The Land Beyond Oz: What Happens After the Ending of Wicked: For Good

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The highly anticipated second part of the movie adaptation of the musical Wicked is now playing in theaters. The film concludes the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and faithfully follows the musical’s ending. Now that Elphaba’s journey is complete, many fans are wondering what happens next. We have the answers, drawing from both L. Frank Baum’s original Oz books and Gregory Maguire’s novels.

Warning: Spoilers for Wicked: For Good beyond this point.

In Wicked: For Good, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) leans into being seen as ‘wicked,’ even capturing Dorothy because of the shoes that belonged to Nessarose, similar to the original Wizard of Oz story. But Glinda (Ariana Grande) finally understands she must do the right thing and intervenes, warning Elphaba that an angry crowd is coming after her. Realizing the danger, Elphaba agrees to give herself up. After a heartfelt farewell, Glinda secretly watches as Dorothy accidentally throws water on Elphaba, causing her to vanish.

Although everyone thinks Elphaba has died, she’s actually still alive. Glinda, believing Elphaba is gone, goes to confront the Wizard, but it turns out Elphaba pretended to die. She’s discovered by Fiyero, who’s been transformed into a scarecrow, and together they escape Oz, venturing into the desert beyond its borders.

What’s Next For Elphaba and Oz After Wicked: For Good?

The musical Wicked and its sequel, Wicked: For Good, conclude with Elphaba and Fiyero leaving Oz together, but the original novel tells a much different and darker story. In the book, Elphaba and Fiyero don’t end up happily together. They have a secret affair, resulting in a son named Liir, but are separated when Fiyero is captured. Glinda doesn’t warn Elphaba about a dangerous crowd; instead, Dorothy arrives at her castle, claiming the Wizard sent her to apologize for accidentally killing Nessarose. Enraged, Elphaba’s skirt catches fire, and Dorothy tries to extinguish the flames with water. However, Elphaba has a fatal allergy to water and tragically melts away, leading to her death.

Unlike the book Wicked, the musical Wicked: For Good leaves Elphaba’s fate open-ended, suggesting Oz’s story continues. In the book, Elphaba dies, and Dorothy is the one who reveals to the Wizard that Elphaba was his daughter. This leads to the Wizard’s escape from the Emerald City, leaving Oz in turmoil. Ultimately, the book doesn’t offer a happy or optimistic conclusion.

What About The Land Beyond Oz?

A fascinating aspect of Wicked: For Good is its portrayal of the Land Beyond Oz, particularly the Deadly Desert. Initially, the Deadly Desert serves a simple purpose in the Oz stories: it explains why Oz is isolated from the rest of the world. For the first two books, it’s just a vaguely defined barrier. However, the third book, Ozma of Oz, develops the Deadly Desert into a truly dangerous place filled with poisonous air and deadly sands – a no-man’s land where even powerful magic struggles to function. Despite its dangers, several characters have managed to cross it. Dorothy used the magic Silver Shoes, the Wizard traveled by hot air balloon, the Nome King tunneled underneath, and Princess Ozma used a magically expanding carpet created by Glinda to reach the Land of Ev.

There Is No Easy “What’s Next?” After Wicked: For Good

Since Wicked: For Good is based on the musical—which takes significant liberties with Gregory Maguire’s Wicked novel—and L. Frank Baum’s original Wizard of Oz books tell their own separate tales, figuring out what happens next is tricky. While there’s potential for a new story about Glinda’s adventures in Oz and the future of Elphaba and Fiyero, it would need to be original. The creators could draw inspiration from Maguire’s Son of a Witch, which focuses on the story of Elphaba and Fiyero’s son, and delves into the political and social changes Oz experiences after the Wizard leaves. Maguire continued the story with books told from the Lion’s perspective and then about Elphaba’s granddaughter, Rain, all exploring the civil war and hardship that affect Oz following the events of Wicked.

Because the novels that inspired Wicked are much more somber, and the musical clearly shows Elphaba dying, the ending of Wicked: For Good might be best left open to interpretation. This allows fans to imagine what happens after the story concludes, beyond the world of Oz.

Wicked: For Good is in theaters now.

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2025-11-22 17:13