The Unknown (Over the Garden Wall)

Did You Know?

• The show is based on the 2013 animated short film Tome of the Unknown, which Patrick McHale wrote and directed for Cartoon Network Studios as part of their shorts development program.
• Elijah Wood voiced Wirt, Collin Dean voiced Greg, Melanie Lynskey voiced Beatrice, Christopher Lloyd voiced the Woodsman, and Samuel Ramey voiced the Beast in the final episode.

Plot

Beatrice, a bluebird, searches for Wirt in a snowstorm and instead finds Greg, who is doing pointless chores the Beast has given him. She then locates Wirt and starts guiding him toward Greg. At the same time, the Woodsman goes into the forest at dusk looking for Edelwood. He discovers Greg being turned into an Edelwood tree by the Beast. The Woodsman tries to rescue Greg and scare off the Beast just as Wirt and Beatrice show up. After the Woodsman is overpowered, the Beast tells Wirt he can keep Greg’s soul alive inside the lantern if Wirt agrees to keep the lantern lit, taking over the Woodsman’s job. Wirt figures out that the Beast’s own soul is actually in the lantern and turns down the offer. He sets Greg free and hands Beatrice the magical scissors from Adelaide, which will break the curse that turned Beatrice and her family into bluebirds. As they leave, the Woodsman—who had been tricked by the Beast into believing he was keeping his daughter alive by tending the lantern—finally sees through the lies and snuffs out the flame, killing the Beast. Wirt and Beatrice say goodbye, and then Wirt wakes up underwater in a lake back in his hometown. He pulls Greg to the surface, where police and their friends are waiting. At the hospital, Wirt comes to and finds his friends and Sara there. Sara tells Wirt she hasn’t listened to the cassette tape he made for her because she doesn’t own a tape player. Wirt suggests they listen to it together later. Greg tells everyone about his adventures in the Unknown and shakes his pet frog, which starts to glow—proof that Auntie Whispers’ magical bell is still inside the frog, meaning the Unknown wasn’t just a dream. Back in the Unknown, the sad Woodsman sits on his porch and is overjoyed when his daughter appears, restored to life. The other residents of the Unknown seem happy and content, and Beatrice and her family are shown back in their human forms. Greg’s frog plays piano and sings while Greg returns the rock facts rock he stole to Mrs. Daniels’ garden.