Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 is the day that Ozians can rejoice and deck out in their green and pink attire as they make their way to the theater to see part two of the Wicked movie called Wicked: For Good. Fans have been patiently waiting a year since Wicked was released in theaters to see the epic finale story of Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (played by Ariana Grande). Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Wicked: For Good follow. Now that fans are seeing the movie, they’re interested in learning more about the Wicked: For Good ending. Specifically, does Glinda know Elphaba is alive? Let’s break it all down.
Part one of Wicked left viewers off at the end of what would have been Act 1 of the Broadway musical, where Elphaba sings “Defying Gravity” and escapes Emerald City. Now, part two takes place a few years later, and starts with what is portrayed in Act 2 of the musical (with some slight differences and new additions, of course). With a second movie as highly anticipated as this one, fans surely have been eagerly waiting to see how it ends, asking themselves — is it the same ending as the musical? And, for those who haven’t seen the musical, how will it end?
Wicked: For Good definitely answered questions that viewers may have had after watching the first movie, as it ties in what happens in The Wizard of Oz. It gave us an ending that is slightly different from the musical, but gives fans hope and reassurance, and adds to the impact of an already emotional ending.
So let’s get into it. Wicked: For Good gives viewers a lot of context when it comes to how it connects to the movie that started it all, The Wizard of Oz. We learn that Nessarose, Elphaba’s younger sister, is the Wicked Witch of the East, who gets tragically killed after Dorothy’s house falls on her.
The movie points out that Glinda played a part in this, but it was actually Madame Morrible who is responsible. After feeling betrayed at Elphaba for ruining her wedding and running off with Fiyero, Glinda points out to Madame Morrible and the Wizard that they can use her love for her sister as a way to get her out of hiding, and defeat her — essentially, pretend that Nessa is in danger. Madame Morrible takes this advice to a whole other level and actually creates a tornado that rips Dorothy’s house in Kansas out of the ground and kills Nessa.
Wicked: For Good ends with Glinda finding out that Madame Morrible was responsible for killing Nessa, and Glinda realizing how she inevitably played a role in her death. Glinda sees for herself how evil she truly is. She looks for Elphaba to try to reconcile with her and help her, but Elphaba tells Glinda to hide and stay out of it, so she is out of harm’s way. We see that Glinda watches Elphaba from behind a door, with Elphaba getting a bucket of water poured on her by Dorothy. Elphaba, it seems to Glinda, is dead.
All Glinda is left with is Elphaba’s hat and the bottle of green elixir. Glinda puts the pieces together and realizes the Wizard is Elphaba’s father. She shows this bottle to the Wizard, and after making the realization himself and with Glinda threatening to expose him, he leaves the Emerald City. Glinda takes over as the leader of Oz and has Madame Morrible locked away.
At the very end of the movie, after assuming that Elphaba is dead, we see her emerge from a trap door on the floor. This is the moment we find out that Fiyero is alive and is the scarecrow as he walks up to Elphaba, revealing himself to her. The two walk off together and leave Oz for good.
That leaves Glinda by herself in the land of Oz. In the final moments of the movie, viewers are faced with a potential revelation that would be a full-circle moment — but different from the Broadway musical.
Does Glinda know that Elphaba’s alive?
As leader of Oz, Glinda sees the pages of the Grimmerie start to flutter and reveal its golden pages to her. This could possibly mean that when seeing the Grimmerie open, Glinda sees a sign or message from Elphaba that she is indeed alive. It could also have nothing to do with Elphaba, and could instead be the beginning of Glinda realizing her own powers. It could also not be that, too — and just be a signal demonstrating that Glinda is now taking over as the “Good” head of Oz. This is different from the Broadway musical because in that version, Glinda is left to believe that Elphaba is dead and is never aware of the fact that she is alive. The Grimmerie never opens to her at the end of the musical.
So does Glinda know Elphaba is alive? Well, if you ask me — for the sake of remaining hopeful and having a happy ending — I think so, but it isn’t confirmed. With it being a possibility, though, that does open the doors for a potential Wicked 3.