Headscratchers / Oz the Great and Powerful

• Several things don't seem to fit between this movie and The Wizard of Oz. Going by the MGM movie, the chief problem is: how comes the Wizard aged like that? This is the Land of Oz. The land where you never die (except from a magic-induced Weaksauce Weakness like Theodora's water problem). Relatedly, deciding Glinda and Oz are in love was an odd idea, because whatever version you're going with (be it the movie or the book), the modern-day-Wizard and the modern-day-Glinda are not in love (if nothign else, I doubt post-character-development-Oz would plan to leave Oz in his air baloon with Dorothy without even so much as a goodbye to the love of his life), meaning their relationship is Doomed by Canon.
  • I think Oscar ages like that because he's human. Glinda as a witch possibly doesn't age normally. Or maybe good witches are also gifted with eternal youth and beauty (or Glinda's just vain and hides her ageing with magic). I always assumed that Oscar and Glinda were in love but couldn't be together due to their political positions.
  • 1.) I'm pretty sure the "never die" thing only came into effect once Ozma ascended the throne. 2.) This film is actually meant more as a prequel to the original books than to the 1939 movie. It evokes certain things from the MGM film as nostalgic, but insignificant references (the only examples I can think of, honestly, are Theo's green skin and fire magic and the Oz/Kansas counterparts), but there are other, much more major parts of it that contradict the events of the MGM film (mainly the All Just a Dream thing) because it's written to follow the books from a story perspective. (Mostly — I don't think the books ever mentioned the king leaving a prophecy behind, and his daughter in the books was Princess Ozma, who was hidden away as a baby, not an adult Glinda the Good like in this film.)
  • If you had two Ax-Crazy witches out to get you, with only a flimsy scam to protect you, you'd age prematurely too.
• Is Glinda the sister of Theodora and Evanora, who are also daughters of the king? I thought this the first time I watched the movie, but the second time it struck me that that wasn't explicitly spelled out. If it is true, it gives the movie a tragic King Lear-vibe, which is a good thing in my opinion.
  • No, they're not actually related. Evanora and Theodora are sisters but they aren't related to Glinda - who is the daughter of the man that ruled the Emerald City. Evanora was merely his adviser. She just took command after his death because she had the most authority - and she'd framed Glinda as the Wicked Witch.
• Why do the people at the carnival expect Oz to make the wheelchair-bound walk just because he performed some magic tricks? Cutting the wires and the like are standard elements of a magic show. I've been to magic shows and I have no idea how they do some of those tricks, but I don't expect them to make a scar on my wrist disappear.
  • The difference is that we're not talking about the magic shows you go out and see today. Over 100 years ago when the movie takes place, people were a lot more susceptible to the idea of psychics and miracle men who could make the impossible happen. We also don't know that they were actually expecting him to make her walk, for real — they might've wanted him to somehow create the illusion that she was walking, if only to try and help her feel a bit better.

• When Oz questions how Theodora does not have men back home interested in her, she says, "You don't know much about witches, do you?" What exactly does this mean? Are they required to take vows of celibacy? If that is the case, why does Theodora expect Oz to make her his Queen, or Oz being with Glinda at the end?
  • It's likely that folk in Oz are rather fearful of witches, given that they can throw around bolts of energy, fly, and at least one is currently busy terrorizing the countryside. It looked like it was more to explain Theodora's naivety about faux romantic overtures, and corresponding anger once she discovered Oz's true nature, rather than a physical aspect of the setting
  • This was the impression I got as well; Theodora isn't required to be celibate because she's a witch, but the fact that she is a witch scares most guys who would otherwise be interested away.
  • On the other hand, if witches are so feared that men avoid her, that raises the question of why one witch is the head adviser to the king, one is trusted by the people to have driven out the Wicked Witch, and one was the king's own daughter, who was obviously adored by her people.
    • Not really. Witches in those three roles are quite powerful even without the magic. It's the Celebrity Paradox: Loved by all and lonely at the top.
  • Most likely, witches simply aren't supposed to be overly concerned with their own personal lives, given their other responsibilities. They're professionals fulfilling an important duty for their communities, so having a bunch of men chasing after them would be a distraction.
  • Given the reactions of the crowd in the scene where Evanora and Theodora are torturing Glinda (they shout things like "We know the truth!") it's possible Evanora's murder of the King is an Open Secret that the general populace is aware of but keeps quiet about due to fear of Evanora's magic. Theodora herself was oblivious to it due to her naivety and Evanora's sheltering, but the people of Oz believe her to have been complicit in the plot and so are afraid of her as well.
  • The notion that people in Oz are wary/afraid of magic users is something that was carried over from the books, where it was said to be viewed as an unnatural force that made the people who sought to practice it seem untrustworthy. Unless you were in a position of power and could easily leave an impression on people (like Glinda and the Witches of the East and West), people wouldn't know what to think of you, and so tended to err on the side of caution. Theo could've been in the same boat as Mombi (the sorceress who, in the books, helped the Wizard keep the true ruler of Oz hidden away during his reign), in that her neighbors were always careful to treat her respectfully, but never went out of their way to socialize with her because they were suspicious of her magical skills.
• How was China Girl able to run through the poppy fields with Glinda's wand without dying?
  • She does not breathe air. She is literally made out of china. It is the same reason the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were not affected, and this is flat out stated in Baum's book. You have to have lungs to inhale poppy vapors.

