History Film / FantasticBeastsTheSecretsOfDumbledore

* CrypticConversation: After an uncomfortable dinner where Albus tries to make conversation about Ariana's favorite food, Aberforth says he knew, "everything" that was going on in the house with the clear implication he's talking about his relationship with Grindelwald.

* HotterAndSexier: The opening scene at the restaurant between Dumbledore and Grindelwald is bar-none-the most sexually charged scene in the entire franchise. The first thing out of Grindelwald’s mouth is an innuendo laden pick-up line, to which Dumbledore laughs and flirts back. The second thing out of Grindelwald’s mouth is an equally less subtle question about how the blood pact feels around Dumbledore’s neck because he himself misses it. They continue flirting only until Dumbledore mentions they could be freed of the pact and Grindelwald can’t help himself from saying nasty things about the Muggle restaurant they’re meeting in. There is even an alternative cut of the conversation where Grindelwald lent down and whispered something in his ear and then kissed his neck on his way out.

* {{Leitmotif}}: A lot of the motifs from the previous movies return, like "Hedwig's Theme" which plays when Hogwarts appears and "Jacob's Bakery" is incorporated when Jacon is first seen in his bakery and a couple of other times during scenes centered around Mr. Kowalski.

* UncertainDoom: Whether or not [[spoiler:Credence]] survives the film is ambiguous. It is acknowledged that nothing can be done at this point to [[spoiler:save him since he’s been living with the parasite for about 30 years which is over twice as long as his aunt Ariana (who’s the only other confirmed Obscurial who made it past 10)]] and that all that can be done is to make his inevitable death as painless as possible. [[spoiler:Aberforth takes him home to die]] but no confirmation is given that it’s actually happened yet.

* CrypticConversation: After an uncomfortable dinner where Albus tries to make conversation about Ariana's favorite food, Aberforth says he knew, "everything" that was going on in the house with the clear implication he's talking about his relationship with Grindelwald.

* MythologyGag: This [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gg_0.jpg shot]] of Grindelwald's wanted poster hanging up in Hogsmeade is reminiscent of [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sb_1.jpg Sirius Black's]] from ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Theseus notes that the team entrusted to take down the most dangerous wizard in four centuries include himself and Yusuf, a Mazoologist (Newt), his assistant (Bunty), a school teacher (Eulalie), and a Muggle (Jacob).

* BlatantLies: After [[spoiler:Newt produces his own Qilin at the vote, Grindlewald's allies attempt to claim that the one that bowed to Grindlewald was the true Qilin even though it's clearly a darker, more sickly colour than Newt's obviously healthy one. It then disanimates on the spot, just to rub in that Grindewald's been outplayed]].

* ConfusionFu: The plan to stop Grindelwald relies on keeping everyone in the dark about the entire plan, so Grindelwald can't foresee and counter it. The gang gets sent to Berlin for two reasons: to stop Grindelwald from getting on the ballot (which they fail at) and to stop the assasination attempt against Santos (which is a success).

** [[spoiler:The pastries inside Jacob's suitcase multiply endlessly to swarm a follower of Grindelwald, referencing [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows the Gemino curse used in Bellatrix's vault]]]].
** [[spoiler:Apart from many book pages, Lally's and Theseus' suitcases contain multiple [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Monster Books of Monsters]], [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets a Bludger]] and a Golden Snitch]].

* CurseEscapeClause: According to Dumbledore, there is no known way to destroy the blood pact that he and Grindlewald created as young men, as even the ''thought'' of either of them attacking the other would cause the pact to try and kill the one holding it. [[spoiler:It is eventually destroyed when Grindlewald and Dumbledore's spells collided when Grindlewald tried to kill Credence and Dumbledore acted to protect his nephew; neither of them were directly acting against each other, but the collision of their spells was enough to break the pact]].

* DoubleEntendre: Grindewald manages to sneak a couple of these into his conversation with Dumbledore at the restaurant. Most notably, he opens (with a flirty smile) by asking if the place they're meeting is one of his "regular haunts" with the clear implication that he's really asking about his love life. Dumbledore laughs and responds that he doesn't have any regular haunts and Grindelwald smiles and straightens up his posture. The way he asks about how the blood pact pendant feels around his neck is also pretty clearly meant to be sexual in nature as well.

