The end of Wicked Part 1 (or, the end of the first act of the Wicked musical) is full of emotion and stakes — particularly as Elphaba and Glinda say a tearful goodbye to one another.
But, with the emotions running so high in the first part of Universal's adaptation of the Wicked stage musical, it may be easy to not fully process the complex internal journeys Elphaba and Glinda take throughout the scene.
Why Did Glinda Stay Behind in Defying Gravity?
Glinda and Elphaba parting ways at the end of Wicked Part 1 is a scene with several layers of character development and analysis that offer key glimpses into what makes the two characters tick.
It is first worth noting that immediately before "Defying Gravity" in Wicked Part 1, Elphaba and Glinda do attempt to escape together in a hot air balloon in a scene entirely new for the movie, but the plan fails.
That is to say that without having time to think, talk, and consider, Glinda's instinct was to follow her best friend, proving that Glinda's staying behind was not because of any ideological, moral or even emotional disagreements between her and Elphaba.
Still, ultimately Glinda is given that time to talk things out and think things through, which leads her to choose to stay behind in Oz — to live in what was just revealed to her as a completely unjust world — while Elphaba decides to fly off and take her own journey, defying both gravity and the world she thought she knew.
Elphaba and Glinda both want to fight the injustices their eyes were just opened to in the Emerald City, but need to take their own journeys to do so. Glinda's path simply was not the same as Elphaba's.
Ariana Grande-Butera discussed this in a recent iHeartRadio interview, saying that it is like "real life when you really love someone but the paths that you need to take for your own truth and life and who you are" simply differ, as much as it hurts to say goodbye:
"It really felt so real. And it feels how it feels in real life when you really love someone but the paths that you need to take for your own truth and life and who you are, it's like you can't actually, you can't actually continue growing together, you're growing apart, and you can still love that person so much and acknowledge that that's going to be best for them. But it's not going to be best for me. So I do have to not self abandon in this moment, and I have to stay where I am. And I want you to go there, but I can't join you."
Grande-Butera adds that Glinda is "really sure in that moment" of the choice she is making, demonstrating being "strong enough to not go," instead of "not strong enough to go:"
"So I think it's certainty. I think she's really sure in that moment. And I think that that's strength. I don't think that it's that she's not strong enough to go, I think it's that she's strong enough to not go."
Why Did Elphaba and Glinda Take Different Journeys?
Warning: The rest of this article contains minor spoilers for Wicked Part 2.
Ultimately, a key theme in Wicked — both Parts 1 and 2 — is how there is no single right way to go about making change in the world, and that different circumstances will lead different individuals with different priorities to seek out the way they can best contribute to the creation of the world they want to see.
Elphaba takes a more visible and vocal approach to her activism, which, when combined with people's ignorance and cruelty over her green skin and the propaganda being spread about her, leads her to be seen as an enemy. She wants to dismantle the structures that currently exist, yes, but she wants to do it to stop the injustice that thrives within those structures.
However, to those unaware of, or uncaring toward, that injustice — those who are also being fed propaganda calling Elphaba an enemy of the people and a danger — she is simply seeking to destroy their way of life.
So, even though Elphaba's approach to activism is very public and action-heavy, it can be hard to get enough people to truly listen to what she has to say. She needs someone with influence and a strong reputation — someone like Glinda — to see any real change happen.
Meanwhile, Glinda goes about making change in the world in the opposite way. She knows she is good at getting people to listen to her, and at shaping how people perceive both herself and the world around them.
So, she goes about activism more secretly. If she follows the rules — rules that are, ultimately, unjust, but also rules that work in her favor — she can gain enough power and influence to start making change.
She gets the chance to do this, with Madame Morrible manipulating her by giving her exactly what she wanted before becoming friends with Elphaba (status, the chance to learn sorcery, a title that makes her loved by all).
However, unlike at the story's start, she actively no longer wants that in the same way she did before, as she now knows what it costs. On top of this, she is extremely aware that she is being used and cannot do anything about it without risking losing the power she has built to use for good.
By staying behind, and by letting herself be treated as a tool Madame Morrible and the Wizard can manipulate, she gives herself the opportunity to build up enough power and influence to go about making real change.
However, without someone there to push the systems to change, to advocate for actual, actionable change — someone like Elphaba — that power and influence is ultimately good for nothing.
Throughout the second act of Wicked (and therefore Wicked Part 2), Elphaba and Glinda grow to realize that there is no single right approach to fixing the world, and that real change can only happen when they work together — but by then, it could be too late for it to even matter at all.
Still, Glinda staying behind in "Defying Gravity" represents them realizing that their approaches to their shared goal are fundamentally different, and require going their separate ways.
In that same interview, Grande-Butera touches on this element of the decision too, saying that Glinda "doesn't have the tools" to take the road Elphaba's on, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is just a different way to approach the problem:
"There's a different version of that which is that she is strong enough to know that she will never choose that [rebellion]. Because she can't. She doesn't have the tools. And she knows what is important to her. And it's like, it's not that she's not ready to do that. It's just that she's not a person who's gonna do that. And having the strength to know that..."
So, despite it being emotional for both Elphaba and Glinda, it was what needed to happen.
Wicked Part 1 is now playing in theaters.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