• Is death by water only applicable to certain witches? It's not that only wicked witches are vulnerable, as Theodora got scarred when she cried before she was corrupted. And it's not that only good witches are vulnerable, as Glinda didn't get scarred when she cried after getting shackled by the two wicked witches. Is Theodora the only witch prone to this?
  • This movie seems to suggest Theodora is vulnerable to water due to being a fire witch.
  • It's always been unique to the Wicked Witch of the West. The first movie didn't touch on it, but the books claimed that her lifetime of evil had dried her blood. Obviously, that doesn't apply here, so elemental typing seems the best explanation. Maybe Glinda should have tried fighting her?
  • Kind of gross but on a related note — if crying is enough to hurt Theodora... how does she go to the bathroom?
    • Well presumably she's okay if it's just shooting out of her - it's barely touching her skin at all. The tears were lingering on her face for a while before they started burning her.
    • Who says she even needs to go to the bathroom? If her genetic makeup is so bizarre that water, the most basic and vital component of the human body is detrimental to her, it's not too large a leap to assume her bodily functions could differ greatly from normal people's.

• How does Professor Marvel fit into this movie's universe? We're led to believe that all of the major characters in Oz have duplicates in the real world, just like in the original film — but what about Oz himself, who seems to exist in both worlds? Is there another fortune teller running around who looks like James Franco, but never got around to traveling to Oz?
  • It's possible but unlikely. As is mentioned on the head scratchers for the Wizard of Oz, Oz seems to function based on whatever rules it feels like at any given moment. There don't seem to be duplicates for Glinda in the original and unless we're accepting the it was all a dream answer (in which case Oz might simply be made up of some combination of all the people who ever made an impression on the visitor. It would even explain why Oz seems to retcon with each new telling, the world literally warps itself around the visitor and their state of mind.) Though I guess if you take this as prequel to the original MGM movie it's entirely possible that when you go to Oz you get a duplicate of some sort. It would explain why Professor Marvel is in Kansas to get caught up in what is presumably a second tornado along with Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Honestly it's probably best not to think about it too much. Oz, much like Wonderland effectively does what it wants, because it wants, how it wants.
  • I wouldn't read too much into the And You Were There thing. OTGAP is a bit confused about which continuity it wants to follow. It clearly is set up to evoke the 1939 movie thematically, in terms of the aesthetics and overall feel, but continuity-wise it is more faithful to the books and is based on (however inconsistent) backstory Baum gave in the books for the Wizard's first arrival to Oz. In the 1939 movie, And You Were There is a element of the All Just a Dream ending, while in this movie the Land of Oz is clearly real. The duplicating actors are a thematic Shout-Out, nothing more.
    • Are you certain of that? Oz seems to believe that Glinda is Annie, for a moment.
    • Because she looks like Annie. This doesn't invalidate what the above user said.
  • Possibly Professor Marvel is Frank, who took up snake-oil selling after his old boss disappeared in the storm, and copied Oscar's style to do so.
    • That's my thought exactly. It's my headcanon.