* EvilIsPetty: Grindewald hits Jacob with the Cruciatus Curse to make a point to the assembled masses when he thinks he's won. Dumbledore even apologizes to Jacob for having to go through it, genuinely surprised by such a pointless act of cruelty.

* HistoryRepeats: In the final confrontation, [[spoiler:Grindlewald, Albus and Aberforth's spells clash with a third, Obscurial Dumbledore caught in the middle, just like the circumstances under which Ariana died]]. However, [[spoiler:this time the clashing spells save the life of Credence (Aberforth's son and Albus's nephew), as well as there now being no doubt that Grindlewald alone acted to kill where the others sought to defend]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: An alternative title for the movie might as well as be ''Fantastic Beasts: The Failures of Grindelwald''. Literately everything he does here ends up setting the stage for his defeat many years later. First, he zombifies a Qilin rather than using a more practical method like the Imperius Curse in his impatience and anger at being deemed unworthy. Then he gets angry at Credence and sheds his charming persona because he was upset that Credence failed to kill Dumbledore and didn't find the second Qilin, and he attacks Jacob with the Cruciatus Curse in front of Queenie after believing he's won. All this ends up being a severe misjudgment as he fatally underestimated Dumbledore's own intelligence and charisma, Newt's bravery, and Queenie's love for Jacob. All of this accumulated turns Credence and Queenie, who then saw him as the dark man he truly was, against him for real and they help Newt expose his charade. Finally, he attacks Credence after his plans fall to ruin, but that makes the blood pact break and Albus finally turns his back completely on him with the realization he is too far gone. All this combined effectively seals his fate as he is completely exposed as a truly dangerous dark wizard unworthy to be Supreme Mugwump, causing everyone there to immediately attack him after Dumbledore leaves him to his fate, crushing any and all chance he had to unite the world and forcing him to declare a war with the whole world. It's heavily indicated at least some, if not a decent amount of his disciples have turned against him, meaning he's lost both the good publicity that was so crucial in his successes and a degree of the massive military power he had, not to mention he's likely lost Anton Vogel, meaning any backway and influence he may have had in the ICW is gone now. All this allows Dumbledore and the world to finally and rightfully turn the wizarding world against him, which will eventually lead to them gaining the support needed to defeat him for good.

* HumiliationConga: It's Grindelwald's turn to lose after managing to so effectively manipulate the events of the first two movies to his favor. He loses hard, too. [[spoiler:He manages to lose the election, have two powerful Acolytes defect, get exposed for his true colors, lose his former lover forever, and be forced into hiding in one fell swoop. Albus pretty masterfully manages to use ConfusionFu to negate his seeing with the only hiccup being Theseus getting arrested. Grindelwald gets Vogel to pardon him of his crimes, get him on the ballot, and help him use the zombified Qilin to bow to him. Meanwhile, Bunty manages to slip by his group of supporters in Bhutan with the suitcase with the second Qilin because he mistakenly thought the more powerful Scamander brothers or Eulalie would have been given it. Queenie, whom he worked so hard to recruit, also defects before the election takes place. After a short respite of him winning the initial vote for Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Newt and Credence expose his fraudulent Qilin and Bunty walks up with the suitcase as the zombified one disanimates in Vogel's arms. A new vote is called. The Qilin first bows to Albus who turns her down and then to Santos, whom the crowd elects the new ICW Supreme Mugwump. At that point, Grindelwald completely loses it. He tries to kill Credence in front of everyone and the blood pact gets destroyed in the crossing of spells. As he and Albus fight to a draw in the mirror dimension, he desperately reaches for him as they part and Albus turns his back on him which signifies the breaking of their bond, both literally and metaphorically. With real pain in his voice, all he can do is lash out at him with, "Who will love you now, Dumbledore. You're all alone!" As everyone starts pointing their wands at him, all he can do (while being a visible wreck of emotions) is jump off the cliff and apparate away.]] A far cry from the cocky, flirtatious, and smug demeanor seen at the beginning of the movie in the restaurant scene.

