WMG / Wicked

Stephen Schwartz wrote this play for no reason but to make something that plays havoc with our expectations.

Every time Wicked is mentioned in something, it's always, "You'd think that X song would apply here, but it doesn't because of this"; and then everything falls into interesting debates about the philosophy of good and evil. About the only song that's avoided this is "The Wizard and I," but Schwartz has stated in ''The Grimmerie'' that it's there because there's always a song like that as the second or third song.

Trism is Ozma, the true ruler of Oz, in disguise or under a spell

This Gender Bender plot was in the original version with Tip, so why not here with Trism?

• This time, either Tip/Trism isn't going to have such an easy time becoming a girl, or Liir is really oblivious (like, M. Butterfly oblivious).
  • C'mon! This HAS to be addressed in the third book, and someone has to have read it, right?
    • Not addressed in the third book. Liir, Trism, and Candle have all vanished without a trace (at least, as far as the protagonists of A Lion Among Men know.)
  • Haven't read the third book, but in the second book, Liir briefly observed the actual Tip(/once-and-future-Ozma) being scolded by the witch whose name I have forgotten how to spell. Mombie? Mumbie? It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance.
  • I think it's Mombie. I wonder how many heads she had by then? Anyway, if Tip/Ozma already exists in Wicked!Oz seems that the author this close to a tragic ending for Liir and Trism, the only character - and coincidentally his only male love interest - whom Liir felt he had an emotional connection with. That sort of development seems at odds with the author's real life loving relationship with his partner/husband and their three kids.
    • Mombi didn't have multiple heads in original Oz canon, that was Princess Langwidere. Mombi was an elderly witch.
    • Jossed in Book Four: Ozma and Tip are the same

Liir, being an Expy for Shinji Ikari, will try to use the Deadly Desert or nearest equivalent to cause an irritating version of Instrumentality.

Sorry, Jossed in Part I of the book. The desert being deadly is just propaganda to keep raiders from trying to get to Oz.

• Or nearest equivalent. It'll happen even if Liir has to build that equivalent personally.
  • Okay, sandworms then (just kidding). Still, the sight of the Wheelers crumbling into sand sculptures is quite evocative...

Eh, what the hell: All Deconstructor Fleet universes lead to/away from Wicked

If Elphaba returns she'll crush/strangle Trism to death if he betrays Liir in a fit of Mama Bearishness. Dorthy, Candle, etc. will make Heroic Sacrifices (or maybe just stupid ones) that'll help cause the downfall of Oz due to Elphaba, Fiyero, and Galinda's Gambit Pileup. Liir and Candle's daughter will be an ultra Morality Pet. Oz eventually becomes the Watchmen universe, which creates Dr. Manhattan who creates the NGE universe, which creates Rei who becomes Instrumentality which becomes the "original" Oz(s) inside her while she creates another, other, *other* Earth, which sends colonies to 12 planets, etc. etc. until all this comes down to us, who create all these stories again.

This book and this musical are in an alternate world from the Wizard of Oz books and The Wizard of Oz movie

The book and musical have stuff from both the Wizard of Oz movie and the original book series. Also, Glinda has blonde hair instead of red.

• ...yeah, that's not a WMG, that's a fact.

The Fourth book's going to be about the Tin Man

Because we've seen all the other popular characters. Also, Ephalba will return because the author has dropped enough hints!!

• Now now, Maguire may be a tool, but he's not that big of one. The cycle was originally four books, but the last two got combined into one. Inverse of Trilogy Creep, anyone? If he decides to be a huge tool, I'd be very upset. And even more so if he becomes the biggest and resurrects Elphaba. She's dead! Good news! ... or are you just a troll. HCO? You trolling again?
• Dunno where you got your sources on that whole merging thing, but it's wrong. Third book brings Nor back into the picture and kills off Yackle. 4th book will presumably be the resolution, rumor has it Glinda gets the starring role.
• Elphaba's return is pretty much Jossed. In the third book, when they find the Grimmerie in the Clock and her watermark appears they specifically state that it's only Elphaba's sign: That Elphaba's time is done and that she is gone for good.
  • To be fair, they also specifically state "she is coming back." That could easily refer to Elphaba.
  • Actually, this is likely confirmed in the Out Of Oz. Who else could Glinda be referring to when she said, "Ooh, you wicked thing. You took your time getting here."?
• Maguire already alluded to the fact that the fourth book will be about Glinda.
• It is. Also Elphaba's granddaughter, Rain and the Clock of the Time Dragon.