• In the beginning, when Oz and Theodora where hiding in that cave, where did that dove come from? I get that his jacket has hidden pockets, so I'm not questioning the trick, but he has two in the cage during the Kansas scene, puts one in his jacket but not the other, and we see it fly away. Also, even if the other one was there, how did it not die in the tornado?
  • Possibly he already had a dove in his pocket when the Kansas scene started. As for why it didn't die in the tornado, an even better question is why it didn't drown or at least break loose out of panic when he fell in the water.
  • Maybe he's just that good of a stage magician.
  • In the books, he's able to carry around nine miniature piglets in his pocket throughout the entirety of one of his adventures with Dorothy. Also, remember that animals gain sapience while in Oz — the bird could've been smart enough to know that it should stay in Oz's pocket until he set it free, especially if it was already trained to do that before.

• Is there any truth to what Evanora tells Theodora about what she did with Oscar, or was it a complete lie designed to push her idealistic sister over the Despair Event Horizon using Iago tactics? If the latter is the case, then did Oscar really intend to remain faithful to Theodora, was he really The Casanova?
  • I think it's clear that he treated Theodora as the same kind of disposable love interest as May, though he may have been true about making her his queen — but only if that's what it took to get his desired gold. Regretting it later is part of his Character Development.
  • It was a cruel lie to manipulate Theodora, which is why Evanora conjured her own music box. It is not necessarily clear how he viewed Theodora as a love interest. He was clearly attracted to her, but was offset by how quickly she wanted the relationship to go; she expected some guy she met a few seconds ago to make her his Queen, which would come off as strange to Oz, even if it is normal for Theodora.
  • I got the impression that witches are so powerful in Oz that all the men are simply to intimidated to talk to them. Which explains why two witches practically trip over themselves to get him and the third might very well have had she not made prior arrangements to eliminate him.

• If Evanora has a crystal ball that can see what Oz is doing at all times, why didn't they check to see what he was planning? Even if they were confident that it would have been a Curb-Stomp Battle they could have at least checked to see if they were even going to send troops at all.
  • You don't double check on a Curb-Stomp Battle. She had basically banished Glinda by herself and now she's heading into a two on one battle because she believes the Great and Power Oz to be nothing at all. There is no evidence that she was watching much of them earlier certainly not enough to know that he's a trickster not just a liar.
  • Here's a theory: the bubble shield is resistant to her magic.
  • But Evanora was able to show Theodora an image of Oscar and Glinda together in Munchkinland, if memory serves. That was in the bubble. However, most of the tinkering/workshopping was done indoors and underground, maybe the crystal has limits of where it can look? Perhaps not checking on Glinda and Oscar, because the Winkie Army was so powerful, is another sign of Evanora's arrogance.
    • Except she's really not overly arrogant. She got tricked and it could have happened to anybody but she was absolutely correct that her army was more powerful, better trained and larger and the Wizard is no wizard at all. Her one mistake was not knowing anything of stage magic (why would she, she lives in a world with REAL magic) that when Oscar starts bringing in the tricks she's absolutely convinced that it's the real thing. If she'd so much as suspected that he was a trickster, and not liar taking advantage of her naive sister the movie would have had a much different ending.
  • We have no idea what the limitations on the scrying magic is. It might be very taxing, or can only be done for so much time. So why waste a limited resource on an easily won battle?
  • Also, nothing the resistance was putting together would've been enough to tip Evanora off as to their actual intentions. She would see them putting fireworks together (no one in Oz has ever heard of those), and sewing and stitching clothes together and gathering hay for the scarecrows. You would only spend so much time keeping watch over them before she write it off as an easy victory and devote your time to making sure your own army is prepared.

