Fiyero,
I always liked you, I appreciated your character arc from jaded to anxious to trying to make the world a better place. You contained multitudes.
You were the one who could see truth. Your eyes stayed open and you saved the little lion cub. And were able to both see Elphaba’s beauty through her green skin AND and correctly identify that Glinda had a black heart and was not.
And you were powerful. You could convince the whole school to dance, even the library. You could make the world dance through joy, the beloved and unpopular alike (even the librarian!) for a song I didn’t even particularly like.
That’s power that can change the world.
Alack, you forgot. You put Elphaba on a pedestal, as the only one who could save everyone. 100% wrong. Every time she used her powers it just made things worse. And not everyone can see through green skin; munchkins aren’t that smart, you have to meet them were they’re at. Elphaba may have thought her goodness would shine through and truth would prevail. She was wrong. Her messiah complex was misguided. Under no circumstances was she the right spokesperson to save the animals and expose the Wizard. If you don’t know, now you know.
But you were! You literally could have done it, united the student body against those who wanted to permanently silence the animals, unite the military to stop being complicit in the surveillance state, unite literally all of Oz and sent the wizard and all complicit in his regime (including Glinda) to…jail.
Please, the record not Earth. Speaking on behalf of Planet Earth, we have our own problems. We do not need to add a genocidal dictator and his Chief Propagandist into the mix.
And then you could have nominated whoever you wanted to run the government and ran off with Elphaba to your castle and live happily ever after.
All I’m trying to say is, if you ever get another crack at it, remember: you are the one with the magic.
Sincerely,
Me