* LoveCannotOvercome: Dumbledore and Grindlewald are still crazy for each other after all these years and each spend most of the restaurant scene trying to get the other to back down and reconcile to no avail. By the end of the movie, Dumbledore realizes that things are done between them for good, though it pains him, and literally and metaphorically he turns his back on Grindlewald after the election is held.

* MeaningfulEcho: The movie starts with a fairly bashful but emotional, "Because I was in love with you" from Albus to a very stoic Grindewald and ends with a very distraught Grindelwald almost screaming, "Who will love you now?" at a very stoic Albus.

* MetaphoricallyTrue: In the last film, Grindlewald revealed that Credence was a Dumbledore, claiming that he was Albus's younger brother who had been knowingly rejected by the family; as it turns out, [[spoiler:Credence is actually the son of Albus's brother Aberforth, and his mother was sent away by her family to have the baby in secret before Aberforth knew of the pregnancy, although he later heard rumors]].

* StarCrossedLovers: Dumbledore and Grindlewald can't be together ever again, because of the latter's campaign for war against the {{Muggle}}s. Now, they are destined to fight each other.

* TeleportSpam: Dumbledore does little else in his fight with Credence besides block and apparate away from him. After using this mostly to escape Credence, he ends the fight by approaching him inch by inch through rapid teleportation until he's right at Credence's throat without a scratch on him.

* VillainousBreakdown: A TranquilFury wordless one. [[spoiler:Upon being exposed for election fraud, Grindlewald immediately attempts to murder Credence in front of the entire assembly, without changing his facial expression or even verbalizing his Killing Curse]]. He is close to tears by the time [[spoiler:the blood pact breaks]], signifying that his and Dumbledore’s relationship really is over for good.

* WritersCannotDoMath: Rowling's long established issues with numbers strike again with the timeline of Credence's birth. This film establishes that he would have been born sometime in the spring of 1900 and the shipwreck where he was presumed to have drowned was said in ''Crimes of Grindelwald'''s script as having taken place in 1901. Credence should have been a toddler in this trip but is shown as a newborn who's not [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crimes_grindewald_movie_screencapscom_12006.jpg even old enough to hold his head up]].

* AsYouKnow: Lalie recaps the last two films for Jacob, presumably for the audience's benefit. And Albus reminisces about Ariana's favorite food in front of Aberforth. Both of these get a terse, [[LampshadeHanging 'I know, I was there']] reaction.

* AsYouKnow: Laile recaps the last two films for Jacob, presumably for the audience's benefit. And Albus reminisces about Ariana's favorite food in front of Aberforth. Both of these get a terse, [[LampshadeHanging 'I know, I was there']] reaction.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: An alternative title for the title might as well as be Fantastic Beasts: The Failures of Grindelwald. Literately everything he does here ends up setting the stage for his defeat many years later. First, he zombifies a Qilin rather than using a more practical method like the Imperius Curse in his impatience and anger at being deemed unworthy. Then he gets angry at Credence and sheds his charming persona because he was upset that Credence failed to kill Dumbledore and didn't find the second Qilin, and he attacks Jacob with the Cruciatus Curse in front of Queenie after believing he's won. All this ends up being a severe misjudgment as he fatally underestimated Dumbledore's own intelligence and charisma, Newt's bravery, and Queenie's love for Jacob. All of this accumulated turns Credence and Queenie, who then saw him as the dark man he truly was, against him for real and they help Newt expose his charade. Finally, he attacks Credence after his plans fall to ruin, but that makes the blood pact break and Albus finally turns his back completely on him with the realization he is too far gone. All this combined effectively seals his fate as he is completely exposed as a truly dangerous dark wizard unworthy to be Supreme Mugwump, causing everyone there to immediately attack him after Dumbledore leaves him to his fate, crushing any and all chance he had to unite the world and forcing him to declare a war with the whole world. It's heavily indicated at least some, if not a decent amount of his disciples have turned against him, meaning he's lost both the good publicity that was so crucial in his successes and a degree of the massive military power he had, not to mention he's likely lost Anton Vogel, meaning any backway and influence he may have had in the ICW is gone now. All this allows Dumbledore and the world to finally and rightfully turn the wizarding world against him, which will eventually lead to them gaining the support needed to defeat him for good.

