The Green Elixir Bottle Elphaba Keeps Under Her Pillow & Why It's Important

Wicked only covers the first half of the beloved Broadway production, and the film drops several hints about things that are going to happen in the second part. The Wizard of Oz prequel has been one of 2024’s most culturally significant films, with plenty of people rushing to the cinema for the first time in a while to see John M. Chu’s cinematic vision of this musical classic. The story centers around Elphaba and Glinda, two witches who meet at Shiz University and, by the end of Wicked, ultimately become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz.

There are several ways that Wicked connects to The Wizard of Oz, but the most obvious is through Elphaba’s transformation from a young, ambitious witch to the dangerous villain that everybody fears. The story does a great job of explaining how this character came to reach this point, and there are plenty of twists in the second half that completely reframe the original story in fun and exciting ways. The green bottle of elixir plays a huge role in this reframing of events, proving that not everything is as it seems.

Elphaba's Green Elixir Bottle Is One Of The Only Things She Has From Her Mother

It's A Symbol Of Her Love For Her Late Mother

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The surface-level reason that Elphaba’s green elixir is so important to her narrative is that it’s the only thing she has that once belonged to her mother. The bottle is a constant reminder of the maternal figure that she’s never had, as her mother died when giving birth to Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose. This causes plenty of conflict between the two sisters, with deep-rooted blame and resentment growing between them over their absent mother.

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The dynamic between Elphaba and Nessarose later becomes a crucial plot threat in Wicked’s second part, with Nessarose blindly accepting her sister’s crimes because of the subconscious resentment she’s always held for her. This sends her down a powerless spiral that leads to Nessarose becoming known as the Wicked Witch of the East. The bottle of green elixir serves to ground Elphaba in her past, reminding her of her similarities to her mother and absolving her of the guilt she feels about her death.

Why Elphaba Keeps The Green Elixir Under Her Pillow

The Elixir Reminds Elphaba Where She Came From

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Throughout Wicked, it’s shown that Elphaba keeps her mother’s green elixir under her pillow when sharing a room with Glinda. The object is shown multiple times, hinting towards its increased importance in the second part, but the actual nature of the elixir is kept somewhat secret. The only time it’s really mentioned explicitly is when Glinda asks Elphaba about the object, to which she replies that it belonged to her mother and nothing more. This proves that Elphaba is fairly sensitive about the elixir, as it’s her last remaining connection to her mother.

The trinket exists to prove that Elphaba’s mother has left a sizable absence in her life, which she’s trying to replace by keeping it around.

The dynamic between Elphaba and her mother isn’t explored in too much detail in Wicked (the film mainly focuses on Elphaba’s father), but her keeping the elixir seems to suggest that their short-lived relationship was a happy and healthy one. The trinket exists to prove that Elphaba’s mother has left a sizable absence in her life, which she’s trying to replace by keeping it around. On a more narrative-driven level, the elixir will later become important in understanding the truth behind Elphaba’s parentage and her social status.

The Green Elixir Bottle Is Still Key To Elphaba's Future After Wicked

The Item Plays A Huge Role In Wicked: For Good

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In Wicked: For Good, the second half of the story, it will be revealed that Elphaba’s real father is actually the Wizard of Oz, who seduced her mother (potentially against her will) using the magical elixir. The elixir plays a crucial role in this information coming to light, as it’s the only thing left at the scene of Elphaba’s “death”, allowing Glinda to procure it for herself and follow up on its origins. This leads her directly back to the Wizard, where she’s forced to reckon with his true personality and the complicity that she’s displayed in his awful regime.

The plot twist about Elphaba’s real father is much more than a cheap trick: the information completely reframes both Elphaba and Glinda’s characters, giving their actions throughout the story much more weight. By rejecting the Wizard’s proposal at the end of Wicked, Elphaba is shedding her generational shame and breaking free of the constraints (and family) that have been placed upon her. Meanwhile, the revelation at the end of part two forces Glinda to confess that she’s been working for a monster in order to boost her own social status.