Diksha Sundriyal
Disney+’s ‘Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ adds new lore to the universe of the ‘Zombies’ franchise, with vampires taking over the reins from the previous leads. At the end of the last film, Zed, Addison, and their friends were happily off to college, looking forward to their new lives and adventures. However, at the beginning of ‘Zombies 4,’ we find them struggling to fit in, especially as they discover that the competition is much stronger here. Zed and Addison decide to join summer camps to hone their skills, but fate has other plans for them. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires Plot Synopsis
Once upon a time, a Moonstone fell out of the sky and landed on Mount Rayburn. It created two new species of monsters, called Daywalkers and Vampires. At first, both species used to live in harmony, as despite their differences, they needed Blood Fruit to sustain themselves. But over time, their rivalry and their desire to have the fruit all to themselves led to a fracture in their relationship, which deepened over time. Now, a new crop of leaders is emerging on both sides, but the hate and the prejudice against the other party remain intact.
Nova is the daughter of the leader of the Daywalkers. She believes that her kind has hated the Vampires for too long, and perhaps, it is time to find out what the other side is really like. Meanwhile, she also has mysterious visions where she sees a boy. Unbeknownst to her, this boy is Victor, whose aunt is the leader of the Vampires. He, too, has seen Nova in her dreams, but he has no idea who she is. While Nova wishes to lead her people of Brightside to a new age, Victor dreams of leaving his town of Shadyside and seeing other parts of the world.
When the day of the harvest arrives, Nova is told by her father to make sure that they get all the Blood Fruit, even if they have to kill the Vampires to get it. On the other side, the leader of the Vampires also has the same idea. Meanwhile, Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa are on a road trip, where Zed and Addison are supposed to diverge their ways and go to summer camp. On the way, they are hit by a mysterious pulse which makes Zed’s Z-band go haywire, leading their car to go off-road. As the four of them split to find help, Zed ends up in Brightside, while Addison winds up in Shadyside. As they become aware of the tumultuous history between the two sides, they decide to help patch things up.
Do the Daywalkers and the Vampires Make Up? How Do They Save the Blood Fruit?
Apart from the general hatred for each other, the Daywalkers and the Vampires are staunch rivals because they both vie for the same thing. They need Blood Fruit to sustain themselves, but over the years, their crops have died out, which means that there is a limited supply, for which they are at each other’s throats. When both parties reach the orchard, they are ready to fight each other to the death, just so the others can’t get the fruit. The problem is that three keys are needed to enter the orchard, and they can only be found by solving puzzles. Luckily, Zed and Addison are there to act as mediators.
They propose a joint task force where both parties send their young leaders to work together, solve the puzzle, and open the gates of the orchard, following which both sides can get Blood Fruit. On the surface, the leaders agree to this. Nova and Victor are made leaders of their group. Both of them are happy and shocked to see each other because they never thought the person in their visions would be a real person. As they solve puzzles, they realise that Daywalkers and Vampires were always meant to work together. This becomes especially clear when they find a broken tower fallen over the roots of two trees, which are revealed to be the reason behind the mysterious pulse that’s scrambling the Z-band and leading Zed to zombie out.
When the tower is put back in position, Victor and Nova notice that the space at the top resembles their part of the Moonstone. It turns out that when the Vampires and the Daywalkers went their separate ways, they also took away the pieces of Moonstone. What they didn’t realise was that the pieces were supposed to stay together, as their power acted as the lifeblood of the Blood Fruit. It kept the orchard and the fruit alive, against all odds. But once the pieces were separated, that life-force went away, which led to the dying of the fruit. Because both their leaders seem hell-bent on killing each other, Victor and Nova decide to take it upon themselves to heal nature. They steal their respective pieces of the Moonstone, even though they know that if caught, they might be banished forever. However, this is a risk they are ready to take if that’s what it takes to save their people.
Even their friends end up understanding their message of harmony, and they help them, even when their leaders don’t approve of it. Against all odds, Victor and Nova put the Moonstone pieces back together, and as soon as that happens, a rejuvenating rain falls from the sky and brings the orchard and the Blood Fruit back to life. This confirms, once and for all, that Daywalkers and Vampires are two sides of the same coin, and they were always meant to work together and celebrate their differences, rather than be divided by them and hate each other. Victor and Nova’s efforts to bring peace to their factions are fruitful, and the previously sworn enemies become friends again.
