Zack Snyder Sets Up His Sequel

Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire.

The Big Picture

• Kora assembles a rebel force to defend Veldt against the Motherworld, but there are heavy costs along the way.
• The battle ends with sacrifices, leaving only a few rebels to return to Veldt.
• Kora and Noble have an intense battle, and Noble is rescued and given a new mission to wipe out the resistance and capture Kora.

2023 has had plenty of films that are the first half of a two-part story, and Zack Snyder‘s Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is no exception. The space opera, which spun out of a former Star Wars pitch Snyder had concocted, centers on the mysterious Kora (Sofia Boutella). Having escaped the tyrannical armies of the Motherworld, Kora is making a peaceful life for herself on the moon of Veldt – but trouble arrives when Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) and his forces demand Veldt’s entire grain supply for the Motherworld. With nowhere else to go, Kora decides to recruit warriors to defend Veldt’s people against the Motherworld’s forces.

There’s a lot going on with Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire. Not only is Snyder attempting to create an entirely new universe, but Netflix is pushing for Rebel Moon to be its next big franchise – to the point where the streamer moved up the film’s release date and has been heavily promoting it at conventions. While critical reception has been less than ideal, the consensus is that the film ends with the perfect lead-in to Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver. So how exactly does A Child Of Fire end? Be warned, dear readers, this article will be chock full of spoilers so make sure to read it after you watch A Child of Fire.

Kora Assembles Her Rebel Alliance Throughout ‘Rebel Moon: Part One’ – But With A Heavy Cost

The bulk of Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire focuses on Kora’s journey to assemble a fighting force to defend Veldt. Joining her for the ride is Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a fellow farmer carrying a torch for Kora and guilt over landing Veldt in the Motherworld’s crosshairs, and Kai (Charlie Hunnam) a thief/pilot who carries them from ship to ship. Kora ends up assembling a crew of skilled fighters that includes the cyborg swordswoman Nemesis (Doona Bae), former prince Tarak (Staz Nair), and former military mastermind turned gladiator Titus (Djimon Honsou). She also seeks the help of Darrian Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher) and his sister Devra (Cleopatra Coleman). Prior to the events of A Child of Fire, Gunnar had sold Veldt’s surplus grain to the Bloodaxes. Though Devra is hesitant to help, Darrian lends a few of his forces to Kora’s cause.

Things take a turn for the worse when Kai sells out the other rebels to Noble. As it turns out, each of them has been an outlaw in their own way: Darrian and his forces have made strategic hits against the Motherworld, Tarak opposed their reign, Titus led an uprising that led to the loss of his men, and Nemesis slaughtered Motherworld officers as retaliation for losing her children. The biggest prize is Kora, as Noble reveals that she is “The Scargiver” – former bodyguard to the slain Princess Issa and the most wanted fugitive in the known universe. Gunnar finally finds redemption by freeing the rebels and killing Kai, leading to an intense firefight.

The battle ends on a somber note, as Darrian sacrifices himself to take out a Motherworld gunship. Said gunship also decimates the rebel fighters, which leaves Kora, Gunnar, Titus, Nemesis, Tarak, and revolutionary Millius (E. Duffy) to return to Veldt. As the rebels ride into the sunlight, they are unaware that Jimmy (Dustin Ceithamer/Anthony Hopkins) – the last of a race of mechanical knights built to protect Issa and her family – is wandering the fields of Veldt. Jimmy had admitted to feeling lost following Issa’s death, but he helped Kora defend her friend Sam (Charlotte Maggi) from Motherworld soldiers while also telling Sam that she reminded him of Issa. It looks as though Jimmy may find his purpose in defending Veldt from the Motherworld.

‘Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire’ Ends With The Promise of War

Kora’s quest to find warriors runs parallel to Noble’s own mission. He was tasked by the Motherworld to hunt out and extinguish any pockets of insurgency and does so with terrifying competency. Anyone harboring or helping rebel forces finds their world razed by the Dreadnought known as the King’s Gaze or on the receiving end of a beatdown from Noble’s bone staff. In the same way that Kora is determined to protect her home, Noble is determined to crush any rebellion so that he can gain a seat in the Motherworld’s senate. The two have an intense battle in the final act that ends with Kora impaling Noble on his own blood staff and sending him falling to his apparent death.

This being a sci-fi/fantasy film (or more appropriately, the first half of a two-part movie) Noble is rescued by the Motherworld’s priests, who hook him into a machine that allows him to telepathically communicate with Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee). Balisarius tasks Noble with a new mission: wipe out the resistance on Veldt and bring Kora to him – alive. Balisarus had adopted her following the destruction of her homeworld and molded her into a fighting machine – and he wishes to personally kill her for her defiance. With Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver slated to premiere next year as well as an extended cut of A Child of Fire on the way – not to mention a comic miniseries focused on the Bloodaxes – it looks like Snyder only scratched the surface of Rebel Moon‘s universe.

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire premieres on Netflix in the U.S. on December 21.

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