Phaneron

3rd Aug 2020

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: I don't understand why Lady Van Tassel had to cut her hand during her sexual encounter with the reverend?

Answer: She was using blood magic to keep him under her spell... this is why later in the film the reverend kills the magistrate just as the magistrate's about to betray their secret about Lady Van Tassel to Ichabod.

Answer: She needed to slice her hand open as part of her plot to fake her own death and make the townspeople think the decapitated body of Sarah was actually her.

Phaneron

12th Jun 2020

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: What did Phillips mean when he said 5 bodies in 4 graves?

Answer: The widow Winship was pregnant. The Horseman killed her unborn child with a sword-thrust to her belly and then killed her, therefore, there are two bodies in her grave. Along with the other three victims, that makes five victims in four graves.

Phaneron

3rd Nov 2019

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: Why does Widow winship have a cut on her belly?

Answer: She was pregnant. The Horseman stabbed her in the belly to also kill her unborn child. This is why Magistrate Phillips tells Ichabod that there are 5 bodies in 4 graves and why Ichabod subsequently performs an autopsy on the widow's corpse.

Phaneron

25th Sep 2019

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: What would have been the legal status of Widow Winship's unborn baby if the Horseman hadn't killed her or the baby?

Answer: Van Garrett amended his will naming the widow Winship as his beneficiary, so had the child been born, she likely would have been the heir apparent of the widow.

Phaneron

But, what would the legal status of the baby be?

They were married in secret before they were killed, so the baby would have been legitimate.

Legal as in what? If she's born on U.S. soil and her mother lives as well, then she's a protected citizen entitled to her father's name and whatever rights a female would have been granted by the U.S. Constitution at the time. If the mother dies, she presumably becomes a ward of the state until someone adopts her.

Phaneron

Not sure why I decreed the baby to be female as I don't think the film ever specified its gender, but the same basic things would apply to a male baby as well, possibly even more so since men had more rights back then.

Phaneron

17th Apr 2019

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: When going to kill the Killians, how did the Horseman know that Thomas was hiding under the floor? Thomas stayed completely still and didn't make a sound.

Answer: It would seem the Horseman possesses a supernatural instinct.

Phaneron

Answer: The horseman saw that the mother was close to where he was hiding.

7th Jun 2017

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Question: Why was The Headless Horseman ordered to kill the Killian family including their incredibly young son?

Answer: As revealed by Lady Van Tassel to Katrina during the film's climax, the midwife Mrs. Killian was abreast of the secrets regarding the affairs of Peter Van Garrett with the widow Winship, as well as their unborn child. Mrs. Killian revealed this secret to Lady Van Tassel right in front of Mr. Killian, which signed both of their death warrants. However, Lady Van Tassel most likely commanded the Headless Horseman to kill the Killians (as opposed to just saying Mr. & Mrs. Killian), to which the Horseman would instinctively murder their child too. It may have been an oversight on the part of Lady Van Tassel, as the child would undoubtedly be ignorant of affairs and the intricacies of legal matters regarding wills, but then again, she probably didn't care anyway.

Phaneron

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