Wicked: For Good ending explained: What happens to Elphaba and Glinda, how the Wizard of Oz affects the story, and more

The Wicked: For Good ending explained is quite a complicated one, since it draws from both the Wicked Broadway show and the iconic Wizard of Oz story.

Wicked: For Good sees Cynthia Erivo return as Elphaba Thropp and Ariana Grande return as Glinda Upland, AKA the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. This time around, the stakes are higher than ever, and Oz is due an imminent visit from a falling house from Kansas…

Below, we've broken down everything that happens in the Wicked: For Good ending, including how the Wizard of Oz story affects Wicked 2, what happens to Elphaba and Glinda, and more. Naturally, that means there are major spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen the movie yet! If you are up to speed, though, head on down to our thrillifying guide. For even more, see our roundup of the 9 biggest differences between For Good and the Wicked Broadway show.

Wicked: For Good ending explained *Spoilers*

The Wicked: For Good ending kicks off with Dorothy's arrival. Madame Morrible summons that famous twister, which transports Dorothy's house from Kansas to Oz – and lands squarely on Nessarose, Elphaba's sister, killing her. As in the original story, Dorothy nabs Nessarose's magical slippers and starts on her merry way along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, with help from Glinda's directions.

Soon after, Elphaba arrives to mourn her sister. Her and Glinda have a brief tussle, then Fiyero arrives to save Elphaba from the Emerald City's guards. While Elphaba is able to escape, Fiyero stays behind, and he's taken away despite Glinda's protests. Elphaba immediately starts a spell to save Fiyero, lamenting her mistakes in the fiery 'No Good Deed.' She then abducts Dorothy with her flying monkeys to try and retrieve her sister's shoes, leaving the young girl captive in the cellar. Madame Morrible whips up a witch hunt to go after Dorothy, led by Boq, who was transformed into the Tin Man earlier in the film by Elphaba to save him after Nessarose almost killed him with a botched spell from the Grimmerie.

Glinda, clearly feeling conflicted about her role within the Wizard's regime, throws a cloak over her dress and sneaks out to meet Elphaba. Elphaba tells her they'll never see Fiyero's face again, which, while technically true, makes Glinda think that Fiyero has died (he survived his ordeal, which we'll get to in a moment). Glinda and Elphaba bid each other a tearful goodbye in 'For Good,' after Elphaba says she's going to surrender – and Glinda must remain in her public role as Glinda the Good to help Oz.

Elphaba hurries Glinda to a separate room, and Glinda can only watch as Dorothy throws a bucket of water over Elphaba and seemingly melts her. Dorothy and her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion then head back to the Emerald City. When Glinda emerges, she finds an emerald glass bottle on the floor beside Elphaba's hat: this bottle belonged to Elphaba's mother, as Glinda discovered in Part One. However, since then, the good witch has also seen the Wizard take a swig from an identical bottle. Glinda puts two and two together and realizes the Wizard was Elphaba's father all along – as a child of two worlds, Elphaba had incredible power.

Glinda goes back to the Wizard with this revelation, and she forces him to leave Oz via hot air balloon. Unfortunately, the Wizard neglects to take Dorothy with him, and while we don't see what happens next, we know from the original story that the youngster eventually clicks her magic slippers three times and returns home to Kansas, safe and sound, believing her whole experience was a dream.

After the Wizard leaves, Glinda gets Morrible sent off to prison for her many crimes. Glinda also, as we saw in the first movie, heads to Munchkinland to spread the news that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead – and to tell the story of their unlikely friendship. The animals are seen returning to Oz after they escaped under the yellow brick road earlier in the movie.

Of course, in the original tale, the Wicked Witch of the West truly does melt when Dorothy dumps a bucket of water over her. But, in Wicked, she survives: Elphaba emerges from the trap door after the Scarecrow knocks on it. The Scarecrow is none other than Fiyero, who Elphaba transformed during 'No Good Deed' to stop him from being killed by the Emerald City's guards, as hinted at by the lyrics of both this song ("let his bones never break" and "let his flesh not be torn," for example) and 'Dancing Through Life' ("life is painless, when you're brainless" – the Scarecrow is famously seeking a brain from the Wizard in L. Frank Baum's book and the original 1939 film).

Together, Elphaba and Fiyero head to the mysterious land beyond Oz, and Elphaba says that Glinda can never know they survived. Meanwhile, Glinda goes to mourn Elphaba privately back where they sang 'Defying Gravity' and Elphaba flew to freedom, in Part One.

As Elphaba and Fiyero leave, the not-so-wicked witch turns back to think of her friend Glinda, as the separated duo both sing a snippet of 'For Good.' Then, to Glinda's shock, the Grimmerie opens for her, meaning she has magic powers of her own after all. Finally, we see a flashback to Glinda, Elphaba, Fiyero, Nessarose, and Boq in a poppy field in their Shiz days. Glinda leans over to whisper in Elphaba's ear, recreating the famous poster for the Broadway show, and then the credits roll. We challenge you not to sob.

Do Fiyero and Elphaba die in Wicked: For Good?

No, both Fiyero and Elphaba survive Wicked: For Good. They do fake their deaths, however, and Glinda doesn't know they survive. Elphaba fakes being melted by Dorothy, and, earlier, she transformed Fiyero into the Scarecrow by reading a spell from the Grimmerie while he was in danger of being killed by the Emerald City guards. Scarecrow is a great friend to Dorothy in the original Wizard of Oz story, but we don't see much of the young girl from Kansas in this film, though we presume Fiyero was a good pal here, too.

