Fiver senses something deeply wrong in the field and begs Hazel to leave the warren immediately.

Hazel brings Fiver to the Threarah, who dismisses Fiver's warnings and refuses to evacuate the warren.

Bigwig deserts the Threarah's Owsla and joins Hazel's group as they prepare to leave the warren.

Owsla captain Holly tries to arrest Bigwig for desertion, but Hazel's group fights him off and escapes.

Blackberry floats the injured Pipkin across a river on a piece of driftwood to escape a loose dog.

Bigwig gets his neck caught in a wire snare outside Cowslip's warren and nearly dies.

Fiver reveals that Cowslip's warren is a human death trap; the rabbits free Bigwig and flee immediately.

Hazel's group climbs the steep face of Watership Down and begins digging burrows under the beech trees.

Hazel rescues an injured gull named Kehaar, nurses him back to health, and enlists him to find does.

Holly's team reaches Efrafa to negotiate for does but is imprisoned; they trick their guards and escape empty-handed.

Hazel leads a raid on the Nuthanger Farm hutch, frees two does, but is shot by a farmer.

Fiver dreams Hazel is still alive and leads Blackberry to find him hiding in a farm drainpipe.

Bigwig infiltrates Efrafa posing as a refugee and secretly plots an escape with a doe named Hyzenthlay.

Hazel gnaws through the dock rope and the boat carries all the escaped does away from Woundwort's pursuit.

Hazel releases the farmer's dog, which chases two rabbits up the hill and attacks Woundwort's soldiers.

A group of young rabbits led by Hazel escapes their doomed warren after Fiver's prophetic warning, fighting off the Owsla to get away. They cross dangerous terrain and nearly fall into a deadly trap at a beautiful but sinister warren before finding a new home atop Watership Down. To save the warren from extinction, Hazel sends an embassy to the tyrannical Efrafa warren, but it returns empty-handed; undeterred, he sends Bigwig undercover to steal does. The group barely escapes Efrafa with a boatload of females, but Woundwort retaliates by marching his soldiers to Watership Down. Hazel outsmarts him with a devastating trick involving a farm dog, the warren survives, and Hazel's exploits become legend among all rabbits.

The heroic journey from doomed warren to defended home.

Cowslip, a large and healthy rabbit, approaches the tired travelers and invites them to join his nearby warren.

Fiver refuses to enter Cowslip's warren and warns of unseen danger, but the other rabbits ignore him.

Strawberry, a member of Cowslip's warren, begs to join Hazel's group as they flee the deadly snare field.

The group crosses a tarred road at night and discovers a crushed hedgehog showing the danger of the hrududil.

Holly staggers into the Watership Down area, wounded and half-mad, wailing that everyone in the old warren is dead.

After recovering, Holly describes how humans gassed and shot the rabbits before bulldozing the burrows completely flat.

Hazel calls a frightened mouse to safety during a kestrel attack, earning the mouse's promise to repay the favor.

Strawberry helps the rabbits construct the Honeycomb, a large central underground hall beneath the beech tree roots.

Kehaar returns from scouting and reports both a large overcrowded warren full of does and a farm hutch nearby.

After the failed farm raid, Hazel announces a bold second expedition to Efrafa and commissions Blackberry to plan it.

Inside Efrafa, Bigwig discovers the mutilated prisoner Blackavar and risks the entire escape plan to include him.

The escape nearly unravels when an impulsive doe named Nelthilta brags to guards about a coming surprise.

One of the does rescued from Efrafa dies of her injuries during the night after the boat escape.

A fox kills one of the Efrafan does during the group's exhausting journey back toward Watership Down.

Campion's Wide Patrol follows the returning rabbits and reports the exact location of Watership Down to Woundwort.

While the main plot drives forward, a series of pivotal secondary moments define the rabbits' journey and shape the warren's future. The encounter with Cowslip's deceptive warren reveals the dangers of comfort purchased at too high a price, and the arrival of the broken Holly brings devastating news of their old home's total destruction. Small acts of kindness — rescuing a mouse and sheltering an injured seabird — pay unexpected dividends when the mice share grazing land and Kehaar scouts the countryside from the air. The two expeditions to gather does yield only a handful of females at great cost, forcing a bolder new plan, while the escape from Efrafa nearly collapses from within. The journey home brings further losses before Woundwort's army finally closes in on the Watership warren.

The supporting moments that build the warren's world.

Fiver wakes screaming from a nightmare in which he floats on a sign made of wire and bones.

The group becomes nearly paralyzed with terror in the dark woods and Hazel orders a halt to calm everyone.

Dandelion tells the story of El-ahrairah receiving his speed and cunning, calming the frightened rabbits sheltering in the woods.

A badger confronts the group in the woods; Bigwig leads the rabbits quickly away toward the riverbank.

The group struggles through thick heather on the common and some rabbits demand they stop and settle there permanently.

Hazel pulls a thorn from Pipkin's injured paw, earning the small rabbit's fierce and lasting devotion.

Silverweed recites a haunting poem longing for death, which horrifies Fiver and confirms his fears about Cowslip's warren.

Mice reward Hazel's earlier rescue by directing the rabbits to a rich horse field full of long, sweet grass.

Fiver intones a dark prophecy about trickery, great danger, and blessing for the warren, then forgets he said it.

Before the Efrafa mission, Bigwig insists Dandelion tell the story of El-ahrairah's sacrifice to the Black Rabbit of Inlé.

Woundwort summons Bigwig and questions him about suspicious behavior, nearly exposing the escape plan the night before it begins.

Trapped in the tunnel, Bigwig declares he defends the run for his chief rabbit, shocking Woundwort's entire force.

Fiver rises from a death-like trance during the battle and prophesies Vervain's doom, sending the soldier fleeing in terror.

A farmer's daughter rescues Hazel from a farm cat and a doctor examines and releases him on the hillside.

A very old Hazel is visited by a silver-eared rabbit who invites him to join his Owsla; Hazel peacefully departs.

Beneath the surface of the adventure lies a current of prophecy, storytelling, and turning-point choices that give the journey its deeper meaning. Fiver's nightmares and visions repeatedly steer the group away from disaster, while small acts of compassion — like pulling a thorn from Pipkin's paw — reveal the kind of leader Hazel truly is. The El-ahrairah stories told around the warren serve as both entertainment and moral compass, preparing the rabbits emotionally for the sacrifices ahead. Deep inside Efrafa, Woundwort's interrogation of Bigwig nearly exposes the entire plan, and Bigwig's defiant declaration in the tunnel — that he fights for a chief rabbit greater than himself — represents the story's moral climax. The battle's end brings a visionary rescue, a soldier's terrifying prophecy, and at last a serene departure that transforms Hazel's adventures into timeless legend.