* AmbiguousSituation: Is the beginning scene in the restaurant happening in real time, a dream, a memory, or is it happening in the blood pact mirror dimension? The film doesn't make it exactly clear.

* BittersweetEnding: Like fellow midpoint entry, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', this film essentially wraps up the first arc of the series with some positives and some negatives. [[spoiler:Grindelwald's plan to become the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards has been stopped, Dumbledore has broken the blood pact between them, meaning they can now fight each other, and Jacob and Queenie have finally gotten married while Newt reunites with Tina. But while Credence redeems himself, it is seemingly too late for him as his Obscurus has already begun killing him and all that Aberforth, actually Credence's father, can do is bring him home and give him some comfort, knowing fully well he'll die sooner or later. In addition, even with Grindelwald thwarted, he is still out there and he has also in a way succeeded in starting his war, meaning the global Wizarding War will truly begin soon. While the heroes are given a brief respite and moment of happiness, it's apparent the road ahead will be filled with many difficulties even after this victory - Dumbledore's grim expression as he walks away from Jacob's wedding and the fact that we now know the legendary duel between them that will lead Grindelwald to defeat will only take place on 2 November 1945, 13 years from the film's end, makes this very clear]].

* BittersweetEnding: Like fellow midpoint entry, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', this film essentially wraps up the first arc of the series with some positives and some negatives. [[spoiler:Grindelwald's plan to become the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards has been stopped, Dumbledore has broken the blood pact between them, meaning they can now fight each other, and Jacob and Queenie have finally gotten married while Newt reunites with Tina, but while Credence redeems himself, it is seemingly too late for him as his Obscurus has already begun killing him and all that Aberforth, actually Credence's father, can do is bring him home and give him some comfort, knowing fully well he'll die sooner or later. In addition, even with Grindelwald thwarted, he is still out there and he has also in a way succeeded in starting his war, meaning the global Wizarding War will truly begin soon. While the heroes are given a brief respite and moment of happiness, it's apparent the road ahead will be filled with many difficulties even after this victory - Dumbledore's grim expression as he walks away from Jacob's wedding and the fact that we now know the legendary duel between them that will lead Grindelwald to defeat will only take place on 2 November 1945, 13 years from the film's end, makes this very clear]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The grimly effective VillainWithGoodPublicity ways of Grindelwald compared to the rather ineffectual methods of Voldemort's brute-force ways are fully demonstrated in this film, and also demonstrates the complete difference between them that makes Grindelwald a far more terrifying villain. While Voldemort wanted to dominate Britain through sheer force, Grindelwald only makes the terrorist attacks look like he's fighting the unjust powers of the world and actively seeks to be diplomatic. Not to mention he is no pure-blood supremacist and accepts anyone while Voldemort was selective at best and completely bigoted at worst. And while Voldemort and Grindelwald are both arrogant, Grindelwald is much better at appearing humble and simply seeking a revolution because unlike Voldemort, he is not a psychopath as much as he is detached towards his enemies and willing to do whatever it takes to crush them and regularly portrays himself as a valiant revolutionary with immense power, which Voldemort can never be because he was a DirtyCoward. All this combined means that Grindelwald is significantly better at attracting subordinates and devotees everywhere, and as he is attacking the whole world and not just Britain, there was simply too many people who support him and too little evidence to charge him with. In the end, even though the magical governments are all desperately trying to paint him as a criminal, they ultimately have to bow down as he has won the public and charging him any further would lead to violence. It takes Dumbledore, an equally brilliant individual who has none of Grindelwald's arrogance, in order to expose him and truly encourage resistance against him.

* AbsenteeActor: Nagini doesn't appear in this installment due to Claudia Kim's pregnancy.

->''"Our war with the Muggles begins today!"''

* CallBack: [[spoiler:As Newt is cornered by two cronies of Grindelwald, Jacob distracts them and knocks them unconscious with one swing of his briefcase. Ironic, considering he did that to Newt in [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem the first]] ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem movie]]]].

* CallForward: Aberforth spends the majority of the movie communicating with someone via a mirror like he does with Harry for most of ''Deathly Hallows'', although the contexts are very different.

