They say no one mourns the wicked, but plenty of theater nerds are certainly mourning the end of Wicked: Part One.
To see how Elphaba’s and Glinda’s stories wrap up, fans will unfortunately have to wait until Part Two drops next year. But in the meantime, the Broadway stage production offers hints about what the ending of the first installment will mean for the rest of Oz.
Wicked director Jon M. Chu previously explained why he decided to split the Tony Award–winning musical into a two-part movie extravaganza. “As we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu wrote back in 2022. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. So we decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked movie but TWO!!!! With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters.”
That depth is certainly apparent throughout the first Wicked movie, which offers a closer look at Elphaba’s childhood, before she became known as the Wicked Witch of the West. It also tracks the enemies-to-best-friends relationship between Shiz University roommates Elphaba and Galinda, the latter of whom eventually becomes known as Glinda the Good.
Ultimately, the Wicked movies follow the same narrative structure as the stage musical’s two acts, with Part One ending after the climactic performance of “Defying Gravity.” For an in-depth breakdown of Part One’s ending, keep reading ahead. (Leave now if you don’t want spoilers! You’ve been warned!)
Elphaba’s magical powers develop—at a cost.
Toward the end of Wicked: Part One, Elphaba is invited to meet the Wizard at his palace in the Emerald City. She invites the newly self-proclaimed Glinda to come with her. Upon their arrival, the two meet the man behind the mask: the seemingly down-to-earth and charismatic Wizard, who extolls his vision for the future of Oz. Elphaba confides in him her concerns over the suppression of animals’ speech in Oz, but the Wizard and Madame Morrible first compel her to read from the Grimmerie, an ancient spell book that no one in Oz can read.
Coming face-to-face with the Grimmerie, Elphaba is able to decipher its code. She is tricked into reading a spell that transforms the Wizard’s legion of monkey guards into winged creatures. The Wizard and Madame Morrible intend to now use the winged monkeys as spies who can report back on animal activity and rebellions throughout Oz.
Realizing she’s been duped, Elphaba takes the Grimmerie and flees to another tower in the Wizard’s palace, leading Glinda to run after her. Her rejection of the Wizard, who had initially offered Elphaba an apprenticeship, leads Madame Morrible to publicly declare her as a “wicked witch” and a threat to Ozians’ safety.
At first, Glinda attempts to compel Elphaba to apologize to the Wizard. As she sings in the opening of “Defying Gravity,” “Elphie, listen to me, just say you’re sorry / You can still be with the Wizard / What you’ve worked and waited for / You can have all you ever wanted.”
Elphaba, however, is adamant about fighting back against the Wizard. Using the same spell she cast moments before, she enchants a broomstick to fly, creating her own getaway vehicle. She bids Glinda to come with her, singing, “Together we’ll be the greatest team there’s ever been.”
Glinda initially seems receptive to the offer but ultimately turns Elphaba down. She then wraps a blanket around Elphaba to keep her warm, solidifying Elphaba’s iconic look as a cloaked witch.
With the Wizard’s guards banging at the door, Elphaba jumps out of the tower with her broomstick and delivers one final message: “Tell them how I am defying gravity / I’m flying high, defying gravity / And soon, I’ll match them in renown / And nobody in all of Oz / No wizard that there is or was / Is ever gonna bring me down.”
Elphaba heads to “the western sky” for a good reason.
As hinted in the lyrics of “Defying Gravity,” Elphaba flees from the Wizard by heading to Oz’s western lands. The movie briefly explains this choice during a previous scene, in which Elphaba listens in on an animal resistance meeting at Doctor Dillamond’s home. There, the group looks at a map of Oz, which includes a mention of the Vinkus, an isolated western territory. Due to the harsh nature of its geographical landscape, the Vinkus provides better cover for Elphaba from the Wizard. It’s also home to Kiamo Ko, a castle fortress that belongs to Fiyero’s family and that ultimately becomes Elphaba’s outpost. Kiamo Ko is where Elphaba has her final standoff against Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
