George Miller’s return to post-apocalyptic Australia was exactly what the Organic Mechanic ordered. In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, names like Dementus and Scrotus confirm we live in an era of great abundance.
But worshipping the V8 wasn’t the only aspect that the Mad Max creator returned to. He also gave fans the origin story they had been waiting on for almost a decade. Since its premiere in 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road has been asking for a follow-up. The specific world of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and Furiosa’s past was only touched on in a mad race across the Wasteland. Charlize Theron in the role of the stoic Imperator made many yearn for backstory. Though it took some time, Miller delivered an origin story — as Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) would call it — of epic proportions.
Furiosa opens with the titular character’s childhood. For only a short time, Furiosa enjoyed what many in the Wasteland could not. She lived in the “Green Place of Many Mothers,” a rare location untouched by the scourges of war. At 8 years old, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is snapped up by the Biker Horde and never sees her home again. Not even in Mad Max: Fury Road, when she does everything she can to return to it.
What was the fate of the green place in Mad Max: Fury Road?
Almost two decades after Furiosa is taken from the green place, she decides to liberate Immortan Joe’s Wives and bring them to her home. And even though she meets the Many Mothers from whom she came, their home has disappeared. Or rather, meets the same fate as the rest of the Wasteland.
When Furiosa arrives with Max (Tom Hardy) and the Wives, the Vulvani tell her that the green place became a poisonous bog that they had passed on their way across the desert. The toxic atmosphere that had tainted the rest of the continent finally touched Furiosa’s home. The water became sour, and there was no longer any way to grow plant life. This tragically ends Furiosa’s years-long quest to return home and, in turn, stop the cycle of of sex trafficking that Immortan Joe subsists on. This leaves the convoy with nowhere to go but is also an emotional blow for Furiosa.
The prequel film shows how much its protagonist sacrifices to find her destination. She loses her mother, her arm, and her lover, Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), all in the service to protect this place so she can one day return. Once she finally does, she learns that it is all for nothing. This could end a sad story, but that isn’t the Mad Max way. Instead of heading across the salt to find a new home, Max suggests they return to the Citadel and find a new place of abundance. With the demise of Immortan Joe, there is no better plan than that. The 2024 film adds even more weight to the end of Mad Max: Fury Road as viewers get further context into how Furiosa has gone to Hell and back.
