When the credits rolled on Moana 2, we could not get over the stunning reveal that Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) made a huge sacrifice which resulted in the Disney Princess becoming more than a royal wayfinder. As Moana gazed upon her gifts in the form of a new tattoo and oar upgrade, she asked herself “does that mean… ?” before Maui (Dwayne Johnson) gave a winking response as a non-answer as they celebrated their win against the gods.
So we took to the texts—the first Moana film (streaming on Disney+) and The Art of Moana 2 by Kalikolehua Hurley—to see if we could get to the bottom of this revelation.
Okay, we’re safe behind the spoiler bar and can shout: does Moana dying and being brought back to life with a new wayfinding tattoo on her arm and a magical oar, courtesy of the gods and her ancestors, mean she’s a demi-god?
When we went back to the first film, it turns out that gift is something that’s been set up since the start of her life. Like the mythologies Joseph Campbell based his hero’s journey on, the lore is deep. At the start of Moana we meet the future high priestess of Motunui, who the sea choose to safeguard the heart of Te Fiti as a little girl, and she carries the artifact with her into the adolescence when her journey begins. In a vision from the spirit of Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey), the last wayfinder from Motunui, she gets the revelation that her people were voyagers before Maui took the heart of Te Fiti, causing darkness and monsters to spread around them. She’s encouraged by her grandmother Tala to answer the call of her ancestors and become a wayfinder as her dying wish: to “Find Maui, grab him by the ear” and deliver him across the great ocean to restore the heart of Te Fiti and stop the blight affecting the islands.
And as soon as she sails away, the ocean that chose her begins to test her. At the start of her journey, Moana is shipwrecked on an island after basically drowning and washes up on the shore where Maui is exiled. Here we get our first hint, because Moana took on insurmountable odds for a human in order to fight for the future of her people, and is led to the god she’s gotta grab by the ear to make things right. And as she gets to know him it’s explained that Maui was thrown into the sea as a baby but saved by the gods who hooked him up with a new role as a demi-god after he should have drowned, much like Moana almost did.
As they become friends, Maui says the ocean was looking for a curly haired non-princess her to deliver him across the great sea to fulfill the promise made, but when Te Kā refuses to let Maui deliver the heart (he gets his tush deservedly handed back to him), he doesn’t take it in stride. He tells her she’s just a girl, Moana tells him the “ocean chose me,” and out of anger Maui says “it chose wrong”—the second test in a mythological sense.
Moana lets this get to her for a moment, and gives the sea the heart back, refusing the call once again. “You have to choose someone else,” she tells the sea. Then her grandmother Tala shows up to tell her if she’s ready to go home she will be with her, but Moana takes her oar (a source of power) and hesitates. This of course leads to the gut-wrenching performance where she sings “I am Moana!” as her grandmother and Tautai Vasa help her realize who she is, realizing the call is inside her like her ancestors. This moment gives her boost she needs to know the way and she performs a superhuman feat to restore Te Fiti’s heart. At the end she goes back home to better prepare to be a wayfinder—she’s still just a teen. These events are is echoed at the end of Moana 2.
In the sequel, when Maui and Moana along with their crew prepare to take on the storm God Nalo, it’s a feat that’s dangerous for any human. Her ancestor Tautai Vasa couldn’t reach Motufetu, which is why he guides Moana so she can complete the mission and break the angered god Nalo’s curse on humanity to keep them apart. After a few close calls, it becomes clear Moana is training for something greater as sung in the Rock’s Maui anthem, “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?”
Here’s a look at the god in the making training montage panels from The Art of Moana 2:
Moana was meant to follow her ancestor’s shooting star to complete her destiny of reuniting the islands of the sea. Even another trapped goddess, the Batwoman Matangi, taught Moana to get lost and take unconventional paths like Gate of the Gods, which how can an ordinary human even take? Looking back now, we can argue Moana has had the seeds of being a demi-god from the start, having survived things no human ever has.
After she and her crew were transported to Motufetu’s sunken spot, it’s Maui time, but the storm god Nalo hits Maui with his lightning striking a blow that strips him and his hook of powers and renders him human before he can raise the island out of the sea. The song “Beyond” echoes her fate, as Moana sings “There is destiny in motion/And it’s only just begun/Now will this life I’ve worked so hard for come undone?” Her grandmother answers, “I’ll always be right beside you, But perhaps you’re meant for more,” and you can see on the following pages of The Art of Moana 2 the strength of the sea backs Moana up as she dives in to perform another superhuman feat.
Moana dives deep, swimming towards Motufetu to fufill the destiny of her people and Nalo strikes her with lightning. It seems Maui was right all along that no human can take on the gods, and Moana effectively dies. But her sacrifice isn’t for nothing and her ancestors show up to help her rise to her destiny. Here is where Moana is finally ready and along with the blessing of the sea gods is seemingly granted the role of a demi-god with the wayfinding tattooss that appear on her arm and power into her now magical oar.
We’d like to think that the art from her historian crew member depicting their journey in Moana 2 (as seen below from the behind the scenes book) confirms it.
Moana 2 is out in theaters. The Art of Disney Moana 2 is on sale now.
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