Fantastic Beasts: Every Clue To The Grindelwald/Graves Twist

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them dropped the surprising twist that Percival Graves is Gellert Grindelwald in disguise, but the film actually heavily foreshadowed this reveal.

Anticipation is mounting for the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Through the course of the upcoming movie, a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) recruits Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), Tina and Queenie Goldstein (Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) to bring down Grindelwald after he escapes from prison. The dark wizard has re-assumed his quest to dominate the magical and non-magical worlds, and he will murder and torture anyone who stands in opposition to "the greater good" that he seeks to provide.

The Crimes of Grindelwald picks up mere months after the first Fantastic Beasts movie, which saw Newt and his friends apprehend Grindelwald as he battled the might of MACUSA. In a much-discussed twist, it transpired that Grindelwald had been impersonating the respected Auror Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) throughout the entire film. Indeed, it was a development that proved to be somewhat controversial, in light of Johnny Depp's legal issues. Yet as startling as Grindelwald's unveiling was, there were many hints about Graves' true identity throughout the movie.

This Page: First Appearances and the Obscurus
Page 2: Graves' Interest in Dumbledore, Wandless Magic, & More
Page 3: Graves' Harsh Sentencing, and the Deathly Hallows Necklace

Graves' First Appearance Mirrors Grindelwald’s

Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them begins in a compelling way. A group of Aurors approach a misty, foreboding manor house, before they are decisively disposed of by a long figure. The man is only distinctive through his blonde spiky hair, since his back is turned towards the camera.

Almost immediately, it cuts away to newspaper graphics, explaining the setting of the film and Grindelwald’s attacks. Because the audience sees this man and then the name Gellert Grindelwald in such quick succession, they immediately associate the two.

Yet significantly, Percival Graves is introduced in a very similar manner. Following Newt’s arrival in New York, the film soon cuts away to groups of No-Maj’s surveying the wreckage of a building. Graves arrives to inspect the damage, and the back of his head is the only part of him that’s initially visible. By presenting both characters in the same way – in close connection to the name of Grindelwald – the makers of Fantastic Beasts created the suggestion that these people are one and the same.

Moreover, there are several other telling signs that Percival Graves is linked to Grindelwald, and that he’s a man apart from everyone else. Indeed the characters have their hair styled in a similar way in these two parallel shots. The longer top and crown hair – complete with shaved back and sides – is known as an undercut, which is a fashion that was (and still is) heavily favored by Nazis. Given that J.K. Rowling has long used Grindelwald as a wizarding allegory for the rise of Nazism, the choice of haircut is a suitable and subtle representation of Graves/Grindelwald’s fascistic nature.

Plus, from No-Maj’s to Aurors, most of the characters are dressed in era-appropriate clothing, with colors ranging from deep blues and grays, to brown and beiges. Graves is the only character to consistently wear black and white robes. As such, the contrast between these colors represents that there is a dark dichotomy about the character.

Graves Is Immediately More Interested In Power Of The Obscurus

Colin Farrell as Graves in Fantastic Beasts

Along with all the weird and wonderful creatures in Newt’s briefcase, Fantastic Beasts also introduces Harry Potter fans to the enigmatic Obscurials. These are young, tortured and abused witches and wizards who develop dark and powerful parasitical forces. As a result of their powers being suppressed, they become unstable, unpredictable and destructive beings.

Since the Statute of Secrecy was enforced across the wizarding world, it appears that the manifestation of Obscurials has become highly uncommon. Indeed, Madam President Seraphina Picquery (Carmen Ejogo) emphatically denies the presence of any in America. Even during the opening exposition, it’s clear that she and the rest of MACUSA remain fixated upon keeping the magical and non-magical worlds segregated, and will eliminate anything that would threaten this fragile status quo.

