Hello Fantastic Beast Fans!
The long wait is over.
It’s finally arrived!
The full ComicCon trailer has apparated online!
And it’s filled with tantalizing new images
to inspire several fan theories.
I’m Susan Şipal with Fantastic Secrets
Behind Fantastic Beasts to bring you the clues.
Join me and other Fantastic Beasts fans here
on the BeastChaser Forum as we uncover the
secrets, discover what’s coming first, and
play along with Rowling’s newest game.
And make sure you hit the subscribe button
as well as the bell notification so you’ll
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out on the next clues!
First, a heads-up.
I’m only covering the new material in this
trailer, not the scenes or clues that were
shown or covered before.
For those, please check out my playlist linked
above and in the description below.
And also, be sure you don’t click away before
the end of the video, because I’m giving
away an adorable Noble Collection Niffler!
So, let’s start off with yesterday’s ComicCon
poster that teased fans waiting expectantly
for the trailer.
I spent several hours digging out all the
clues with other fans online, and here are
the main things we noticed.
The first that jumped out at me was the symbol
over Queenie’s head.
At first I thought it was a swastika superimposed
on the Deathly Hallows.
Several people, so I can’t credit one, pointed
out that it seemed to be the initials GG back
to back.
So Grindelwald has his own symbol now, and
I do think it’s meant to evoke both the
swastika and that symbol beside Laurena Kama’s
name on the Lestrange Family Tree that we’ve
been analyzing.
Notice too that the Elder Wand is pointed
down, as we discussed in a prior video as
well.
Couple this symbol with the fact that
it’s over Queenie’s head, and she with
her back turned to not only Jacob but the
other three, supports strongly my theory yesterday
that she may be working with Grindelwald to
save Jacob’s life.
Also notice, as pointed out by @PorpentinasWand,
that the other three are facing the same direction,
aligned under Dumbledore, while Queenie is
aligned under Grindelwald.
Then there are the buildings around the edges:
Dumbledore is above Hogwarts, Credence & Maledictus
are below the Circus, Theseus & Leta below
Trafalgar Square (as picked up by the fansite
Fantastic Beast Film Series), and Grindelwald
is above the French Ministry of Magic.
The three others seem to be near something
they are linked to.
Does this mean Grindy will infiltrate the
French Ministry of Magic?
Perhaps using Queenie to do so?
At the top of the poster is "The fate of one
will change the future of all."
I believe this is in reference to Credence
and the extraordinary power he possesses as
an Obscurial.
We’re already seeing that he’s learning
to control and transform his power.
And Ezra Miller has mentioned in an interview
that Credence is becoming aware of the growing
power inside him.
Please check out my theory on Credence as
the Atomic Bomb for more on that one.
Then there’s the snake that winds around
the whole poster.
Could it be a reticulated python, the world's
longest snake?
The snake pictured is really long, and the
diamonds on its back seem similar.
A prior image of the Maledictus released said
she was from Indonesia, where these pythons
live.
Many of you know I’ve never been fond of
the Maledictus becomes Nagini theory.
And if Maledictus is the Snake Girl is a
reticulated python, then Maledictus is not
Nagini as Nagini was a viper.
And finally we come to Jacob, who is carrying
an umbrella.
Does this hint at the rain as an important
element shown in several scenes?
I theorized in yesterday’s video that the
rain is a key clue as to how Jacob arrived
at Newt's place in England.
One of the most curious objects to emerge
from the trailer is this skull.
What in the world can it be?
As noted by Suvi Holm, it definitely seems
to be the same image at the top of the screenplay
cover.
And as noted by both Suvi and Ross Nicholson,
it also seems to be the object Rosier is holding
in that amphitheater scene, notice the cord
draped over her arm.
As I theorized when doing the analysis of
the screenplay cover earlier, it’s indeed an object
linked to Grindelwald and is not the Dark
Mark (though it may have inspired it).
But what in the world is this thing?
With such short time to research, I can only
make guesses, but I think this skull combines
at least three concepts.
First, it may be a physical (if slightly morbid)
link to Grindelwald's heritage.
A village in Austria has an unusual historic
cemetery called the Hallstatt Charnel House.
In a small building near a 12th century chapel,
for a couple of hundred years, the villagers
reinterred their dead after they decomposed.
While it may sound a bit grotesque, the family
members decorated the skulls of their loved
ones with designs signifying their life as
well as their names and date of death.
Some of the designs, especially the writing
and dates, look very similar to Grindelwald’s
skull.
Could this skull be an ancestor to Grindelwald?
Or perhaps an important historical witch or
wizard that has been held onto for some purpose?
The belief would be that the skull not only
contains some of the ancestor's power, but
also forms a bond with the person holding
it.
After all, skull worship or reverence was
practiced by many cultures as a way to maintain
a family bond and keep a loved one near.
