Rabbit Trap’s ending revealed the true nature of the Child that had become obsessed with Darcy and Daphne Davenport, a couple living in a secluded wooden cottage in Cymru (Wales). While recording sounds in the woods, Darcy had accidentally stepped inside a faerie circle, thereby awakening the spirit of a Tylwyth Teg (a common Welsh name for fairies). The supernatural being got attached to Darcy and started following him and his wife like an invisible shadow. But what did the Child want from them? And how did Darcy and Daphne eventually get rid of the faerie? Well, allow me to break down the ending of Rabbit Trap and try to connect the missing dots to help you understand the film better.
Spoiler Alert
Darcy Was Abused By His Father
Rabbit Trap didn’t reveal whom the cottage actually belonged to; however, Darcy started having those spine-chilling nightmares shortly after the couple arrived in Wales. It could be surmised that the cottage was once owned by Darcy’s father, and he had some really haunting memories from his childhood, which got triggered as soon as he returned to the family house a few months ago. Throughout the film, Darcy was quite uncomfortable talking about his past or his nightmares. I believe he told his wife that he didn’t remember his nightmares after the fact, which was why Daphne recorded them so Darcy could have some recollection of it, but he refused to talk about it. I presume that Darcy’s traumatic childhood even pushed him to the point of having suicidal thoughts, which was why he told Daphne that he sometimes wished he just melted into the earth so he no longer had to carry the burden of his past. Later in the film, the faerie pointed out the same thing when he told Daphne “Darcy is tainted. That’s what he believes.” Darcy was rotting from inside and had left a rot inside Daphne, which could hint that Daphne might be pregnant with Darcy’s child, but the fairy didn’t want Darcy’s rot to spread. This could mean that the Child didn’t want Darcy to become a father until he had overcome the demons of his past. But what exactly were his demons?
In Rabbit Trap’s ending, Darcy made a recording for his wife, as he didn’t have the strength to share his fears with her in person. And while the film didn’t reveal what it was, a few flashback shots from Darcy’s dream suggested that he was sexually abused by his father in that very same cottage. Probably he returned to this place believing he had overcome his trauma, but it was still deep-rooted in his subconsciousness, because of which he started having those nightmares after he returned. I hope you remember, when the Tylwyth Teg took the couple to the woods to show them a faerie circle, he told them that if someone lets the faeries into their life, then these spirits will guide them to the place they fear the most, and bring them closer to the family they need. This highlights that the Tylwyth Teg wasn’t some malevolent creature, but a child of nature that wanted to help the couple become better versions of themselves. To become better parents someday.
Tylwyth Teg: A Boon or a Curse
The question that consumed me till the very end of the film was whether the English couple accidentally awakened the Tylwyth Teg or whether the changeling targeted them voluntarily. You may remember the first conversation between the Child and Darcy, where the Child told him that he was a hunter who liked to hunt rabbits in the woods. He further explained that to set a trap for the rabbit or any other creature, the hunter must know what their prey is hungry for. However, the Child wasn’t talking about actual rabbits. Instead, Darcy and Daphne were his targets. While on the lookout for sounds in the woods, Darcy heard a warbling noise that brought him to the faerie circle, which could be seen as the “rabbit trap” the changeling had set up for him. And through him, the Tylwyth Teg reached out to his wife, giving her what she was hungry for: soul music for her recording. However, I have always believed that these supernatural beings know more about our inner desires than we do. For example, the music was what Darcy and Daphne wanted, but a home was what they needed. They were in a relationship but still haven’t been actually honest with each other. They still kept secrets from each other, and things would have stayed the same if a supernatural force hadn’t intervened. Darcy would not have gathered the courage to be honest about his past with his wife, nor would Daphne have realized that she could become a great mother, someday.
In literature, if we talk about “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in particular, then fairies can be seen as mischievous creatures who like to play around. You all know how sexually charged this play is, right? I picked up a similar undertone in Rabbit Trap, where after hearing the faerie’s music, Darcy and Daphne made passionate love to each other. The thing I am trying to say is that these ominous creatures bring out your deepest desires and heighten intense emotions, which we are normally not comfortable sharing with anyone. And hence their presence could be seen both as a boon and a curse.
Additionally, in the film, the Child seemed to be the personification of sound. Darcy explained to the Child what sound really is. According to Darcy, it is an invisible shadow, a ghost or a sacred lost creature that has been desperately looking for a place, if only for a moment, before it can finally fade away. When someone in this world hears a sound, then they become its home, and their body turns into a house it haunts. Now, if you read these words in the context of the Child, then you may understand how that was exactly what the changeling was doing with the couple. He became desperate for the love the couple showed to him and wanted to make Daphne his home.
