In the final sequence of Pans Labyrinth, some important editing choices are made to confuse and bewilder the audience. It makes the sequence more tense and creates even more illusion and mystery around whether the fairy tale world has any truth to it or not. This is brilliantly crafted to show ambiguity and to heighten the suspense and sadness due to the events of this final segment.

One editing choice in particular is when the camera is focused on Ofelia having a conversation with the Faun, and then the camera switches to an over the shoulder shot from Vidal’s point of view and the Faun is no where to be seen. This reinforces for people that the fairy tale world could all just be a figment of Ofelia’s imagination and have no truth to it. This is important for the film because when Ofelia is killed moments later, we are lead to believe that she has a happy ending and lives graciously in the underworld. However if it was all just a figment of her imagination then Ofelia, an innocent 11 year old girl, simply dies mercilessly at the hands of a ruthless killer.

After Ofelia’s death there is another effective editing choice implemented to show the connection between the fairy tale world and the real world. This is when there is a flash of light that then switches the scenery and clothing of Ofelia to that of the underworld where she is a princess and important, from that of the real world, where she lies dead at a young age due to events that were not even her fault. For the audience this is emotional manipulation because we are unsure whether to feel happy or sad for Ofelia due to the ambiguity surrounding her death.