There’s A Huge Fiyero Easter Egg In Elphaba’s Wardrobe

Spoilers ahead for Wicked: For Good.

Sorry, Glinda. Elphaba and Fiyero are endgame.

At the end of 2024’s Wicked, Elphie (Cynthia Erivo) becomes Oz’s Enemy No. 1 — a villain Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is tasked with hunting as Captain of the Guard in the 2025 sequel, out on Nov. 21. Not to mention, he’s about to get hitched to Glinda (Ariana Grande), Elphaba’s BFF. None of those obstacles matters, however, when you’re in love. The two become so connected, especially after Elphie saves the Prince of Winkie’s life by transforming him into the Scarecrow (cue: “No Good Deed”).

Fittingly, their costumes mirror their unbreakable bond. In the film’s final scene, costume designer Paul Tazewell left a blink-and-you-miss-it Elphiyero Easter egg for fans to spot.

The last few minutes of the production show Elphaba fleeing with her new beau to his castle in his hometown of Kiamo Ko after faking her death in a layered costume that was the most laborious to create. Sharing that it took at least a week and a half to finish, Tazewell tells Elite Daily, “Her coat was very time-consuming because of all the pintucks that cover the overall surface of that sweeping coat.”

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the look was imbued with meaningful symbolism. “You’ve got the tunic that has the undulating chiffon pleating that’s referencing mushrooms,” Tazewell explains. (ICYWW, the fungi represent her forest lair and how connected Elphaba is to nature.) The Wicked Witch of the West paired the dress with custom boots that laced up and “swirled around her legs,” another pattern the costume designer consistently used for her regalia. Per Tazewell, swirls mimic “the Fibonacci spiral, which is the formula of creation and nature,” as well as the tornado, which becomes a paid actor in Part Two.

Where it gets Fiyero-coded is in her cape. The Academy Award winner says, “We added a Kiamo Ko cape when she goes to the Kiamo Ko castle, which is of the lineage of Fiyero’s family. There’s this amazing ombré blue to black cape that has a spiraling tribal pattern.”

If the tribal print seems familiar, that’s because you’ve seen it in the first film. “If you hark back to Fiyero’s Ozdust ballroom suit, it’s that same kind of pattern, but it’s been applied to the perimeter and hem of the cape,” Tazewell says. (It’s comfortingly akin to the real-life phenomenon of couples starting to dress alike after being in a relationship.)

“All of the techniques that it took to get that cape to have the pattern, and then the painting on it and distressing, all those processes are very time-consuming, but gratifying,” says Tazewell. Similarly, Fiyero’s Part One ball garb required over 1 million stitches to complete. These labor-intensive marks weren’t gratuitous; the costume visionary played the long game for this Elphiyero costume crossover.

Adds Tazewell, “All of that detail, all the care that went into those clothes, and all the artistry really pays off.” Considering he won an Oscar for his work on the first film, the entire entertainment industry clearly agrees.