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5. Flora:    “Sword of Truth, fly swift and sure, that evil die and good endure.”

As Prince Phillip teeters on a crumbling cliff, a step away from falling to his death, he is able to strike at Maleficent’s dragon one last time. The quote verbalizes the joint wishes of Phillip and all the fairies in this culminating moment of battle. The normally charming rhyming spells of the grandmotherly fairies take a twisted turn here with a rhyming prophesy of death, through which Flora essentially blesses the murder of Maleficent. Spells or prophecies delivered through rhyme schemes seem familiar, as if the speaker repeats something tried-and-true, passed down through the generations. This couplet, for instance, rolls off the tongue as if long-held wisdom has been perfected into a catchy phrase. Ancient storytellers like Homer passed down their tales in rhyme schemes to make them easier to recite. The classic struggles had to be rhythmic and easily remembered, so that they stuck in the listeners’ and tellers’ heads. Any prophesy in rhyme suggests a resuming of some classic battle, and here suggests that Flora’s words have historical veracity. She reminds the audience that this murder is both necessary and right, and that truth and goodness will emerge victorious from Phillip’s one strike of truth.

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