Which leads us to another great catch by Ross.
He posted earlier today that the words on
the skull, though hard to make out, may be
German “for the greater good,” which may
indicate where Grindelwald got his slogan.
However, whether the wording is “for the
greater good” or the name and deathdate
of a significant person, my interpretation
is still the same.
As I stated in a prior video when the screenplay
cover was revealed, I believe this skull has
been trepanned, boring into the skull as an
ancient medical procedure to cure head ailments,
or done, in this case, to let out what were
considered to be demons.
Consider the possibility that the owner of
this skull was a witch or wizard living in
a time when their powers were feared.
Could the local Muggles have trepanned the
person “for the greater good” of the village?
Okay, so here is where my ideas start getting
a bit weird…weirder.
I’ve been trying to figure out why that
hose or pipe is attached to the skull.
I searched for any trepanned skulls with hoses
attached, but found nothing.
So, I’m guessing this may be something of
Rowling’s creation.
The style of that pipe and the way it is attached
made me think of the Turkish nargile, or
hookah in other countries, a traditional waterpipe
used for smoking.
And there’s definitely a smoke-like substance
inside that skull.
What if Grindelwald has been using the pipe
to inhale whatever magical properties are
inside the skull?
I know that sounds a bit off the wall, but
the implements around the skull hint to me
at a medical purpose…the scissors and bowls
and dark bottles that look almost medicinal.
What if he has an ailment or an injury and
is using the skull for medical magic?
When Grindelwald sticks the Elder Wand into
one of the holes of the skull, I think he’s
doing one of two things.
Or both.
He could be absorbing the power that lies
within the skull onto the Elder Wand.
Or, he could also be manipulating or implanting
a false memory into the skull.
Which leads to the scene in the amphitheater
where Rosier is probably holding that skull.
What I think is happening here is that Grindelwald
is using this skull of a famous witch or wizard
in history who was tortured by Muggles to
persuade an audience of influential and wealthy
people toward his cause.
Perhaps the skull will even somehow magically
speak, sharing the atrocities that was done
to them…perhaps real, and perhaps manipulated
even worse by Grindelwald.
Now, onto the trailer.
The trailer starts with Dumbledore teaching
a lesson on Boggarts, with Pottermore confirming
that he’s teaching this as a Defense Against
the Dark Arts class, which we’ve already
discussed in a prior video does not oppose
canon.
The thing that catches my attention here is
this girl standing behind Newt.
Are we seeing a young Leta Lestrange?
She looks particularly disturbed and afraid
of facing the Boggart.
What trauma could lurk in her past?
Perhaps something more sinister than an office
job?
Up next is more of the scene from the first
trailer with the moving statue.
Suvi Holm and I were both thrilled to see
our theory confirmed that the statue was indeed
moving, and that Tina may very well be escaping
into a secret passage it reveals.
In this image that follows, we see Credence
gazing upon the circus poster back in New
York.
Forgive me crowing a bit, but nearly a year
and a half ago, I was the first to spot this
poster hanging on a building in the first
film and theorize that Credence would run
away to join the circus in the second.
I believe this is the moment it happens, and
that it is the Maledictus, the Snake Girl,
who captures his attention, bound up inside
a beast…just as he is.
We than get an inside view of Grindelwald
being moved through the MACUSA prison on his
way to being extradited to Europe…and his
escape.
I’ve been harping on how I believe Abernathy
will be a new recruit for Grindelwald and
key to his escape, and this poster released
today with the trailer seems to confirm it.
Then, we see the black shape swooping down
on Newt and Tina that, at first glance, would
seem to be Credence’s Obscurus.
After all, we did see him shooting it out
from the rooftop of a Paris building.
And that’s possibly what it is.
However, the form and texture of this image
seems different.
It’s more fluid and less smoky than the
Obscurus.
Also, notice how it covers the buildings as
it moves.
And then there’s this thing here, that seems
to be a face.
I’m wondering if this could be a Dementor.
Notice how Tina is reacting as it approaches,
as if she’s cold and upset.
Remember that Dementors affect some people
more than others.
Tina’s reaction could hint at past trauma
in her life.
I know this doesn’t look like the Dementors
of Harry Potter, but that could be for a couple
of reasons.
One, different filmmakers and different time
periods, or two, and more scary…what if Grindelwald
has been experimenting with them?
Perhaps combining a Dementor with a Lethifold?
We’ve known Grindelwald has visions, but
we get a hint of a big one here.
One that involves Credence.
“That he would rise in dominance over the
wizarding world.”
Sounds like Grindelwald, doesn’t it?
Or, as Suvi asks, is it Credence?
Perhaps the two united.
And is Grindelwald trying to get Credence
to fly to his arm there?
Like a bird…a raven or a crow?
