Falkor assures Atreyu that all he needs is a bit of luck to achieve the tasks the Southern Oracle assigned him. But little do they know both tasks are impossible for Atreyu to achieve.
Blissfully ignorant, he and Falkor soar through the skies seeking a way beyond the boarders of Fantasia, only to run into The Nothing.
The effects of The Nothing are like a terrible storm, strong enough to knock Atreyu off his luck dragon and go tumbling through the abyss and into an unknown sea.
Book vs. Movie: In the book, the sea Atreyu lands in is called the “Sea of Possibilities”.
In the aftermath, Falkor is unable to find Atreyu, frantically searching along the shorelines while calling out his name.
THESE GOOD, STRONG HANDS
Atreyu washes ashore on a mysterious island to discover that Falkor and the Auryn are gone.
Alone, unarmed, and surrounded by a Nothing storm on the horizon, he begins to believe all is lost.
He then happens across the Rock Biter, which leads to one of the most powerful scenes of the movie:
Rock Biter: They look like big, good, strong hands, don’t they? I always thought that’s what they were.
The Rock Biter laments having lost his only friends. He tried holding onto them, but they were sucked into The Nothing, right out of his own hands.
Atreyu laments as well, saying it’s all his fault. He was the one chosen to stop The Nothing. And he failed.
The Rock Biter decides he’s tired of running. He explains The Nothing is going to be there soon, and he’s going to sit right there and let it take him.
And as we’ve seen, the moment you give up is the moment The Nothing swallows you. The Southern Oracle was able to withstand The Nothing through sheer will. But even it was only able to hold out long enough to deliver its final message.
Morla’s brand of nihilism may have defeated the Southern Oracle and the Rock Biter, and even the Rock Biter’s friends, but Atreyu presses on. He makes his way toward the ancient city ruins in the near distance. The ground begins to split, signaling that The Nothing is indeed close.
Book vs. Movie: This encounter with the Rock Biter–and his famous speech–aren’t in the book at all. That’s another major point for writer/director Wolfgang Petersen.
Book vs. Movie: In the book, the city is called “Spook City”.
Inside the ruins, Atreyu discovers a series of murals. The first depicts Carion handing Atreyu the Auryn. But the painting looks ancient and weather-worn. Perhaps this ancient civilization had a seer who could foresee the future to come?
The second mural depicts Atreyu riding Artax, with the the Ivory Tower in the distance.
The third shows Artax sinking into the Swamp of Sadness.
The fourth shows when Morla the Ancient One spoke with Atreyu.
He runs past more and more murals, from Atreyu facing the tests to him riding the luck dragon in search of ways to pass the boundaries of Fantasia.
And then he sees a mural he doesn’t recognize: A depiction of G’mork baring his sharp teeth through a hole in a ruined ancient wall.
Atreyu has just seen his immediate future.
G’mork growls and Atreyu turns, startled. The mural’s prediction has come true-to-life.
And what G’mork has to say sheds a lot of light on the true meaning of this story.
Nick Enlowe 