After a meltdown at his triplets’ birthday party, he falls for the smooth talk of Rumpelstiltskin (voiced perfectly by Walt Dohrn). Shrek signs a contract to get one day of feeling “free” as a scary ogre again—but in true monkey’s paw fashion, he erases the day he was born.

In this alternate timeline, Fiona isn’t waiting for rescue. She leads an ogre resistance. She rides a boar into battle. She’s grumpy, capable, and doesn’t need a man—which makes Shrek earn her love the hard way.

We all remember the magic of the first Shrek —the onion-layered parodies, the “You’ve Got Mail” intro, and the line that changed animation forever: “Ogres are like onions.” But by the time the third movie rolled around ( Shrek the Third ), many fans felt the franchise had run out of fairy tale gas.

Enter Shrek Forever After (often mistakenly called Shrek 4 ). Released in 2010, this film was supposed to be the end of the road. And here’s the hot take:

Because in the end, being free doesn’t mean being alone. It means realizing you were never really trapped in the first place.

Title: Shrek 4 Free? Here’s How to Watch the Underrated Final Chapter