The world of Twilight is one of the most divisive and controversial ones in recent years, but its legacy could have been completely different with its original ending, which would have also avoided some of the saga’s biggest mistakes. Stephenie Meyer’s debut novel, Twilight, took readers into a world where humans, vampires, and werewolves coexist, though the latter two with some major changes from their traditional depictions. Twilight became a worldwide phenomenon, with a total of four movies, different complementary works, and a movie saga with five films as the final book was split into two.
The Twilight books and movies chronicle the romance between mortal Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), as they face many obstacles and enemies. By the end of Breaking Dawn, Edward and Bella are married, Bella is finally transformed into a vampire, and they are parents to a human/vampire hybrid child they name Renesmee. However, the Twilight series and thus the movie saga could have had a completely different ending and could have avoided some of its biggest mistakes and most controversial moments.
Twilight Almost Had A Direct Sequel тιтled Forever Dawn
Forever Dawn Would Have Been The End
The Twilight saga almost ended shortly after the first novel as Meyer was working on a direct sequel тιтled Forever Dawn. As such, Forever Dawn would have completely skipped the events of New Moon and Eclipse, jumping to Edward and Bella’s final year of high school and thus their wedding. However, the publishing of Twilight and its success took Meyer by surprise, leading her to change her plans. Meyer shared on her official website that she was writing epilogues, which made her realize she wasn’t done with the story of Bella and Edward.
Meyer decided to explore the rest of Bella’s high school years and her relationship with Edward, instead of jumping directly to a more mature phase in her life.
One of those epilogues became Forever Dawn, but the publishing of Twilight made Meyer realize that her sequel story wasn’t at the same level. Most importantly, Forever Dawn wasn’t a YA novel, but Twilight was, so it didn’t feel fitting. Meyer finished Forever Dawn and gave it to her sister as a birthday gift, and started working on New Moon as the sequel to Twilight. Meyer decided to explore the rest of Bella’s high school years and her relationship with Edward, instead of jumping directly to a more mature phase in her life.
Breaking Dawn Kept Some Parts Of Forever Dawn
Forever Dawn Wasn’t Entirely Lost
Although Forever Dawn hasn’t seen the light of day, not all its ideas were lost. Parts of Forever Dawn made it into Breaking Dawn, which makes sense as the former was supposed to be the closing chapter of the Twilight world. Meyer has shared that the basic story of Forever Dawn and Breaking Dawn is the same, with Bella and Edward graduating from high school, getting married, honeymooning on Isle Esme, and Bella getting pregnant. Renesmee’s birth also killed Bella in Forever Dawn, after which she would have been resurrected as a vampire, and, unfortunately, Jacob still imprinted on Renesmee.
In Forever Dawn, Alice Cullen also had a vision of the Volturi coming to confront them and destroy Renesmee (though it’s unclear if the big battle was also just a vision and never happened), who they refer to as an “immortal child”, and Bella’s new powers as a vampire would have been very useful to the Cullens. The differences in Breaking Dawn are thanks to the events of New Moon and Eclipse, mostly the close relationship between Jacob and Bella and the involvement of the werewolves. Forever Dawn sounds a bit more mature than Breaking Dawn, but the latter is more complete.
How Forever Dawn Would Have Avoided The Twilight Saga’s Biggest Mistakes
The Twilight Saga Would Be Very Different
As Forever Dawn would have ended the world of Twilight quickly and early, it would have avoided some of the saga’s biggest mistakes. New Moon saw Edward breaking up with Bella, with the latter falling into a deep depression, but this led her to bond with Jacob. It’s also in New Moon where Bella learned about Jacob and the werewolves, becoming close with the pack but mostly Jacob. At the end of New Moon, Bella met the Volturi, who also learned about her romance with Edward and made it clear that she had to become a vampire if they wanted their relationship to continue.
Eclipse was also the novel where the love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob reached its peak.
Eclipse saw Victoria and her army of newborns ready to get her revenge on the Cullens for the death of her partner, James, in Twilight. Eclipse was also the novel where the love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob reached its peak, and it was the first time the Cullens teamed up with the wolves to battle Victoria and the newborns. In the end, Victoria was killed, and Edward and Bella formalized their plans to get married.
While all these events and more made Breaking Dawn a more complete story and showed different sides of Bella, Edward, Jacob, and their relationships and dynamics, they also created some of the saga’s biggest problems. New Moon and Eclipse kicked off the infamous Team Edward vs Team Jacob “battle” among Twilight fans, but it also showed the most toxic sides of Edward and Jacob. Without them, however, Forever Dawn wouldn’t have had to deal with Jacob’s feelings for Bella, as they wouldn’t have been close.
Forever Dawn would have given Edward and Bella a less problematic relationship.
Forever Dawn means that Edward never left and thus they never had to confront the Volturi, who would have only shown up after Renesmee’s birth. Victoria and Laurent would have been alive, with Laurent siding with the Cullens and staying with Irina, while Victoria informed the Volturi about the Cullens and Bella – however, she would still have been killed, though by the wolves rather than by Edward. Forever Dawn would have given Edward and Bella a less problematic relationship, but one controversial thing that would have remained was Jacob imprinting on Renesmee, which I guess was unavoidable in Meyer’s plan.
Will Forever Dawn Ever Be Published?
Forever Dawn Could Change The Twilight Saga
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Forever Dawn will ever see the light of day. Meyer had previously said she wouldn’t publish Forever Dawn because it’s “not great” and “downright embarrᴀssing in some places”, but she later said that, if she ever has time to go through the manuscript, she might post some extras someday. It’s worth noting that she was also adamant about publishing Midnight Sun after some chapters leaked, and it was eventually published in its entirety in 2020.
Forever Dawn could have a similar development to that of Midnight Sun and be published someday, with the necessary changes so Stephenie Meyer feels comfortable with it. If it happens, Forever Dawn can give Twilight fans an alternate ending to Bella and Edward’s story, one where some of the saga’s biggest mistakes and most controversial moments never happened.
Source: Stephenie Meyer.
