The Love Triangle in ‘Wicked’ Between Elphaba, Fiyero, and Glinda Should Be a Throuple

In the middle of Wicked, the story of how Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch earned their reputations, there's a pesky little story about the man who got between the two besties. That kind of drama is, in the words of Fergie, so two thousand and late. It's time we all admit that the love triangle in Wicked is totally unnecessary. Because... drumroll please: Glinda, Elphaba, and Fiyero should be in a throuple. In a post-Riverdale, post-Challengers, post-Doctor Odyssey society there's simply no excuse.

Director Jon M. Chu's Wicked and Wicked: For Good, based on Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's stage musical that is in turn based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, presents a pretty basic love triangle. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is a studious, droll, green-skinned misfit. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is a spoiled, bubbly, blonde proverbial princess. They both share sparks with Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), a handsome and rebellious literal prince. While Fiyero and Glinda couple up in Part One, there's more to the story.

Let's parse through the angles relationships here. Elphaba and Fiyero have a meet-cute for the ages in Wicked. Jonathan Bailey gets to use (almost) every tool in his Bridgerton toolbox as Fiyero to bicker with Elphaba, smolder, and yearn after her. He doesn't judge her green skin like others do. She notices things about him–a sense of justice and a deep sadness–that he thinks he's hidden from everyone else. There's a hands brushing moment in one scene that'll remind you of that one hand flex in Pride and Prejudice. Elphaba sings "I'm Not That Girl," an unrequited love ballad that belongs on a sad girl Mount Rushmore with "On My Own" from Les Miserables, Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me," and Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" IMHO, all about Fiyero. She doesn't think he could ever return her feelings. You wanna root for the popular boy to end up with the weird girl.

There's just one problem. Glinda is not a villain or a two-dimensional Queen Bee type. She starts off as a spoiled mean girl, but she's on an arc! We like Glinda. And Fiyero and Glinda's romantic relationship isn't a total sham. What Fiyero and Glinda have, at least at the beginning, is real. There's a perversely sweet moment in "Dancing Through Life" where Fiyero clocks the way Glinda rejects Boq (Ethan Slater) by manipulating him into asking out Nessarose (Marissa Bode) as a "favor" to her. Fiyero sees Glinda's more malicious side and doesn't judge her for it. They embrace frivolity together and match each other's freak in a really fun way.

And then there's Glinda and Elphaba, the core relationship that is, at least in the canon, platonic. However, that has not stopped Wicked fans from arguing that they are the show's true OTP for years. I used to think that the "Gelphie" 'shippers were reaching a little, but after the movie I am 100 percent on board. Age and distance from casual homophobia in 2003, when Wicked opened on Broadway, has changed my perspective for good. Sweet Oz, this is a love story. "What Is This Feeling" may be an ironic parody of a romantic duet, but it is textbook rivals to lovers right down to the forced proximity as roommates. The two engage in a lot of pillow talk, winks, and stolen glances. When Glinda comes to Elphaba's rescue at the Ozdust Ballroom and joins her on the dance floor so that she's not alone? That is lifted right off of the pages of Jane Austen's Emma! Glinda is the first person to call Elphaba beautiful. During "Defying Gravity," Elphaba basically asks her friend to run away with her. And this is just the first act! If you've seen Wicked: For Good, you know it only gets more intense from there for all three of these relationships.

It's clear at the end of Wicked that Elphaba and Glinda should choose each other over Fiyero. But better yet, they should embrace polyamory. None of these relationships are bad, toxic, or even ill-advised. Ultimately, why make Fiyero, or Elphaba or Glinda for that matter, take sides? They would be an iconic throuple. Fiyero is the perfect himbo third for these two powerful witches. You know that slutty, chaotic flirt would be down to clown. Beyond that, all three of them share a deep connection with one another. They clearly care about each other. Glinda and Fiyero both become different, probably better people thanks to Elphaba's influence. Elphaba is changed by both of them as well. There is good and bad in all of them and they truly understand each other in that piercing, disarming, Hot Priest and Fleabag kind of way.

It's not, as they say in Oz, confusifying or scandalocious. It's the best possible outcome for these three characters. Who cares that it's unconventional? They're young. They don't live in our world or have to play by our rules – and even our world has its fare share of throuples and polycules and non-traditional romantic arrangements. I'm not going to say that they messed up with Wicked: For Good's ending, I'm just saying that if they would have called me, it all could have been different.

This story was originally published in November 2024.