In both the book and the movie, the Unicorn setting all the poor animals Mommy Fortuna locked up free
Molly Grue's seeing the unicorn for the first time. Also falls under Tear Jerker.
Molly: No. Can it truly be? Where have you been? Where have you been? Damn you! Where have you been?! Unicorn: I am here now. Molly: [laughs bitterly] And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you! How dare you come to me now, when I am this! [weeps] Schmendrick: Can you really see her? Do you know what she is? Molly: If you had been waiting to see a unicorn as long as I have... Schmendrick: She's the last unicorn in the world. Molly: It would be the last unicorn that came to Molly Grue. [stands up and hugs the unicorn] It's all right. I forgive you.
In a way, this highlights the difference between our heroes and villains in the story. Molly is willing to let the past be the past and move on, while Haggard desperately holds on to that past for his happiness.
Schmendrick first speaking to the Unicorn. He is one of the few people in the world who can see a unicorn.
Schmendrick: I know you. If I were blind, I’d know you.
The scene where the bedraggled bandits follow the illusions of Robin Hood and his Merry Men into the woods. Despite the poor conditions they live in, they have not turned completely jaded and are still willing to believe in something more idealistic.
"She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits. Of all unicorns, she is the only one who knows what regret is... and love."
When the heroes manage to free the unicorns, and suddenly they are joyously stampeding from out of the sea as a virtually extinct species is restored to the world with full vigor.
Molly's tears as the Unicorn returns to her and Schmendrick while they grieve for Lir. Even after witnessing a horde of identical unicorns re-enter the world, she is still able to recognize her friend in a heartbeat.
"Oh, you stayed - you stayed."
"I remember you. I remember."
The Unicorn and Schmendrick's last conversation:
Unicorn: You are a true wizard now, as you always wished. Does it make you happy?
Schmendrick: Well, men don't always know when they're happy. But I... I think so. And you?
Unicorn: I am a little afraid to go home. I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am no longer like the others, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but now I do. I regret.
Schmendrick: I am sorry. I have done you evil and I cannot undo it.
Unicorn: No. Unicorns are in the world again. No sorrow will live in me as long as that joy... save one. And I thank you for that part, too.
Keep in mind that for most of the film the Unicorn has had mainly two attitudes towards Schmendrick.
Either she's been coldly distant, valuing him mainly for what little assistance he could offer and only reluctantly letting him come with her. Her attitude is implicit in that it makes Schmendrick considers touching her at all, even if accidentally, to be a boundary violation.
Or she considers him a monumentally dangerous idiot responsible for making her suffer. When she's first turned human, she's not grateful at all (even though it saved her from the Red Bull), considering it near a fate worse than death. Later on, she derides him as 'Haggard's sad clown.' Finally, near the end, she's just as afraid of him for the possibility he might turn her back into a unicorn (and separate her from Lir).
But in this final conversation, The Unicorn finally affirms that she does appreciate him and all that he did for her. For the first time, she thanks him and reassures that, for all of his stumblings and mess-ups, he did, in the end, do great things and that she's grateful for the time they spent together, bad and good. There is some heartwarming mixed with sad (as with most things in the movie) that the two magical beings seem to understand each other the best in the film, warts and all. The last person The Unicorn talked to wasn't Lir, her love, it was Schmendrick, the stalwart wizard who first helped her and stuck through to the bitter end to help her find the others.
Mommy Fortuna's crow who, after her death, follows Schmendrick and the Unicorn in their adventures all the way to Haggard's castle, and eventually settles down with the unicorn in her forest. It's sweet to imagine that even amidst all her pain, the unicorn gets a new little friend whom she can confide in what she experienced.
Haggards relationship with Lir. Haggard only keeps things around that make him happy and raised Lir for that purpose, it worked and when the feeling of happiness faded Haggard continued raising him.
