runs and hides among the rocks, which frustrates the dragon, who sets the area ablaze.
Queen Isabelle sees the flames and knows something is wrong. She storms up to the ship, where soldiers grab Floria and stab Lady Bayford. Sometime later, Elodie leaves her hiding spot and comes across Lady Bayford, who tells her Floria is being taken to the cave. Elodie takes her horse and sets out to save her sister.
Does Elodie kill the dragon?
At the cave, Henry refuses to give his blood since Floria is so young. Isabelle smears her own blood on her and throws her into the pit. By the time Elodie reaches, the cave is empty. She uses the ropes on the bridge to go back into the mountain’s depths.
This time, Elodie knows what she needs to do and preps herself with a sword, cutting her hair off. She even constructs a contraption out of her hair, helmets and some gunpowder. After some time, the heat makes the contraption fall over and create a ruckus. The sounds pulls the dragon away from Floria and Elodie grabs that moment to reach her sister. But they’re not quick enough and the dragon comes back. Elodie stands up to the dragon and tries to tell her that the women she’s killed have not been the king’s descendants but innocent girls. The dragon doesn’t listen and attacks. Elodie puts up a good fight, suffering some burns but taking out one of the dragon’s eyes.
Ultimately, Elodie lures the dragon towards a part of the cave with a curved wall. The dragon shoots her flames and as Elodie expected, they rebound back towards the dragon herself. Elodie walks up to the weakened dragon and explains why she smells the royal blood on innocent women. The dragon tells Elodie to end it, but Elodie refuses. Instead she gets the glow worms and heals the dragon.
How does Damsel end?
Back at the palace, Henry is getting engaged to yet another princess. Elodie makes a grand entrance in her shredded dress which she wears like armour. Elodie tells the bride to take her family and run. She gives the other royals a chance to run as well but they don’t take it. The dragon arrives and sets fire to the whole place, killing Isabelle and Henry and bringing down their palace. Elodie walks out triumphantly, closely followed by the dragon.
Later, Elodie, Floria and Lady Bayford set out to return to their country, now armed with enough supplies to get the kingdom back on its feet. Elodie tells Lady Bayford they will run it together. They set course for home on their ship, with the dragon flying by their side.