Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Soren (Jim Sturgess), a young barn owl, lives in the forest of Tyto with his family: his father, Noctus (Hugo Weaving); his mother, Marella (Essie Davis); his older brother, Kludd (Ryan Kwanten); his younger sister, Eglantine (Adrienne DeFaria); and Ms. Plithiver, (Ms. P.) the family's nest maid, a snake. Soren enjoys hearing stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, a mythical group of warrior owls, who once saved all owlkind from the evil "Pure Ones". His elder brother, Kludd, however, thinks Soren soft-headed for believing in such stories. One night, while branching, Kludd pushes Soren and loses his balance, too; and they both fall to the ground where they are attacked by a Tasmanian devil. They are then kidnapped by two owls, Jatt and Jutt, and taken to St. Aegolious, the canyon home of the evil Pure Ones.

There, Soren meets an Elf Owl named Gylfie (Emily Barclay) and her captor, a Boreal Owl named Grimble. Nyra (Helen Mirren), second-in-command of the Pure Ones and mate of Metal Beak, claims that the owlets are now the Pure Ones' slaves. Soren and Gylfie protest and are sent to be pickers. Kludd denies his brother and goes away to be a soldier with other selected owls. They are tutored by Nyra in the ways of the Pure Ones, who believe that Tyto owls (barn owls and their relatives) are the strongest owls and that they have the right to rule the owl kingdoms. Meanwhile, The other captured owls are forced to sleep under the full moon, which causes "moon-blinking", a trance-like state. Soren and Gylfie manage to stay awake so they will not be moon-blinked. They are brought to a large cavern to pick through owl pellets for small metal flecks, which causes excruciating pain in owls gizzards. Metal Beak conspires with one of his minions to lay a trap for the Guardians of Ga'Hoole. At the same time, Grimble secretly reveals to Soren and Gylfie that he is not truly a Pure One and that his family was captured and forced into their service. He teaches Soren and Gylfie to fly, so they can warn the Guardians of the Pure Ones' plans.

Kludd has become a strong soldier, and his promise prompts Nyra to ask him about Soren's potential. The Pure Ones find Grimble teaching Soren and Gylfie to fly, and Nyra attacks them. Kludd joins Nyra, ignoring Soren's pleas. Grimble sacrifices himself to hold them back, and Soren and Gylfie barely escape to begin their quest. On their journey, they meet a Burrowing Owl named Digger; a Great Grey owl named Twilight; and Soren's old nestmaid, Ms. P. They join Soren and Gylfie on their quest.

Soren and his allies are later mobbed by crows. The battle brings them to the home of an echidna mystic (Barry Otto), on the shore of the Sea of Hoolemere. The Echidna gives them their bearings to the Great Tree. When the group encounters the mist, or a blizzarding typhoon, Digger's wings freeze over and he falls towards the sea. Soren dives down to save him, only to find Digger being rescued by an enormous Snowy Owl; a Guardian of Ga'hoole. The Guardian leads Soren and his friends to the Great Tree. Digger's saviors are Boron and Barran, the king and the queen of the Tree, who listen to Soren's tale. A Great Grey Owl, Allomere, expresses doubt about Soren's story; but a Whiskered Screech Owl, Ezylryb (Geoffrey Rush), defends Soren. Boron sends a scouting party to St. Aegolious.

Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger begin their training in the different chaws of the Tree. Ezylryb teaches the young owls to use the wind currents instead of fighting them. In a conversation with Ezylryb, Soren learns that Ezylryb is, in fact, Soren's hero, Lyze of Kiel. Soren is disillusioned when he finds out that the owl is completely different than he had always pictured him.

Allomere returns without his scouts and tells Boron that the scouts were killed in an ambush and that he barely escaped with two moon-blinked owlets, one of whom is Eglantine. Outraged, the Guardians go to war, but Soren stays with Eglantine, where she soon awakes after Soren tells her about the Guardians, breaking the trance, and gives him shocking news: she wasn't rescued, she was kidnapped by Kludd and given to Allomere, who is a traitor. Soren and his friends rush to the Guardians' aid. When the Guardians arrive at St. Aegolious, they find a trap. Allomere peels off at the last moment, and the Pure Ones unleash the power of the metal flecks against the Guardians, leaving them helpless on the ground. Soren and his friends arrive too late, just as Metal Beak and Nyra send bats to finish off the defenseless Guardians. Soren sends Twilight, Digger and Gylfie to hold back the bats. He plunges into the burning forest fire, carrying an oil lamp that becomes engulfed in flames. The band's unexpected arrival leads Metal Beak to believe Allomere betrayed the Pure Ones, and he sends a group of bats to kill him.

Soren frees the Guardians, and Metal Beak orders the Pure Ones to fight the Guardians. Ezylryb and Metal Beak square off, as do Soren and Kludd. Their fight leads them into the burning forest. Soren tries to talk some sense into Kludd, but he instead attacks Soren with renewed vigor and breaks his own wing. He convinces Soren to save him, only to try to pull his younger brother into the flames. Soren dodges the attack, and Kludd falls into the flames instead. Furious, Soren flies to the aid of Ezylryb, who is engaged in fierce combat with Metal Beak and Nyra. Soren takes Metal Beak by surprise, but Metal Beak easily overpowers him. Soren regains his weapon, a flaming branch, just as Metal Beak moves in for the kill; he impales himself on the branch. Nyra retreats with the remaining Pure Ones. Soren and his friends return to the Great Tree with the rest of the moon-blinked owlets, and Soren is greeted by Eglantine and his parents. Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger are made Guardians of Ga'Hoole.

In the epilogue, Soren tells the story to the young owlets and reveals that Kludd's body was never found and that Nyra is still out there with a handful of Pure Ones. (Kludd is then shown to be alive, now with the glowing red eyes of the other Pure Ones.) Ezylryb insists on taking flight into another storm, and they all fly towards the sea.

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