• The invasion over the poppy fields. Did the witches just completely forget that there was an impenetrable field of sleep-flowers on that side of the city walls?
  • It doesn't really make sense, but given how magic works in Oz it's entirely possible that the witches saw an army on the march and figured that the fog or some other magic was repressing the magical poppies. As is mentioned several times both here and on The Wizard of Oz page Oz seems to do whatever the heck it feels like and it's probably not a good idea to get comfortable with the idea that it's going to behave the same way today as it did yesterday. If you see something unusual investigate.
  • Not to mention that the "soldiers" being used were running on a sort of technology never before seen in Oz. Given how little the witches thought of Oz, there were more likely to think that the poppy field somehow wasn't working, rather than that he actually got his shit together and invented a convenient fake army to trick them.
  • I may not be recalling the original Wizard of Oz film correctly, but doesn't Glinda use the same fog in that movie to wake Dorothy and Co. when they make the trip through the poppies? If that's the case, which I'm pretty sure it is, then Glinda's sisters would probably know her fog could counteract the poppy sleep effect.
    • What sisters? Theodora and Evanora aren't her sisters.
    • Glinda used a snowfall to awaken Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion.
  • Maybe the witches could control the poppies properties! They activated it because the invasion was coming over it, and then the effect was still lingering when the monkeys invaded. After all, the poppies are still there 30 years later, and get activated for Dorothy.
  • In the books, the poppies aren't enchanted by anyone. Oz poppies just put people to sleep when there's a lot of them around. Anyway they could simply not know about the poppies. Glinda knows because she was raised in the Emerald City her whole life. Evanora was only the king's adviser for a short while until she killed him. Alternately they just didn't notice in the heat of the battle. They saw an army marching and sent the monkeys to dispose of them. Then after a few minutes they go Oh, Crap! and remember it's the poppy field. As for Glinda's magic counteracting the sleep effect, she used snow in the original film. And in the books there is no cure for the effect; the field mice just carry Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion away from the flowers. Glinda's fog was there to hide that the warriors were really scarecrows on wheels and help the wicked witches forget it was the poppy field.
  • It's not unreasonable that they would think the fog was somehow blocking the effects of the flowers. Whatever explanation they came up with, they saw an army marching on their city and thought they had to do something before they reached the gates. They couldn't just sit there and let them come, and if the approaching troops could withstand the poppies, the witches figured the flying monkeys could as well.

• At the end, Oz has Glinda read a decree that concludes with "and the people of Oz shall be free" (or something of the sort). Free in what sense? Oz is going to rule over them as a seemingly omnipotent, invulnerable, absolute god-king. And he's going to keep his true nature secret from his subjects. What sort of freedom is he promising these people?
  • I don't see the people of Oz complaining about his leadership by the time Dorothy shows up. So that's the kind of freedom he's offering.
  • Slavery and servitude (in the sense of "serving" a king) are two different things. The implication is that they were in slavery to the witches, but have more personal freedom while in Oz's power.
  • Oscar seems to have set himself up as more of a guardian of Oz, rather than a true leader. The people of Oz appear to be quite able to run the Emerald city and the other kingdoms without anybody bossing them about, which is perfect for Oscar because he doesn't have to manifest his presence at all in their lives to keep things running smoothly. By Dorothy's time, few people in Oz have ever even seen his "true form", implying that he is simply revered as an all-powerful force that watches over the people of Oz, but lets them be free to go about their daily business unoppressed. The only time the great and powerful Oz really needs to exercise his authority and/or use his "power" is when the kingdom is threatened by an outside force. Also, the audience should be reassured by the fact that while Oscar loves fame, fortune, and adoration, he is never cruel or tyrannical; he wants to dazzle people with a show, not make them wallow in servitude and torment. Finally, Glinda would have perceived if Oscar had intended to set himself up as a tyrant and would never have believed in him or helped him if he had been that kind of person.
    • Further evidence of the "guardian" thing: notice how when they set up the Wizard's audiences with the people, the throne remains vacant, with the smoke and Oscar's head hovering over it. There is definitely an implication there that he doesn't "rule" the land, he just "watches over" it.
    • Even if Glinda had perceived that he was going try to be a tyrant she might still have helped him. I'd much rather fight one man who's super power is being sneaky and thinking ahead a little than two witches who can actually throw energy bolts about. It's definitely a trade in the right direction. Still in practice Oscar doesn't seem to do much of anything in Oz aside from sit in the Emerald City doling out advice to folks and occasionally sending them to murder witches.
    • Glinda's fundamental nature is goodness. She would not have compromised her principles and her very nature by helping one tyrant replace another. Philosophies of expedience like "enemy of my enemy is my friend" are not the tools of good characters who live in black and white worlds with black and white moral codes. If Glinda could tell that Oscar was going to be a tyrant, she wouldn't help him unless she could first convince him to be a good man.
  • Saying "you are free" after a successful rebellion never means "free from governmental authority", there is always going to be a government. It means "free to live and be governed according to your own customs". The customary government of Oz is some form of monarchy. With the witches gone, Oz can be king and everything can go back to the way it is supposed to be. It looks to me as though each group will, in practice, govern themselves, but everyone will ultimately owe allegiance to a king who doesn't really do anything except keep the peace. I think that is exactly the kind of freedom anyone in Oz would want.

