'Wicked: For Good' Ending Explained: How Does 'Elphaba' Survive? Know The Meaning Of Final Scene

The world of Oz has returned to the big screen with Jon M. Chu's Wicked: For Good. It has brought the themes of friendship, heartbreak, and the magic of 'Glinda' and 'Elphaba's interlinked destinies to the screen. The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the lead roles, concluding the two-part adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. However, the real highlight of the season is that it answers one of the biggest questions for the fans. How does 'Elphaba' survive? And what do the emotional end credits of the film mean?

How does 'Elphaba' survive in Wicked: For Good?

Wicked: For Good makers have been honest to the stage version and revealed that 'Elphaba's supposed death is a real and carefully crafted escape. According to the film, 'Elphaba' decided to let 'Dorothy' and 'Ozians' believe that she had melted. But prior to it, she gives 'Glinda', the Grimmerie, Oz's most powerful spellbook. It shared a mark of trust and reconciliation between the once inseparable friends. Cynthia Erivo aces the dramatic scene where she has to choose between sacrifice over resistance after finding that the 'Wizard' and 'Madame Morrible' have turned the entire land against her. 

However, 'Dorothy's bucket of water, which was believed to be 'Elphaba's fatal moment, turns out to be an illusion. The film confirmed long-term hints of the musical that the 'Wicked Witch of the West' never truly melted. Instead, she escaped through a trapdoor beneath her castle and 'Glinda' watched her 'disappear'. Consequently, she thought 'Elphaba' had died. But after a few moments, 'Elphaba' is shown alive inside 'Fiyero's castle, where her lover, transformed into the 'Strawman', waits for her. According to PEOPLE, 'Elphaba's plot ends with her freedom rather than defeat because she and 'Fiyero' leave Oz to live an anonymous life.

What does the final scene of Wicked: For Good mean?

Wicked: For Good's emotional weight lies on the closing scene, which takes audiences back to a specific scene from Wicked: The Musical, Part One. Viewers get to see a flashback of 'Elphaba', 'Glinda', and their friends, who watched the sunrise in a quiet field after a night at the Ozdust Ballroom. When Grade's 'Glinda' tries to whisper something into 'Elphaba's hat, it looks similar to the musical's poster with the white-clad good witch who whispers something into the ear of the green-clad outcast.

As per Universal's production notes and early critics' reviews, the film's director, Jon M. Chu, used the last scene as a tribute to Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's music. It hints at a time before politics, betrayals, and destinies pulled them apart, highlighting that their friendship was always the main theme of Wicked. The film's ending, which includes this flashback, reinforces the meaning of the song, For Good, suggesting that despite their painful separation, the two witches changed each other's lives forever.

At that very moment, the Chorus begins to sing, No one mourns the wicked, and the film cuts between 'Glinda' standing over the Emerald City. Whereas 'Grimmerie' and 'Elphaba' disappear into a new life away from everyone. Despite their diverging stories, they remain connected and echo the idea that history may call someone 'wicked', but the reality lies in what is left unseen.

Meanwhile, Wicked: For Good is now in theatres. What do you think about the film's ending?

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