Götterdämmerung

Alberich’s son Hagen is hungry for the power granted by the ring. He instructs his brother Gunther, the ruler of the Gibichung kingdom, and his half-sister Gutrune to marry Brünnhilde and Siegfried. Upon hearing Siegfried’s horn from the river, Hagen calls him to the Gibichungs’ castle.

At the castle, Siegfried is offered a magic potion, which makes him forget Brünnhilde and fall in love with Gutrune. He resolves to use the Tarnhelm to take Gunther’s form and propose to Brünnhilde. Siegfried and Gunther swear an oath of brotherhood.

Waltraute tells her sister Brünnhilde about the desperate plight of the gods. Wotan is inert and lost in his thoughts. He has ordered the world ash tree to be felled and its wood piled in layers around Valhalla. The curse upon the gods and humans will endure until the ring is returned to the Rheinmaidens. Brünnhilde, however, does not want to part with her token of love from Siegfried.

The flames herald Siegfried’s arrival to Brünnhilde, but the man who emerges is a stranger to her. The magical Tarnhelm has transformed Siegfried into Gunther. He breaks Brünnhilde’s resistance and seizes the ring. 

Only half-awake, Hagen perceives the figure of his father Alberich, who wants Hagen to reclaim the ring for the Nibelungs. Hagen desires the ring solely for himself.

Siegfried returns from his quest to seize Brünnhilde. As he announces the arrival of Gunther and Brünnhilde, Hagen summons the Gibichungs’ retinue to receive them. Dragged to the Gibichungs’ castle, Brünnhilde realises that Siegfried has forgotten his love for her. She understands that not only would she be forced into marriage, but that Siegfried would also be marrying Gutrune. The ring on Siegfried’s finger proves to Brünnhilde that he was indeed the one who attacked her during the night.

With Siegfried and Gutrune’s wedding preparations underway, Brünnhilde gets involved in Hagen and Gunther’s conspiracy. Together, they plot a hunting accident to usurp Siegfried.

During a hunting trip, Siegfried encounters the Rheinmaidens, who ask him to return the ring. Siegfried refuses, and the Rheinmaidens predict the impending death of the ringbearer.

As Siegfried tells stories of his youth, Hagen gives back his memories with another magic potion. Siegfried remembers Brünnhilde once again. Hagen accuses Siegfried of deceit and strikes him to death.

In his fight for the ring, Hagen also kills Gunther. Brünnhilde intervenes to prevent the impending bloodshed. Following an ancient custom, she has Siegfried’s body burned on a pyre. Brünnhilde joins him in the flames. The fire engulfs the Gibichungs’ castle and spreads to Valhalla, where it destroys the gods and their home. The Rheinmaidens retrieve the ring, and Hagen meets his death as he rushes to recover it. Valhalla and its gods have been consumed by flames.