The Grimmerie = The Lexicon

• Alternatively, the Grimmerie is a Kindle.

Pure water will melt her.

Elphaba in the musical, naturally. However, there is no pure water in Oz. All the water has fluoride in it. Even the rain. Why? Oz is magical.

• Rain isn't necessarily pure water - if Oz is sufficiently smoggy, she would be immune to rain, as well, since it now is acid rain. Elphaba can't die.

Elphaba is a Spark.

Moreso in the book than the musical. However, she manages to take a book of strange orgin and understand its secret quickly and makes the Flying Monkeys... aka constructs. I seem to recall she was reading about how to add parts of one animal to another painlessly (Monkeys with Roc Wings in her case) at one point in Part IV or V. Perhaps she got it from her father O.Z. Diggs.

Green Elixir is absinthe.

The Wizard brought a whole case with him from Nebraska, and only hands it out when he feels like it. It has an intoxicating effect on Oz locals, so Melena was able to be seduced, and IIRC he gave it to Glinda in the musical to take away the pain.

• Green Elixir is a roofie. Because the land of Oz is in another planet/dimension/universe, it's harmless to humans (besides the roofie effects) but causes congenital defects in Ozians.
  • I was always under the impression that the Green Elixir was an Earth patent medicine. Same argument as the above, but it explains why the Wiz was carrying it on him in the first place.

• Alternatively, it could also be Coca-Cola. When Coke was first created, it was green in color and contained cocaine.
  • Cocaine would keep you awake, the exact opposite of what the elixir was meant to do.

Elphaba created the first draft of the Crucible of Ahriman.

The spell cast by her on Fiyero (let his flesh not be torn, let his blood leave no stain, though they beat him let him feel no pain)Compared to the Crucible of Ahriman, which turned his fellow Thousand Suns into walking suits of armour, without flesh, blood or bones.

In the novel, Glinda knowingly revealed Elphaba's Emerald City hideout to the government.

It's implied that she suspects Elphaba is in the Emerald City ("If you see her, tell her I miss her still.") Sarima's sisters suspect that Glinda had a hand in Fiyero's death; maybe they're right after all.

• Jossed in the third novel.

Gaila is a descendant of Elphaba.

In the musical, The Wizard never completed his journey back to Nebraska.

Not only has he been deposed and forced to return to a life of poverty and mediocrity, but he also believes that he's resposible for the death of his only child. So, he waits until the balloon's well and truly outside Oz's borders, and jumps. Unfortunately for him- and all of Oz-, he ends up surviving thanks to the intervention of the Nome King, who offers him a quick death in exchange for information on the political situation in Oz; once the Wizard has finished babbling out everything he knows, the King adds him to his ornament collection and begins planning for the invasion...

Zac Efron will play Fiyero in the movie, the fanfiction section will be swarmed by tween Efron fans and any author who is even halfway decent will be driven to jumping off a cliff.

Or alternately - you know just give it up

• Similar. They're actually trying to get a Idina lookalike from Glee to play Elphaba.
  • That Idina look-alike IS Idina.
    • She/he meant Lea Michelle.

Tim Burton will make the movie adaption. Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp will play Elphaba and Fiyero.

Elphaba's granddaughter will be deformed.

• The rain would've melted her away like her grandma, but Liir brought her inside quickly enough so she was only disfigured.

Jossed in Out of Oz

In this alternate Oz, Animals are descended from Earth animals.

According to the Land of Oz, all animals can talk once they enter Oz. Here, though, it's very clear some Animals talk, and some animals can't. It's possible that, in time immemorial, some Earth beasts got stranded in Oz as Dorothy did, and gained the power of speech, giving rise to the many breeds of Animal.

