I saw the movie last night and was blown away. I didn't go in with high expectations because I saw the musical and for some reason was not a fan so I don't remember every detail. I see the Glinda doesn't have natural powers so how does she get them in the play? What makes her a witch?

Someone said Glinda can't do magic, and while I know she was bad at it in highschool, I swear to god she uses magic in the musical. Does she at any point use magic in the musical?

At the opening of the movie, Glinda flied towards the crowd in her bubble. But it looked like her chair was doing the flying, and just wrapped itself around a bubble.

Since we know she doesn't have any talent for magic, curious to know if she ever gains any powers or she will just pretend to using technology l.

This trailer has managed to leave some very explicit things like the bubble being "fake" but not clearly if Glinda is a complete scam, without magic powers or she makes some tricks, what do you think?

Apparently the bubble isn’t magic at all is anyone shocked?

So before the movie, I've seen the play on Broadway and I read the original book. In the book Glinda, Elphaba, and Nessa are taught magic. In the play only Elphaba actually possesses magic, with Madame Morrible having a weakened attribute to weather magic (though, we do see her use some powerful magic to cause the cyclone). The Movie magnifies this a little, even giving us a Bubble device to look at, and replacing any potential magic from Glinda as science or technology.

However, after reading many magical books and watching many magical movies and shows, I've come to conclude Glinda does actually possess magic in the Play and Movie... and the Movie really does a good job exemplifying her power. But what's Glindas magic? She doesn't have a natural gift for controlling the weather or telekinesis.

Glinda has a natural control of Charm magic. Charm magic is a terrifying ability. It essentially allows for people to manipulate the minds and emotions of others, and when practiced properly can directly control the actions of others.

Like Elphaba, Glinda does not have a solid control of her magic. She has no idea she is even using it because it comes so naturally. We see Elphaba have this same struggle as a child. Elphaba's emotions get out of hand, and it causes her telekinetic powers to unleash.

In Wicked for Good, we get a glimpse of Glinda as a child, and we actually see this exact thing happen when she believes she fails to use a wand she gets for her birthday. Glinda accidentally uses Charm to make the kids accept and like her, and even presses them to believe she conjured a rainbow. This is completely unintentional, and she doesn't realize she has done it. But it becomes a rolling theme.

We know Glinda is beloved by all. But, if you look at it objectively it's weird. Nobody dislikes her except for 2 other magically gifted people. Madame Morrible and Elphaba... which is actually very typical of Charm magic. Others with higher magic aptitudes are typically not affected by Charm. Glinda should have at least some naysayer at school due to jealousy or something... but nope. Excluding Elphaba, no one has anything negative to say.

We see Charm come into effect with Fiyero as well, and it only breaks because of his true love to Elphaba. We see it with Boq. We see it with Nessa, and we even see it start to happen to the Wizard.

In Wicked for Good. It becomes even more apparent. Glinda is able to completely manipulate crowds of strangers emotions.

Now a bit of spoilers ahead so stop reading here if you don't want ending spoilers.

At the end of Wicked for Good, 3 major things happen that show case Glinda growing magically and developing her Charm skill.

1. She tells the Wizard he is Elphaba's father... and then makes him leave Oz. I think for viewers this doesn't make much sense, except we know the wizard leaves. Yes, he is tired, but why would he just abandon ship. Elphaba is gone and he's been able to manipulate Glinda... but if you watch the scene carefully... after she loses Elphy and gets the Grimoire, her emotional control grows and thus her magic power grows. And the reason the wizard covers, is not only due to his weakened mental health, but Glinda uses a form of Charm known as COMPEL. Which essentially means she uses her magic to force him to leave.

2. Madame Morrible has always discredited Glinda. But right before she is locked up, she changes her attitude towards Glinda. Again, this seems like her trying to save herself... but it doesn't really fit Morrible's personality. However, if Glinda is now more magically powerful than Morrible, Charm would begin to take its effect. And Morrible's shift in demeanor makes a lot of sense if Glinda just over powered her (which she is actively doing in this scene).

3. And finally, when she speaks to everyone at the end... she is able to immediately shift everyone's attitude towards Animals. She tells everyone to accept them as Ozians, and bam, they do. There's not questioning Glinda because Charm prevents them from questioning.

Now, I think it's clear she doesn't realize she is using magic to its fullest extent here. But, she does realize her words carry more weight than anyone's in Oz, and she is emboldened to do good and use this power by Elphaba's sacrifice... making the magic even more powerful.

But the bigger part is, she seems to have better control and grasp of Charm, and seems to stop using it willingly for the first time in her life after using it For Good to change everyone's minds of the Animals. She stops the fake "Glinda's perfect" routine and accepts herself, so the magic naturally relaxes as well. Which is good for her building a new Oz, and opens up a lot of possibility for the future (mind control is not the way to build a better future for the people). And it's at this point the Grimoire actually opens for her... noting, she's been growing her magic the entire story, but when you are using your max magic capacity all the time, you can't cast anything else. It's only when she relaxes and stops using it all up, that she can actually use spells from the book... hence why it opens for her.

Ultimately, Glinda was always as powerful magically as Elphaba. Like Elphaba, her powers were controlled by emotions, and she had no capability of using them properly until she accepted herself and chose her own destiny. And like Elphaba, that control came with a great loss, in Glinda's case, the loss if her only true friend (technically she also had to lose Fiyero... but its not because of love, but because he actually posed as an enabler unintentionally). It's through that loss that she is able to step forward from her accidental use of Charm magic, and move her forward in the future using the Grimoire. A true foil of her best and truest friend. The two truly grew because of one another.