After the rather convoluted nature of the previous instalment in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, fans will be delighted to know that the third film – Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – is much easier to follow.
The film primarily follows Newt Scamander, Albus Dumbledore, and co as they hatch a plan to stop Gellert Grindelwald – who is scheming to be fraudulently elected the new chief of the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW).
This plan involves a mythological creature called a Qilin and travelling to various locations both real and fictional, culminating in a dramatic finale in Bhutan.
If you need a little help unpacking the conclusion, we have all the information you need below – read on to have the Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ending explained.
**Spoiler warning for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore**
Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore ending explained
The climax of the film takes place in a sacred magical location in Bhutan – where a ceremony to elect the new ICW chief is being held.
Here, Grindelwald is hoping to enact the plan that will see him gain power, using the Qilin he had stolen and manipulated in order to deceptively prove to the watching voters that he is the most suitable man for the job.
The plan hinges on the fact that a Qilin has the ability to look directly into someone’s soul – bowing in front of anyone who has the purest of hearts – and so by making his zombified Qilin bow in front of him, it will appear to those watching as if Grindelwald is a righteous leader.
But of course, Dumbledore and his allies have a plan that will see the real Qilin delivered to the ceremony, in doing so proving that Grindelwald had misled the voters.
The gang meet in Hogwarts’ Room of Requirement, where each of them is handed identical cases – most of which are decoys but one of which contains the Qilin.
They then travel to the Himalayas using a portkey, and are instructed to drop their cases if confronted by any of Grindelwald’s supporters – the cases all contain charmed objects which will attack their enemies in the event of a battle, allowing them to make an escape.
While this is going on, Grindelwald has been announced as the winner of the election by current ICW chief Anton Vogel, and his first action after being named a leader is to spot Jacob Kowalski in the crowd and bring him to the front, torturing him with the Cruciatus curse to show what happens when muggles interfere with wizards.
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At this point, Credence steps in and calls out Grindelwald – revealing the truth about the Qilin which had been used in the ceremony and receiving support from Queenie, who corroborates his claims.
Then Bunty appears on the scene – she has the case containing the real Qilin and releases it. It proceeds to bow before Dumbledore, and when he asks it to select someone else instead it picks out one of the other ICW election candidates, Vicência Santos.
Grindelwald is furious at this development and instantly attempts to kill Credence in an act of revenge. However his spell is blocked by both Dumbledore brothers, and this has a major impact – destroying the blood pact that had previously prevented Dumbledore and Grindelwald from duelling.
And so, free from the pact, the pair begin to fight, with the encounter ending in a stalemate before Grindelwald flees the scene.
After he has left, it becomes apparent that Credence is close to death, but Aberforth takes him away leaving his final fate unclear.
Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore final scene
The action then fasts forward a little for the final scenes, as we discover that Jacob is set to marry Queenie in New York, with his lover having now repented from her previous sins and apologised for her time as a follower of Grindelwald.
Meanwhile, after briefly chatting with Dumbledore, Newt is reunited with Tina – who had been absent from the film up until that point and he compliments her on her hair – leaving us on a happy romantic note as Dumbledore walks off into the snow.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is currently showing in UK cinemas. Visit our Movies hub for more news and features and find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide.
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