Not that I don't like the character or Nicolas Cage, but it's like what Veronica said: he completed his quest. There was nothing more he needed to do. It would have been a good time for Dave to have gone forth on his own, especially since he was able to perform magic without the ring/kill Morgana.
Close your eyes, make a wish...share
and you're there.
Not only would such an ending be uncharacteristic of Disney and a disappointment to the audience of a Disney movie, it would be more than a little bitter for the characters themselves.
First of all, Dave only had a few days of training under Balthazar, tailored to prepare him for the battle. That's hardly a full education. If he wants to continue learning under a new master, he only has two possibilities: Veronica or Horvath.
Veronica has her own problems. She took Morgana's soul to save Balthazar in 740. If she's freed now, in 2010, only to lose him anyway, she's actually worse off than she would have been otherwise, since she's in a foreign place and time. Horvath is her only tie to anything she's known. Sure, she may be able to adjust, but she's going to need an awfully good reason. She can take over Dave's training, (though Horvath has the advantage of nearly 1200 years more accumulated knowledge before he too was imprisoned in the Grimhold), but for what purpose?
As for Balthazar, Veronica has to be the primary reason he kept up his search. The world was safe from Morgana as long as she was in the Grimhold. What was to stop Balthazar from simply destroying the thing and everything it contained? Or, if that wasn't possible, why not stow it somewhere that nobody would ever find it, like in a concrete box at the bottom of the ocean? Yeah, Horvath and Balthazar could find it, but they had intimate knowledge of it, unlike any other sorcerer who might be around. In either case, destruction or isolation, the purpose of keeping the world safe would be fulfilled. Balthazar chose the harder way, accepting the penalty of his own continued isolation. Why? "Saving the world" is too abstract a concept to command such unwavering loyalty, particularly since humans have come up with so many other ways to kill and enslave each other. An evil sorcerer is just one more way. Balthazar has to know that. So what makes this quest so special to him?
The only answer is Veronica. Once his quest is complete and Morgana destroyed, he wants his lady love back. He doesn't need any other reason to live after that quest is done. He and Veronica hope to live as a normal couple, albeit with the added bonus of magic. I, for one, think they've richly earned their reward.
I expected him to remain unconscious, but then I recalled that it IS a Disney film.
"I won't pretend to be your friend cause I'm just not that nice." -Tairrie B Murphy of My Ruin
No! I completely agree with nancynhac. Besides, I'd love to see a sequel, and in a sequel it would work best to keep both our heroes, and the Nicolas Cage fans (of which I am one!) happy!
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