Netflix’s popular original animated series, Disenchantment, has been going for four seasons, and the fifth season is the last we will see of our beloved character Bean. The series follows Princess Bean, a rebellious adventurer who has suddenly found a purpose in saving her kingdom, Dreamland, from her evil mother, Queen Dagmar. The story so far has been chaotic but fun to watch. The satirical humor layered with black comedy worked every time. Season five, created and written by Matt Groening, has once again come back with the same characters, and this time, they are headed toward a series finale. It will be interesting to know where all the characters end up by the end of this ten-episode show.
Spoilers Ahead
Bean’s Plans
Disenchantment Season 5 begins with the aftermath of Bean being thrown off the palace balcony by her mother, Queen Dagmar. Fortunately, Bean is saved by a mermaid named Mora. As we know through previous seasons, Bean considers Mora the love of her life and is willing to make big changes for her. Mora requests that she stay back in the sea with her because no one is expecting her to come back.
Mora is hoping Bean and she can restart their lives by getting to know each other. She is skeptical about Bean’s plans to go back to Dreamland. Bean has her reasons. She owes it to her father and friends to save Dreamland from Dagmar’s evil. Bean comes back to Dreamland only to see Elfo crying over the headless body of Bad Bean and proclaiming his love for her. Bean and Elfo have been friends for a while now. For Elfo, losing her is a big deal. Bean had to come back because she had a bigger goal to fulfill. She dislikes her mother, and she would go to any extent to make sure Dagmar was thrown out of power.
Bean’s priority is to bring her father back. She locates her father in Steamland, thanks to Mora. We think Dreamland is a place where every possible scenario exists. A medieval kingdom that has tech gadgets and magical powers that help Bean find solutions to her problems. Bean and Mora decide to head to Steamland with only one goal.
Mora and Bean are in love at this point, and they will do anything for each other. We also think Bean is fickle-minded because she tends to change plans frequently. This pacing was engaging in the earlier seasons, but at this early stage of this installment, the screenplay seems repetitive.
Dagmar’s Quest
Dagmar is elated to have supposedly killed her daughter by the end of Disenchantment Season 4. She knows Bean did not serve her any purpose. Dagmar’s bigger plan is to rejoin Bad Bean’s decapitated body and head in the hope of bringing back a daughter who will follow her orders. Dagmar’s character so far is one-note. Dagmar is married to Satan, and the man so far is showing traits of a loyal husband. Satan is manipulating Luci, the demon, to make sure he reveals the location of Bad Bean’s decapitated body.
Dagmar is only vile, but she cannot manipulate Bean’s friends because they are aware of her intentions. Dagmar manages to locate Bad Bean’s body, uses powers to make the body move, and goes after Bean’s friends to locate the head. Since Bean left the kingdom and requested Elfo, Luci, and Mop Girl to protect Dreamland, the trio has done everything they can to keep their promise. This narrative of the headless body going after Elfo and Mop Girl Miri is a bit of a stretch, and the whole gag tests our patience. It did not serve any purpose. We don’t feel any empathy towards Dagmar either, and she was written in this way to project evil as it is, with no redemption arc.
Bean In Steam Land
Bean visits Steamland once again, but her goal is to track down her father. King Zøg was able to get away from the freakshow, but he couldn’t save his children, Freckles, Jasper, and Derek. King Zøg might come across as a loud-mouthed monarch, but at heart, he is a loving man who would do anything for his family. Bean finds her father’s crown at a pawn shop, only to realize her father is currently living with Alva.
Alva is a tech geek, a squalid squirrel fanatic, and obsessed with Bean. Mora and Bean distract Alva and let the King slip away from his home. Bean’s goals have not changed but only slightly deviated because that is the nature of the screenplay. Things around them change in a jiffy, and people find solutions rather quickly. Bean does not feel comfortable living under Alva’s roof, which is why she steals his electrofish, which is a fantasy word for submarine, in the hope of helping everyone who is stuck at the freakshow, including her half-brothers.
Bean does not want to disappoint her father, and that’s the reason for the detour. Both father and daughter rescue everyone from the freakshow. The King’s sons, his lover, Odval, the prime minister, and some random boy who was not related to them. The group that has been rescued gets into the electrofish to leave Steamland. Meanwhile, Bean and her father end up having to escape on a hot air balloon. Bean and her father finally spent some time together in the hot air balloon. The scene was added to make sure the father and daughter get enough time to be part of the adventure. Though Bean is used to being feisty, this was the first time her father joined her, and we assume he enjoyed it.
Bean In Maru
King Zøg and Bean embark on a journey to the land of Maru, where Bean meets Queen Prudence, who has been rendered powerless by Dagmar. The Queen helps Bean channel and control her powers, especially when she is confronting her very powerful mother. Bean succeeds in doing so. The hatred will only cease when her mother is destroyed completely. Bean learns of a prophecy in Maru that states that she might end up killing a loved one. She believes it might be directed towards her mother getting killed by her. But that could be a red herring. The prophecy can also mean she will either kill her father, Mora, or any of her friends because she loves them.
Bean is worried, but she cannot let a prophecy derail her plans to take back Dreamland. They leave Maru on a flight, only for it to crash. Bean and King Zøg’s adventures do not seem to end. They are taken to the Twinkle Town Asylum, where she encounters many patients who have killed their mothers. The difference is that those patients have some serious mental ailments, while Bean’s wanting to get rid of her mother is a practical solution.
