After a tumultuous four year journey, we finally have the sequel to “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”. An instalment in the Wizarding World franchise that definitely polarised fans. While some enjoyed the film’s expansion on the Lestrange lore and its visit back to Hogwarts, many fans (including ourselves) found “Crimes of Grindelwald” to be profoundly baffling. If not downright lore-breaking.
The biggest point of contention was the illogical reveal of Credence Barebone’s true identity as Aurelius Dumbledore, Albus’ secret brother. Fans of the “Harry Potter” franchise scoured books looking for any hints or clues to this. All they found was a confusing plot twist that made no sense! Alas here we are with “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”. The entry that will finally clear up this mystery while bringing other juicy revelations to light.
In spite of the film’s happily-ever-after ending, the journey of Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore is far from over. The greatest war the Wizarding World has ever known is on the horizon and we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about it!
The Seeds are Sown
Stop if you’ve heard this one before: a charismatic outsider gains power and influence in Germany, seeking to start a war to exterminate an entire group of people. Sounds a lot like the infamous Adolf Hitler doesn’t it? Only this time, Gellert Grindelwald and his followers didn’t quite manage to launch the Wizarding World into war. The dark wizard had planned to use the Qilin to legitimise his role as leader of the Wizarding World. Thankfully, Dumbledore and Newt managed to put a stop to it.
Fun fact: the Qilin is actually a creature from Chinese mythology that is said to only appear around benevolent and righteous rulers. So there is some neat real-world mythology incorporated into the wizarding one.
Now, let’s talk about that blood pact we saw all the way back in “Crime of Grindelwald”. According to Dumbledore, the reason why he was unable to openly battle with Grindelwald was due to the blood pact they made years ago. This was created by merging their blood together and having it kept in a magic pendant. They both swore that they would never go against one another in their pursuit of greatness. The magic of the pendant somehow kept them breaking their vow. Yet as we see in “Secrets of Dumbledore”, the blood pact was broken when Grindelwald’s Killing Curse met with Albus and Aberforth’s spell. The only explanation we get of this is Dumbledore telling Newt: “He sought to kill, I sought to protect. Our spells met. Let’s call it fate.”
Yeah, that’s sort of a lazy explanation, innit? Well, we have a possible theory as to how Dumbledore got out of the blood pact. As we see in the Hog’s Head Inn, the pendant will magically inflict pain on those that seek to break the oath with strings of metal constricting around them. So Dumbledore can’t willingly harm Grindelwald. However, if both of them unintentionally came into conflict with one another, it would technically nullify the spell. Grindelwald wasn’t trying to kill Dumbledore but Credence. Dumbledore wasn’t attacking Grindelwald, just intercepting his spell. They simultaneously did and didn’t break their promise, hence freeing them from the blood pact and the negative consequences that came with it. In the end Dumbledore was right: the best plan is no plan…much like how they handled Credence’s real identity.
All those wasted hours! Pouring through the pages of every “Harry Potter” book and guidebook looking for any clues. Only to have Rowling reveal in a half-assed manner that Aberforth met some girl in the Hollows and sent her away, not before getting her pregnant though. This feels like such an utter slap in the face to Ezra Miller’s character. The film didn’t even bother giving him a proper flashback! Oh well, at least that loose end is wrapped up. Now, we can move on to the moment we’ve all been waiting for.
World War Wizard
An official name has yet to be given for this conflict but it’s generally known as the Global Wizarding War. A magical war that forever scarred the Wizarding World and paved the way for the rise of the First Wizarding War waged by Voldemort. While Voldemort’s war was certainly destructive, it was mostly relegated to the United Kingdom. Grindelwald’s war, however, seems to imply that it will engulf the entire Wizarding World! So when will we see this conflict and what exactly will it look like? For that, we’re going to have to go through the “Fantastic Beasts” timeline.
Well according to author J.K. Rowling, the Global Wizarding War ended in 1945, and lasted from 1938 onwards. It coincided with humanity’s very own World War II. In the past, Rowling seemed to be a bit vague about how both major conflicts were connected. In “Crimes of Grindelwald” though, the film makes it very clear that Grindelwald was using the Muggle’s World War II as a justification to invade and take over their world. Based on that information, we can deduce that Grindelwald and his army, the Alliance, played a significant role in the conflict. Also, it just so happens that “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” takes place in 1937.
Director David Yates and Rowling have plans to complete their “Fantastic Beasts” saga in the next two films. It’s safe to say that the next two sequels going forward will undoubtedly be about the Global Wizarding War. There are a ton of exciting possibilities on how this wizarding war is connected to humanity’s most bloodiest one. In “Crimes of Grindelwald”, we hear the wizard expressing the need for them to conquer humanity in an effort to stop the horrid atrocities of World War II. In the scene, we see Europe in ruin, an implied Holocaust train and the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb.
Unlike Voldemort’s self-centered desire to cheat death and accrue power, Grindelwald’s aims seem nobler. He does seek to subjugate the Muggles but he genuinely believes it is for the greater good. So we’re curious to see if he plays a role in accelerating World War II or if he will try to prevent some of the atrocities. Then there’s the legendary final duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. A magical battle so epic and insane, some have called it the greatest duel in the history of the Wizarding World.
Look we know that the past few films in the “Fantastic Beasts” saga haven’t exactly been on par with the “Harry Potter” ones but if we get to see an army wizards cast a protego maxima spell against an oncoming atom bomb, all will be forgiven.
So what do you think “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”? Are you excited for the upcoming Global Wizarding War? Be sure to let us known in the comments!
