Maleficent and Aurora have a close relationship, like a mother-daughter relationship. Even after learning Maleficent's identity and going away from her, after realizing that her father, Stefan, does not show any love or genuine care for her, Aurora sees Maleficent as her fairy godmother.
Since watching Aurora over her childhood years, Maleficent soon grew a maternal love for her. One day Aurora thought that Maleficent was her faerie godmother and often visited the Moors while Maleficent tried to stop the curse but she herself had said no power on Earth could cure it apart from true love's kiss.
As Aurora grows up, Maleficent finds herself looking after the girl from a distance and protecting her so that she survives to her 16th birthday. In fact, she becomes very fond of the girl and seeks to undo her curse.
Maleficent confirms that Aurora will grow in grace and beauty, "beloved by all who know her", but as revenge for not being invited by the kingdom, she curses Aurora so that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die.
Essentially, it boils down to the fact that when Aurora's parents excluded Maleficent but invited the other fairies, they had made a passive-aggressive statement that they saw her as an enemy.
Stefan takes his time killing Maleficent by brutally torturing her. Then, after pulling out his sword, he prepares to finish her off but just before he can impale her, Maleficent's wings return to her after Aurora frees them.
Later, Stefan betrays Maleficent and steals her wings so he could claim that he killed her and become king. After the painful loss of her wings, Maleficent becomes enraged over his treachery, and as her heart of gold turns to stone, she becomes the evilest magical being in the land.
On Maleficent's sixteenth birthday, Stefan kissed her. However, after some period of time after this, he didn't come to see Maleficent. Stefan later betrayed her and stole her wings, so he would be able to become the new king. Stefan later married Leila, Henry's daughter, and she became his wife and queen.
She tearfully apologizes to her sleeping goddaughter and gives her a farewell kiss on the forehead. However, just before she can walk away, a miracle happens: Aurora wakes up. Maleficent's strong and genuine motherly love for Aurora was enough to break the curse that she herself had cast.
Her iconic horns (which Disney artist Marc Davis, who designed Maleficent, says were inspired by the traditional look of the devil, to “frighten everybody half to death”) are present even before Stefan's betrayal.
She resents that Briar Rose fell in love with a hansom man, instead of with her. And then later Maleficent hates Aurora, as a reminder of Briar Rose's rejection.
Aurora is officially Queen of the Moors and rules the tranquil kingdom kindly and fairly. But when Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson) asks Aurora to marry him, all of Maleficent's fears of losing her adopted daughter come to the surface.
Aurora's tears fall on Maleficent's ashes bringing her back to life. This is nod to True Love's Kiss in the original and Rapunzel healing Flynn by shedding tears of sorrow on his body after he dies.
The irony is that Aurora was taken from her mother to protect her from Maleficent, but, to Aurora, Leila is simply the woman who gave birth to her while she refers to Maleficent as her Fairy Godmother.
Unlike her animated counterpart, this version of the character is portrayed far more sympathetically. As the film progresses, Maleficent turns from a victim into a villain, following Stefan's betrayal, and finally into a hero because of the maternal feelings she develops for Aurora.
Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent is an explicitly satanic figure: “mistress of all evil,” in league with “all the powers of Hell.” At the climax she transforms into a dragon to battle Prince Philip, the most archetypally heroic male lead in any Disney cartoon.
Some people might hate Maleficent for her villainous beginnings, which makes sense. Some people hate this new era of Disney and don't like the idea of turning villains into less villainous versions of themselves. They like the classics and don't like what Disney is doing with them.
In a twist reminiscent of Frozen, it is ultimately Maleficent, not the prince, who bestows True Love's Kiss on Aurora's forehead, unexpectedly waking her from her cursed slumber.
Then late one night, tragically deceived by Stefan, the person she trusts the most, Maleficent's wings are brutally stolen. Upon realizing this the next morning, Maleficent sobs in anguish, grieving the fact that her most prized possession, her wings, are no longer.
Maleval (Male/ficent and Dia/val) is the friendship/romantic pairing of Maleficent and Diaval, the eponymous protagonist and the tritagonist of Disney's Maleficent franchise. The actors who portray Maleficent and Diaval are Angelina Jolie and Sam Riley, respectively.
Her love for Phillip makes sense in terms of stereotypical teenage horniness — she's had no other humans in the vicinity for years, and then suddenly a boy her age comes along — but not necessarily in terms of the kind of fantasy that Maleficent is.
When the dark fairy's curse is at last fulfilled, despite her efforts to renounce it, Maleficent herself (rather than Phillip) breaks the spell with a remorseful kiss on Aurora's brow.
