If you're unfamiliar with the full story of Wicked - as in everything past the events of Wicked: Part One - don't continue down the yellow brick road! Major spoilers ahead!

If you are at least a little familiar with The Wizard of Oz — a 1939 adaptation of the novel by L. Frank Baum "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" — you probably know the four main players of the film. You have Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a girl transported from Kansas to Oz thanks to a magical tornado, who ends up meeting the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger). ) in the fantasy land. (Since the film presents Oz as the location of Dorothy's magical dream, Larr, Haley, and Bolger also play farmhands who work on the Gale family estate in "real life.") Almost a century later, audiences returned to Oz thanks to the adaptation of John M. Heard of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, itself adapted from Gregory Maguire's Oz-centric 1995 prequel novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the Scarecrow only makes a brief appearance at the beginning. Those in the know, however, know that we already are they met Scarecrow - because in Stephen Schwartz's musical, one of the main characters becomes The scarecrow in act 2.

So who is doomed to become the Brainless Scarecrow who ends up begging the Wizard to put gray matter in his head? That would be Prince Winky Fiero Tigelaar, played by "Bridgerton" and "Travellers" standout Jonathan Bailey. If you've been impatiently waiting for Wicked: For Good — the recently retitled second half of Chu's epic Wicked story — here's how we think Fiero will experience his transformation when the film comes out this November.

After Elphaba Throop (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera) arrive at the University of Sheez and begin their studies, the entire student body goes wild over the impending arrival of Fierro, a particularly handsome prince whose disrespect and rebellious behavior drives him crazy. kicked out by several other schools. When Fiero appears in Shiz, the women are especially titillated, including Galinda, who tries to flirt with him; Elphaba, in particular, is unimpressed by his demeanor and disdain for knowledge and learning, which obviously means Fiero ends up fascinated by the green-skinned girl who doesn't give him the time of day.

Fiero convinces the entire student body to sneak off one night and go dancing and party at the nearby Stardust Ballroom, and Galinda - furious at having to share her single room with Elphaba, ends up studying at Shiz after accidentally will perform a spell that attracts the attention of the school's dean of magic, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeo) convinces Elphaba to wear an unflattering outfit a witch's hat, humiliating her. Galinda eventually joins Elphaba in a dance, bonding the two forever, and the duo begin spending time with Galinda's "boyfriend", Fiero. Although Fiero seems foolish and conceited, he and Elphaba join forces to help a frightened lion cub (who, we imagine, may grow up to be the Cowardly Lion) after animals are banned from teaching at Shiz and the Cruel Professor tries to experiment with the cub; After they share a moment together in the forest, Elphaba sings a lament about the fact that Fiero loves Galinda and not her (the sad ballad "I'm Not That Girl"). After Galinda, who shortens her name to "Glinda" in honor of their fallen animal professor, Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), and Elphaba leave for Oz to meet the Wizard, we don't see Fierro again— so what can we expect to see from him in "Wicked: For Good?"

At the end of The Wicked: Part One, Glinda has teamed up (reluctantly) with the evil Madame Morrible and the Wizard himself (Jeff Goldblum) after allowing Elphaba to escape their clutches on a broomstick - so where is Fierro in all of this? He's back in Shiz, and when we see him again in the second act of the Wicked musical, he's captain of the Wizard of Oz's guard and engaged to Glinda. Fierro is still in love with Elphaba, though - which Glinda seems to just innately know, especially considering their betrothal was completely arranged by Madame Morrible to boost morale in Oz and distract from her evil deeds made together with the Wizard - and when Elphaba takes a huge risk and returns to Oz to try to free the Wizard's flying monkeys, Fiero protects her. He also disappears with her, leaving Glinda devastated (she sings her own rendition of "I'm Not That Girl," in fact).

While hiding in a remote forest, Fiero and Elphaba sing a duet of "As Long As You're Mine", revealing that they love each other... but after Elphaba is forced to try to save her sister Nessarose (played by the lovely newcomer Marisa Bode in "Wicked: Part First"), Fiero ends up captured by the Wizard. Elphaba believes Fiero to be dead and casts a spell to try to save his life; since he is not dead, the spell transforms him into the Scarecrow, and after Elphaba fakes her death by water (at the hands of Dorothy) using a handy door, Fiero and Elphaba escape together as the musical ends.

Is Fierro's fate different in Gregory Maguire's original (and honestly, a lot darker) novel? Yes, actually! We probably won't have to worry too much about Fierro's journey in the Wicked book, as John M. Chu are certainly sticking to the plot of the musical, but just for some context, here's Fiero's deal in the book (actually, books; Maguire wrote a small series).

In the book, Fierro gets married after Elphaba officially "became" the "Wicked Witch of the West" and has three children (not with Glinda), but he and Elphaba still have an affair ... and after Fierro is discovered in Elphaba's company. and chastised, he remains astonished at the discovery of Leir, the child to whom he was born during his intercourse with Elphaba. From there, the Wizard takes the entire Tigelaar family prisoner, including all of Fierro's legitimate children—and when Elphaba pleads with the Wizard to release them, he reveals that everyone is dead except for Fierro's daughter, Nor. Elphaba in fact dies from a bucket of water in the book and Fiero never resurfaces, so not only can we safely assume that the Wizard did kill him, but he no become the Scarecrow. See why Chu is adapting the musical and not the book? It's the end of the book definitely unhappy—even with Elphaba defeated and dead, Oz is plunged into political turmoil for years afterward.

Fierro's big musical number in "Wicked: Part One" — what Jonathan Bailey absolutely crush - is the long poem "Dancing Through Life," in which he extols the virtues of living an ignorant life without thought or worry. If you know that Fierro's destiny in the musical is to become the Scarecrow, you might want to take a closer look and listen to the lyrics to "Dancing Through Life," which offer huge clues to that outcome.

The whole song is literally about not thinking, but a ton of lyrics point directly to not having a brain. "Dancing through life, skimming the surface / Gliding where the grass is smooth / Life's more painless for the brainless / Why think too hard when it's so soothing?" Fierro quips at the beginning of the song, echoing this sentiment in different ways: "Life is flawless when you're reckless / Those who don't try never look stupid." Sure, one could argue that Fierro is speaking in metaphors, but if you take it literally, he's saying that the best way to live your one precious life is to stop thinking altogether, which he forced to do when he loses his brain and becomes the Scarecrow later in the story.

Remember how Fierro and Elphaba save a lion cub from cruel experimentation and basically start their relationship in the process? The whole reason they were able to get the cub safely out of Shiz in the first place is because Elphaba, outraged at the idea of ​​the lion cub being tortured in front of her and a room full of students, accidentally casts a spell that sends poppies flying around the classroom... and flowers put everyone to sleep. Everyone, that is, except Fiero, who remains fully conscious and makes sure the lion cub gets into the forest and away, earning a scratch on his face for his trouble.

Why does this tie into Fiero's future status as the Scarecrow? You may recall that, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion end up passed out in a field full of—you guessed it—bubbles. The Scarecrow, however, manages to stay awake for some reason, somehow immune to the spell cast by the Wicked Witch of the West—or, as he knows her, Elphaba. In the stage musical, Elphaba manages to temporarily blind the entire class aside from Fiero - so they both save the cub in that version as well, but John M. Chu changing the scene to include a poppy can be very clear evidence. as far as Fiero is concerned.

Wicked: Part One is available to rent or buy on demand now.