Main spoiler alerts for individuals who haven’t watched the musical or learn the ebook forward.
Devoted followers of “Depraved” (each the ebook and the musical) know that there’s one large distinction between the unique ebook and the stage adaptation: Within the ebook, Elphaba dies on the finish.
This leaves a considerably extra tragic ending for the least-liked witch in all of Oz. Within the musical, she merely runs away, by no means to be heard from once more. However the ebook model sees Elphaba really melting when Dorothy throws the bucket of water over her.
As a substitute of operating away with Fieryo, the 2 of them each perish (Fieryo doesn’t even make it to develop into the Scarecrow, by the best way — he as an alternative meets a grotesque finish on the hand of Ouncess police drive, and Elphaba later gaslights herself into hallucinating the truth that he reworked into the Scarecrow and secretly survived).
Although the “Depraved” film has stayed canon to the musical up to now, there’s room for the filmmakers to tug probably the most stunning transfer of all time and truly kill off Elphaba on the finish of the movie. In each the musical and the ebook, everybody else in Ouncesbelieves that Elphaba is really useless, no matter whether or not she really dies or runs away. Which means there isn’t a lot character adaptation the filmmakers would wish to do through the second act to kill off Elphaba for good.
So, what are the indicators as as to whether Elphaba lives or dies?
Nicely, it’s really extra doubtless that Elphaba will survive the whole thing of the second act than be killed off. For one factor, we’ve already seen leaked set photographs of Fieryo because the Scarecrow. Within the ebook, Fieryo by no means turns into the Scarecrow; he dies earlier than he has the possibility to. The truth that Fieryo exists because the Scarecrow throughout the second a part of the “Depraved” film doubtless signifies that Elphaba may even survive.
Additionally, within the first a part of the film “Depraved,” you possibly can see a cloaked determine driving away from Ounceson horseback. Within the musical, Elphaba escapes her premature demise and runs away from Ounceswith Fieryo. Although solely eagle-eyed viewers will discover this element within the film (it occurs on the very starting), the mysterious rider is implicated to be Elphaba — who, at this level within the film, would have already survived Dorothy’s water bucket and zipped out of Ouncesbefore anybody may discover that she faked her demise.
There’s actually nobody else that this thriller determine could possibly be — and the horse being ridden is clearly Fieryo’s horse, so as to add to the foreshadowing. Fieryo, by the best way, remains to be busy strolling the Yellow Brick Street when this sequence is proven, which leaves solely Elphaba to be driving his horse.
So as to add to the concept that Elphaba will survive the film, the ebook is considerably extra grotesque and specific than the musical. In it, Elphaba dissolves painfully in an acidic demise.
The explanation that water kills her within the ebook is usually because Elphaba is canonically allergic to water; her pores and skin reacts to it as whether it is acid. When she cries, her tears burn her face. She will’t bathe or bathe — she has to maintain herself clear with particular oils.
Within the film, nevertheless, we’ve already seen Elphaba cry just a few completely different occasions — and her personal tears don’t hurt her. We even noticed her get rained on at one level through the movie. This clearly proves that the film is sticking to the musical’s model of occasions, whereby water doesn’t have an effect on Elphaba in any respect. On this case, Elphaba gained’t really be killed by Dorothy’s water bucket.
Though “Depraved” half 2 hasn’t launched but, we’re fairly assured that each Elphaba and Fieryo will survive to see the tip of the second movie — with a pair key transformations, in fact. We’re largely simply hoping that Glinda will obtain a happier ending herself, since neither the ebook or the musical model of Glinda is left with any hope that Elphaba has really survived.