FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD - ENDING EXPLAINED & THEORIES
WARNING THIS POST WILL CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD
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The new Fantastic Beasts film greatly discussed Credence’s heritage, & the ending revealed a major twist when Grindelwald tells Credence that his name is Aurelius Dumbledore, telling him “Your brother wants to destroy you” (referring to Albus).
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This twist could’ve left you feeling either confused or surprised, & for me - I was more confused than anything else. Either way, you probably want an explanation - so let’s look into this.
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Before jumping into any theories, we first need to understand more on Albus Dumbledore’s family. In summary, what we already know on his family is that Albus has TWO siblings - a brother, Aberforth, & a sister, Ariana. As a young girl, Ariana was assaulted by a group of Muggle boys, causing her to suppress her magic (it’s never stated, but it’s most likely that Ariana was an Obscurial like Credence). Their father, Percival Dumbledore, was so angered by what happened to his daughter that he attacked the Muggles who hurt her, & was sent to Azkaban, where he remained until his death.
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Given that information, you’re most probably still wondering how Credence can be Albus’ brother. Let’s get into it.
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Firstly, Grindelwald could very well be lying to Credence.
Grindelwald was always described as a “seductive, persuasive, influential” person - & we saw this & his power & influence in the movie - he even got Queenie to turn to his side! He attracts them to his side using fear, & with the illusion of giving them what they want. & Grindelwald makes the big reveal right after Queenie told Grindelwald that Credence is on the fence & isn’t sure if he made the right decision teaming up with Grindelwald! He told Credence just what he needed to hear to nudge him to his side.
We already know that some aspect of what he told Credence is a lie (since Dumbledore doesn’t want to destroy Credence) so the entirety of it could just be a lie as well.
And there was no mention ever before of Albus having a brother besides Aberforth.
So, yes, it would be no surprise if Grindelwald was actually lying.
Another, very likely possibility, is that Credence IS a Dumbledore, but not Albus’ brother - just another relative (that Albus probably doesn’t know about it). The evidence for this is that a phoenix actually came to him when he was in a very lonely place, something Dumbledore mentions is a trademark of his family earlier on in the film
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Another theory out there is that Credence is Ariana’s son. If you’re familiar with Wizarding World history, read my Dumbledore/Grindelwald history post, or heard Dumbledore mention it in the film, you’ll know that Ariana died, in a duel gone wrong between Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Aberforth before the events of Fantastic Beasts (if you want more info on this, I suggest you read my Dumbledore/Grindelwald history post here).
Well the theory states that Ariana didn’t die in that duel, she survived, went on to move to New York, & had a baby - Credence - & left him in the orphanage Is there any evidence? Kinda. It is mentioned in FB:COG that an Obscurus can be passed on from a parent to their child, which gives a bit of credibility to this theory… However, it was widely known that Ariana died during that duel as it had a major impact on Albus, and it is mentioned in the Harry Potter books/movies. This theory WOULD make Credence a Dumbledore, but instead of being Albus’ brother, he’d be his nephew. So in my opinion, this is unlikely, but I felt I had to include it as it’s popular/floating around the internet right now. -
A similar, but different theory states that the Obscurus within Ariana transferred to Credence when she died. There is evidence for an Obscurus living on after killing its host, as we see an Obscurial in Newt’s case in the first film. I see this being more likely that her surviving and having a child.
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The final theory I’ll discuss was created by the awesome SuperCarlinBrothers on YouTube (check out their channel if you haven’t) - I’m just sharing it because I think it’s a good theory (and better than Credence being a Dumbledore…)
The theory states that Credence is a descendant of Isolt Sayre - the founder of Ilvermorny (the American Wizarding school) - and Salazar Slytherin (as Isolt herself is a descendant of Slytherin!)
Bare with me. Let’s look into it.
If you’re not familiar with the story of Ilvermorny & its founding, here’s all the information you need to know for the theory in summary: a woman named Isolt who is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, moves from Ireland to America, where she gets married to a No-Maj, has 2 twin girls, & 2 adopted twin boys. Together they all founded Ilvermorny. Of the 2 twin girls, one of them is a witch (Rionach) and the other is a squib (Martha); Rionach refused to have children because she did not want to extend Salazar Slytherin’s bloodline whereas Martha married a No-Maj. It is never stated in the story whether they had children, but if they did, there is still a possibility that they have wizarding children since Martha has magic in her blood.
The theory goes that Credence is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin through Isolt’s squib daughter.
Since we know Credence is American, has magical abilities, & is a major player in the Fantastic Beasts movies, there is a slight possibility of this being true.
How does Crimes of Grindelwald add to this theory? Well, descendants of Salazar Slytherin are Parselmouths (meaning they can speak to snakes)… and who does Credence befriend from the circus? Nagini. A snake.
I’ll admit it’s quite a reach but it’s nice to speculate. It would still make his heritage relevant, being a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself, without complicating anything or creating any plot-holes.
Those are all the theories I know regarding Credence’s heritage, let me know what you think of the ending & any theories you might have!
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