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'Fantastic Beasts 2' Ending Spoilers: Dumbledore's Big Secret, Explained

He's not who he seems to be.

Ezra Miller’s Credence is not who he seems to be. (And he’s not The Flash.) The ending of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald reveals the adopted child’s true family history, and it’s a spoiler that had many Potter fans in my early screening gasping out loud.

Here’s Credence’s big twist below, if you feel like having the whole thing explained to you in plain English.

Spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald ahead.

At the very end of The Crimes of Grindelwald, Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes from the good guys, though Credence and Queenie (Alison Sudol) join the radical Grindelwald. At a snowy mountain range that looks exactly like the one behind the Red Skull’s desk in Captain America: The First Avenger, Grindelwald tells Credence he has a brother: Albus Dumbledore.

Check out our video review of ‘Fantastic Beats: The Crimes of Grindlewald’ and read the rest of this article below.

That’s right: Credence is a Dumbledore. Aurelius Dumbledore, to be precise. And he is capable of very powerful magic, as Grindelwald gives Credence/Aurelius what I think is the Elder Wand. (Guys, I saw it once, lay off.)

Some fans who aren’t afraid of spoilers have already begun speculating if Grindelwald, who by every measure is a villain and cannot be trusted, is lying to Credence and capitalizing on his vulnerability, even though his powerful natural ability with magic should confirm otherwise.

Given that this twist was offered at the end of the movie, and not halfway or even at the start, suggests that this is truth. If for nothing else other than the fact that J.K. Rowling, who penned the screenplay, is a legitimately capable storyteller who wouldn’t establish a dramatic “twist” at the end of one film only to be undone in the next.

Ezra Miller as Aurelius Dumbledore in 'The Crimes of Grindelwald.'

Warner Bros. Pictures

You can save yourself the Google: Aurelius is a new character that has almost no basis in the original Harry Potter films or J.K. Rowling’s books. Consequently, Credence/Aurelius is catching Wizarding World fans off guard, so rest assured, you’re not a bad fan if you can’t remember Aurelius Dumbledore. I’d wager even J.K. Rowling didn’t until she was drafting the screenplay.

Worse, the entire reveal feels totally hollow, existing purely to get fans chatting (read: trending) on Twitter. It has profoundly weak dramatic build-up, unlike Star Wars’ Rey, whose own story depended on fans endlessly speculating since The Force Awakens and all throughout The Last Jedi. Both Rey and Credence didn’t know their heritage, but the difference here is that people actually cared about Rey’s.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be released in theaters on November 16.