On the banks of the destroyed Rhine, the three Rhinemaidens mourn their lost treasure. Siegfried approaches and the maidens plead for the Ring, but he ignores them. When Siegfried’s hunting party arrives, he describes his boyhood with Mime, the killing of Fafner, and finally—after Hagen gives him a potion to restore his memory—his wooing of Brünnhilde. Pretending indignation, Hagen plunges a spear into Siegfried’s back and the hero dies.
At Gibichung Hall, Gutrune nervously awaits Siegfried’s return. Hagen tells her that Siegfried has been slain by a wild boar, but she accuses Gunther of murder and Hagen admits the crime. Quarreling over the Ring, Hagen kills Gunther but recoils in fear from the Ring when the dead hero raises his arm. Brünnhilde appears and orders a funeral pyre built for Siegfried. Musing on the gods’ responsibility for his death, she returns the Ring to the Rhinemaidens and walks into the flames. As the world is consumed by fire, the Rhine overflows its banks and the Rhinemaidens, dragging Hagen to his death, regain their treasure. Brünnhilde’s death frees the world of the curse of the Ring.