• This is more of a headscratcher for the book, but how do the china people grow and reproduce?
  • Who's to say that they grow and reproduce? Scarecrows and Tinmen (depending on who's mythology you're using) don't grow or reproduce they are made and remain unchanging. It wouldn't shock me to find out that China People are made and remain the same way they were made their entire lives.
  • I think China Girl's parents were probably just "made" to be mother and father dolls rather having actually conceived her.
  • Depending on how much of the book version is being used, Oz might have a static population, lacking both deaths and newborns. Reproduction is a non factor for everyone.
    • Even in the Oz books, people can be killed — they just don't die of old age. The china population would need to be replenished somehow between the ruin we see in this movie and the time Dorothy sees them in Wonderful Wizard.
    • The denizens of Oz can survive such things as being chopped to pieces. That's why Nick Chopper lived to become the Tin Woodsman. Being eaten might actually be fatal, but just being smashed can be fixed, with enough time. Some of the china people might be too badly smashed to be fixed, but there are probably others that can still be fixed.

• Where the heck is the Good Witch of the North?
  • I choose to believe she is busy fighting Mombi in, well, the North, which the movie characters don't visit. Though the likely out-of-universe reason she isn't in this movie is because it would be confusing for viewers of the 1939 movie, not to mention add nothing to the story.
  • Wait, Glinda wasn't the good Witch of the North? (I just assumed she changed turf for whatever reason between films)
    • Not in the book. In the book, the Good Witch of the North is a separate character, an elderly woman who greets Dorothy upon landing and directs her to the Emerald City. In the 1939 movie she was merged with Glinda. OTGAP changes Glinda to her book title, the Good Witch of the South.
  • They had sequels planned. Presumably she'd show up there.
  • Possibly instead of a witch, the murdered former king served this role. He seems to have at least had the power to foretell the future and likely had other magical abilities in order to maintain power over the witches for as long as he did.

• The Wicked Witch of the East has lost her power at the end of the film due to Glinda taking off her necklace. How does she get it back enough to become such a menace that her death 20 years later results in celebration of being freed from her power?
  • The silver shoes (or ruby slippers for movie fans). She doesn't have them in this movie — perhaps she found them later.
  • In the Oz books, magic users made magic items because actual spell casting was a pain in the ass. They generally had a bunch of magic items of varying power lying around that gave them most of their power. In other words, Evanora lost a charm, but kept her knowledge, and could still make a new charm assuming that she didn't already have a spare hidden away. Heck, her loss to Oz and Glinda is probably what made her decide to find or create the shoes in the first place.
  • If we assume that this story follow's the film's continuity with regard to the Ruby slippers, the likeliest answer is that she got in touch with Theodora (who is red-themed and wears a ruby ring to cast magic) and had her create the shoes as a new conduit for her power to work through. Explains why Theo's so eager to recover them in the book and the 1939 film.

• When Evanora captures Glinda for a public execution, how does the crowd know that Evanora is the wicked witch and not Glinda?
  • Maybe the Emerald City Underground already knew, but were unable until then to convince enough people (or unwilling to risk saying so until their hands were forced). Alternatively, seeing Evanora commanding an army of evil flying monkeys was probably a bit of a giveaway.
  • Keeping up the ruse of being good was likely for her sister's sake more than that of the general populace, since Theodora could serve as a powerful enemy of Evanora and clearly wouldn't want to side with her if she found out who she really was. Once she'd been tricked into eating the apple so that she no longer cares, there's no risk in Evanora exposing herself as the wicked witch she really is.

• What was Oscar's plan if Theodora DIDN'T go after the balloon? Like suppose she decided him going down in Oz history as a coward who abandoned the people who believed in him was punishment enough, and the balloon just...floated away. Can't rise from the dead if people literally just saw "you" leave them behind.
  • Any experienced stage performer will by necessity have developed improvisation skills to use when something doesn't go according to script. Since all the other parts of Oscar's "show" were already in place regardless of what happened to the balloon, he could simply forge ahead with his plan and make something up on the spot. Granted it wouldn't have the quite the same effect he had originally planned for, but his fireworks and giant floating head illusion would still be enough to wow the crowd for his intended purpose.

