The Real Reason Glinda Can’t Use Magic In Wicked

Cease your journey down the yellow brick street in case you do not but know all the story of “Depraved” — there are spoilers forward!

Once we first meet Galinda Upland — performed by pop star and actor Ariana Grande-Butera — in Jon M. Chu’s epic musical adaptation “Depraved: Half One,” she’s a brand new pupil at Shiz College who’s determined to show herself, particularly to the varsity’s Dean of Sorcery Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). There’s only one downside: Galinda would not have a very robust pure inclination in the direction of sorcery or witchcraft, and to make issues worse, her new roommate, the green-skinned Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), does possess an innate affinity for the magical arts.

So, what is the deal right here? Why is not Galinda, who in the end restyles her identify as Glinda (in honor of Peter Dinklage’s Shiz professor Physician Dillamond, a goat who has bother with the “uh” sound and is ousted when Oz cruelly cracks down on animals in society), a naturally gifted witch — and to that time, how does any person who apparently cannot carry out magic change into often called Glinda the Good Witch? (At first of “Depraved: Half One,” we see the very finish of all the story, the place Glinda presides over a bunch of Ozians celebrating the obvious loss of life of Elphaba, the “Depraved Witch of the West.”) Does Glinda ever actually be taught to do magic or is all of it merely a intelligent phantasm? Here is why Glinda struggles to carry out spells within the “Depraved” musical and its movie diversifications, and whether or not or not that modifications. (The reply, merely put, is “possibly.”)

Proper from the start of “Depraved: Half One,” we see Glinda — because the Good Witch later within the timeline — “performing” some magic in “No One Mourns the Depraved,” however based mostly on her time at Shiz College, a younger Galinda undoubtedly would not have any affinity for witchcraft. Elphaba continually casts spells and enchantments with out that means to, making it fairly clear to Madam Morrible that she’s an enormously gifted sorceress … however Galinda is caught begging the Dean of Sorcery for a spot in one in all her lessons (bragging about her paper on magic wands and whether or not or not they “have a degree” to attempt to squeak her method into the seminar, which is admittedly very humorous). As thanks for “serving to” Elphaba’s youthful sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) pursue Boq Woodsman (Ethan Slater), Elphaba convinces Madam Morrible to permit Galinda to review with them … and when Galinda realizes this, she stops attempting to humiliate Elphaba in public, and the 2 change into quick buddies. 

Essentially the most telling second in “Depraved: Half One,” so far as Galinda’s inherent magical talents are involved, occurs simply earlier than Ariana Grande-Butera’s showstopping quantity “Well-liked,” when Galinda informs Elphaba that she’s going to use her wand to alter the inexperienced witch’s “frock” or “coat” (which Galinda then calls a “froat”) into a distinct merchandise of clothes. Galinda’s makes an attempt at spell-casting are performed for laughs, however this sequence additionally betrays a easy fact: Galinda doesn’t seem to have the ability to do any magic in anyway.

So, is there any form of clarification as to why Galinda would not seem to have any pure magical powers? Sure, nevertheless it’s in a deleted scene! On the digital launch of “Depraved,” followers obtained to see a complete bunch of deleted scenes, together with one which explains Galinda’s shut friendship with Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and ShenShen (Bronwyn James) and one other during which Elphaba and Boq have just a little heart-to-heart about unrequited love (Boq is carrying a torch for Galinda, whereas Elphaba is in love with Galinda’s boyfriend Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, performed by Jonathan Bailey). The one we’re specializing in, although, is one where Elphaba tells Galinda why she probably doesn’t have an innate way to control magic.

After Elphaba and Fiyero save a lion cub from changing into a check topic for horrific experiments at Shiz, Elphaba returns to her room to seek out Galinda attempting to carry out a fundamental flotation spell, just for Galinda to ask why magic is so onerous for her. Elphaba shares a concept, which is that Galinda’s privileged life has been straightforward … which makes it more durable for her to entry her potential magical powers. After that, Galinda tells her pal she would have helped with the lion cub in Fiyero’s stead, additional cementing their friendship and Galinda’s variety, considerate facet … and Elphaba tells her pal, “I will not go away you behind once more.” (Sadly, this is not true, however Elphaba would not actually know that but.)

On the finish of “Depraved: Half One” — which ends with Elphaba’s energy ballad “Defying Gravity,” marking the identical endpoint of the musical’s first act — Elphaba does go away Glinda (with out the “uh”) behind, largely as a result of Madam Morrible and the Wizard of Oz (a perfectly irreverent Jeff Goldblum) are sizzling on their heels after Elphaba makes a number of unsettling discoveries concerning the Wizard. (In no specific order, these discoveries embrace that the Wizard is a fraud who cannot learn from the magical guide often called the Grimmerie, he desires to make use of Elphaba to do nefarious magic, and he believes within the subjugation of speaking animals.) Elphaba creates a flying broomstick and escapes Madam Morrible and the Wizard, leaving Glinda to fend for herself; as we see in “No One Mourns the Depraved,” Glinda turns into a mouthpiece for the Wizard’s evil regime, “celebrating” her pal’s loss of life (although Ariana Grande-Butera’s efficiency features a few glorious moments the place we see flashes of her interior battle).

