Upon the Magic Roads (2021)

Upon the Magic Roads (2021) Full Recap

In a far away land of golden wheat fields, an old farmer wakes up to a disaster. Something has trampled his crops in the night, flattening a huge path straight through the middle. His three sons stand there scratching their heads. The two older brothers are sure it's a wild beast, a big one.

So, the farmer orders his sons to guard the field that night. The two older brothers have no intention of spending a cold night in the field. So, they do what they always do. They send their little brother, Ivan. Ivan is the youngest, the dreamer of the family, and everyone in the village thinks he's a fool.

He climbs into a rickety wooden watchtowwer with his only company. A little hedgehog he once saved. He tells the hedgehog, "It must be nice to be the king. You do nothing all day and everybody loves you." Ivan dreams of doing something so great that the king himself would shake his hand and call him his best friend.

Then the field lights up. A glowing white mare comes galloping through the wheat faster than anything Ivonne has ever seen. He grabs a rope and throws a lasso around her neck. The mayor takes off like lightning and Ivan holds on for dear life as she drags him across the fields. He swears he's going to catch her and sell her at the market for a fortune.

Or maybe take her straight to the palace and show the king what he caught. For a moment, they're flying so fast that Ivan can see the whole valley below him. The chase ends in a swamp. The mayor sinks into the mud and she's about to go under. Ivan's arms are burning and he could just let go and watch her drown.

He doesn't. He ties the rope to an old water wheel, pushes with all his strength, and pulls her out of the muck inch by inch. Then he ties her up. She won't be trampling their golden wheat anymore. The magnificent mare lies there helpless and tears roll down her face. even can't stand it.

He makes a deal with her. If she promises to stay far away from their farm, he'll let her go. She agrees and Ivonne unties her. The mayor gets to her feet, looks at him one last time, and disappears into the darkness. The next morning, Ivan wakes up in the barn and hears a voice telling him not to be afraid.

He grabs a pitchfork. In the shadows, he sees something small with a crooked back and two enormous ears. It's talking and it says it's here to help. In the stable stand, two beautiful black stallions. They're a gift from the mayor as a thank you for saving her life. And the little talking creature is a gift, too.

He's a magical little horse with a humpback and ears like a donkey. His mother told him that Ivan needs a friend and a mentor. Ivan laughs that the little horse looks too small to be anybody's mentor. The little horse doesn't think that's funny. When Ivan calls him a pony and then a donkey, he insists that he's a proper stallion.

Then Ivonne's father sees the field and starts yelling. Ivonne panics. The little horse tells him to jump on his back and in a single leap they're gone. The little horse is faster than the wind. He lands with a grin and says it was just a little warm-up. Even decides to take the two black stallions to the market in the capital and sell them.

They travel through forests and over mountains until they reach the king's city. At the market, everybody stops to stare at the two black stallions. He has a bad feeling about it. A crowd gathers and people start shouting out offers for the horses. Picture a grumpy old man in a night gown waving a sword at a mosquito.

That's the king. He yells at the bug like it's an enemy soldier. chops at the air and when he gets it, the advisers burst into applause. You'd think he just won a war. His advisers even call him Caesar. His closest one is the Chamberlain, a sneaky, scheming man who will say anything to keep the king happy.

The king goes out to see his people and his eyes land on Ivan's stallions. Ivan offers to sell them, but the king doesn't pay. He just takes them. His guards hitch the stallions to the royal carriage and Ivan is left standing in the street with nothing. He runs after the king to ask about a reward and the king tells him that being a king is very complicated.

Then he rides off. The little horse tells Ivan to whistle. Ivan says he doesn't know how, but the little horse helps him and when Ivanne whistles, the stallions turn around and gallop straight back to him. The royal carriage goes flying. The guards dive out of the way and the king tumbles out into the street in front of everyone.

His crown ends up in the mud. The king is furious. His advisers say the punishment for insulting the king is death. But the king really wants those horses and they only listen to Ivon. So he makes the young man an offer. Ivonne can come and work at the palace as the head of the royal stables.

Ivon can't believe it. Just yesterday he was the village fool. Now he's going to live in a palace. Ivan gets a fancy new uniform and a room by the royal stables. He chats with the bakers, the guards, and the kids in the street. And pretty soon, the whole city adores him. That's a problem for the king.

