In the forest, Benno and Siegfried gets separated. Searching for his friend, Siegfried suddenly sees a beautiful swan swimming in a lake. He prepares to shoot it, but somehow can’t make himself – there’s just something about it. Getting closer, the swan transforms into a creature, more human than bird, a gorgeous young girl dressed in white feathers. She is Odette, queen of the cursed swans. The young prince cannot take his eyes off her. His little fling with Benno is instantly forgotten, he has never seen anything this gorgeous, and he falls in love immediately, deeply and strongly like only fragile princes can. Odette tells him she (and a whole bunch of other girls) has been turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, and can only attain her human form at night. Rothbart appears, in the shape of an owl, and Siegfried, full of passionate emotions, dramatically wants to shoot him dead with his new crossbow. Luckily, Odette stops him, and explains that if he kills the sorcerer, the curse on the young swan-maidens will never be broken. Only a vow of eternal love is strong enough to brake the evil spell.