I believe this woman is Melusine, who we’ve
discussed in a prior video, and then these
are the black cats that were mentioned in
the CinemaCon trailer.
But they definitely don’t appear to be Wampus
cats to me.
They seem faintly demonic.
I’m wondering, since Rowling is exploring
some French legends, if these could be Matagot
cats, which are known to be very faithful
to their master, but also possess the ability
to pass between realms, which those eyes surely
suggest.
We see Newt taking an unarmed glove by hand
to meet Dumbledore on top of St. Paul’s,
which plays into the portkey clues that we’ve
been exploring.
Perhaps the image that surprised me most was
Dumbledore gazing in the Mirror of Erised
with Grindelwald behind him.
As a parallel to Harry gazing upon the family
that he’d lost, Dumbledore yearns for the
one man who was perhaps his equal.
Rowling has said that Dumbledore’s intellect
made him a very lonely man.
This image contrasts with Harry’s belief
that Dumbledore would see his family reunited
in the Mirror, whereas as a younger man, Dumbledore
clearly misses the loss of romantic love more.
This scene makes more poignant the words Dumbledore
would say years later, 'It does not do to
dwell on dreams and forget to live.’
We get Dumbledore’s familiar line, “I
can’t move against Grindelwald, it has to
be you.”
But this time with a slightly new perspective…and
picture.
But what could that symbol which Newt is holding
mean?
I think it’s a combination of the alchemy
symbols for the Sun and Mercury (or Venus),
Grindelwald and Dumbledore as one, that Grindelwald
must have given Dumbledore as a teen, and
he has held onto ever since.
This new perspective of the dancer makes me
more convinced than before that she is Laurena
Kama.
And that seems to be Theseus standing just
behind her.
This scene confuses me a bit, but I’m wondering
if coupled with young Newt riding the Kelpie,
if we’re seeing what led to Newt’s expulsion.
This water scene could take place at the Hogwarts
boathouse that featured in the Deathly Hallows
film, where Snape died.
See young Newt riding in to save the day,
right there.
Another surprise – the vault that we’ve
been analyzing, is housed within the French
Ministry of Magic…which would indicate what
Queenie is after.
Also, Newt, Tina and Leta are joined together
in retrieving it.
I’m guessing Leta might have some inside
knowledge.
This location makes it doubtful that the vault
is a hiding spot for Grindelwald, as I previously
theorized.
But it could still contain records of his
crimes.
We see Tina saving Jacob, and Queenie overcome
with the emotions and thoughts of those she’s
hearing…and perhaps has harmed.
I think with this image and this one, we’re
getting hints of the rising tension and the
mobilizing of Grindelwald’s followers building
to the final showdown, which seems to take
place in the graveyard and include a dragon,
just as we theorized earlier.
Just not a corporal beast.
Could it be a Patronus?
Would a Patronus act that way?
Or is it some sort of Fire Dragon, some magic
we’ve not heard about?
Finally, I think we may get a peek at Grindelwald’s
accomplice, bringing him the Elder Wand.
Notice in this scene, when Grindelwald is
in control of the carriage, holding the Elder
Wand, his coat sleeve is rolled up a bit with
the grayish prison uniform showing quite a
bit.
However, in this image of the hand holding
the Elder Wand, it seems nicely tailored,
with just a bit of white shirtsleeve showing.
Furthermore, as caught by the extremely sharp-eyed
Suvi Holm, this person is watching the Thestral
coach, barely visible down below.
Is this Grindelwald’s accomplice bringing
his wand to him?
Abernathy anyone?
All I can say of Nicolas Flamel is that I
can’t wait to see more of him.
Plus, this confirms that this newly released
image is taken inside Flamel’s lab.
As animals ran out of the zoo in FB1, perhaps
they’ve been released from the circus in
FB2, because this one seems to be the Oni
pictured on the circus banners.
However, I didn’t think Oni had tails.
But it definitely has the tusks.
Newt’s attempt to placate it doesn’t seem
to be working well.
How will he persuade it into his open trunk?
What part of the new trailer excited you the
most?
Do you have a different idea about that skull?
And are you counting the days to November
16th?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Also, please check out my new Fan Shop on
Amazon for books and Funko Pops and wands
and all things Fantastic Beasts!
But for now, don’t click off yet because
the Niffler giveaway is on the next screen!
Now for the fun part!
To celebrate the release of this second trailer,
I’m giving away this adorable plush Noble
Collection Niffler to one of this vlog’s
subscribers.
Entry is simple.
All you have to do is subscribe, click the
bell notification, and comment on the video
below.
That’s it.
Anyone around the world can enter, though
be aware that it may take longer for the Niffler
to find his way home to you.
The deadline for entry is August 4, 2018.
For a description of the Niffler and a full
list of how this giveaway will work, see the
description box below.
