Spirit's Father - Theory

Have you ever wondered who is Spirit's father? We know his mother, Esperanza, but what happened to his father? Well, the Brazilian youtuber Imaginago answers all that and comes up with a fascinating theory (click HERE to watch the video). But first, let's recall some evidences that indicates his father is already dead at the time of the movie:

- Spirit says that he became a leader of his own group like his father before him, which indicates that his father was already dead and he had to take his place of leadership;

- at the beginning of the movie, we see that his mom is completely alone when she gives birth to Spirit. Presuming that a father would neve miss his own son's birth, we are tend to believe that he was already dead before Spirit was born.

You might not know that, but there's a book called "Esperanza: Spirit of the West", which is about Esperanza and how she met Spirit's father. It's revealed that his father is a black - black as charcoal - steed, , called Strider. The story happens a few years before the events of the movie, in a further place. The horses that leadered Esperanza's group died and they stayed without protection. Besides, the cold and hunger that caused the leaders' death were also causing the deaths of other horses. Seeing that circumstances, the group decided to look for a better place to live.

At certain point of the journey, Esperanza found another group of horses, leadered by Strider, and both groups joined each other to gain strength and have more conditions of survival. Then, Esperanza and Strider fell in love and went through an incredible and dangerous adventure.....

At the end of the book, the group is still trying to find a new place to live. They probably found it some time later, since that they were already living in a great place at the beginning of the movie "Spirit".

Some people say that Strider is in the movie, but that isn't truth, mainly because there isn't a horse as black as charcoal, there are only light and dark grey horses in the movie. It's most likely that he died before arriving in the new land.

The book doesn't mention how Strider died (in fact, he was still alive at the end of the book), but, according to Imaginago's theory, Strider sacrificed himself to save the group. We can suppose that because Strider's personality (described in the book) is very similar to Spirit's personality: fierce, protector, courageous and careful for his group. Spirit, in the movie, could have run away at the first time that the men tried to capture him, but he realized that the weaker horses wouldn't be able to escape if the guys got to the group. So, Spirit decided to go back and ended up being captured in order to protect his group.

His father had the same way of thinking, so, it's likely that Strider went through a similar kind of situation - preferred to let himself being taken by the men that eventually showed up in the road, instead of putting the whole group in risk - and ended up being killed.

Some time later, Esperanza gave birth and baptized his son with the name of Spirit, because he would always carry on his father's spirit.

Now, the most shocking part: is it possible that Strider has reincarnated as the eagle that guides Spirit?

The eagle has always been with him, since he was young. He wouldn't be so fast if it wasn't for the eagle, which he always tried to catch up.

At the end of the movie, the eagle guided Spirit back to his home.......

Anyway, the eagle, a supposed reincarnation of Strider, has not only trained his son, but also helped him during the movie. This explains why Spirit has the same way of thinking, the same lifestyle and the same attitudes of his father without even knowing him. 

And if you think for a moment, ignoring Imaginago's theory, the eagle is something completely random in the movie. There is no reason to give so much importance to it in the story. It's just there, helping and guiding Spirit, without apparent motive. This only makes sense if the theory is right and the eagle is Strider reincarnated. Besides, the movie's title is "Spirit", so it might be a sign that there is something related to spirit at the story.........

That's it guys, I do hope you have enjoyed it and don't forget to ckeck out Imaginago's video:
       

Spirit kisses,

Tati.