Musical!Elphaba and Musical!Fiyero had Liir at some point in the future and his singing voice sounds like this guy.

Because Elphaba has a beautiful voice and Fiyero has a beautiful voice. Blend those voices together and you get the drop dead gorgeous voice above. As for how Elphie and Fiyero could feasibly conceive a child after Fiyero's transformation...I'll just say A Witch Did It.

G(a)linda was right

At first listen, "Popular" seems to showcase how shallow G(a)linda is, and we assume that her worldview is wrong. However, as the events of Wicked show, the people of Oz truly do only value superficiality and don't have the openmindedness to dig any deeper than their preconceived notions and stereotypes. In the musical, at least, G(a)linda is the one who is ultimately able to make the change, because she doesn't alienate herself by defying the Wizard, rather infiltrating the ranks of power and working it so that she is actually in a place of power by the end of the musical.

• Isn't this just canon?

Elphaba is going to found some sort of Peace Corps-esque organization in whatever universe she's in now.

In the musical, Boq isn't as bad as he comes across following his transformation into the Tin Man.

Now I know this will come across like I'm trying to give Boq the Draco in Leather Pants treatment, but I'm not. Here's my reasoning:

• He, like the rest of Oz, is duped by the Wizard and Morrible into believing that Elphaba is wicked and that they're good. And, unlike Glinda and Fiyero, he has no way of knowing that he's being lied to; remember, even Nessarose, Elphaba's own sister thought that she had gone off the deep end. Also, considering that he believed Nessa, it's possible that he doesn't remember the moments leading up to his transformation - meaning that, for all he knows, he just woke up like that thanks to a curse from the wickedest person in all of Oz. So, in his mind, he has every right to hate Elphaba.
• Additionally, given the above point, the topic of Elphaba may be a combination of It's Personal and Berserk Button.
• Nessa literally enslaved him into being her personal servant just so she can have him near her at all times, which I know is in no way whatsoever Elphaba's fault, but it probably doesn't endear her that much to him, either.
• The only time he displays his new personality is "March of the Witch Hunters", where he's specifically trying to rally an angry mob.
• At that point in time, Dorothy is being held captive by Elphaba, so Big Brother Instinct might be coming into play. Having the little girl you've been traveling with being kidnapped by your world's #1 terrorist who is also responsible for your most likely incredibly traumatic transformation can't be the most pleasant experience.

The Musical:Dorothy was in on Fiyero and Elphaba's Plan

Elphaba receives a message from Chistery about Fiyero's death, and immediately plans to surrender. Given that Fiyero/The Scarecrow and Dorothy had become good friends, and Elphaba wasn't surprised by Fiyero being a scarecrow, what if the message was instead from Fiyero, telling both her and Dorothy his plan to help save the both of them? Given that Elphaba only became "Wicked" because she believed that Fiyero was dead, what if she shared this message with Dorothy, and Dorothy, knowing the myth that Elphaba would melt if doused with water, threw the bucket to help it look like she killed the "Wicked Witch"? Then after making sure his young friend got back to Kansas safely, that's when Fiyero went back to retrieve Elphaba?

• It is not known whether or not Dorothy is in on the plan or not, but it's canon that the letter supposedly confirming Fiyero's death is actually from Fiyero telling Elphaba that he's alive and has a plan. The prop letter used in the show has the actual text on it.

The movie adaptations will incorporate the original ending

The stage musical was originally supposed to end with a scene of Elphaba taking refuge with the animals and trying to help Doctor Dillamond. Schwartz really liked this scene, but it was cut to avoid Ending Fatigue. Now that the two-part movie adaptation is bound to feature additional moments not present in the stage musical, it would be fitting to have the original planned finale as an epilogue.

Liir will appear in the film adaptation

The Part 2 film will end with a post-credit of a young man whose come from a land outside of Oz, arriving in the Emerald City, with him introducing himself as Liir, Elphaba and Fiyero's son, so that they could tease a possible "Son of a Witch" adaptation.