Wicked: For Good isn’t just a sequel because it’s the point when the green curtain finally falls. The first movie showed us the meaning of friendship, power, awe, and betrayal. This sequel delves deeper and shows how you can still choose yourself when the story’s already been written before you.
It delivers us plot twists that cause the entire theater to gasp in shock, songs that will be featured on TikTok for the next decade, and character development that will hit us all as hard as a house falling from the heavens. It’s not difficult to see why this movie has the internet in a chokehold and is my current obsession.
Let’s dive into our favorite, most defining moments of Wicked: For Good.
Spoiler warning: if you haven’t experienced this amazing movie yet, please don’t continue reading.
Elphaba and Fiyero’s Love Story Reaching Its Final Form
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) are magical together. Their warm, magical chemistry sneaks up on you. They begin hesitantly, almost shyly, until it becomes impossible to ignore. What makes their relationship so compelling is not the romance itself but the vulnerability Elphaba reveals. Elphaba has built walls higher than those that surround Emerald City, and he’s the first person she truly lets behind them.
Their relationship has the feel of the payoff to the question the first movie never asked. Can Elphaba be loved without conditions? Wicked: For Good answer to this question is yes, and it’s perfectly delightful.
Glinda’s Shock Realizing Elphaba and Fiyero Are in Love
This has always been one of the defining emotions of Wicked as a musical. In the movie version, this revelation has an even greater impact. Glinda believed she and Fiyero were meant to be together. Glinda believed she had the perfect future planned. The truth shatters something inside of her.
And in her sorrow, she makes perhaps the worst decision she’s ever made in her life. She tells the Wizard and the actually wicked, Madame Morrible, that the only thing that will bring Elphaba out of hiding is her sister, Nessarose.
Glinda has no ill intent. However, her actions do cause harm. Resulting in one of the messiest and most painfully human parts of the movie, forever reshaping Oz.
Glinda Finally Finding Her Voice and Taking a Stand
Glinda (Arina Grande) has been fun, pretty, packaged, adorably pink, and glitter-coated from the beginning, but Wicked: For Good gives her something better. It gives her courage. Watching her voice evolve from airy confidence to grounded conviction is one of the most satisfying arcs in the entire film.
She stops performing for Oz and starts speaking for it. The moment she takes an official stand and banishes the Wizard is the moment Glinda stops being a symbolic figure and becomes an actual leader. It feels earned. It feels overdue. And Ariana plays it with a mix of heartbreak and maturity that makes it resonate.
Glinda (Ariana Grande) has been fun, pretty, packaged, adorably pink, and glitter-coated from the start, and Wicked: For Good provides something even better. It provides her with courage. What makes Glinda’s transformation so enjoyable? Seeing the development of her voice from one of easy-going, cute flair to one of substance, strength, and leadership.
She no longer just performs for Oz and begins to truly represent it. As soon as she takes a clear stance, banishing the Wizard and imprisoning Madam Morrible, she becomes a real leader instead of a symbolic one. This is not only fitting but also long overdue.
Boq’s Shocking Transformation Into the Tin Man
Nothing in this film hits like Boq’s (Ethan Slater) Tin Man origin reveal. The sweetness of the munchkin in the first film made him seem harmless. But Wicked: For Good pulls the rug from under us by showing the painful, twisted road that leads him to becoming the heartless Tin Man.
And when his transformation comes full circle and he stares down Glinda with that unsettling emotional mix of grief, betrayal, and rage, the entire movie shifts. It reframes the mythology of Oz in a way that is both tragic and brilliant. It might be one of the strongest reimagined origin stories in modern fantasy cinema.
Nessarose Becoming the Wicked Witch of the East and the Tragedy of How She Got There
Nessarose’s (Marissa Bode) backstory is definitely not the story of a villain; rather, it’s the tragic tale of a girl who only has a dream of being loved and becomes one of the most feared people in the land of Oz. Her story has many complications involving a series of human decisions that sum up to an extremely tragic event.
It’s painful because you quickly realize the awful truth of her situation. She did not decide to become wicked one day. She’s driven there by her own insecurities, jealousy, and the constant feeling of being secondary in her own life. This reveals the beginnings of the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West.
The Not So Reveal of Dorothy
The film teases Dorothy (Bethan Weaver) so carefully that when she’s finally revealed, it feels like a ghost of the story we know rather than a true debut. Wicked: For Good keeps her in the mythic distance on purpose.
Like with Broadway production, it’s a clever choice. This story belongs entirely to the women of Oz, not the little girl who dropped in from Kansas. Her presence is more like a ripple than an arrival, and it keeps the emotional focus exactly where it should be.
The Wizard’s True Identity and What It Means for Elphaba
The twist that the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) also happens to be Elphaba’s father injects a sense of tragedy that connects the whole story. Suddenly, every wound becomes starker. Jeff Goldblum’s portrayal of this revelation has a devastating impact; the tragic discovery of the severity of the emotional and physical destruction. All of which ultimately became the reasons behind his immediate banishment from Oz by Glinda.
This is a rare plot twist, and it wasn’t delivered for shock value. It deepens everything.
Elphaba and Fiyero Escaping Oz and Actually Getting a Happy Ending
Oz has never been gentle or understanding with Elphaba, but this film finally gives her something close to peace and a semblance of a happy ending. She runs, she survives, she chooses her own life, and she does it with the one person who fully understands and accepts her.
Their escape feels almost stolen, like they grabbed their happiness out of the jaws of a story that wasn’t planning to give it to them. And honestly, it’s perfect that way.
Glinda Sentences Madame Morrible and Rebuilds Oz to her Vision
Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is institutional cruelty personified and packaged in poise and elegance. She’s chillingly wicked. Glinda’s decision to imprison her is one of the most powerful moments in the film. It is not vengeful; it is justice handed down by a woman who has learned that mercy sometimes means setting firm boundaries.
It’s Glinda’s final step towards her own transformation.
The Liberation of Oz’s Animals
The liberation of the animals is one of the emotional payoffs that makes Wicked: For Good feel complete. Elphaba’s fight has always been rooted in empathy and fairness. Watching the animals regain their voices brings the narrative full circle in a way that feels spiritually right.
This is the victory she spent two films trying to earn. Seeing it happen without her receiving the credit only makes it all the more touching.
The One Sad but Necessary Ending Moment
Glinda never learns the truth. She doesn’t find out that Elphaba survived. She doesn’t know that the friend she loved and lost escaped with the man she also loved.
That realization that Glinda will forever be kept in the dark here hurts. It stings. But it honors the Broadway musical. Sometimes people don’t receive the closure we want, even when they deserve it. That bittersweet pain is a truth that keeps Wicked haunting you long after the credits roll.
The Songs That Own the Second Film and are Currently Stuck in Our Heads
For Good still remains the emotional spine of the story. Thank Goodness is delivered with so much new meaning that it might as well be a brand new song. And No Good Deed storms through the film like a declaration of identity rather than a breakdown. The entire soundtrack feels like the composers cracked open the original and let it breathe in a new era.
Do I Secretly Want A Part Three Even Though I Know We’re Not Getting One?
Absolutely! The film wraps its story with dignity and finality. It honors the Broadway source material. But the chemistry between Elphaba and Fiyero, the new depth to Glinda, and the expanded worldbuilding make you want one more chapter. Not because this particular story needs another part. Just because it would’ve been great to see the Oz that Glinda has created and the new life Elphaba and Fiyero have created.
Do you see Wicked: For Good? What were your favorite moments? Let us know in the comments.
