The Snow Queen recap

A malicious mirror makes goodness appear ugly, and fragments of it scatter across the world. Two pieces strike Kai, changing him from Gerda's loving friend into a cold and mocking boy. The Snow Queen takes him to her northern palace, where he forgets Gerda and struggles with a puzzle made from ice. Gerda journeys in search of him, escaping an enchanted garden and receiving help from a crow, a prince and princess, a robber girl, a reindeer, and wise women of the far north. She enters the Snow Queen's palace without weapons or magic. Her warm tears reach Kai's frozen heart and remove the mirror's influence, restoring his memory and love. The two return home together, now grown, with their childhood bond intact.

A malicious being makes a mirror that twists whatever it reflects: good and beautiful things look worthless, while flaws become grotesque. When the mirror breaks, its fragments spread throughout the world. A splinter that enters an eye distorts the victim's sight, and one that reaches a heart makes it hard and cold. In a crowded town, the neighboring children Gerda and Kai are devoted friends who tend roses together. One day fragments strike Kai in the eye and heart. He becomes mocking and destructive, rejects Gerda, and delights in ugliness. During winter he ties his sled to a magnificent sleigh driven by the Snow Queen. She carries him away, numbing him with kisses until he forgets his home and Gerda.

With Kai still missing, Gerda sets out to ask the river whether he is dead. Her small boat drifts downstream and brings her to an old woman who knows magic. The woman wants Gerda to remain with her, so she combs away the girl's memories and removes every rose from her ever-blooming garden. Gerda spends an enchanted stretch of time among the flowers, unaware of her purpose. At last she notices a painted rose, remembers Kai, and questions the garden's flowers. They cannot tell her where he is, but convince her that he is not buried in the earth. Gerda realizes how long she has been delayed and leaves the garden to resume her search.

Gerda meets a crow who has heard of a clever young stranger marrying a princess. Hoping the stranger is Kai, she follows the crow into the palace at night, but the prince is not her friend. The prince and princess treat her kindly after hearing her story, giving her warm clothes and a fine carriage so she can continue. Robbers attack the carriage in the forest and take Gerda captive. Their leader's fierce daughter keeps Gerda as a companion and hears about Kai and the Snow Queen. Captive pigeons report that they saw the Snow Queen carrying Kai toward Lapland, and the robber girl's reindeer knows the northern country. The robber girl, moved by Gerda's loyalty, frees the Reindeer and sends Gerda north on his back.

The Reindeer carries Gerda into Lapland. A Lapland woman shelters them and sends a message written on a dried fish to a wise Finnish woman farther north. The Finnish woman explains that mirror fragments have lodged in Kai's eye and heart. The Reindeer asks her to give Gerda power enough to defeat the Snow Queen, but she says Gerda already possesses the greatest power available to her: the strength created by her loving, innocent purpose. Gerda is left near the Snow Queen's garden without boots or mittens. She withstands the living snowflakes guarding the way by praying; her breath takes the form of angels that break the hostile flakes apart. She then advances alone toward the palace where Kai is held.

While the Snow Queen is away, Gerda enters her immense frozen palace. Kai sits blue with cold at the center of a frozen lake, arranging sharp pieces of ice in an effort to form the word that will win his release. He does not recognize Gerda. She embraces him and weeps; her warm tears reach his heart and melt away the mirror fragment. When Kai recognizes her and cries, the fragment in his eye is washed out as well. The ice pieces dance into the required pattern, but Kai no longer needs the promised reward: he and Gerda leave freely. Helped again by the Reindeer and the women of the north, they travel south and meet the robber girl, who tells them news of the prince, princess, and crow. They finally reach their old home and realize they are now grown. Beside the roses they recall a hymn about retaining a child's trusting spirit, and their long separation ends with their friendship restored.

Gerda reaches the Snow Queen's palace and finds Kai nearly frozen, unable to recognize her, and occupied with arranging pieces of ice into a puzzle. Her tears warm him and wash the mirror splinter from his eye, while his own tears free the piece lodged in his heart. He remembers her, and their joy completes the puzzle, winning the freedom the Snow Queen had promised him. They leave the palace together and retrace Gerda's route south, learning what became of several friends who helped her. When they finally return home, they discover that they have grown up, although their love and sense of wonder remain. Sitting beside the familiar roses, they understand the grandmother's hymn about entering heaven with the trusting spirit of a child.