The Changeling Was Lonely
The fairy folks in Welsh folklore horror seemed to be pretty lonely and childish creatures. I wouldn’t say evil, because most of the time the Tylwyth Teg acted like an unloved entity who was eagerly looking for warmth and comfort. The English couple had been nice to him, which was why the Child got so attached to them and started to see them as his parents. The Child told Daphne that he had lost his mum a long time ago and therefore wanted her to become his “mam” (the Welsh-language name for mother). But, this is where things turn a bit dark. Darcy had a dream in which the Child was trying to hurt Daphne, which made him paranoid about him. He refused to let him inside the house, probably upsetting the Child to the point that he decided to take his “mam” with him. I believe the Child took Daphne to Annwn, the fairy world, or “the deep,” as he called it, because he wanted Daphne to stay with him as his mother. But Daphne freaked out as soon as she realized the true nature of the place and ran back to the human world. Once Daphne returned to the cottage, she asked the Child to leave, but he wouldn’t. He stayed at the house, and in the end, Darcy had no other option but to throw him out, which actually made matters worse.
Love Sent the Fairy Away
When the Changeling visited the cottage for the second time, he picked some gorse blossoms from their lawn, telling Daphne that the Tylwyth Teg couldn’t stand these flowers. Well, I don’t think he was telling the truth, because if this vegetation was meant to keep the spirits away, then how come the Child himself brought it for the couple? However, in the film’s ending, the Child did burn these gorse blossoms outside the cottage, because he was agitated with the way the couple had kicked him out of the house and sought revenge. Well, actually, revenge is not the right word here. He, being a tender Child, yearned for their attention and wanted the couple to take him back. I am not sure if burning gorse blossoms helped him achieve his goal, but it did indeed melt the things inside the house. From this point onwards, everything in the film turns into a puzzling nightmare, as if the couple were trapped inside some kind of spirit world, and the only way to escape the realm was to give the Tylwyth Teg what he wanted.
Remember when the Child was telling the couple about his long-lost brother who was taken away to Annwn by a Tylwyth Teg? He told Darcy and Daphne that shortly after he crawled into a faerie circle, his baby brother started to grow faster than he should. And in the end, he bloated up like a toad. Now, we know that the Child was actually the Tylwyth Teg in the story; hence, it could be speculated that he burned the blossoms outside the cottage so he could take Darcy and Daphne to Annwn against their will. This was why things around them started to grow at a much faster rate. The next morning, when the Child entered the cottage, we saw that the house had been flooded with overgrown weeds, mushrooms, and other flora. I believe he had come to take the couple to the deep. The Child walked into the bedroom once again, requesting the couple to take him. And this time around, Darcy and Daphne didn’t turn down his request. They embraced him. And soon began a sequence where the Child found himself living the best days of his life with his newfound family. Well, it was all a trap that Darcy and Daphne had set for the Tylwyth Teg so that they could finally get rid of him. The couple eventually realized that the more they resist, the more impatient and angry the Child will become. And the only way to send him home was to give him what he wanted, that is, give him the love he was hungry for.
In Rabbit Trap’s ending, Darcy and Daphne finally became parents to the Child, and fulfilled their duties in the best possible manner they could. At the end of the day, they decided to put the Child to sleep, both physically and symbolically. They told him a story about the rabbit that was afraid of the dark. Darcy asked the Child if he knew why the animal was afraid of the dark, to which the Child replied that it may be because the space looked empty and the rabbit was scared to be alone. Well, this was the reason why this “rabbit,” or the fairy, had come to the human realm, because Annwn had become too lonely for him. But through their story, Darcy and Daphne helped the Child to make peace with the haunting silence. They taught him to learn the language of silence so it wouldn’t frighten him anymore, and he would be able to safely return home to find the peace he had been looking for. And then, if he wished, he could be reborn into the human world in any form he wanted, be it a mushroom, an acorn, a hawk, or a human. In the end, the Child finally melted into a yellow liquid in his sleep. He transformed into a dead rabbit. This once again is a reference to the Child’s monologue about the rabbits. He had told the couple that the rabbits exist between the human realm and the underworld, and if you are wondering what this “rabbit’s” message was, then it was to teach the couple to not dwell in the past. Darcy was still haunted by his childhood, while Daphne wasn’t able to sever ties with her former life. She told the Child that she wanted to become boring, but she still yearned for things that she had left behind. Thankfully, they both got the rabbit’s message in the end and buried its corpse inside the faerie circle, bidding their final goodbye to the creature that left an everlasting impact on their lives. Shortly after, Darcy told his darkest secret to his wife so that the couple could move forward with their relationship and become a family just like the spirit wanted them to be.
Well, these are all my thoughts about the ending of Rabbit Trap. I tried my best to break down most visual metaphors and hidden meanings in the Child’s message, but if you think I missed a few, feel free to drop a comment in the box below. Also, I would love to read your opinions on the film, so please be my guest.
