Wicked 2 Reveals Why Glinda Can't Know Elphaba Is Alive

Wicked: For Good ended with Glinda unaware of Elphaba's survival, leaving many fans wondering why that was the case. Coming behind a strong round of early reviews, Wicked 2 follows up on the original film and fills in previously unknown details about what happened in 1937's The Wizard of Oz.

Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Wicked: For Good.

The end of Wicked: For Good shows Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba Thropp seemingly melting when Dorothy Gale throws a bucket of water all over her body. This recreates the final moments from the original The Wizard of Oz, in which the Wicked Witch of the West melts away when the water hits her.

Glinda sees this happen after sharing a teary-eyed goodbye with Elphaba, hiding behind a nearby door and crying when her friend disappears. After Glinda takes over leadership in Oz, Elphaba emerges out of a trap door, having faked her death and escaping Oz and its people's wrath with Fiyero.

Wicked: For Good depicts the second act of the Wicked Broadway musical and is a sequel to 2024's Wicked. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, and Jonathan Bailey, the film depicts Glinda adopting a public persona as Glinda the Good while Elphaba is branded the Wicked Witch of the West, setting up their public rivalry as the two navigate their complicated relationship. Wicked: For Good is playing in theaters.

Why Can't Glinda Know Elphaba Is Alive In Wicked: For Good?

While Wicked 2 filled in plenty of gaps from The Wizard of Oz (even changing a few things for the better from the original Broadway show), the story does not explicitly state why Elphaba does not tell Glinda she is alive.

In the original Broadway production, Fiyero (who eventually becomes the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz) decides Glinda should be kept in the dark on the matter. He feels it would be unsafe for Glinda to know that Elphaba was really alive, potentially risking their discovery during their escape from Oz.

Some fans theorized that this may be because Glinda's knowledge of Elphaba's survival prompted her to go after her friend, or that Glinda may have tattled (purposefully or accidentally) about Elphaba's whereabouts.

While this decision is not explicitly explained in the movie, the subtext of the moment suggests that the reasoning behind not telling Glinda about Elphaba's survival is similar to what it was in the Broadway show.

However, one counterargument is that the Grimmerie, Elphaba's book of spells, opens for Glinda in the movie's final moments, after Elphaba and Fiyero leave Oz. She was previously unable to open the book, as it could only be opened by a "true witch."

Some speculated that Elphaba's absence was necessary for Glinda to gain access to the Grimmerie and that her powers exist independently of the book. Now, as Elphaba seems to leave the Grimmerie behind and entrust it to Glinda, the book intrinsically trusts Glinda and allows her to use its magic. This fact may give Glinda a hint that Elphaba did not truly die, as her magic is still alive through the book.

Although the idea is debatable, the witches' relationship in both Wicked movies clearly forged an unbreakable bond between them, even after they went down vastly different paths after Shiz University.