The troll swallows Brian Kagwa

The Troll swallows Brian Kagwa after Emma and Apollo try to exploit its fear of sunlight as the Troll’s failed transformation into stone leaves them without the escape they had hoped for. Apollo gets out of the cave, but Brian is seized and swallowed before he can follow, turning a plan to rescue the child into a new emergency.

Failed Plan and New Tactic

The iPad’s attempt to turn the Troll to stone does not work, and Apollo recognizes that the creature will soon recover its balance and attack. Emma runs to the center of the chamber and announces that the sun is rising. Apollo immediately understands her idea: if the Troll fears sunlight, the threat of it might make the creature flee, giving Emma and Brian a chance to escape as well.

The tactic depends on a fragile illusion rather than actual daylight. Emma wields the iPad’s light as a shining star, but its battery is nearly depleted. Apollo runs toward the tunnel and calls out that the sun is rising, using his voice to carry the warning deeper into the passage.

The Troll Follows

The Troll reacts with confusion. It turns its head toward Apollo’s voice, then looks upward and throws out an arm as if it could fend off the danger. When Apollo repeats the warning, the Troll spins from side to side, uncertain where the threat is coming from. That hesitation is enough for Apollo to escape the passage and reach the open night.

The escape does not bring Brian out with him. The Troll turns to follow Apollo, but pauses to sniff the air. It reaches back into the chamber, finds Brian, plucks him up, and swallows him in one gulp. The sequence makes the limits of the sun ruse plain: it can confuse the Troll, but it does not hold its attention when another cue draws it back to the child.

Immediate Aftermath and Stakes

Apollo scrambles up the hill of bones outside the cave. Once clear of the close air underground, he notices a cloud of spiced gasoline clinging to him; he has bathed in the old man’s Brennivín. He considers that the liquor’s smell may have kept the Troll from detecting his flesh in the darkness, but understands that this reprieve can last only briefly. The Troll has swallowed Brian, and Apollo is now outside with the creature likely to reach him momentarily.

Narrative Significance

The swallowing is a reversal within the attempted rescue: Apollo escapes the tunnel, but the child the plan was meant to free is taken instead. The scene contrasts the family’s ingenuity with the Troll’s physical power and dependence on smell. Emma’s light and Apollo’s shouted warning buy a moment of confusion, not safety; the nearly exhausted iPad and the Troll’s sudden reach make the escape contingent and incomplete.