• Couldn't all the china people be glued back together? Since this is Oz, they wouldn't be dead.
  • Oz in the movie seems to function differently from Oz in the later books (the ones written after Baum decided on the "no death" rule). Like in the earlier books, people can and do die in it.
  • Well by the time Dorothy visits the town in the book, there is a process for mending china people who get broken. So we can assume that Oz organises missions for the people of the town to be restored - possibly by the Tinkers, who are really good craftsmen.
  • Damage also seems to be a factor. Note that China Girl was still alive when she was found. The other residents of the town had been smashed into pieces, and whatever magic animated them must have left them.
  • If they could be glued back together, the only person who would even have a chance of knowing who the pieces individually belong to is China Girl, and I doubt she'd be able to identify an entire town's worth of smashed bits of china. (In the books, the only characters we saw being mended were those who lost a small piece of themselves in relatively peaceful circumstances, which is quite different.) Not to mention, putting her in that position would be like having a traumatized veteran go back into a war zone to identify the body parts of their fallen comrades — Oz and the others probably aren't comfortable with having her do that, especially when it's to try and accomplish something that so unlikely to succeed. All bringing her back would do is upset her further.
  • It’s all but stated to us that the Ozians have not yet invented glue as of the events of the film — when her legs are broken, China Girl laments that she’ll never be pieced back together, and she panics over being broken at other points in the movie, along with Oz introducing the glue he has as though it’s something she’s never heard of. These three things would not make sense if we assume glue was something they already have access to, and the one tiny bottle Oz possesses is not enough to repair an entire town.

• Why the heck did Evanora not poison Theodora with the apple long ago? She could have used simple trickery ("Sister, I picked a truly flawless apple in the orchard today. You must try it!"). Then she would have had nobody to interfere with her plans and could have used Theodora to obliterate Glinda outright. Oz would never have had a chance if he had entered a world ruled by two evil witches and nobody to aid him. Perhaps the magic apple would only work if used on a person with an already broken heart?
  • Better yet, why didn't Evanora distribute such apples over the entire kingdom, like Chester A. Bum suggested?
  • In the moment she bites the fruit Theodora realizes that her sister has tricked her, I think that the only reason she didn't notice before was because she was to upset because of her broken heart and with a cold head she would have notice the trick before.
  • Some magic in fiction only works on a subject who uses it willingly. Simply leaving such an apple sitting around for an unsuspecting person to nosh on might nullify its effect.
  • As I remember it—and correct me if I'm wrong— Evanora told Theodora that the apple would "make all the pain in her heart" go away, to paraphrase. Maybe she needed her in a weakened emotional state for the magic to take effect.
  • Or simply she didn't need to. Why use magic when Theodora already believes her sister is in the right? It's only when Oscar arrives and actually meets Glinda, getting led to the resistance, that Evanora comes up with something to keep Theodora on her side.
  • Also remember when Theodora transforms, Evanora has a Oh, Crap!! moment, clearly she thought Theodora would end up like her,a power hungry wicked witch, but instead Theodora turned into a fireball flinging rage monster, having a shriveled away heart and no consience made all that bottled up anger and hatred mentioned in a previous scene explode (by the time of Wo O she does seem to have chilled out becoming more like Evanora though)
  • My guess is that the apple needs to be swallowed before it takes affect. An enchanted apple like that probably has a very peculiar taste to it, so Theodora would've realized something was up and spit it out if her sister had tried to feed it to her surreptitiously. Not only would it not have worked, but it would run the risk of her turning against Evanora if she realizes she just tried to poison her.

• Why is wicked-Theodora OK with being on Evanora's side after realizing she's tricked her? A normal person would be upset and betrayed, but shouldn't an especially Wicked one want revenge or something? She seems angry at first, then kind of lets it go and stays with Evanora.
  • After rewatching her transformation scene, I'm not sure Theodora ever realized Evanora had lied about her relationship with Oz. She does say "You're the wicked one... Not Glinda!" but that could just be her realizing Evanora was the one who killed the King. Since she seems to hold Oz solely responsible for her broken heart it's possible she still believes Evanora was just another "victim" of his womanizing.
  • Also didn't she just realize this AFTER she had already eaten the evil brainwashing-apple?
  • Alternatively, this could translate to Fridge Brilliance. Evanora took from her sister her heart...and conscience. Given that Theodora is now incapable of goodness, it makes sense that she can't punish Evanora, why? Because if she were to punish or even kill Evanora, considering what an evil person Evanora is, it wouldn't be considered spiteful revenge so much as fitting justice.
  • Evanora's not stupid, and wants her sister to turn evil so they can conquer Oz together. Possibly she included a "hate-everyone-except-me" safety clause in the apple to ensure wicked-Theodora wouldn't turn on her.
  • Why would she care that Evanora had lied to her once the apple took effect? It evidently made her see no problem in Evanora killing the king considering how she brings it up to Glinda later, and Oz really had manipulated her feelings even if he hadn't done the same to Evanora, so that she lied about that doesn't really matter.