* HumiliationConga: It's Grindelwald's turn to lose after managing to so effectively manipulate the events of the first two movies to his favor. He loses hard, too. [[spoiler:He manages to lose the election, have two powerful Acolytes defect, get exposed for his true colors, lose his former lover forever, and be forced into hiding in one fell swoop. Albus pretty masterfully manages to use ConfusionFu to negate his seeing with the only hiccup being Theseus getting arrested. Grindelwald gets Vogel to pardon him of his crimes, get him on the ballot, and help him use the zombified Qilin to bow to him. Meanwhile, Bunty manages to slip by his group of supporters in Bhutan with the case with the second Qilin because he mistakenly thought the more powerful Scamander brothers or Lally would have been given it. Queenie, whom he worked so hard to recruit, also defects before the election takes place. After a short respite of him winning the initial vote for Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Newt and Credence expose his fraudulent Qilin and Bunty walks up with the case as the zombified one disanimates in Vogel's arms. A new vote is called. The Qilin first bows to Albus who turns her down and then to Santos, whom the crowd elects the new ICW Supreme Mugwump. At that point, Grindelwald completely loses it. He tries to kill Credence in front of everyone and the blood pact gets destroyed in the crossing of spells. As he and Albus fight to a draw in the mirror dimension, he desperately reaches for him as they part and Albus turns his back on him which signifies the breaking of their bond, both literally and metaphorically. With real pain in his voice, all he can do is lash out at him with, "Who will love you now, Dumbledore. You're all alone!" As everyone starts pointing their wands at him, all he can do (while being a visible wreck of emotions) is jump off the cliff and apparate away.]] A far cry from the cocky, flirtatious, and smug demeanor seen at the beginning of the movie in the restaurant scene.

** Jacob and Professor Hicks' escape from the dark wizards is slowed down as the bridge of papers the two are running on begins to burst into flame and debris goes flying around. When the two teleport away, the movie kicks back into normal motion as the papers all collide together into a fiery burst and the debris all hits the floor.

* RefusalOfTheCall: Jacob has repeatedly been refusing Dumbledore's pleas to join him in fighting Grindelwald and it is only when Professor Hicks shows Jacob his own worth that he agrees. Even then, it took a lot of arm-twisting to get him to come along.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Professor Hicks gets her cousin and some of his friends to pretend to be hooligans menacing her in front of Jacob's store. Despite there being three of them, Jacob stands up to them and proves his bravery. The test here is not so much to prove Jacob's worth to Hicks, but to prove to Jacob himself that he is exceptionally brave.

* ShellGame: This and three-card monte are the comparison Jacob uses to understand Dumbledore's last plan: give each of the team a duplicate of Newt's case to keep Grindelwald from focusing all his forces on the real one.

* TokenHuman: Jacob is the Muggle on the team that's entrusted to stop Grindelwald's election to the head of the ICW. He even gets a wand and to go to Hogwarts. Lalie Hicks meets him in his bakery and recruits him to the cause, even though he says he's left it all behind him.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"If you listen carefully enough, the past whispers to you."'']]
->''"The world as we know it is coming undone. Things that seem unimaginable today will seem inevitable tomorrow. Should you agree to do what I ask, you'll have to trust me. Even when every instinct tells you not to."''

Set in [[TheGreatDepression 1932]], the story leads up to the Wizarding World's involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Albus Dumbledore entrusts Newt Scamander and his friends on a mission to foil Grindelwald's attempt to get elected as the President of the International Confederation of Wizards while Dumbledore himself ponders how long he will stay on the sidelines in the approaching war.

