Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s unreleased Twilight sequel sheds light on what Bella Swan and Edward Cullen’s story would have been like had it been the second installment in the franchise. In fact, the unpublished sequel, Forever Dawn, would have reduced the franchise to a two-part book series as opposed to the four-part book series it is today.
Although Meyer didn’t know it at the time, the franchise — comprising six novels and five Twilight movies — became one of the most successful vampire franchises of all time despite rewriting a lot of vampire traditions. If she had published Forever Dawn as the second and final book of the Twilight Saga, not only would the blockbuster landscape be changed completely, but public perception of certain characters would be massively altered. The character that would have experienced the most change is Jacob Black.
The Twilight Saga’s Original Sequel Would Have Shortened The Story
Forever Dawn Cuts Out The Events of New Moon and Eclipse
Author Stephanie Meyer revealed in a blog post on her website that, prior to writing New Moon, she had written another direct sequel to Twilight called Forever Dawn (via Stephenie Meyer). The lost sequel — which Meyer gifted to her sister — covered the basic story of Breaking Dawn, the final book in the series. Meyer shared that she had no intention of publishing the book, saying:
Like Breaking Dawn, Forever Dawn followed Bella Swan as she faced the difficulties of marriage, motherhood, and life as a vampire. The book skipped over the rest of Bella’s senior year entirely. Because of this, if it had been published, the original Twilight sequel would have cut the story in half, as the events of New Moon and Eclipse — the second and third book in the series, respectively — wouldn’t have happened. This would primarily affect the interpersonal relationships between characters, especially Jacob Black’s relationship with Bella.
Because the plot of Forever Dawn skipped over the events of New Moon and Eclipse , Edward never leaves Bella, so she and Jacob never have a reason to bond.
Jacob’s Role In Twilight’s Forever Dawn Sequel Was Significantly Smaller
He Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Love Interest
Because the plot of Forever Dawn skipped over the events of New Moon and Eclipse, Edward never leaves Bella, so she and Jacob never have a reason to bond. This leads to Jacob’s feelings towards Bella remaining strictly in the crush territory, thereby erasing the famous love triangle that occurred between her, Jacob, and Edward.
What is most interesting about Jacob’s role in Forever Dawn is that it matched well with Meyer’s original intention for the character. On her website, Meyer wrote, “Originally, Jacob was just a device. In Twilight, Bella needed a way to find out the truth about Edward, and the conveniently located Quileute Tribe, with all their fantastic legends, provided a cool option for that revelation.”
This means that, in the original draft of Twilight, Jacob wasn’t a romantic interest. It was only in New Moon that he was bumped up the roster as the second romantic lead and as a main character. Because Meyer was editing Twilight whilst writing New Moon, Jacob’s role in the first book was greatly expanded in order to better match his presence in the second book. He remained a central character throughout the rest of the series.
Jacob’s Relationship With Renesmee Is Even Worse In Forever Dawn
He Still Imprints On Renesmee
In Breaking Dawn, Jacob imprints on Renesmee, Bella and Edward’s daughter, shortly after she is born. This divisive event occurs after a long, drawn-out conflict between Jacob and Edward as they both fight for Bella’s affection. However, the imprinting scene isn’t nearly as strange in Breaking Dawn as it is in Forever Dawn.
Because of Jacob’s significantly lessened presence in Forever Dawn, he is not present during Renesmee’s birth. This means that he does not imprint on her immediately. Rather, he imprints on her several weeks later when Bella is meeting with Charlie (via Stephenie Meyer). Although still problematic for the fact that there is a significant age gap between the two, Jacob’s relationship with Renesmee in Forever Dawn is even worse than it is in Breaking Dawn because of how insignificant his relationship with Bella and Edward is.
Jacob confusing his feelings towards Renesmee for Bella is the central conflict of the love triangle, but it also explains Jacob’s presence up until Renesmee’s birth.
Fans of the Twilight Saga theorize that the reason Jacob was in love with Bella is because his wolf instincts knew that she would give birth to Renesmee. Jacob confusing his feelings towards Renesmee with Bella is the central conflict of the love triangle, but it also explains Jacob’s presence up until Renesmee’s birth. Initially, he’s there to support Bella in her pregnancy, and to protect her from the wolf pack. They’re important to each other, which is why Bella declares that, if she were to have a son, his name would be Edward Jacob Cullen. Afterward, he’s there for Renesmee.
Forever Dawn ruins this dynamic because it erases the conflict of the love triangle that originally brought Jacob into the fold. Jacob imprinting on Renesmee is even more problematic because he has no prior connection to Bella and Edward beyond his minor crush on Bella. His presence during Renesmee’s birth is also important because it represents Jacob and Edward’s developed relationship as they are able to be there for Bella without fighting. Therefore, it’s good that Meyer ultimately scrapped Forever Dawn in favor of writing the four-part Twilight Saga because it gave fans more drama and intrigue to chew on.