So, does any of this imply that in “Wicked: For Good” — the upcoming second “Wicked” film, which is named for Elphaba and Galinda’s emotional duet — we’ll see Glinda carry out actual magic? That continues to be to be decided; Glinda will spend the second half of the narrative largely “at odds” with Elphaba for political causes earlier than swooping in inside her apparently magical pink bubble to avoid wasting the day on the very finish (assuming “For Good” follows the “Depraved” stage musical as intently as “Half One” did) and arrest Madam Morrible and the Wizard for principally being large jerks. Wait — let’s speak about that pink bubble for a second, although.

The Wizard’s complete deal in “Wicked” and the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” boils all the way down to the truth that, in all variations of this acquainted story, he is a big fraud. He isn’t an omnipotent, all-seeing magical being; he is only a dude from Nebraska who cannot do magic. (That is not meant as a slight concerning Nebraska, by the way in which; he simply lies about that whereas he is additionally mendacity about having the ability to do magic.) With that in thoughts, let’s take into consideration Glinda’s “magical” floating pink bubble, which serves as her foremost type of transit. Is it actually magic created by her massive, flashy magic wand or is it a ruse?

It very effectively is perhaps the latter. When Glinda arrives in Munchkinland as information spreads that the Depraved Witch of the West is not any extra, she repeatedly “pops” and “unpops” her (seemingly soundproofed?) bubble in order that she will be able to converse to the Munchkins. Nonetheless, based mostly on the truth that the Wizard — whereas decidedly non-magical — is a really shrewd inventor, he definitely may have engineered a mechanically managed flying bubble for Glinda to make use of. It additionally appears like she’s urgent a button to “pop” and “unpop” the factor, which could possibly be one other clue that neither the Wizard nor Glinda is definitely magical, and that the residents of Oz ought to pay extra consideration to the person backstage … or the lady within the bubble, because it had been.

“Depraved: Half One,” the place Glinda would not do any actual magic that we all know of, is accessible to hire or purchase on main streaming platforms now. “Depraved: For Good” is at present scheduled to open in theaters on November 21, 2025.

Cease your journey down the yellow brick street in case you do not but know all the story of “Depraved” — there are spoilers forward!

Once we first meet Galinda Upland — performed by pop star and actor Ariana Grande-Butera — in Jon M. Chu’s epic musical adaptation “Depraved: Half One,” she’s a brand new pupil at Shiz College who’s determined to show herself, particularly to the varsity’s Dean of Sorcery Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). There’s only one downside: Galinda would not have a very robust pure inclination in the direction of sorcery or witchcraft, and to make issues worse, her new roommate, the green-skinned Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), does possess an innate affinity for the magical arts.

So, what is the deal right here? Why is not Galinda, who in the end restyles her identify as Glinda (in honor of Peter Dinklage’s Shiz professor Physician Dillamond, a goat who has bother with the “uh” sound and is ousted when Oz cruelly cracks down on animals in society), a naturally gifted witch — and to that time, how does any person who apparently cannot carry out magic change into often called Glinda the Good Witch? (At first of “Depraved: Half One,” we see the very finish of all the story, the place Glinda presides over a bunch of Ozians celebrating the obvious loss of life of Elphaba, the “Depraved Witch of the West.”) Does Glinda ever actually be taught to do magic or is all of it merely a intelligent phantasm? Here is why Glinda struggles to carry out spells within the “Depraved” musical and its movie diversifications, and whether or not or not that modifications. (The reply, merely put, is “possibly.”)

Proper from the start of “Depraved: Half One,” we see Glinda — because the Good Witch later within the timeline — “performing” some magic in “No One Mourns the Depraved,” however based mostly on her time at Shiz College, a younger Galinda undoubtedly would not have any affinity for witchcraft. Elphaba continually casts spells and enchantments with out that means to, making it fairly clear to Madam Morrible that she’s an enormously gifted sorceress … however Galinda is caught begging the Dean of Sorcery for a spot in one in all her lessons (bragging about her paper on magic wands and whether or not or not they “have a degree” to attempt to squeak her method into the seminar, which is admittedly very humorous). As thanks for “serving to” Elphaba’s youthful sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) pursue Boq Woodsman (Ethan Slater), Elphaba convinces Madam Morrible to permit Galinda to review with them … and when Galinda realizes this, she stops attempting to humiliate Elphaba in public, and the 2 change into quick buddies. 

