"This story of the Rhinegold is a prologue or a preface; it is the introduction to the main story. Das Rheingold is the archaic past upon which the remaining three operas are founded. So it is important for the audience of Das Rheingold to understand the point of the opera and to understand the conflicts that are expressed in it. It is these conflicts, related to Alberich and the Rhinegold and the Gods, that play out over the course of the remaining three operas."