Fantastic Beasts - The Secrets of SIlente: plot analysis

Fantastic Beasts - The Secrets of SIlente

In our review of Fantastic Beasts - Dumbledore's Secrets, we avoided writing plot previews (as much as possible): the opposite will happen in this article. In fact, we will talk about every important detail of the plot, clarifying some rather debated points, and trying to understand how the story will evolve from here on out ... as long as the saga continues. Didn't you know, two more chapters should come out.

Let's start with a general observation: although criticized, The Crimes of Grindelwald (the second film in the series) raised several questions. It introduced Nagini, a maledictus destined to become Voldemort's snake; revealed the identity of Credence, baptized by Grindelwald as Aurelius Dumbledore, brother of the well-known Hogwarts professor.

Fantastic Beasts - Dumbledore's Secrets: Newt is no longer the only protagonist of the series It showed the unbreakable blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. In short, many questions and few answers; Dumbledore's Secrets is basically the opposite. It closes almost all the questions opened by the second, and introduces very few new themes, to the point that it could work quite well as a closure of the saga.

Let's analyze together the main points of the plot of Fantastic Beasts - The Secrets of Dumbledore: continue aware that it will be a piece full of spoilers.

Aurelius Dumbledore

Let's start immediately with the most shocking revelation of The Crimes of Grindewald: Credence, as well as an Obscuriale, would be Aurelius Dumbledore, brother of Albus and Aberforth. A reality that would have contrasted with too many points in the series, and which in fact - predictably - turned out to be false. Grindelwald lied to Credence ... at least in part. We can only declare ourselves disappointed by the solution introduced by The Secrets of Dumbledore: it is true, it is logical and it "works", but it is not in the least surprising.

Aurelius Dumbledore is none other than Albus' grandson: he is the illegitimate son of Aberforth. In the summer when Albus and Grindelwald met and presumably fell in love (it is not clear if the passion was one-sided by the British), Aberforth also got busy with a foreign girl, then became pregnant, and later departed from Great Britain. Given the bad relationship between the two brothers, Aberforth would have long hidden the truth from Albus. This is an absolutely credible scenario, which however, moving away from the narrative text for a moment and analyzing it in its entirety, leads us to ask ourselves ... why? What was the point of introducing another Dumbledore? Maybe we will find out in the next films, maybe there is a real reason - Credence, although ill, still remains alive at the end of The Secrets of Dumbledore - however, at present, the fact of belonging to this family does not add anything to the character.

Ariana and Fanny

Fantastic Beasts - Dumbledore's Secrets: Ariana was Albus's sister, who died at a young age Another Dumbledore's secret, also foreseen and predictable by fans, is that Ariana Dumbledore was also an obscuriale. Attention, in this case it is far from a disappointing revelation: the obscurus are probably the best introduction of this saga, because they explain some things about Harry Potter - not explored in the novels - and, at the same time, expand the Wizarding world. Everyone more or less had guessed that Ariana Dumbledore, ill (later, presumably, to a rape) and hidden from the rest of the community, was an Obscurus: now we have had confirmation. In the past we have been told that obscuriali (the bearers of an Obscurus, in fact) are very rare: it is therefore extremely strange that two have existed in such a short time (Ariana and Aurelius), among other things both belonging to the same family. .

We come to another characteristic of the Dumbledore family, introduced by Fantastic Beasts: in times of need (it is Albus himself who tells it, in the second film), a phoenix would come to the rescue of the family members. From the main Harry Potter saga it seemed that a special animal like the phoenix was related to a special individual like Albus (it would have made more sense, in fact), while Fantastic Beasts shows us that it's just a family tradition. We hope that J.K. Rowling justifies this choice, perhaps with the exploits of an ancestor, because one of the key characteristics of Harry Potter is precisely that the "glory of families" is something that only families believe in. There is nothing to justify it: it is the thoroughbreds who incensate themselves. In this case, however (for the first time), there is an actual magical peculiarity linked to a single family.

Be that as it may, it is legitimate to ask whether the phoenix arrived from Credence is Fanny, the same that Albus would get a few years later. The appearance is similar, but we do not know if it is actually the same animal: having the phoenixes a very long life, it is very possible that it is so. In The Secrets of Dumbledore another concept is also introduced and that is that the phoenixes perceive the proximity to the death of the companion / owner, varying the type of ash accordingly. We would have to reread The Half-Blood Prince to see if there is any sign of Dumbledore's imminent death through Fanny, but by heart we would say no. This is not a novelty that clashes with the canon, in any case: it is absolutely not certain that Harry Potter, our "eye" in the novels, would have noticed a similar detail, even seeing it.

