The final act of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald features many a big shock. Though fans have mostly been busy picking apart the reveal that Credence Barebone is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, let’s not forget the tragic shift of allegiance that happened just before that. Persuaded to join his cause by the dark wizard’s silver tongue, Queenie Goldstein left her loved ones behind and took off with Gellert Grindelwald, breaking poor Jacob Kowalkski’s heart.
It was a surprising moment for fans, as Queenie’s perhaps the sweetest and nicest of the quartet of main characters and yet she’s the one to side with the villain. Actress Allison Sudol spoke to EW recently and explained how she interprets Queenie’s big decision and where her head’s at in this moment, and according to her, the choice partially came from a place of loneliness.
“Jacob doesn’t come with her. It’s not so much about Jacob not coming wither to the dark side, it’s like, ‘Jacob, walk with me, we’re in this together.’ And she doesn’t have those two, so who does she have? Newt’s kind of betrayed her – he called her out, it was embarrassing. What does she have?”
What’s more, just because she’s currently allied with Grindelwald doesn’t mean that Queenie’s evil now. It’s just that Grindelwald’s talk of a new world seems like a better prospect than the one she’s trapped in. What’s more, Sudol makes the point that it’s not even like Queenie’s particularly easily manipulated, as Grindelwald also got under Dumbledore’s skin in the past.
“I still believe in her heart of hearts she’s going over to fight what she believes in. Grindelwald is saying, ‘we’re creating a different world’ and the world that she is in is broken. I don’t believe she’s turning evil. It’s more like she’s trying to find somebody who is giving her an option. He’s manipulating her but he’s manipulating everybody. He even did that with Dumbledore.”
Queenie begins the sequel desperate to find a way to be with Jacob, even though a witch marrying a muggle is illegal in the UK. Estranged from her sister Tina and having had a fight with Jacob, Grindelwald’s able to gain Queenie’s trust with his words of fighting for love – which are all lies, as he wants to take over the world and subjugate all muggles.
Her story will continue in Fantastic Beasts 3 of course, which – like The Crimes of Grindelwald – will travel to another part of the globe. Evidence points to Rio de Janeiro being the new setting, but for now, that remains unconfirmed.
