George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now in theaters, and we're breaking down the biggest moments from the epic revenge odyssey to reveal how the movie connects to Mad Max: Fury Road.
If you haven't been to see Furiosa yet, beware of major spoilers from this point on.
Playing out over 15 years, Furiosa follows the title character as she is taken from her home in the Green Place of Many Mothers and brought to Dementus' camp. Determined to discover the whereabouts of Furiosa's "place of abundance," the ruthless warlord tortures and kills her mother, setting the youngster on a path of inescapable vengeance.
Dementus keeps Furiosa captive, raising her as his protégé of sorts and renaming her "Little D." However, after striking a deal with rival warlord Immortan Joe to take over the running of Gas Town, Dementus agrees to leave Furiosa behind to become one of Joe's wives.
Furiosa is able to escape, but only as far as the Citadel's workshop, where she poses as a mute boy and spends the next few years learning auto-mechanic skills. Eventually, she joins Praetorian Jack's crew and becomes the sympathetic War-Rig driver's second-in-command.
The two form a close bond, but when Dementus betrays Joe and ambushes the crew in Bullet Town, Jack is brutally murdered while Furiosa is strung up by her arm and forced to watch. She manages to sever the already crushed limb and escape back to Immortan Joe's, where she fashions a mechanical arm and returns to the desert for a final showdown with Dementus.
After dispatching his last few followers, Furiosa has her nemesis at her mercy. Dementus warns her that, whether she kills him fast or slow, it's never going to be enough to restore the things he's taken from her. Furiosa still gives it her best attempt to "make it epic," dragging Dementus back to the Citadel and planting the peach tree seed her mother gave her inside his abdomen.
Somehow, the warlord stays alive while the tree grows, and the final scenes see Furiosa bringing the fruit it bears to Angharad, Capable, Toast, Cheedo and The Dag as she prepares to smuggle them out of the Citadel, directly leading into the events of Fury Road.
"As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus," reads the movie's synopsis. "Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home."
Miller penned the script with Fury Road co-writer Nico Lathouris. The director's behind-the-scenes creative team includes first assistant director PJ Voeten and second unit director and stunt coordinator Guy Norris, director of photography Simon Duggan (Hacksaw Ridge, The Great Gatsby), composer Tom Holkenborg, sound designer Robert Mackenzie, editor Eliot Knapman, visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson and colorist Eric Whipp.
The team also includes other longtime collaborators: production designer Colin Gibson, editor Margaret Sixel, sound mixer Ben Osmo, costume designer Jenny Beavan and makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt, each of whom won an Oscar for their work on Mad Max: Fury Road.