Whoa, This Reveal About Nimue’s Parentage In 'Cursed' Changes Everything

When Nimue is introduced to fans at the beginning of Cursed, she lives with her mother, Lenore, in a Fey village. Her mother is a prominent figure in the Fey community and expects her daughter to follow in her footsteps. But Nimue isn't so sure. She has trouble controlling her magical abilities, and she'd rather escape and go on adventures far away. But though she and her mother don't always see eye to eye, it's notable that there's no father in the picture. Naturally, fans are left wondering: Who is Nimue's father in Cursed?

Warning: Spoilers for Cursed follow. Lenore raising her child as a single mother in the Fey community is not shocking. Unlike the world of humans, Fey society is far more open and accepting of children out of wedlock. (How else do magical babies get made?) But when the Red Paladins attack Nimue's village and kill her mother, the loss of any family ties is a tragedy. Nimue is without a mother and never knew her father, and her friends Pym and Squirrel have been thrown to the winds as well.

All she has is a sword her mother gave her. With her dying breath, Lenore tells her to take the sword to Merlin, one of the most famous wizards in the land. Her friend Arthur encourages Nimue to take the sword for herself, and the sword seems to choose her as its wielder. But even so, Nimue wants to honor her mother's wishes and seeks out Merlin.

What Nimue doesn't know is that Merlin is seeking the sword himself. Not to wield — he did that once. It drained him off all his magical abilities and nearly killed him in the process. Merlin seeks to throw the sword back into the Fey fire from which it was forged, and melt it down.

But when Nimue and Merlin finally come face to face, it's a shock. Nimue discovers the man she seeks is a fraud, a powerless drunkard who cannot be trusted an inch.

Merlin takes one look at Nimue and sees Lenore, and realizes why Nimue was sent to find him. She's his daughter.

Nimue is torn about finally meeting the father who abandoned her. Merlin tries to explain, taking her to a haunted castle where the ghosts will help her see the past. Nimue witnesses her mother meeting Merlin for the first time, and how she was the one who saved his life from the sword, pulling it out from where it had burrowed inside his body. She sees them fall in love, and she sees Merlin discovering the sword had robbed him of his powers.

Nimue also learns how her mother looked into the sword and saw Merlin's past, and how wielding the sword turned him into a monster. But most importantly, she discovers Merlin never abandoned her. It was Lenore who sent him away. She hid the sword from him, insisting it had been destroyed, keeping both him, and the child she carried, safe.

Nimue pushes Merlin away, insisting on standing on her own, and using the sword to protect her people. But Merlin won't stay away. In the finale, Nimue is attacked by Iris, who shoots her repeatedly with arrows until she falls hundreds of feet into the water below, prseumably to her death. Seeing her fall, Merlin reaches out and takes up the sword on his own — like daughter like father.

Cursed Season 1 is on Netflix now.