AbstractTransformative Agreements [“TA”]—contracts for academic publication premised on an initial term of restricted access followed by a switch, often many years later, to Open Access—are increasingly promoted by publishers and, to a lesser extent, academic institutions, as a means of achieving a future reality where our shared fount of cultural, intellectual, and scientific works are openly accessible for all to read. Supporters of TA laud benefits like transparency, streamlined costs for libraries, and investments in the future of Open Access. We find, however, that TA reproduce, rather than relieve or transform, existing challenges facing Open Access and we invoke King Lindworm, a fairytale about transformation as a metaphor to assist understandings of how TA might fall short of their purported aim.