In Nimona, the Director of the Institute is revealed to be the person who orchestrated the queen’s murder and framed Ballister for it. Frances Conroy voices the Director.
Much like the queen, at first, even the Director shows a lot of faith in Ballister. Before the knighting ceremony, she claims that the kingdom will see Ballister for who he is once he becomes a knight.
However, everything changes when Ballister’s sword switches its shape during the knighting ceremony and shoots the queen down. On top of that, through a video on the squire’s mobile, Ballister ends up discovering that the Director replaced his sword with another one before the knighting ceremony to set him up.
Exposing the Director becomes a difficult task for Ballister and Nimona. If they leak the video of the Director switching the swords, the whole realm will lose faith in the institute.
To top that, the Director is a manipulative leader who can go to great lengths to preserve years of tradition and protect the kingdom.
Why did the Director plot against Ballister?
The phone with the video of the Director switching the swords gets destroyed during a battle between Ballister and Nimona and the knights. So the next time, Ballister and Nimona decide to make full use of Nimona’s powers.
Nimona takes the form of Ambrosius Goldenloin, a champion knight and Ballister’s boyfriend, to confront the Director, who finally confesses her crimes when they are alone.
The Director fears that one day the wall protecting their kingdom will crack slowly and monsters will enter their realm. It turns out that the Director was never happy with the queen’s decision to give a commoner, as in Ballister, a chance to become a knight.
She compares this to going against the word of Gloreth and the years of tradition that have kept them safe for this long. She feels that allowing Ballister to become the knight was the first crack in the wall.
Now that she has seen Ballister with Nimona, who has shapeshifting powers, she believes her fears have been confirmed. A scroll from the past further proves that Nimona is the monster Gloreth fought.
The Director’s death
The Director continues to hate Nimona until the very end. Even Nimona proves the Director right when she actually turns into a monster when she feels rejected by her friend, Ballister.
Ballister manages to stop Nimona from killing herself by apologizing to her and assuring her that he understands her. Nimona turns back to a little girl, and both Ballister and Nimona share a warm hug.
Goldenloin asks the Director to reconsider killing Nimona. He questions what if they are wrong. An adamant Director knocks Goldenloin and the knights down and proceeds to use the canon on the wall to attack Nimona.
The canon has the power to kill thousands, and the Director is ready to pay the price if that’s what it takes to get rid of Nimona. This time around, Nimona decides to rewrite history.
Nimona turns into a monster and faces the canon. She takes out the Director and possibly herself in the process of saving the realm. While the Director is forgotten, the people change their perspective toward Nimona, who becomes a hero, something she thought would never happen.
Also Read: Nimona summary and ending explained