Nobody has ever been that popular around here except him. He wants to get rid of Ivan, but he needs a good reason. The Chamberlain is happy to help. The Chamberlain tells the king a story about the legendary firebird, a magical bird made of flames. They'll order Ivan to bring it to the palace.

Everybody knows the Firebird doesn't exist, so when Ivan fails, they'll have a reason to punish him. The king loves the idea, and he acts like it was his own. He calls Ivan in and orders him to bring back the Firebird. Bring it back, and there's a reward. The little horse can't believe Ivan said yes.

He tells him, "The Firebird is real, and it's terrifying. Great warriors have tried to catch it, and none of them came back. The bird has burned ships and set whole armies on fire. The little horse knows one trick, though. Firebirds can't resist the golden nuts from the tree of the sun.

Deep in an enchanted forest, they spot the tree. It's huge and ancient, and the grass around it is covered in shiny golden nuts. A couple of furry little animals lie snoring among them, which tells you everything you need to know. Ivan picks one up and almost eats it, but the little horse stops him just in time.

One bite of those nuts and you fall asleep for a very long time. The little horse packs as many as they can carry. Next, they reach a hot desert with a small oasis in the middle. A sign warns of quicksand. Ivonne scatters the sleeping nuts across the sand. The two of them crouch behind a dune and the sun goes down.

Hours pass, then there's a streak of fire in the sky like a falling star. It lands, shakes out its wings, and Ivan's mouth falls open. All those bedtime stories were true. That's a firebird 10t away, glowing like a campfire with a beak. Ivonne forgets to breathe. It starts pecking at the golden nuts, one after another.

Then it wobbles, and it falls fast asleep. Ivonne runs out and wraps a chain around the sleeping bird, but the Firebird wakes up and the whole oasis explodes into flames. Palm trees burn like matches. The heat is unbearable and the bird thrashes and screeches, but Ivonne holds on to that chain with everything he has.

Somehow he doesn't let go. When the smoke clears, the Firebird is caught. But then something strange happens. The bird's flames start to fade. The little horse explains that the Firebird only burns bright when it's free. Chained up, it will die. Ivan looks at the beautiful bird lying in the sand, its glow getting weaker by the second, and he makes his choice.

He unlocks the chain and sets the Firebird free. It flies away into the night sky. The little horse groans and drops his head. Now the king is going to have them both executed. He suggests they run away across the ocean, but Ivan won't run. He did catch the Firebird. And he has proof.

One red feather from its tail. Back in the capital, Ivonne tells the king he caught the Firebird and then let it go. Nobody believes him. The court laughs and the king orders the execution. Ivonne is led to the chopping block. He holds up the red feather, but nobody cares. The executioner raises his ax.

Then the sky lights up. A firebird swoops over the city in a blaze of fire and every person in the square looks up in awe. Ivan was telling the truth. The crowd starts chanting his name. The king has no choice but to call off the execution and pretend he's happy. and he even promises the people a big feast, but in his heart, he's angrier than ever.

The people aren't cheering for him. They're cheering for Ivan. That night, the king and the chamberlain come up with a new plan. There's a princess who lives in a farway kingdom of ice, high above the clouds. Legend says she's the most beautiful woman who ever lived, and nobody has ever brought her down.

The king decides he wants her as his queen, and he orders Ivan to go and fetch her. Surely this time he won't come back. So Ivane and the little horse set off again. They fly over endless snowy mountains and land on a frozen ocean. In the distance, a palace of ice rises up into the clouds.

It's the most beautiful and the coldest place Ivonne has ever seen. Even the little horse's teeth are chattering. Inside, Ivan finds the princess sitting alone in a hall of ice. She's cold and proud, and she's heard it all before. Kings and princes have sent hundreds of men to bring her back, and none of them were real heroes.

She says there are no heroes left in the world. Ivonne tells her the king has sent him to take her back to the capital. She just laughs. The princess walks to the edge of a cliff, turns around, and jumps into the abyss. Without thinking, Ivan jumps right after her. The two of them tumble down through the clouds.

At the very last second, the little horse swoops in and catches them both on his back. The princess realizes that Ivan jumped without a second thought. Maybe there's one hero left after all. It's dark by the time they reach the woods, so the three of them stop and build a fire. The little horse is exhausted, and Ivan sits beside his friend by the fire.

Patito. Back in the capital, the king comes out to greet his future queen, dressed in all his finery, the princess looks at the lazy old man, puffed up in his golden robes, and isn't impressed one bit. She tells him she'll only agree if he brings her grandmother's ring. And that ring was lost at the bottom of the ocean long ago.