Bean has, unfortunately, had a meltdown. She subconsciously cannot get rid of her mother. We feel the ‘only child syndrome’ and Bean’s need for her mother’s approval could be the reasons that are stopping her. Bean is also not sure if she can forgive herself for committing matricide.
Bad Bean’s Death
Just like before, King Zøg and Bean escape the asylum and move towards Dreamland in the hope of confronting Dagmar one last time. The adventure they embark on feels never-ending. We feel the writers made these characters take a big detour around places that they have been part of throughout the last four seasons. This is just to jog our memory. On the other hand, the electrofish driven by Mora almost sink when they are rescued by Oona. Oona has turned into a pirate, but she is only the motherly figure that Bean looks up to. She has more love for her stepmother than Dagmar.
Bean arrives at the castle with her father. Her allies raise a war cry, which unites almost every creature under Bean’s banner, ready to fight against Dagmar. This war was imminent between two women of the same family. Bean wanted to restore the old glory of Dreamland, while Dagmar wanted to utilize her evil powers to control the minds of the people. As the battle begins, we see Bean and Bad Bean going after each other with their powers. For the first time, the scenario becomes serious because both women will not stop at anything. We feel both women are equally powerful. Bean, in a bid to kill Bad Bean, gets hoodwinked by the latter’s magic and accidentally kills Mora, which enrages her. The prophecy, unfortunately, comes true. She uses all her powers, channeling her anger, to kill Bad Bean. But the death of Mora puts her into depression, and she is unwilling to fight her mother.
Mora’s Resurrection
Luci, long before the battle, informs Satan that Dagmar will not show any respect once this battle is won. He creates this dilemma in Satan so that he betrays his wife and makes the right choice of going back to Hell. Luci’s plans work as Satan starts doubting Dagmar’s intentions. Dagmar ends up killing Luci by drowning him in lava. He reaches heaven once again and accidentally ends up killing God. Luci, though, is successful in resurrecting God. Impressed by the demon’s work to bring him back from death, God offers him a boon. Luci did not ask for his life back. Instead, he asked for Mora to be brought back from death for Bean. Luci likes Bean a lot, and they have been good friends. With him gone, he would want Mora to be with Bean. God grants Luci’s wish.
Dagmar’s Punishment
The plot of Disenchantment Season 5 from here goes on a cyclical loop, and many revelations happen. The writers crammed in too many things in the last two episodes. The battle between the mother and daughter began. The battle moves to Crystal Cave, which has tremendous amounts of water and magic. The back and forth between Dagmar and Bean ends with the mother getting brutally stabbed by a large crystal. It does not kill her, but the cave starts collapsing on her. Satan arrives by her side to give her one last chance to give up her quest for power. She agrees with him in the hope of moving back to Hell. Dagmar is stuck in a cage with Freckles just outside of the palace. There is no definite end to her life. She will be stuck forever in a limbo-like state where she will not live or die. This is the worst kind of fate. Dagmar brought it on herself by going to the dark side long ago. Disenchantment Season 5 ending could have been fifteen minutes shorter. The writing seemed desperate, and the screenplay was rushed and did not make sense.
Mora And Bean’s Happy Ending
Disenchantment Season 5 ends with a long epilogue about all the characters finding love. King Zøg moves back to the forest with his lover, Ursula. He gives up the throne to be in love and enjoy retirement. The throne is given to Mop Girl Miri for playing an important part in defeating Dagmar. Elfo will be her consort, and Pig Meriker will be the prime minister. These changes are monumental and will allow society to be more accepting of other creatures. The writers wanted to hint at the topic of inclusivity. The ex-prime minister Odval marries Sorcerio, the potion maker and magician at the court. This is probably the first gay marriage in the kingdom.
Satan reaches Hell, his home. He is expected to write in the names of the people in the ‘Book of the Dead.’ To everyone’s surprise, he crosses off the names of Bean and Mora from the book, and after a bit of thought, he crosses off his son Luci’s name as well. It was Satan’s way of letting them go, especially his son Luci, the demon, so that he could live his life the way he wanted, away from his father’s shadow. We believe this was to project Satan in a good light and was meant as a subtle commentary that a son doesn’t need to follow in his father’s footsteps to do great things in life. In the wake of Luci not returning to Hell, God gives Luci wings, implying that Luci is now an angel. Luci’s ultimate sacrifice for Bean and bringing God back to life are the reasons behind the divine figure bestowing this blessing on him.
Meanwhile, Bean, who has given up her claim to the throne, decides to spend the rest of her life with Mora on a beach away from life’s struggles. They found a happy space for themselves where they could spend the rest of their lives being in love. The last sequence was strictly for fans of the show, but it generated no excitement. We feel Disenchantment deserved a better ending.
The Post Credits Scene
In the post-credits scene, Elfo, the prince consort, asks the guards to close the drawbridge at the request of the Queen herself. As the guards close the gate, a pink cloud appears, and the Dreamland Castle disappears into thin air as if someone performed magic. With this, we can assume the castle Dreamland is either erased from people’s memories or has been moved to some other location. Since the current monarch is an elf, the castle could be in Elfwood, where new stories and new adventures await all of them.
