Editing Götterdämmerung (section)

=== Act 2 ===
[[File:Josef Hoffmann - Götterdämmerung Act II final.jpg|thumb|Stage design by Josef Hoffmann for original production in 1876 – Act II, Scene 2]]

Prelude to Act 2

==== ''Scene 1'' ====
As Hagen sits sleeping on night watch, his father [[Alberich]] appears and urges him to obtain the ring (''"Schläfst du, Hagen, mein Sohn?"''). Hagen, barely conscious, swears to do so and Alberich vanishes with pleas for Hagen to remain loyal to him.

Orchestral Interlude - ''Morgenröthe'' (''The Blush of Dawn'')

==== ''Scene 2'' ====
Siegfried arrives at dawn via Tarnhelm-magic back to the settlement of the Gibichungs, having resumed his natural form and left Brünnhilde on a boat on the Rhine with Gunther. He explains to Gutrune how he managed to change his form back from Gunther's just in time for Brünnhilde to not be able to recognize the deceit.

==== ''Scene 3'' ====
Hagen summons the Gibichung vassals to welcome Gunther and his bride (''Hagens Ruf'' - ''Hagen's Call''). He does this by sounding the war-alarm. The vassals are surprised to learn that the occasion is not battle, but their master's wedding and party. Hagen announces that Gunther has won himself a wife and orders them to slay sacrificial animals so that gods may grant a happy marriage. The vassals are then told to defend their new queen's honour if someone were to wrong her.

==== ''Scene 4'' ====
Gunther lands on the Rhine's shore in front of Siegfried, Gutrune, Hagen, and the assembled Gibichung men and women and leads in a downcast Brünnhilde as his trophy. With false pomp he then triumphantly announces a double wedding: Brünnhilde to himself, and Gutrune to Siegfried (''"Brünnhild', die hehrste Frau"''). Brünnhilde almost faints in despair as she now sees her beloved, who doesn't even recognize her, with a different woman. However, she notices the ring on Siegfried's hand, and realizes she has been betrayed (''"Betrug! Betrug! Schändlichster Betrug!"''). Declaring publicly that the man who conquered her and took the ring was not Gunther but Siegfried in disguise she exposes Gunther as an impostor who tried to increase his own prestige through the deeds of someone else. Filled with unquenchable desperate rage she also denounces Siegfried and falsely accuses him of having intercourse with her while in Gunther's form, thus breaking his blood-brotherhood with Gunther. Siegfried denies Brünnhilde's charge, but the vassals urge him to prove his innocence by taking an oath. Hagen offers his spear as the weapon by which Siegfried can do so. Siegfried agrees and swears upon Hagen's spear-point that he may be killed with it if he has ever loved Brünnhilde (''"Helle Wehr, heilige Waffe!"''). She also seizes the spear and swears that Siegfried may be killed with it for swearing the false oath. Once again Hagen supervises silently as others take oaths to his advantage. The naively light-hearted Siegfried, wishing for his wedding day to be joyful, then leads Gutrune and the bystanders exuberantly off to the wedding feast, as if nothing too significant has happened.

Orchestral Interlude

==== ''Scene 5'' ====
Brünnhilde, Hagen, and Gunther do not join the celebration and stay alone by the shore. Deeply shamed by Brünnhilde's outburst in front of his subjects and thus threatened in his authority, Gunther agrees to Hagen's suggestion that Siegfried must be killed in order for Gunther to regain his standing. Indeed, to see Siegfried die is Gunther's duty, since the hero has apparently broken the sacred bond of blood-brotherhood during the night on the rock with Brünnhilde, which betrayal condemns him by law to the rightful punishment of death. Brünnhilde, seeking revenge for Siegfried's manifest treachery, joins the plot and tells Hagen that Siegfried would be vulnerable only to a stab in the back. Hagen and Gunther decide to lure Siegfried on a hunting-trip and murder him. They sing a trio in which Brünnhilde and Gunther vow in the name of Wotan, "guardian of oaths", to kill Siegfried, while Hagen repeats his pledge to Alberich: to acquire the ring and rule the world through its power (''Rache-Terzett'' - ''Vengeance Trio'').