So, of course, the king sends Ivonne to find the ring. Back in the stable, Ivonne sits down in the straw and tells the little horse about his newest impossible mission. The little horse just size. Even he doesn't know where to start, looking for a tiny ring somewhere at the bottom of an endless ocean.

The princess spends her days locked in a tower of the palace, surrounded by guards in red. She's a prisoner and she knows it. Ivan visits her and she gives him hope that the king will never get his way. Meanwhile, the chamberlain keeps a close eye on both of them. Meanwhile, the king has decided he needs a makeover.

The royal tor brings him one silly outfit after another. Lace collars, feathered hats, the works. He struts around in them, and his own servants have to bite their lips to keep from laughing. Then Ivan is called in and reminded that his life depends on finding that ring. Ivan and the little horse fly off into the night.

The little horse has friends in high places. He goes around asking the sun, then the moon, then the wind if they've seen a ring at the bottom of the sea. The wind has heard something. Out in the middle of the ocean lives a whale the size of an island. And that whale might know. They find the whale.

And it's as big as an island. It's been chained to the bottom of the sea for years because it swallowed a whole fleet of ships. Ivan dives into the cold water and swims down along the whale's enormous body, looking for a way to help. The creature is miserable. Ivonne has an idea.

He tickles the giant whale's nose until it lets out an enormous sneeze. Out come the ships it swallowed. One after another, flying across the waves. The chains break and the whale is free. The sailors on the ships cheer and the whale rises up out of the water for the first time in years.

To thank him, the whale sends a crab down to the bottom of the sea. A little while later, the crab climbs up onto Ivane's rock, holding the grandmother's ring. He has done the impossible again. He and the little horse fly home at sunset. That night, Ivan climbs up to the princess's tower to give her the ring.

But the Chamberlain has been watching. The guards burst in with torches and arrest Ivan. The king accuses him of trying to steal the princess away. And when the little horse tries to fly to Ivan's rescue, the king grabs a gun and shoots him out of the sky. The little horse crashes down outside the city walls.

He drags himself into a dark shed and lies there by an old barrel, his wing badly hurt. The princess sneaks in to see him. She has a plan. At court, she tells the king he can become young and handsome again. Using her grandmother's recipe, he just has to bathe in three cauldrons.

One of boiling water, one of ice water, and one of boiling milk. The Chamberlain suggests they test it on Ivan first. Secretly, the princess tells the little horse what Ivan will need to survive. The ring goes in the first cauldron and the firebird's feather in the second. For the third, he must bring a magic flower that grows at the end of the world.

The next day, three enormous cauldrons stand in the city square, steaming and bubbling, and the whole kingdom crowds in to watch. The king tells Ivan this is his chance to earn his forgiveness. Ivan climbs into the first cauldron of boiling water. Thanks to the ring, he comes out unharmed.

Upon the Magic Roads (2021) Ending Explained

The firebird's feather protects him in the ice water. Meanwhile, the little horse flies to the end of the world with his wounded wing. There, he finds the magic flower. The flower warns him that whoever picks it will die. The little horse thinks of his friend and he picks it anyway.

Flapping his broken wing as hard as he can, he races back across the sky and drops the flower into the milk just as Ivonne climbs into the third cauldron. Ivonne comes out of the boiling milk transform, shining and stronger than ever. The crowd gasps. Even the Chamberlain's jaw drops.

The king wants the same thing for himself, and he can't wait a second longer. He pushes everyone out of the way. The king leaps into the first cauldron, but he doesn't have the ring blub. A huge bubble wraps around him and lifts him right out of the pot. He floats past the rooftops, red in the face and shaking his fist.

The crowd just stands there with their mouths open, and the bubble keeps going until it's lost in the clouds. Nobody in that kingdom ever sees him again. Ivan runs to find the little horse. He's lying in the grass by a wooden fence with his eyes closed, waiting to die. Ivan kneels beside his best friend.

But the princess has good news. The flower's warning was a test. If the little horse hadn't picked it, he would have died because he was ready to give his life for his friend. Now he'll never die at all. The people of the kingdom crown Ivan as their new ruler. With the princess at his side, the village fool has become a king.

And his best friend, the little horse, will stay by his side forever. Ivan never stopped being kind. Even when the whole world called him a fool and the little horse proved that a true friend will risk everything for you. Who would you rather have by your side, the Firebird or the little horse?