Graves’ early scenes certainly contrast with this hard-line stance. Instead of rushing to repair the ruined structures and modify No-Maj memories (as his colleagues do later in the film) Graves merely inspects the sizable damage, and wordlessly watches the Obscurus escape with covetous interest. Through these small yet noticeable actions, the audience recognizes that Graves has something else up his sleeve. And as we’ll discuss later, this overriding interest in the Obscurials almost exposes his cover.

Page 2: Graves' Interest in Dumbledore, Wandless Magic, & More

Colin Farrell as Graves Uses Magic Without A Wand in Fantastic Beasts

Graves Is Able To Do Magic Without A Wand

Wand lore is a fascinating and complex aspect of J.K. Rowling’s universe. Over the course of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the way in which wand allegiances are either lost or seized is given a great deal of attention. Yet the non-use of them is significant in itself.

On the whole, the American and European magical communities within Harry Potter use wands to direct and strengthen their spells - in battle and their day to day lives. However, this is not rule is rather flexible. House elves and other creatures can perform magic without these instruments, and young sorcerers have similarly done so before being accepted at Hogwarts at the age of eleven. Moreover, it has been revealed that some cultures within the wizarding world do prefer wandless magic on the whole. Yet as Harry himself demonstrated when he inflated his Aunt Marge, wandless magic can be an unpredictable practice.

Therefore, it takes a wizard or witch of considerable skill to master this method of magical manipulation. Certainly, this is reinforced by its depiction within the Harry Potter movies. Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), who was referred to as “the brightest witch of her age,” set a Confundus Charm upon Cormac McLaggen (Freddie Stroma) by speaking the incantation into her cupped hand during Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Furthermore, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) have performed this kind of spell work on various occasions.

Throughout Fantastic Beasts, Percival Graves wandlessly confiscates Newt’s suitcase from him at MACUSA, and similarly moves the caged Obscurial through the air by hand gestures alone. By portraying Graves with this kind of power, he’s marked as a formidably talented wizard – within the film, and the Harry Potter universe at large.

Graves Was In Europe Hunting Grindelwald

A further clue that Graves and Grindelwald are one and the same is that they were in close proximity to one another shortly before the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

In the run up to Fantastic Beasts’s release, Warner Brothers’ Los Angeles Studio Tour updated their Harry Potter exhibit with props and costumes from the upcoming movie. Among the wands and other magical contraptions, the display contained a letter from Theseus Scamander to his brother Newt. Theseus doesn’t appear in the series until The Crimes of Grindelwald, where he’s portrayed by Callum Turner, but he still manages to convey an important piece of information.

Indeed, it seems that the heads of the international magical community created a joint taskforce to bring down Grindelwald. Two of its key figures were the decorated war hero, Theseus Scamander, and MACUSA’s Director of Magical Security and head of Magical Law Enforcement, Percival Graves. The props show how the two men corresponded whilst they tracked down the elusive dark wizard (via The Leaky Cauldron).

In light of this – and Graves’ odd behaviour - eagle-eyed Potter fans can easily surmise what may have occurred in this scenario. After all, Polyjuice potions and spell work can make identity theft a relatively easy practice in the wizarding world. As Barty Crouch Jr’s assumption of Mad Eye Moody’s identity shows, all that any witch or wizard needs is the right opportunity.

He’s Immediately Curious About Dumbledore

Colin Farrell and Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts

During Newt and Tina’s incarceration at MACUSA headquarters, Graves subjects the pair to an intense interrogation. He trawls through Newt’s personal history, until he comes across the younger man’s expulsion from Hogwarts, and the professor who lobbied in his defence. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Graves asks:

“Now... what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?”

It’s a small moment nestled within one of the film’s standout scenes, but it’s impactful all the same. Dumbledore may be courting success in his career, yet he has not yet become the world-famous Headmaster that dominates the Harry Potter series.

There’s no reason for Percival Graves to show much interest in an English professor of magic. But Gellert Grindelwald, on the other hand, knows Dumbledore very well. As many fans are aware, the two became very close following Grindelwald’s expulsion from the Durmstrang Institute. Over the course of one summer, they shared a passion for the Deathly Hallows, the supplanting of muggles, and for each other. When Dumbledore’s sister Ariana was murdered, their relationship broke beyond repair, and the two wizards chose very different paths. Moreover, in his quest for power Grindelwald was said to fear only Dumbledore taking action against him.