Will Victor and Nova Get Together? What does the Water Wave Mean?
The main reason behind the reinstated peace between the Daywalkers and the Vampires is the connection between Victor and Nova. They started seeing each other in their dreams and visions, which made it easy for them to trust one another when the time came for their teams to work together. Having known each other before even meeting each other led them to develop feelings that they never had for anyone else. However, being on the opposite sides of two warring clans meant that they needed to figure some stuff out. Now that they have succeeded in their quest to bring their people back together, being with each other doesn’t seem impossible anymore.
After the orchard is revived and the Daywalkers and the Vampires have enough Blood Fruit to go around, both parties leave for their respective homes. They are meant to reunite next harvest season at Camp Rayburn to celebrate their reunion, but until then, they retire to their abodes. When all the others are gone, Victor and Nova are the only ones left behind. Though they feel a lot for each other, they are not able to express it yet. After politely saying goodbye, they start to walk away, until they turn back and then hug each other. This is their first proper display of affection for each other, which means that there is much more between them, which remains to be explored.
Considering that their arc mirrors Zed and Addison, who were also on warring sides before they found a way to make peace between their people, it can be confirmed that Victor and Nova are going to follow in their footsteps and embark on a love story of their own. However, stepping into Zed and Addison’s shoes also means that they will have to face other threats and find ways to resolve them, as the original duo did in all four ‘Zombies’ films. This future conflict is hinted at in the final scene, where a storm of water appears in the ocean as Victor and Nova look on confused and a little bit scared.
While it is not revealed what this storm means, it is safe to assume that water monsters are finally going to enter the picture. The franchise hinted at their arrival in the post-credits of the previous film, but they were kept out of the picture for the entirety of ‘Zombies 4.’ The ending scene suggests that they are going to have a major presence in the next film, which will give Victor and Nova an opportunity to join forces again, spend more time with each other, and fall in love.
Does Zed Zombie Out? How is He Saved?
While the conflict between the Daywalkers and the Vampires is the main event of ‘Zombies 4,’ the film also creates tension through the mysterious pulse, which keeps messing with Zed’s Z-band, causing him to zombie out. With each day, the pulse gets stronger in impact and frequency, and it doesn’t just affect Zed. Willa and Eliza are also affected by it, which means that so are other monsters. The increasing impact also means that the pulse is travelling far and wide, and soon, it will reach Seabrook, affecting all the monsters there, and disrupting the precious sense of balance they have found.
What’s worse is that if the pulse gets any stronger, it will permanently damage the Z-band, which means that once Zed zombies out, he will never be able to come out of it again. Looking into the heart of the matter, the quartet discovers that the pulse is coming from the roots of two trees, which are buried under a broken tower. This means that the pulse is actually a cry for help, and the only way to fix the situation is by making the Daywalkers and the Vampires work together. Even when the course of action is pretty clear, it takes some time for the leaders of the warring sections to realise what is needed of them.
When Victor and Nova try to get the Moonstone pieces together, the leaders try to stop them by breaking the tower again. To hold it together, Zed zombies out, but with his band not working anymore, he is as good as gone. Fortunately, Victor and Nova succeed in their task. The reunion of the Moonstone pieces revives the roots and the entire orchard. When the roots get their power back, they also heal Zed, bringing him back to his original form and healing him for good. This shows that the peace and harmony between the Daywalkers and the Vampires was needed, not just for them but for the safety and security of all monsters.
While Zed and his friends are happy that he is saved, it also makes them realise that their time together is pretty short and they should try to spend as much of it together as possible. While they still need to work on their skills, it should not keep them from each other. In a final sequence that is supposed to serve as the farewell for Zed and Addison as the leads, the audience is assured that no matter what challenges they have to face, they will always find a way to make things work, and they will spend the rest of their lives together.
Read More: Where Was Zombies 4 Filmed? Dawn of the Vampires Shooting Locations
