Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Wicked: Part 1 and Wicked: Part 2!

Nessarose Thropp has an overwhelmingly powerful sister inWicked: Part 2. Eight years after the movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical was officially confirmed, the first part of Wicked hit the big screen, gaining praise from audience who described the movie as exciting and magical.

Wicked is magical in more ways than one, eliciting a feeling of elation in viewers while also showing sorcery in the world and history of Oz. Elphaba struggles to find her place in the world of Oz, trying to cope with magical outbursts triggered by strong emotions. However, Nessarose – a member of Elphaba’s family who becomes even more prominent in the second half of the Wicked story – doesn’t display the same abilities as her sister, raising questions about whether she’s incapable or just untrained.

Nessarose Does Not Have Magic Powers Like Elphaba In Wicked

Elphaba's Sister Never Experiences Any Magical Outbursts

In Wicked: Part 1, Nessarose never shows a propensity for magic, setting her apart from her sister, Elphaba. Throughout the film, the Wicked main character has uncontrollable magical outbursts that impact not just her but everyone around her. Nessarose is embarrassed by these moments, blaming Elphaba for being unable to control her powers. She doesn’t seem to understand that Elphaba doesn’t want to be different from her peers and never asks for magical powers. Additionally, the younger Thropp sister isn’t ever shown experiencing anything like this herself.

The difference in their experiences makes perfect sense because the second half of the Wicked musical provides an explanation for Elphaba’s innate magic that doesn’t apply to Nessa. When Glinda reveals that The Wizard is Elphaba’s father in Wicked, Madame Morrible states that the Wicked Witch of the West possessed extraordinary magical powers before her death because she was born of two worlds.

The Wizard was originally from Earth, whereas Melena Thropp was from Oz. This explains why Elphaba and The Wizard are the only ones who can truly read The Grimmerie as well, which is written in a Latin-based lost Earth language. Since Nessarose was born to Frexpar Thropp and Melena Thropp in the Wicked musical and movie, she's only from one world – Oz. Consequently, she wouldn’t be an innate magical prodigy like her sister.

The Wicked Musical Hints Nessarose Has Untapped Magical Abilities

Nessarose Casts One Spell In The Wicked Musical, But It Goes Awry

Though Nessarose never had the innate, explosive, uncontrollable magic that Elphaba possessed, Act 2 of the Wicked musical includes one scene that implies that Nessarose has untapped magical abilities. Elphaba becomes so desperate to fight back against The Wizard that she asks Nessarose, the new governor of Munchkinland, to help her. Nessa gets mad that her older sister never helped her gain the ability to walk. Since Elphaba cannot cast a spell on Nessa to change her paralysis, Elphaba spells the silver slippers instead so that she can use her legs again.

Nessarose calls in Boq, thinking he’ll be overjoyed at her ability to walk and fall in love with her. However, he asks to leave to profess his feelings for Glinda, since she doesn’t need him anymore. Rather than grant his wish, she decides to cast a love spell from the Grimmerie on Boq. Shockingly, she can read the language of the Grimmerie, but she pronounces every word wrong, causing Boq’s heart to shrink instead of grow.

It’s possible that Nessa gained the ability to read the book and cast the spell only while wearing the magical shoes.

This scene, which will most likely take part in Wicked: Part 2’s story, is peculiar because The Wizard is the only one who can read The Grimmerie besides Elphaba, so Nessarose’s ability doesn’t follow logic. The primary understanding of this scene is that Nessa had some latent magical abilities, but they were weaker than Elphaba’s and never trained. If the younger Thropp sister has magic, as this scene implies, then the rules of sorcery are maddeningly inconsistent.

However, there is another theory that could explain this scene while following the established rules about magic and The Grimmerie. Elphaba cast a spell on Nessarose’s shoes to allow her to walk. It’s possible that Nessa gained the ability to read the book and cast the spell only while wearing the magical shoes. This theory would also explain why Dorothy could transport home at the end of the Wicked musical in Nessarose’s silver slippers.

Why Nessarose Becomes Known As The Wicked Witch Of The East If She Can't Do Magic

The Munchkins Give Nessarose The Famous Nickname

Since Nessarose can’t naturally do magic, her nickname, “The Wicked Witch of the East,” could seem peculiar. The dark Wicked book by Gregory Maguire established Nessarose as The Wizard of Oz character, so the musical needed to find a way for her to have the same moniker without her having the magical abilities that are abundantly accessible to most characters in the novel.

In the Wicked book, Nessarose is a religious extremist who uses her dogma and magical abilities to oppress her constituents, especially the Munchkins.

In the musical, the nickname came from the Munchkins not due to her magical abilities, but because of her horrific, totalitarian behavior. Nessarose took the title of Governor of Munchkinville without any election, and she immediately took steps to control the Munchkins. By restricting the movement of munchkins and repealing their rights, she hopes to force Boq to fall in love with her.

As such, the moniker “wicked witch” seems to be an instance where “witch” is being used in place of a curse word in a musical that’s deemed acceptable for ages eight and older. Alternatively, since it’s established that they gave her the title, the Munchkins calling Nessarose "The Wicked Witch of the East" could be a slight towards her as it equates her evils to that of her sister, Elphaba, who is seen as public enemy number one.

Will Wicked 2 Change The Musical To Give Nessarose Magic Powers?

Wicked: Part 2 Could Expand Upon The "Wicked Witch Of The East" Scene

Wicked Broadway musical fans are dying to have an official recording of “Wicked Witch of the East” (WWotE) – the song during which Nessarose casts the spell incorrectly. The powers that be decided to leave the song off the Wicked Original Broadway Cast Recording since it has so many spoilers packed in. With WWotE having such a dedicated cult fandom, the movie producers would be foolish to change this part of the Wicked Broadway musical.

With the extra time allotted by the two-part Wicked movie, the story could expand the WWotE scene to explain Nessarose’s single instance of magic powers. It would be quite interesting to learn that Nessarose also has magic, though to a lesser degree, because the sisters’ mother had latent abilities. The movie could also offer a new explanation for Nessa’s ability to read The Grimmerie and perform an enchantment. Hopefully, Wicked: Part 2 won’t include WWotE without providing any reason, as that further confuses the magic system within Oz.