Years after restoring peace between the human and fae realms, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has withdrawn into solitude, guarding the balance she helped create. But peace shatters when a strange darkness spreads across the enchanted lands, draining the magic from the Moors. Rumors speak of a dark sorceress rising from the ruins of an ancient realm long thought destroyed.
Enter the Black Fairy (Megan Fox), a powerful and bitter sorceress with a personal vendetta against Maleficent. It’s revealed that the Black Fairy is Maleficent’s half-sister, born from a forbidden union between their father and a dark fae queen banished centuries ago. Raised in the shadows and consumed by anger, she believes Maleficent stole the power and legacy that should have been hers.
As magical creatures begin vanishing and Aurora (Elle Fanning), now Queen of the Unified Realms, falls into a deathlike sleep under a new curse, Maleficent is forced to come out of hiding. She discovers the Black Fairy is building an army of corrupted fae to reclaim the Moors and reshape the realms under eternal night.
Haunted by the echoes of her own past darkness, Maleficent struggles with the fear that she and the Black Fairy are not so different. A bitter confrontation erupts, with the Black Fairy luring Maleficent into reliving her past crimes through illusions and dark magic. At the peak of their battle, Maleficent chooses mercy instead of destruction—breaking the Black Fairy’s curse by giving up her powers entirely.
The sacrifice revives Aurora and restores balance, but Maleficent disappears in a storm of light and feathers. In the final scene, a single black feather lands in Aurora’s hand—implying that Maleficent still exists, watching over the realms in secret.
