Despite this new friendship, Belle longs to see her father. Using the Beast's magic mirror, Belle sees that Maurice is in trouble, so the Beast frees her. Belle finds Maurice in the forest and takes him home to the village, where Gaston has arranged for Monsieur D'arque to take him to the lunatic asylum.

In the pivotal "Beauty and the Beast" scene, when the Beast allows Belle to use his magic mirror to check on her father, Maurice, she is horrified to see him sick, shivering, and lost in the woods. In the 2026 stage and cinematic iterations, the mirror reveals Maurice collapsed in the snow, desperately trying to find his way back to the castle to rescue her. This vision serves as the emotional turning point for the Beast; seeing Belle’s genuine "agony of the heart," he realizes that he cannot hold her prisoner if he truly loves her. In an act of ultimate selflessness, he tells her she is no longer his prisoner and is free to go to him. This moment is crucial because it proves the Beast has finally learned to love another more than himself, though he fears he has lost his only chance to become human, as the enchanted rose is nearly wilted.