What happens to Boq?

Boq is trapped with Nessarose, who is in love with him – though Boq doesn't return her affections, as he has his eyes on Glinda. Nessarose changes the law to prevent Boq from running away from her by requiring all Munchkins to have permits to travel, which understandably makes Boq even less of a fan of her.

When Elphaba arrives to visit her sister, Nessarose uses the Grimmerie to try and force Boq to love her. However, it has tragic consequences: Boq clutches his heart, crying that it feels like it's shrinking. Elphaba jumps to save him with another spell, which begins to transform him. He turns into the Tin Man: in the original story, the Tin Man seeks a heart from the Wizard of Oz. Boq then joins the witch hunt against Elphaba as a particularly furious member of the mob, and we don't see what happens to him after that.

What happens to Nessarose?

When Elphaba transforms Boq into the Tin Man as a consequence of Nessarose's failed spell, Nessarose laments that she is "the Wicked Witch of the East." If you know the Wizard of Oz story, then you might have an inkling what happens next. After Elphaba and Fiyero run away together, a heartbroken Glinda tells Morrible and the Wizard to lure Elphaba out of hiding by threatening her sister. However, the duo agree that a threat won't do the trick, as Elphaba is too smart to fall for it.

Instead, Morrible summons a tornado that carries a house (Dorothy's house all the way from Kansas, of course), which ends up falling directly on Nessarose, squishing her – and killing her. Dorothy then takes Nessarose's magical silver slippers and sets off to meet the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Who plays Dorothy in Wicked: For Good?

As in the Broadway show, Dorothy is mostly faceless in Wicked: For Good. We only catch very brief glimpses of her from the front, and never clearly enough to see her. The credits, however, reveal that Dorothy is played by Bethany Weaver.

Who is the Lion and why does he hate Elphaba?

The Lion is none other than the cub Elphaba and Fiyero rescued from a cage back in Part One. Now, though, the Lion has grown up to be a coward, ostensibly because Elphaba wouldn't let him fight his own battles (we're not quite convinced by this argument). The Lion is voiced by Colman Domingo, in a pretty spot on recreation of the original performance provided by Bert Lahr in the 1939 movie.

Why does the Wizard leave Oz and why doesn't he take Dorothy?

Glinda encourages the Wizard to leave Oz after discovering that the Wizard is actually Elphaba's father. Back in Part One, we saw a mysterious figure arrive at Elphaba's home and dance with Elphaba's mother, gifting her an emerald green drink (hence Elphaba's green skin). When Elphaba 'melts,' she leaves behind this very bottle, and Glinda earlier saw the Wizard drink from an identical bottle. Glinda shares her revelation with the Wizard and the Wizard is shellshocked. The next thing we know, he's leaving via hot air balloon.

In both the Wizard of Oz book and film, Dorothy chases after her dog Toto after he runs from her, and the hot air balloon begins to float away while she's nowhere near it, stranding her in Oz. That means she's left behind, until she learns all she has to do is click her heels three times to go home.

How does the Wizard of Oz story fit into Wicked: For Good?

Much like in the Broadway show, the events of the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie (based on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel) are interwoven throughout the story of Wicked: For Good. Boq is transformed into the Tin Man by Elphaba to save him from Nessarose's botched spell, and the Cowardly Lion turns out to be the lion cub Elphaba and Fiyero saved from a cage in Wicked: Part One. The Scarecrow, meanwhile, is Fiyero himself, transformed by Elphaba during 'No Good Deed' after the Emerald City guard take him away for siding with the Wicked Witch of the West.

Dorothy also arrives via a tornado summoned by Madame Morrible, and her house crushes Nessarose. Dorothy takes Nessarose's magic shoes, which spurs Elphaba to chase her down with her flying monkeys and take the young girl captive. Dorothy 'melts' Elphaba with a bucket of water, but Elphaba actually fakes her death. Glinda then pushes the Wizard into leaving by hot air balloon. While Dorothy will wake up convinced it was all a dream, Wicked: For Good – and Gregory Maguire's Wicked novel and the Broadway show – all present the events as very real.

Why does Glinda stay behind and why can't she know Elphaba and Fiyero survived?

Elphaba tells Glinda she has to stay in Oz to continue being Glinda the Good and making a difference the only way she can. Glinda does just that at once by banishing the Wizard and having Morrible arrested. We can assume that she'll end the subjugation of the animal population, too. As for why she can't know Elphaba and Fiyero are actually alive, it's not explained, but it's probably because they're going into hiding – anyone else knowing about them might result in the duo being hunted down once more, since the official story is still that Elphaba was the Wicked Witch and the Wizard was the hero.

Will there be a Wicked 3?

Gregory Maguire's books continue past Wicked, so, even though the Broadway show ends at the same point as the movie, the films could technically continue. "You know, there's a lot of ideas flying around right now… We'll see. Let's enjoy this ride first," director Jon M. Chu recently told Variety of a potential third film, which is neither a yes nor a no...

Wicked: For Good is in theaters now. For more, check out our Wicked Part One ending explained or our guide to all the biggest movie release dates to fill out your watchlist.