Blood Pact

Fantastic Beasts - Dumbledore's Secrets: Grindelwald made a Blood Pact with Dumbledore A nice introduction to The Crimes of Grindelwald resides in the Blood Pact: a pact made by Dumbledore and Grindelwald at a young age, which prevented him from fight each other. It is different from a similar spell we have known in Harry Potter, namely the Unbreakable Vow: the latter is tightened by a witness, who acts as a surety for the two spellcasters. The Blood Pact, on the other hand, implies an agreement between only two wizards. It is not specified in the film, but from the way they carefully protect him, first Grindelwald and then Dumbledore, it is highly probable that if the object containing the blood spilled at the origin of the Covenant was broken, both wizards would die (somewhat as happens, moreover, with the Unbreakable Vow). The Covenant is canceled when the forbidden condition occurs: in this case, if Dumbledore and Grindelwald fought. But be careful: whoever of the two moved against the other would die: the thought is enough to feel bad, even. A seemingly unsolvable condition, then.

We liked the way the Blood Pact is broken in Dumbledore's Secrets: it's not easily understood, but it makes sense, it's logical. And above all, it is not a method that can be re-proposed voluntarily: also for this reason Dumbledore did not know how to solve the problem. Basically, Grindelwald attacks Credence with a spell (so his will is to damage Credence, of course); at the same time, Dumbledore casts a spell to protect Credence (his will is to defend Credence, not to offend Grindelwald): the two spells collide. Unwittingly, the two fight each other and the Pact is broken.

J.K. Rowling has included a pleasant detail in the previous moments: Dumbledore recounts how Ariana died, a scene that - we already knew - involves Albus, Aberforth, Ariana and Grindelwald. Well, it would have been questionable why at the time, with Ariana instead of Credence, the Pact had not already been canceled: the film informs us that the clash had been between Albus and Aberforth (and then Ariana, presumably in the form of Obscurus), while Grindelwald stood aside to ... well, laugh.

Time, Qilin and the International Confederation of Wizards

In two particular scenes, namely the duel against Credence and the one against Grindelwald , Dumbledore seems able to stop time: or rather, to move so fast that it seems "motionless" to Muggles. We do not know what the spell is, however there is a rather similar scene in the Order of the Phoenix (in the novel): when Professor Umbridge takes over the school and goes with the Aurors to arrest Dumbledore, the headmaster attacks and stuns them so much. quick that Harry Potter does not notice anything. It happens in seconds. Probably both Dumbledore and Grindelwald are so skilled and fast not so much as to slow down time, but to move at a speed incomprehensible to others: we see the final duel from their point of view, but during the fight the Blood Pact takes a lifetime to fall towards the ground, so it is possible that the other wizards have seen nothing but a few bursts of light of very short duration.

The Qilin is a magical beast, belonging to the Chinese tradition, introduced in this film. It is at the center of the plot, because Grindelwald uses it to try to become head of the International Confederation of Wizards, through a method that was used in ancient times: before there was a vote, it was the Qilin that determined the future leader from the community, because it was capable of scrutinize people's souls. All this is explained very well in the film, in fact we are interested in talking more about the International Confederation of Wizards: it was founded in 1600, it is often mentioned in Harry Potter, but here - being international Fantastic Beasts, and not exclusively linked to Great Britain - here it plays a major role. Its primary goal is to discuss and find solutions to problems that affect the entire world magical community: first, of course, the Statute of Secrecy towards Muggles. It is not explicit in the film, but it is obvious that if Grindelwald had come to power, he would have had a "legal" way to alter that Statute.

How will it proceed?

As we said, I Secrets of Dumbledore closes many of the plots introduced in the second episode. It could even work as a close to the saga, however weird and flat. However, some curiosities remain to be discovered in the next films. Obviously there will be the Magical War that could start already in the fourth and the legendary magical duel (in the fifth) between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, which was curiously mentioned in the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Apart from this it remains to be understood, as we said before, why Rowling decided to make Credence a Dumbledore. At present, there is no use in this decision. Sure, it was a reason to poke Credence against Albus, but Credence fails to beat him: what sense does it make, then, to make him a Dumbledore? Does it have anything to do with Fanny, the phoenix? That Albus comes into contact with the animal through his nephew and then keeps it with him once it is dead? We suspect that, by calling herself the Fantastic Beasts movie, Fanny may play a central role in resolving the final duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. It is, moreover, one of the most powerful magical animals ever, capable of healing, teleporting and regenerating. We would also like to add the relationship between Newt and Tina in the reasons for waiting for the next films, but it is likely that between the third and fourth there is a long time jump (we are in the 1920s, while the final duel takes place in 1945), for they may already be engaged / married at the beginning of the opera. Ah, one last thing: what happened to Nagini?

We have another reason, in this nationalistic case, to hope that Fantastic Beasts continue. Rowling didn't often mention Italy in her volumes, far from it. However, in a tweet a few years ago, in response to a fan who asked him (in 2016) how many Fantastic Beasts films there would be, she wrote this: "5. Five. Cinq. Fünf. Cinco. Five.". You have denied the theory we are about to expose to you, but we cannot fail to notice that the films, so far, have followed the order just mentioned. Five: New York. The setting of the first Fantastic Beasts. Cinq: Paris. The setting of The Crimes of Grindelwald. Fünf: Berlin, one of the locations of Dumbledore's Secrets. If the fourth were to show Spain, or other Spanish-speaking states, we would have a serious reason to hope that the last Fantastic Beasts could be set ... in the Canton of Ticino. No, let's joke. How do you see the final duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in Italy, perhaps at the Colosseum?

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