Breaking Dawn recap

Bella marries Edward and, on their honeymoon, becomes unexpectedly pregnant with a half-vampire child that grows dangerously fast and threatens her life. Only Rosalie supports her refusal to end it. Seen partly through Jacob's eyes, the crisis splits the wolves: Sam's pack means to destroy the Cullens, so Jacob breaks away with Seth and Leah to protect Bella. The violent birth nearly kills Bella, and Edward transforms her into a vampire to save her; their daughter, Renesmee, is born, and Jacob imprints on her. Bella adjusts remarkably well to vampire life, and the family knows peace until Irina mistakes Renesmee for a forbidden immortal child and reports her to the Volturi. The Volturi gather to destroy the child; the Cullens summon witnesses from around the world, and Bella discovers she can shield others with her mind. At the confrontation, Alice returns with Nahuel, proof that such a child is harmless, and the Volturi withdraw, leaving the family safe.

Previously: Bella Swan fell in love with the vampire Edward Cullen and, over three books, resolved to become a vampire so they could be together forever. Along the way several vampire enemies were destroyed, including the tracker James and his vengeful mate Victoria and her newborn army. Bella also grew to love her werewolf best friend, Jacob Black, one of the Quileute shape-shifters sworn to protect people from vampires, but she chose a life with Edward. The Volturi, the ancient rulers of the vampire world, decreed that Bella must be turned into a vampire. Edward agreed to change her, but only after she agreed to marry him, and the couple prepared for their wedding as Jacob, heartbroken, fled.

Bella and Edward marry, and Jacob briefly reappears before storming off in anguish. On their honeymoon on a secluded island, the couple finally consummate their marriage, and Edward is horrified to find he has bruised Bella despite his care. Soon afterward Bella realizes she is pregnant, though a union between a vampire and a human was thought impossible. The baby grows at an alarming, unnatural speed, visibly harming her. Edward, terrified the pregnancy will kill her, wants it ended, but Bella refuses, determined to protect the child, and insists on returning home to carry it to term whatever the cost.

The dangerous pregnancy consumes Bella from within as the half-vampire child grows too fast for her human body, and only Rosalie stands firmly with her against the family's fears. Much of this is seen through Jacob's eyes. His pack, led by Sam, decides the unnatural pregnancy and the Cullens themselves are a threat that must be destroyed, and Jacob breaks away, forming his own small pack with Seth and Leah to defend Bella. The birth is violent and nearly fatal: the child, a daughter Bella names Renesmee, is delivered as Bella dies, and Edward injects his venom into her heart to transform her into a vampire and save her. At the newborn's side, Jacob, expecting to hate her, instead imprints on the infant Renesmee, binding himself to her protection for life.

Bella awakens as a vampire and, to everyone's surprise, adjusts with rare control and strength, even resisting human blood on her first hunt. She is overjoyed by her daughter, Renesmee, who grows and learns at an astonishing rate and communicates by touching people to share her thoughts. Jacob's imprinting means he is now constantly near the child, easing the old feud. The family lives in a period of contented peace. To keep her father in her life, Bella arranges for Charlie to understand that she has changed in ways he must not question, giving him a partial, careful glimpse of the truth while Jacob helps bridge the gap. Bella also begins to sense that she has a special ability of her own.

The peace shatters when Irina, a grieving vampire allied to the Cullens, glimpses Renesmee from a distance and mistakes her for an immortal child, a human turned as a small child, a creation the Volturi outlawed long ago as uncontrollable. Irina reports this to the Volturi, who assemble their full guard to come and destroy the child and the Cullens. Learning they have only weeks, the Cullens summon vampire friends from around the world to serve as witnesses that Renesmee is not what Irina believes, but a living half-human child who grows normally. Bella discovers her power is a mental shield able to protect others from the Volturi's mind-based gifts, and she trains hard to extend it. Alice and Jasper abruptly vanish, leaving a cryptic clue, and the family prepares to stand against overwhelming force.

The Volturi arrive in force on a snowy field, intent on destroying Renesmee and the Cullens, but are met by the Cullens' assembled witnesses and the allied wolves. Bella's shield protects her family from the Volturi's powers, neutralizing their greatest advantage. As tension teeters toward battle, Alice returns with Nahuel, a fully grown half-human, half-vampire man who proves that such children mature safely and threaten no one. With their pretext gone and unable to win against the shielded, well-defended Cullens, the Volturi withdraw without a fight. The threat lifts, the gathered vampires and wolves disperse, and the Cullens are left in peace. In the closing, Bella uses her shield in reverse to let Edward finally see into her mind and share the depth of her love, and the family looks ahead to a lasting future together.

The Volturi confront the Cullens and their gathered allies on a snowfield, meaning to destroy Renesmee as an outlawed immortal child and to punish the family. Bella's newly discovered gift, a mental shield she can spread over others, blocks the Volturi's powers and denies them the advantage they counted on. Alice, who had disappeared to search for evidence, returns at the decisive moment with Nahuel, a grown half-human, half-vampire man whose long, stable life proves that Renesmee is not dangerous and will mature normally. Stripped of any justification and unable to prevail against the shielded, heavily supported Cullens, the Volturi choose to leave rather than fight, and no battle takes place. The immediate danger ends: Renesmee is safe, the visiting vampires and the wolves depart, and the old hostility between the Cullens and the wolf pack is healed, cemented by Jacob's bond with Renesmee. Bella is fully at home in her vampire life, mated to Edward, mother to their daughter, and reconciled with her father, who stays part of her life without knowing everything. In the final moment, Bella lowers her shield to let Edward read her thoughts for the first time, sharing the whole of her love, and the family faces an open, peaceful future.