Warning: This post contains some spoilers for the Wicked stage musical!Wicked: For Good is the second installment in Jon M. Chu’s Broadway musical adaptation and will track the events of the show’s second act. The story will pick up shortly after Wicked’s emotional ending, with Elphaba going into hiding after the Wizard denounced her as an enemy of the state.

It’s already been confirmed that two original songs will be included in Wicked: For Good, one from Elphaba’s perspective and one from Glinda’s. They will be solo musical numbers written by Stephen Schwartz, one of the original creatives from the Broadway show, and will reportedly offer some insight into these characters’ thoughts at key moments in the story.

Glinda’s New Wicked 2 Song May Alter Her Arc

While it’s certainly exciting that Wicked 2 will give audiences a more in-depth look into Glinda’s mind during the events of the musical, this ultimately risks turning Glinda into a more likable, sympathetic character than she was ever intended to be. The reason Elphaba and Glinda are such compelling characters is that they don’t fit into binary categorizations of good and evil.

This is exactly what makes Wicked such an engaging story; Elphaba isn’t “wicked,” and Glinda isn’t the “good witch”. In many ways, it’s the opposite: Elphaba is the one who stands against oppression and fights for equality, while Glinda stands beside the Wizard and is complicit in his authoritarian regime.

There’s nuance to their characters, but Glinda is ultimately an example of what happens when people acquiesce to evil and allow it to quietly grow within society. Turning her into a more sympathetic, guilt-stricken character, as many fans are theorizing this new song will attempt to do, risks losing this emotional tragedy of her character arc.

Throughout the second act of Wicked’s Broadway production, it’s Glinda who first raises the idea to Madame Morrible about using Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, as a political tool to tarnish her old friend’s reputation. She’s also complicit in her own marriage to Fiyero, which she knows isn’t authentic but agrees to anyway to fulfill her own wishes at Elphaba’s expense.

It may be going too far to say that Glinda is the true “villain” of Wicked, as she’s ultimately being coerced by the Wizard at almost every turn, but it’s equally untrue to suggest that she’s oblivious to the harm she inflicts upon Elphaba. And yet, Grande’s comments about Glinda’s new song suggest something different:

It shows a side of her we’ve never seen before. In the stage show, this transformation happens offstage. But in the movie, we get to see her make the decision that defines who she is.

This “transformation” is likely referring to Glinda’s decision to warn Elphaba about the Witch Hunters’ arrival, finally taking a stand against the Wizard and protecting her old friend. This could certainly end up being one of Wicked 2’s best songs, but the fact remains that her decision is ultimately too late — Elphaba is still “killed” and Glinda returns to being the Wizard’s puppet.

This isn’t to say that Glinda’s new song can’t be a positive addition to the film; it just shouldn’t give Glinda too much of a redemption in her final moments with Elphaba. The power of “For Good,” which directly follows this encounter, isn’t that Glinda and Elphaba manage to reconcile their differences. Rather, both characters get closure despite knowing they’ll still have to face the consequences.

Wicked 2 Has Already Teased Glinda’s New Story With Elphaba

Wicked has always been the story of Elphaba and Glinda, but Chu’s movie seems to be framing the two witches even more centrally than either Gregory Maguire’s original novel or the Broadway production. The pair take center stage in the play’s first act, which recounts their days together at Shiz University, but the show’s second act sees them separated for the majority of the time.

This doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case in the movie. Wicked: For Good’s first trailer includes several scenes where Glinda and Elphaba talk face-to-face, whether that’s during secret meetings or through flashbacks. The footage opens with a moment between the two that doesn’t appear to have been in the musical, and there are glimpses of even more new scenes.

This isn’t necessarily the case in the musical, as Glinda remains in the Emerald City with the Wizard and Madame Morrible, while Elphaba goes into hiding. They only have a handful of encounters, and one is incredibly brief as Elphaba essentially runs away soon after Glinda arrives.

The decision to spend more time with Elphaba and Glinda together is clearly a deliberate one, and it could be hinting towards a more friendly, reconciled friendship than the one depicted on stage. Even during the “Defying Gravity” number at the end of Wicked: Part One, Elphaba seemed much more accepting of Glinda’s betrayal than she typically does in the Broadway show, perhaps downplaying their feud.

If Wicked: For Good does give Elphaba and Glinda a happier ending, this would risk ruining the emotional tragedy that makes Wicked’s conclusion so effective. Their respective character arcs should converge in a way that really highlights how drastically they’ve both been beaten by the Wizard’s political fury, with Elphaba forced into permanent hiding and Glinda transformed into a state puppet of her own making.