• Who was the big guy chasing Oz when he got on the balloon that eventually took him to the Emerald City?
  • Each time Oz was trying to sweep a girl off her feet, he gave her that music box (he had more than one). Evidently he gave one to the strongman's sweetheart.
• I don't understand Oscar's character arc. He's a stage illusionist, so he knows he doesn't have magical powers. When the townspeople ask him to heal the little girl he says he would, but "the Aether" being out of balance. After that, he feels despondent that he's a "fraud". But he's not a fraud; he's an entertainer. Was he trying to make the audience think his "powers" were real or not? Or was he caught off-guard because some country bumpkins believed that he could do "real" magic even though they should have known they were tricks?
  • He wasn't like a modern stage illusionist whose audience all knows full well that its not real, he is more like one of those modern con-man psychics who claim to actually have psychic powers. He pretends to have magic powers to make money, then feels guilty for giving the innocent little girl false hopes that he couldn't actually follow through on.

• Why does Evanora bother with the pretence of being a Royal Advisor, or of having to give Oz the crown at any point? Why didn't she just declare herself Queen the instant the king was dead, and why didn't she just imprison or execute Oz the moment he showed up in the Emerald City?
  • She was royal advisor because it was her job. Also, King Pastoria dying wouldn't make her Queen, it'd make Glinda queen. Hence why she blamed Glinda. Also, Evanora couldn't be Queen. It was foretold and apparently common knowledge another wizard would arrive to rule Oz. Evanora, in either sense, had no right to the throne. The only way she'd really have gotten away with it all was if she killed both Glinda and the king and prevented his prophecy from ever being heard by anyone else and even then it is still VERY suspicious the reigning monarch and the one next in line both die at the same time.
  • Why does she even care about being seen that way? She's a wicked witch, and by the end of the movie she has no problem whatsoever with torturing Glinda with lightning in front of a huge crowd. She's already effectively running the show, so who would dispute it if she just declared herself queen? Only Glinda and her followers, who are all resisting her anyway. And if the damn prophecy is so frightful to her, why didn't she just kill Oz the moment he showed up?
  • She's prideful, and has a clear interest in at least trying for the Villain with Good Publicity. If she could have somehow subverted the prophesy to her own ends, that is a far 'neater' victory than simply 'mhahaha'ing her way to the throne. By the end of the movie she's obviously lost much of her interest in hiding her true intentions, likely due to the setbacks she's suffered along the way.
  • Evanora tries to make it look like Glinda killed the king to gain the throne, thereby discrediting her. As Evanora was the advisor, she takes over as the ruler "for the time being". Evanora also might want to keep up the pretence that Glinda is the wicked witch to keep Theodora on her side. By the time she's revealed herself as the wicked witch, she's got a powerful ally in her sister. So she went in the back door and revealed herself once she had the back-up to keep power.
• After Theodora eats the apple, she realizes for a split second that Evanora was the wicked witch, and not Glinda, while still supposedly retaining her goodness. SO why didn't she just spit out or vomit up the apple? Would that have worked? Did it never occur to her that the woman she just discovered was behind everything might've just fed her a poisoned piece of fruit?
  • The magic had already started working by that time.
  • And Theodora was already in pain from her heart "withering and dying". It's likely she couldn't think of other solutions because of the state she was in.
• How old is Oscar Diggs supposed to be in this continuity? Other versions of the story have him as a much older man who’s lived in Oz for years by the time Dorothy visits him, but this film’s problem tying into those is that here, Oz’s lady-friend, Annie, is implied to be Dorothy’s mother, and the two of them still appear to be quite young — in their 20s or 30s, maybe? Dorothy is portrayed as being 12 at the oldest during her first adventure in Oz, and Annie mentions receiving a proposal from her implied-to-be-father John Gale early on in this film. So how much time passed before their marriage and Dorothy’s conception that allowed the Wizard to age as much as he did? Unless Annie is actually Dorothy’s grandmother or time passes differently in Oz.
• Is it significant that Theodora's name is a slight anagram of Dorothy's, or was it just a coincidence?