Fantastic Beasts 2: 10 Biggest Changes To Harry Potter Canon (And If They Work)

9. The Elder Wand

The Change:

The Elder Wand is shown to be unlike any other, with it shifting allegiance to the person who defeats its current master. Said master in this movie is Gellert Grindelwald himself, who we know possesses the wand until his defeat by Dumbledore in 1945. However, this would also mean he was the master of the wand in the first film too - we know he was much younger when he took possession of it, thanks to the flashback in Deathly Hallows Part 1 - even if he didn't use it (as he was impersonating Percival Graves, he had to use his wand). He lost that wand to Tina when she summoned it from him, which should, theoretically, make her the master of the wand - except, well, it clearly doesn't, seemingly making a change to the wand's behaviour, while Grindelwald just sort of gets it from nowhere here.

Does It Work?

There are a few potential answers to this, which could make it more palatable: Grindelwald was technically first defeated by the Swooping Evil, and a wand's allegiance can't change to a magical creature, so may have stuck with him instead (although there's then a case it should've gone to Newt). There's also the fact Tina uses a summoning charm, rather than a disarming one, which isn't a duelling spell so again might not be recognised (but then, Harry doesn't use a spell to take it from Draco).

There's no explanation for that, though, and also zero explanation of where the wand actually comes from in this movie - the Ministry just kept it lying around? - which means that it is still up for debate, and a source of frustration given just how important the Elder Wand is in Potter lore.