The witch also leaves Merida a riddle: "Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond torn by pride," which contains the way to revert the spell. The message repeats the phrase once more before disappearing.
As witches tend to do in these stories, the witch offers vague instructions about breaking the curse: “Fate be changed. Look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride.” Merida and Elinor have to work together and listen to each other as they work to break the curse.
Princess Merida: [voice over] Some say our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one's destiny intertwines with many others. It's the one thing we search for, or fight to change.
Princess Merida : [last lines; narrating] There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.
Merida eagerly asks for a spell to change her mother, but the witch refuses, claiming she did a spell once before, and regretted it. However, Merida gets her to reconsider when she agrees to purchase all her wood carvings.
The misunderstood dialect that Young MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd) speaks is called Doric. It is spoken in northeastern Scotland, including Kevin McKidd's hometown of Elgin. This is the first Pixar movie set entirely in the historic past.
Young MacGuffin was to be the suitor that Merida chooses in the initial version of the film (hence his name), but this idea was later changed. In the final version, it's explicitly stated that Merida does not want to marry at all, and ultimately remains single by the end of the film.
She wanted her freedom and her independence, not to be married off to a nobleman. Merida was only 16 years old in Brave, so it made sense why she had no real interest in getting married anytime soon.
After Merida learned that the old woman in the cottage that the Will O' the Wisps led her to is a witch she asked her to give her a spell; to change her mother so she doesn't have to marry one of the lords' sons.
The Spell Cake is a magical spell that takes the form of a small pastry. It has the ability to change one's fate if consumed. The Witch created the spell and gave one to Merida.
Her mother burns her bow, but after she's left, she quickly pulls it out of the fire in regret. Merida is led to a witch, and she buys her wood carvings and a spell by giving away her necklace. Merida wants a spell to change her mother, which will in turn change her fate, or so she thinks.
"Since yer sayin' it an' ah wisn't there t' see it maself, I'll gae ahead and take yer word fer it though." (trans: "Since you are saying it and I wasn't there to see it for myself, I'll go ahead and take your word for it.")
She speaks English with a heavy Scottish accent, which is consistent with her character from the original film "Brave." The accent adds authenticity to her character and helps maintain continuity with the portrayal of Merida in her original movie.
Clan DunBroch is a Scottish clan in Brave. It is the ruling clan of the kingdom of the same name, to which belongs King Fergus and his family, including Merida. Its symbol is the sword. The emblem of The Kingdom of DunBroch is three bears disposed in a circle.
That's what the wisps are doing. There's a duality to them because they're either good or evil—they lead Merida into more and more trouble, but in the end, they've led her exactly where she needs to go.
The will-o'-the-wisp is a flame-like phosphorescence caused by gases from decaying plants in marshy areas. In olden days, it was personified as "Will with the wisp," a sprite who carried a fleeting "wisp" of light. Foolish travelers were said to try to follow the light and were then led astray into the marsh.
The reason Elinor was turned into a bear is to show how far a mother bear will go to protect her child, as shown in the climax with Mor'du. Similar to Marlin, another Pixar character who is a parent, Elinor also has a rocky relationship with her offspring in the beginning of the film.
