Tabitha

**Queen Tara** was the former ruler of Moonhaven, before her untimely demise.

## Personality

Tara is very determined to serve her people well and will do anything to protect the forest and its inhabitants, even if it means risking her life. Tara is also very graceful, even in the midst of battle. As Queen, she has the power to control parts of trees, such as roots and branches, with her actions and mind. When she walks on water, it is shown that leaves and the small lily pads have a tendency to move towards her feet.

Tara has a great fondness for Ronin, the commander of the troops. Ronin, though more hesitant to show any true feelings, is clearly interested in Tara as well. Tara also displayed a very close interest in one of her subjects, a marigold child, whom is later chosen to be the new queen. Tara is loving and caring when it comes to people in need.

## Background

Tara was childhood friends with Ronin until the unspecified age that she was chosen as the new queen of the forest. Since then, she has used her powers for the good of the forest and her people, regrowing plants over any place that Mandrake has rotted. Ronnin, as general of the Leafmen and her guard, would uphold her safety over anything though she insisted she could defend herself and was more concerned for his overly-serious demeanor.

## Role

As the story took place on the rare occurrence of the summer solstice and the full moon, Tara was in preparation to transfer her title and power as queen of the forest to a successor. This required her to pick a lotus pod as her vessel which, despite the advice of Ronin, she had to do in person. Upon arrival to the pond, she greeted the keepers Mub and Grub then chose her pod. Right as she did this, the boggins launched their ambush to try and destroy her before she could pick her heir. She became separated from Ronin and her ship was destroyed, leaving her without escape. With the leafmen protecting the crowds, Tara fled through the forest with her pod, able to defend herself from the boggin army and heal minor spots of rot she came across. Once reunited with Ronin on his hummingbird, they were chased by Mandrake and Dagda. Ronin shot Dadga with an arrow, sending him falling to his death, but Mandrake managed to do similar to Tara.

As she fell to the forest floor, she attracted the attention of Mary Katherine and entrusted to her the Pod while shrinking her down to the size of leafmen. She gave the confused girl instructions to stay with the pod and take it to Nim Galuu. Ronin and the other leafmen eventually found them but by then, it as too late for Tara. Ronin took her into his arms and held her as she died.

Even after her passing, Tara's magic spirit was contained within the royal pod. When the pod was finally able to bloom in the moonlight, this energy banished Mandrake from Moonhaven and trapped him inside of a tree gall, ending his attack on the forest once and for all.

Her spirit was released from the pod and she appeared in a ghostly state to choose her heir, a marigold jinn whom she had rescued earlier that day. She turned to Ronin who, happy to see her one last time, finally gave her the smile she had always asked for which made her happy. She passed on her powers to the marigold jinn and faded away, now at peace.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Chlorokinesis** - As the queen of the forest, she can control and manipulate the growth and movement of plants. For example, she was seen moving the lily-pads in the stream so she could walk on them while she was escaping the Boggans. She can also regrow plants killed by Mandrake's potion.

## Relationships

### Ronin

Tara and Ronin have known each other since their childhood, at which point she claimed he had a beautiful smile. In their adulthood with her as Queen and him as general, they are still able to work side by side even if it seems there is an emotional distance between them due to Ronin's refusal to explore their shared romantic interest. Even so, Tara remains determined to see his smile and worries for his safety when she can't find him during the boggan ambush. In her final moments of life when Ronin is holding her, she makes a remark to his serious face, her final words to him before passing away. Her death haunts Ronin through the whole of the movie. At the end, her magical spirit is brought forth form the royal pod and touches the people she cared about in life, lingering particularly long on Ronin, before ultimately picking the Marigold Child to be the next queen. In this temporary form, she is able to speak one last time and seeing Ronin finally smile for her, she is happy.

### Mary Katherine

Despite not knowing her, Tara trusted the human girl to carry the royal pod and watch over it to blooming. She might have chosen her in desperation, as she was about to perish, but she seemed to see a strength in the girl that would have her help the forest survive. She made sure to leave a message for her to view later, explaining that there would be a way for her to get back her human form if she would perform this favor for her until the end.

### Mub and Grub

She doesn't dislike their playful nature and asks that they not treat her formerly, hinting that they have a friendship. She greets them warmly when she comes to them to choose her pod, asking for their recommendations though gently declining their selection based on just size. They look up to her a lot, especially Grub, as he aspires to be a leafmen who would stand guard over a queen such as her.

### Nim Galuu

The two don't interact in the movie, but Nim speaks fondly of her. When Nim presents the pod to the guest within his tree and tells them of her death, he that "as always", she was looking out for them by preparing for her successor. He thinks highly of her as a kind and intelligent ruler.

## Trivia

* Tara is arguably the first non-human character to speak to Mary Katherine. However, her speech was immensely garbled and was probably pre-rehearsed.
* Tara plays to the stereotype of heroic factions in fantasy having queens that can harness good things; in this case nature. Mandrake is the reverse of this.
* She is voiced by notable musician Beyoncé, who also released a single called 'Rise Up' to tie in with the film. It can be heard in the end credits.
* She can be seen in Sofia the First, with Ronin