The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the second entry in the story of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), in which they come face to face with the Volturi, but their decisions in this specific movie don’t make sense. In 2005, Stephenie Meyer shared her unique world of humans, vampires, and werewolves in her debut novel, Twilight. The success of Twilight led to the publishing of three sequels, a novella, a gender-bent reimagining, and a retelling from Edward’s point of view, as well as a film series.

Twilight made the jump to the big screen in 2008, becoming a saga with a total of five movies as the fourth novel, Breaking Dawn, was split into two movies. The second movie, New Moon, sees Edward breaking up with Bella after an incident at her birthday celebration, where Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) almost attacked her. If that’s not enough, the Cullens leave Forks, with Bella falling into a deep depression. However, Bella ends up saving Edward from being killed by the Volturi in Volterra, Italy, but this doesn’t really make sense.

The Volturi Break Their Own Rules In Twilight: New Moon Thanks To Bella & Alice

The Volturi Had Strict Rules Until They Suddenly Didn’t

In New Moon, Bella realizes she can hear Edward’s voice whenever she’s in danger, so she begins to put herself in dangerous situations just to hear him. When Alice (Ashley Greene) gets a vision of Bella jumping off a seaside cliff (which Bella was definitely going to do), she alerts Edward, who then calls Bella’s home to check on her. However, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) picks up and tells him Charlie is at a funeral, making him believe Bella has died. Edward, not being able to live in a world without Bella, decides to ask the Volturi to kill him.

However, the Volturi refuse, and so Edward decides to force them to do it by exposing himself as a vampire during a big festival in Volterra. Now, the Volturi are the vampire coven that enforces the laws of the vampire world. Among their main goals is to keep the existence of vampires secret, and any human who knows about them must be either silenced permanently or turned into a vampire. Bella stops Edward right before he exposes himself, but they are still taken to the Volturi.

Edward defends Bella from the Volturi, who then prepare to kill him until Bella intervenes. The Volturi’s leader, Aro (Michael Sheen), is fascinated by Bella’s willingness to sacrifice herself for Edward, so he gives her a choice: to die or become a vampire. Alice steps in to say she has seen Bella’s future as a vampire, and so the Volturi are convinced. One would think the vampire royalty, who had been shown and mentioned to be cruel and strict with their rules, wouldn’t spare a human who knows too much, yet they did that for Bella, aided by Alice.

Why The Volturi Sparing Edward & Bella In New Moon Never Made Sense

The Volturi Should Have Done Things Differently

The Volturi’s decisions in New Moon don’t make much sense when looking at their track record. As mentioned above, the Volturi are known for being cruel, and they won’t hesitate to kill those who pose a threat to them and the vampire world. Per their rules, Edward deserved to die for exposing himself, though only one child saw him, but so did Bella, because she was now way too involved in the vampire world (and per their logic, that kid also would have had to die).

Giving Bella an option was also too benevolent, though it could be justified by Aro’s interest in how Bella was immune to his powers. Still, letting her go just because Alice had a vision seemed not very on-brand with the Volturi, as that didn’t really guarantee them that it would happen, and it still meant that there would be a human out there who knows too much without being a vampire. Surely, the Volturi’s decision added extra pressure for Bella and Edward in the sequels, but it could have been done better.