How did Alice beat Freddy?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
watcher101 — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 01:01 PM)
I never understood that. She shows him his reflection and it kills him. I kind of get the whole Dream Master poem, it allows Alice to realize she's the master of her own dreams and allows her to overpower and conquer Freddy, but what was up with the showing him his reflection and the light reflecting of it to kill him bit? Was it that Alice would allow no part of evil to enter her dreams, and "in the reflection of her mind's eye" Freddy was forced to acknowledge his evil and so was not welcome in her dreams? Wait, does that even make sense?
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loui_b452 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 09:54 PM)
If you notice, Freddy is ultimately ripped apart by the souls he's housing in his body. Freddy is powered by their eternal fear.
The Dream Master poem is to remind the Good Dream Master that he or she can overcome the Evil Dream Master. "In the reflection of my mind's eye, evil will see itself and it shall die." Basically, if I face what scares me, it can't do it anymore and becomes powerless. BUT, Alice also used this to remind the souls in Freddy's body that they didn't need to fear him either. If they all worked together, they were stronger than him. Sort if like a continuation of the theme of Dream Warriors but taken to the next level.
After this moment, Alice becomes virtually unstoppable to Freddy. She's just as powerful as him BUT the power he has he can barely use against her. She's not afraid of him anymore so he has no means of controlling her. He can't manipulate her dreams and thus can't trick her into using her powers. And without fear, evil died.until he attacked Alice's unborn son, that is. An infant simply doesn't know how to face his/her fear. On top of this, if Freddy instilled fear while he was developing, Jacob would have NEVER learned to stand up to Freddy. So Freddy had a guaranteed in. Buuuuuuut, once again, Alice shows Freddy why HE'S the one who should be afraid (aka his mom) and wins.
All that was a roundabout way of saying the poem isn't what killed Freddy. Or his reflection. It was Alice reminding herself she was stronger and also reminding those around her they're stronger too. He needs them more than they should fear him. -
watcher101 — 9 years ago(February 04, 2017 12:06 PM)
Ah, I get it now. That makes sense. I knew about the fear being Freddy's power, that's why he consumes souls so he can feed off their fear. I just wasn't getting the whole reflection thing, but the way you explained it makes sense. Thanks, that's been bugging the hell out of me.