Essentially the most telling second in “Depraved: Half One,” so far as Galinda’s inherent magical talents are involved, occurs simply earlier than Ariana Grande-Butera’s showstopping quantity “Well-liked,” when Galinda informs Elphaba that she’s going to use her wand to alter the inexperienced witch’s “frock” or “coat” (which Galinda then calls a “froat”) into a distinct merchandise of clothes. Galinda’s makes an attempt at spell-casting are performed for laughs, however this sequence additionally betrays a easy fact: Galinda doesn’t seem to have the ability to do any magic in anyway.

So, is there any form of clarification as to why Galinda would not seem to have any pure magical powers? Sure, nevertheless it’s in a deleted scene! On the digital launch of “Depraved,” followers obtained to see a complete bunch of deleted scenes, together with one which explains Galinda’s shut friendship with Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and ShenShen (Bronwyn James) and one other during which Elphaba and Boq have just a little heart-to-heart about unrequited love (Boq is carrying a torch for Galinda, whereas Elphaba is in love with Galinda’s boyfriend Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, performed by Jonathan Bailey). The one we’re specializing in, although, is one where Elphaba tells Galinda why she probably doesn’t have an innate way to control magic.

After Elphaba and Fiyero save a lion cub from changing into a check topic for horrific experiments at Shiz, Elphaba returns to her room to seek out Galinda attempting to carry out a fundamental flotation spell, just for Galinda to ask why magic is so onerous for her. Elphaba shares a concept, which is that Galinda’s privileged life has been straightforward … which makes it more durable for her to entry her potential magical powers. After that, Galinda tells her pal she would have helped with the lion cub in Fiyero’s stead, additional cementing their friendship and Galinda’s variety, considerate facet … and Elphaba tells her pal, “I will not go away you behind once more.” (Sadly, this is not true, however Elphaba would not actually know that but.)

On the finish of “Depraved: Half One” — which ends with Elphaba’s energy ballad “Defying Gravity,” marking the identical endpoint of the musical’s first act — Elphaba does go away Glinda (with out the “uh”) behind, largely as a result of Madam Morrible and the Wizard of Oz (a perfectly irreverent Jeff Goldblum) are sizzling on their heels after Elphaba makes a number of unsettling discoveries concerning the Wizard. (In no specific order, these discoveries embrace that the Wizard is a fraud who cannot learn from the magical guide often called the Grimmerie, he desires to make use of Elphaba to do nefarious magic, and he believes within the subjugation of speaking animals.) Elphaba creates a flying broomstick and escapes Madam Morrible and the Wizard, leaving Glinda to fend for herself; as we see in “No One Mourns the Depraved,” Glinda turns into a mouthpiece for the Wizard’s evil regime, “celebrating” her pal’s loss of life (although Ariana Grande-Butera’s efficiency features a few glorious moments the place we see flashes of her interior battle).

So, does any of this imply that in “Wicked: For Good” — the upcoming second “Wicked” film, which is named for Elphaba and Galinda’s emotional duet — we’ll see Glinda carry out actual magic? That continues to be to be decided; Glinda will spend the second half of the narrative largely “at odds” with Elphaba for political causes earlier than swooping in inside her apparently magical pink bubble to avoid wasting the day on the very finish (assuming “For Good” follows the “Depraved” stage musical as intently as “Half One” did) and arrest Madam Morrible and the Wizard for principally being large jerks. Wait — let’s speak about that pink bubble for a second, although.

The Wizard’s complete deal in “Wicked” and the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” boils all the way down to the truth that, in all variations of this acquainted story, he is a big fraud. He isn’t an omnipotent, all-seeing magical being; he is only a dude from Nebraska who cannot do magic. (That is not meant as a slight concerning Nebraska, by the way in which; he simply lies about that whereas he is additionally mendacity about having the ability to do magic.) With that in thoughts, let’s take into consideration Glinda’s “magical” floating pink bubble, which serves as her foremost type of transit. Is it actually magic created by her massive, flashy magic wand or is it a ruse?

It very effectively is perhaps the latter. When Glinda arrives in Munchkinland as information spreads that the Depraved Witch of the West is not any extra, she repeatedly “pops” and “unpops” her (seemingly soundproofed?) bubble in order that she will be able to converse to the Munchkins. Nonetheless, based mostly on the truth that the Wizard — whereas decidedly non-magical — is a really shrewd inventor, he definitely may have engineered a mechanically managed flying bubble for Glinda to make use of. It additionally appears like she’s urgent a button to “pop” and “unpop” the factor, which could possibly be one other clue that neither the Wizard nor Glinda is definitely magical, and that the residents of Oz ought to pay extra consideration to the person backstage … or the lady within the bubble, because it had been.

“Depraved: Half One,” the place Glinda would not do any actual magic that we all know of, is accessible to hire or purchase on main streaming platforms now. “Depraved: For Good” is at present scheduled to open in theaters on November 21, 2025.