Fantastic Beasts 2 Ending And Twist EXPLAINED

By Simon Gallagher / November 29, 2018

Well, The Crimes Of Grindelwald is certainly something, isn't it? Partly too heavily invested in fan-service and partly a delightful invite back into one of the best worlds in story-telling (a contradiction that threatens it at every turn), it is beautifully made but badly written. And while it might make a lot of money, it will be hampered by caustic discussion of that twist at its end.

There is a LOT of story in The Crimes Of Grindelwald and more exposition than you could possibly shake a Niffler baby at, and even putting the twist aside for a minute, there is a lot of discussion to have around the rest of the ending and its implications for the next films and the established Harry Potter lore.

So what did that ending mean for the future of the franchise and how are we supposed to interpret that stunning, slightly confusing twist?

9. The Nagini Question

It's pretty fair to say that Nagini was a luxury character who probably didn't need to be introduced in The Crimes Of Grindelwald at all. She and Professor McGonagall's brief cameo are the most egregious and unnecessary fan-service in the whole thing and though there might be important plans for both, they were no more than distraction here.

The biggest thing that Nagini's presence - and how she ends the film, indeed - is how we're going to see her tie into Voldemort and whether she represents the key to Tom Riddle's potential involvement in the Fantastic Beasts movies. We know that Riddle and Grindelwald had some familiarity as the latter called the former "Tom" when he came to slay him and all that remains now is plotting out the steps to get them together.

Could Nagini be the key to that? Could Grindelwald recognise her value as a weapon in subsequent movies and could Riddle be drawn to her for the same reason he makes Horcruxes of items belonging to the Hogwarts Founders? Because she becomes of equal importance to Grindelwald who will become Riddle's inspiration?