This makes Graves’ action here even more significant. Is he assessing Newt, to see if he’s one of Dumbledore’s loyal followers? Or is the disguised Grindelwald genuinely curious about the closeness between this man and his one time lover? Thanks to that pregnant pause, this scene suggests that there’s something else that exists between Graves and Dumbledore than him simply being interested in the particulars of Newt Scamander’s academic past.

Page 3: Graves' Harsh Sentencing, and the Deathly Hallows Necklace

Fantastic Beasts Colin Farrell Percival Graves

Graves Sentences Newt & Tina To Death Immediately

Whilst Graves probes Newt about his closeness with Dumbledore, he also uses the interview as an opportunity to learn more about Obscurials from the Magizoologist. When Newt discloses that the dark parasite can’t survive outside his shield – or without a human host –Graves gives himself away, by dismissing the creature as “useless.” Stunned, Newt demands to know what Graves wishes to use the Obscurus for, yet the Auror awkwardly chooses not to reply.

In all fairness, we still don’t know the answer to that question. Whether it’s attacking swathes of his enemies at once – or using them to reveal wizard-kind to muggles – we can only surmise that Grindelwald wants to harness the power of Obscurials to further his aims.

But Graves’s reaction to his slip-up is as significant as Newt’s question. Graves hurriedly accuses Newt and Tina of wanting to overthrow the wizarding Statute of Secrecy, and he quickly sends the pair to be executed. A dubious interest in Obscurials is one thing, but silencing people by killing them? These actions speak of a truly ruthless man who will, as Newt himself states, commit “mass slaughter for the greater good.”

The Deathly Hallows Necklace Is Hugely Significant

Colin Farrell and Ezra Miller in Fantastic Beasts

Perhaps the most telling sign that Percival Graves is really Gellert Grindelwald is his possession of a necklace that bears the legendary sign of the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter fans are immediately wary of that symbol, since the triangular logo is hugely important to the series’ mythos.

Each component of the symbol represents one part of a trio of powerful objects. The triangle is an everlasting Cloak of Invisibility, the circle denotes the Resurrection Stone (which brings spirits back from the dead) and the central line stands for the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in existence. The possessor of all of these trinkets is known as the Master of Death.

Grindelwald is intrinsically linked to these fictional relics. Indeed, he was one of the Elder Wand’s many masters until he was defeated and incarcerated in 1945. Yet The Deathly Hallows novel reveals that the Hallows’ symbol was adopted by Grindelwald, in the same way that the Nazis corrupted the swastika from its Middle Eastern origins. Moreover, Viktor Krum even refers to it as “Grindelwald’s mark” only, with the inference being that many witches and wizards are unaware of the insignia’s true meaning.

Upon its first appearance in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Graves gifts the necklace to Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller). Graves instructs him to touch the symbol, which will summon him to Credence’s location. The sign is only glimpsed in this exchange, until it reappears when Credence kills Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton). In the wake of the murder, Credence uses it to summon Graves to him, and a lingering camera shot depicts the sign in his trembling hand. At this point, it’s becoming very clear that Graves is not the man he says he is. The Deathly Hallows necklace draws a definitive link between his dark deeds and the sinister power of Gellert Grindelwald.

It will be very interesting to see what parts Gellert Grindelwald and Percival Graves will play within the franchises; future. Colin Farrell has stated that will not be returning in The Crimes of Grindelwald, and he doesn’t seem to think that he – or the real Percvial Graves – will feature again in the series. This may change during the course of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them's five sequels. Yet its a testament to his acting abilities – and the filmmakers' clever foreshadowing – that the Graves/Grindelwald dynamic remains one of the series' most remarkable aspects thus far.