How Fiyero Tigelaar from Wicked becomes the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz

If you’re not familiar with the full story of “Wicked” – everything beyond the events of the film “Wicked: Part One” – don’t go down the yellow brick path! There are major spoilers ahead!

If you know even a little about it “The Wizard of Oz” – the adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1939 novel “The Wizard of Oz.” – You probably know the four main actors in the film. There’s Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a girl transported from Kansas to Oz thanks to a magical tornado, where she ends up meeting the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger). fantastic country. (Because the film depicts Oz as the setting of a magical dream that Dorothy has, Lahr, Haley and Bolger also play farmhands who work on the Gale family estate in “real life.”) Almost a century later, audiences returned thanks to… Oz returns Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, itself an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s Oz-centric prequel novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch 1995 of the West,” but the scarecrow only appears briefly in the opening. However, those in the know know that we have already done it met the scarecrow – because he is one of the main characters in Stephen Schwartz’s musical becomes the scarecrow in act 2.

So who is doomed to become the mindless scarecrow who ends up begging the wizard for some gray matter to stuff into his head? That would be Winkie Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, played by “Bridgerton” and “Fellow Travelers” star Jonathan Bailey. If you’re feeling impatient while waiting for “Wicked: For Good” – the recently retitled second half of Chu’s epic “Wicked” story – here’s how we think Fiyero will transform when the film opens this November coming to cinemas this year.

After Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera) arrive at Shiz University and begin their studies, the entire student body is outraged by the impending arrival of Fiyero, a particularly handsome prince who is irreverent and rebellious Behavior caught him has gotten him kicked out of several other schools. When Fiyero shows up at Shiz’s house, it’s the women particularly excited, including Galinda, who goes out of her way to flirt with him; Elphaba in particular is unimpressed by his behavior and disdain for knowledge and learning, which obviously leads to Fiyero ending up fascinated by the green-skinned girl who doesn’t give him any time.

Fiyero convinces the entire student body to sneak out one night and dance and party at the nearby Stardust Ballroom, and Galinda – angry at having to share her single room with Elphaba, who is only studying at Shiz after accidentally performing magic, The attention of the school’s dean of magic, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), convinces Elphaba to wear an unflattering witch’s hat, what she humiliates. Galinda ends up dancing with Elphaba, bonding the two forever. The duo begins spending time with Galinda’s “boyfriend” Fiyero. Although Fiyero seems airheaded and conceited, he and Elphaba join forces to help a frightened lion cub (who, we imagine, could grow up to be a cowardly lion) after animals are banned from teaching in Shiz and a cruel professor tries to to experiment with the young; After they share a moment together in the forest, Elphaba sings a lament about Fiyero loving Galinda and not her (the sad ballad “I’m Not That Girl”). As Galinda, named in honor of her fallen animal professor Dr. With Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) shortened to “Glinda,” and Elphaba heading to Oz to meet the wizard, we don’t see Fiyero again – so what can we expect? seen by him in “Wicked: For Good?”

At the end of “Wicked: Part One” Glinda has (unintentionally) allied herself with the evil Madame Morrible and the wizard himself (Jeff Goldblum) after allowing Elphaba to escape her clutches on the broomstick – so where is Fiyero in all this? He’s back in Shiz, and when we see him again in the second act of the musical Wicked, he’s captain of the Wizarding Guard for Oz and engaged to Glinda. However, Fiyero is still in love with Elphaba – which Glinda just seems to naturally know, especially considering that their engagement was entirely arranged by Madame Morrible in order to boost morale in Oz and distract from her evil deeds that are causing her at the Wizard’s side – and when Elphaba falls in love, she takes great risks and returns to Oz to try to free the Wizard’s flying monkeys. Fiyero protects her. He also disappears with her, leaving Glinda devastated (she actually sings her own reprise of “I’m Not That Girl”).

While hiding in a remote forest, Fiyero and Elphaba sing a duet called “As Long As You’re Mine”, revealing that they love each other… But after Elphaba is forced to try to love her sister Nessarose (played from the Adorable) newcomer Marissa Bode in “Wicked: Part One”), Fiyero is eventually captured by the magician. Elphaba believes Fiyero is dead and casts a spell to save his life. Since he’s not dead, the spell turns him into the scarecrow, and after Elphaba uses a handy trapdoor to fake her watery death (at Dorothy’s hands), Fiyero and Elphaba run away together at the end of the musical.

Is Fiyero’s fate different in Gregory Maguire’s original (and honestly, much dark) novel? Yes, actually! We probably don’t have to worry much about Fiyero’s journey in the Wicked book, as Jon M. Chu’s films certainly seem to stick to the plot of the musical, but just for better context, here’s the deal with Fiyero in the book (Strictly speaking, Books; Maguire has written a short series).

In the book, Fiyero marries after Elphaba officially “becomes” the “Wicked Witch of the West” and has three children (not with Glinda), but he and Elphaba still have an affair… and after Fiyero is discovered in Elphaba’s company as him is punished, he is stunned by the discovery of Liir, the child he fathered during his affair with Elphaba. From there, the wizard captures the entire Tigelaar family, including all of Fiyero’s legitimate children – and when Elphaba begs the wizard to release them, he reveals that they are all dead except for Fiyero’s daughter Nor. Elphaba Strictly speaking He dies from the bucket of water in the book and Fiyero never appears again. Therefore, not only can we assume with certainty that the wizard really killed him, but he does not Become a scarecrow. Do you see why Chu is adapting the musical and not the book? The end of the book is finally unfortunate – even though Elphaba is defeated and dead, Oz plunges into political unrest for years afterwards.

Fiyero’s big musical number in Wicked: Part One – by Jonathan Bailey totally shattered – is the long song “Dancing Through Life,” in which he extols the virtues of an ignorant life without thought and worry. If you know that Fiyero’s fate in the musical is that he becomes a scarecrow, you may want to take a closer look and listen to the lyrics to “Dancing Through Life,” which provides the following gigantic Evidence of this result.

The whole song is literally about not thinking, but many of the lyrics directly suggest not having a brain. “Dancing through life, gliding across the surface / Gliding where the grass is smooth / For the brainless, life is more painless / Why think too hard when it’s so soothing?” Fiyero sings at the start of the song, repeating this sentiment in various ways Sage: “Life is fraughtless when you’re reckless / Those who don’t try never look foolish.” Sure, one could argue that Fiyero speaks in metaphors, but if you take him literally, he says that the best Be away The only way to experience precious life is to stop thinking altogether, which is what he does forced to do when he loses his brain and becomes a scarecrow later in the story.

Remember how Fiyero and Elphaba save a lion cub from cruel experiments and essentially start their relationship in the process? The only reason they are able to safely get the lion cub out of Shiz at all is because Elphaba, enraged at the idea that the lion cub would be tortured in front of them and in a room full of students, accidentally casts a spell that causes poppies fly around the classroom… and put the flowers to sleep. Everyone except Fiyero, who remains fully conscious and ensures that the lion cub makes it into the forest and out of harm’s way, for which he receives a scratch on his face.

Why is this related to Fiyero’s future status as a scarecrow? You may remember that in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion eventually faint in a field full of, you guessed it, poppies. However, the Scarecrow manages to stay awake for some reason, somehow immune to the spell of the Wicked Witch of the West – or, as he calls her, Elphaba. In the stage musical, Elphaba manages to temporarily blind the entire class except Fiyero – so they both save the cub in this version, too, but Jon M. Chu’s decision to change the scene and include poppies could be a very clear indication as to Fiyero.

Wicked: Part One is available to rent or purchase on-demand now.