There’s a lot of things you could attribute to Wicked‘s popularity. Director Jon M. Chu knows his way around a musical, and the connections to The Wizard of Oz (especially the origins of certain characters), and the songs are all part of this popularity. But one of the biggest factors has to be the friendship between Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande), who become the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the South respectively. Elphaba and Glinda first meet at Shiz University, and to say they don’t connect with each other is an understatement. The two witches do eventually bond but soon find themselves in love with the same man – Prince Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey).

This love triangle ends up driving a good part of Wicked; Glinda is drawn to Fiyero for his good looks and princely status, while he connects with Elphaba over sharing a rebellious spirit. But what some fans might not know is that Fiyero is married in the original Wicked novel by Gregory Maguire, and that marriage heavily impacts the second half of Wicked (and its sequels).

Fiyero’s Marriage Impacts the Second Act of ‘Wicked’ & the ‘Wicked’ Book Series

When Fiyero arrives at Shiz in the original Wicked book, he’s been betrothed to his wife Sarima and it happened when they were seven years old. Believe it or not, that only scratches the surface of how dark the book really was. Fiyero and Sarima have a life together, including three children, but things quickly go south when Elphaba — now known as the Wicked Witch — begins an affair with Fiyero that leads to the birth of their son Liir. Fiyero is captured by the Wizard of Oz’s forces shortly afterwards, and after a stay in a convent, Elphaba is taken in by Sarima. Tragedy soon strikes when the Wizard kidnaps Sarima and her children; when Elphaba goes to beg for their lives, the Wizard reveals he had them killed. This storyline makes Elphaba a more complicated character — while she’s far from the horrible person Oz has painted her as, she’s no saint either. It also led to an entire series of novels, with its sequel Son of a Witch focusing on Liir.

There’s a Reason the ‘Wicked’ Musicals and Films Don’t Include Sarima

Both the musical and film adaptations of Wicked shake up the events of the Elphaba/Glinda/Fiyero love triangle: Fiyero meets and has a relationship with Glinda, briefly becoming engaged to her, before realizing he’s truly in love with Elphaba. There’s no mention of Sarima in either adaptation, with the musical’s change due to songwriter Stephen Schwartz wanting to put the focus on Elphaba and Glinda. “Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda, who becomes Glinda, and Elphaba the green Witch. As short-hand, we always call the show ‘Turning Point in Oz,’ (like the movie The Turning Point); the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies and how the friendship is tested and broken and mended etc. through this process,” he said during the original run of Wicked.

While streamlining Wicked to focus on Elphaba and Glinda makes a lot of sense, leaving Sarima out misses a key part of the musical, particularly the fact that people are far more complicated than the labels assigned to them. Elphaba is often regarded as an outsider due to her green skin, and gains the moniker of the ‘Wicked Witch’ for daring to go against the Wizard’s authoritarian regime. Glinda falls into the same trap, as Wicked‘s second act sees her dubbed the “Good Witch”, not for her sense of character but because the Wizard wants her to be a spokesperson. Sarima’s absence in Wicked takes away the messy, but still intriguing elements that define Elphaba’s relationship with Fiyero.

The ‘Wicked’ Love Triangle Will Play a Major Role in ‘Wicked: For Good’

Despite Sarima’s absence, the ending of Wicked hints at how the love triangle will play out: Elphaba takes off for the West, while Fiyero rides after her and Glinda finds herself in the clutches of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Wicked: For Good will no doubt pick up on those plot threads, providing plenty of drama and romance — especially with what happens to Elphaba and Fiyero in the end. Still, fans could have been in for a romantic entanglement that rivals any soap opera.

Wicked: Part One is now playing in theaters, while Wicked: For Good premieres on November 21, 2025.