The Princess Bride: Buttercup's Baby: 3. Buttercup and Westley Summary & Analysis

The story picks up at the end of The Princess Bride, as Buttercup and Westley declare that they're doomed to be together while they ride away on the white horses with Fezzik and Inigo. Humperdinck is in pursuit and things start to go wrong. Goldman inserts himself to draw attention to what Morgenstern is doing by first offering the chapter in which Waverly gets kidnapped, then presenting the Unexplained Inigo Fragment where he (supposedly) says the kidnapping is going to happen, and then goes back to the end of The Princess Bride. He says that Morgenstern is “playing with time” and he thinks it's interesting, though he understands that many readers, including Willy, will find it confusing.

Back in the story, Fezzik is riding in the front of the group and finds himself in his worst nightmare: having to make a decision about which fork in the road to take. He knows that there's only one right path. Fezzik tries to ask Inigo his opinion, but Inigo is bleeding badly and can't speak. Fezzik pulls Inigo onto his horse to help him and while he's distracted, the horses take the wrong fork into the forest instead of taking the one that would lead them to the Revenge.

Fezzik hears Buttercup behind say, “Mr. Giant?” and realizes she's talking to him. Her horse throws a shoe and she says that Westley stopped breathing. Fezzik reaches for Westley just as his horse stops from the weight and the thick trees. Buttercup looks at Fezzik with a hopeful look, and Fezzik writes poems in his head about the troubles he's having in trying to think of a solution. At this moment, Prince Humperdinck shoots an arrow right at Fezzik's heart.

Going back in time a few minutes, Prince Humperdinck, Yellin, and the brute squad sneak quietly towards their quarry. Humperdinck notices how beautiful the trees look as Yellin puts the brutes in position and then, they turn the corner and Humperdinck wishes he'd brought the Royal Sketcher to capture the scene. He decides to shoot Fezzik first and as the arrow hits Fezzik and knocks him off his horse, the brutes charge. Buttercup thinks that this is the best place to die: in Westley's arms, surrounded by beautiful Florinese trees.

Goldman interrupts and tells the reader what comes next: 65 pages of Morgenstern talking about his beloved Florinese trees. Even Morgenstern's Florinese publishers wanted him to cut this, but he refused. Goldman says that this is because Morgenstern bought a house on the edge of a forest preserve after getting rich from The Princess Bride, but soon after, a lumber company started cutting down all the trees. He then became a tree advocate. Goldman says that Morgenstern knew people would read his “tree essay” to find out who lives and dies. Goldman says that in this essay, Morgenstern reveals that Fezzik is fine because he has the holocaust cloak and it saves him from the arrow, and the pirates from the Revenge save the day and get the heroes to safety on the Revenge.

Pierre, a pirate on the Revenge, calls a Blood Clogger to work on Inigo. Buttercup takes Fezzik's thumb as they anxiously watch. Pierre turns to Westley and notes that his life was sucked away. Fezzik explains that the scream they all heard yesterday was from Westley dying in the Zoo of Death, and says that he and Inigo got Westley to Miracle Max. This makes Pierre feel better. He asks how dead Max said Westley was and if Valerie coated the pill in chocolate. Goldman cuts in and says that Pierre works on Westley but because Morgenstern hated doctors, he wrote that Fezzik brings Westley back by filling his lungs with seawater and making him cough.

Late that night, Pierre approaches Westley and Buttercup and says that they need to leave the ship, as Prince Humperdinck's armada is after them. Westley asks Fezzik if he was tired after carrying three people up the Cliffs of Insanity, and Fezzik says he wasn't because his arms are so strong. Westley asks Pierre for chains, a boat, and to get them close to One Tree Island by dawn. When the Revenge gets there, Westley, Inigo, and Buttercup, all chained to Fezzik, get in the boat. Fezzik is scared, but he enjoys rowing.

Suddenly, Fezzik realizes that the boat is going fast without his help and he hears a roar. Westley calmly says that the whirlpool has them and that they need to escape Humperdinck by getting to One Tree Island, which is in the middle of the whirlpool. Humperdinck won't be able to get to them and, Westley believes, Fezzik is strong enough to swim through the whirlpool. Everyone is silent as the boat cracks and falls apart. Westley tells Fezzik to save them, but Fezzik sits and shivers. He finally admits that he hates getting water up his nose. Inigo and Westley refuse to hold Fezzik's nose, so Buttercup clamps her hands over Fezzik's nose.

The whirlpool grabs Fezzik and shoves him down to the bottom. Fezzik starts to swim to the top, fighting the whirlpool. Eventually, he makes land on One Tree Island. Goldman cuts in and says that Morgenstern includes ten pages on vegetation next, as One Tree Island is supposed to represent what Florin could be if the Florinese would stop cutting trees down. Buttercup also makes Fezzik a clothespin for his nose and with this, Fezzik learns to love swimming.

Months later, when Westley has his strength back, he and Buttercup sit by the fire. Buttercup notes that they've only kissed up to this point. Westley asks what else there is to do, which Morgenstern points out is a lie as “things happened” when he was the Dread Pirate Roberts. Buttercup says she took lovemaking classes at Royalty School and will teach Westley, but in reality, she learned nothing and is terrified. They lie down on a blanket together and Buttercup looks deep into Westley's eyes. Goldman says that Willy liked this scene, though he was curious what “things” Westley did as a pirate. Fortunately, Willy bought Goldman's insistence that Morgenstern would've said what happened if he wanted the reader to know.

Nine months later, Buttercup declares at breakfast that she's going to give birth at sunset. Nobody argues with her, as they know nothing about childbirth. She knows that the baby is going to be a boy. After dinner, Westley settles her on a bed by a fire. An hour before sunset, her contractions are five minutes apart. The contractions become more frequent as Inigo fences with shadows. Fezzik stays away; he's squeamish and doesn't want to see the “blood and other stuff.”

By midnight, they all know that something is wrong. Buttercup's contractions are a minute apart and her back starts to spasm. She gets pale as the pain spreads to her legs and by noon the next day, she's still in labor. She labors overnight, and Westley assures her that a long labor means the baby will be healthy. By that evening, however, Westley knows something is seriously wrong. He and Inigo quietly discuss a “cutting” that could save Buttercup's life, but neither of them knows how to do it. Westley goes to Buttercup to distract her from her pain. They talk about the past and going to America in the future.

Westley holds Buttercup as she grows weaker and weaker. Fezzik gasps and tries to fight as something invades his brain. As the invader takes over, Fezzik begs for it to kill him before it kills Buttercup's baby. In Buttercup's fiftieth hour of labor, Westley cries as she slips away. He and Inigo hear Fezzik coming toward them, saying that he needs to disinfect his hands. He tells Inigo to sterilize his six-fingered sword and says that the baby is backwards and has the cord around its neck. Fezzik skillfully makes a cut in Buttercup's belly and pulls out Waverly.