* BatmanGambit: This time, it's Dumbledore's turn to do this after Grindelwald managed to achieve it so effectively in the second film. He asks Newt and his friends to split up and carry out different roles at the same time, expecting that Grindelwald wouldn't be able to see all of them at once. The first gambit worked off pretty well despite hiccups as all that Grindelwald achieved was capturing Theseus and then having to alter his plans to instead frame Jacob to make it look convincing. His last gambit was what truly lets the heroes secure a true win over Grindelwald: [[spoiler:Knowing and expecting Grindelwald would be after him, Newt, Theseus, and Eulalie because they were magically powerful enough to guard the Qilin, he instead gives that role to Bunty, exploiting Grindelwald's tendency to underestimate simple people, and it works wonders as she easily bypasses him, reveals the Qilin, and exposes Grindelwald, effectively eliminating any chances he had to become chair of the International Confederation of Wizards and making it clear to the public that beneath Grindelwald's façade, he is dangerous, leaving him with only his truly loyal disciples as everyone else who previously admired him clearly either turns their back on him or outright attacks him.]]
* BittersweetEnding: Like fellow midpoint entry, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', this film essentially wraps up the first arc of the series with some positives and some negatives. [[spoiler:Grindelwald's plan to become the head of the International Confederation of Wizards has been stopped, Dumbledore has broken the blood pact between them, meaning they can now fight each other, and Jacob and Queenie have finally gotten married while Newt reunites with Tina, but while Credence redeems himself, it is seemingly too late for him as his Obscurus has already begun killing him and all that Aberforth, actually Credence's father, can do is bring him home and give him some comfort, knowing fully well he'll die sooner or later. In addition, even with Grindelwald thwarted, he is still out there and he has also in a way succeeded in starting his war, meaning the global Wizarding War will truly begin soon. While the heroes are given a brief respite and moment of happiness, it's apparent the road ahead will be filled with many difficulties even after this victory - Dumbledore's grim expression as he walks away from Jacob's wedding and the fact that we now know the legendary duel between them that will lead Grindelwald to defeat will only take place on 2 November 1945, 13 years from the film's end, makes this very clear]].

* HumiliationConga: It's Grindelwald's turn to lose after managing to so effectively manipulate the events of the first two movies to his favor. He loses hard, too. [[spoiler:He manages to lose the election, have two powerful Acolytes defect, get exposed for his true colors, lose his former lover forever, and be forced into hiding in one fell swoop. Albus pretty masterfully manages to use ConfusionFu to negate his seeing with the only hiccup being Theseus getting arrested. Grindelwald gets Vogel to pardon him of his crimes, get him on the ballot, and help him use the zombified Qilin to bow to him. Meanwhile, Bunty manages to slip by his group of supporters in Bhutan with the case with the second Qilin because he mistakenly thought the more powerful Scamander brothers or Lally would have been given it. Queenie, whom he worked so hard to recruit, also defects before the election takes place. After a short respite of him winning the initial vote for chair of the International Confederation of Wizards, Newt and Credence expose his fraudulent Qilin and Bunty walks up with the case as the zombified one disanimates in Vogel's arms. A new vote is called. The Qilin first bows to Albus who turns her down and then to Santos, whom the crowd elects the new ICW chair. At that point, Grindelwald completely loses it. He tries to kill Credence in front of everyone and the blood pact gets destroyed in the crossing of spells. As he and Albus fight to a draw in the mirror dimension, he desperately reaches for him as they part and Albus turns his back on him which signifies the breaking of their bond, both literally and metaphorically. With real pain in his voice, all he can do is lash out at him with, "Who will love you now, Dumbledore. You're all alone!" As everyone starts pointing their wands at him, all he can do (while being a visible wreck of emotions) is jump off the cliff and apparate away.]] A far cry from the cocky, flirtatious, and smug demeanor seen at the beginning of the movie in the restaurant scene.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: When Grindelwald and his cohorts arrive at a Ministry party, the background music comes to a halt to highlight the quiet tension of the scene. Grindelwald then looks to his side and camera pans over to a small band lead by a goblin, who comes to his senses and starts conducting the band again as the soundtrack continues.

Set in [[TheGreatDepression 1932]], the story leads up to the Wizarding World's involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Albus Dumbledore entrusts Newt Scamander and his friends on a mission to foil Grindelwald's attempt to get elected as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards while Dumbledore himself ponders how long he will stay on the sidelines in the approaching war.

* BatmanGambit: This time, it's Dumbledore's turn to do this after Grindelwald managed to achieve it so effectively in the second film. He asks Newt and his friends to split up and carry out different roles at the same time, expecting that Grindelwald wouldn't be able to see all of them at once. The first gambit worked off pretty well despite hiccups as all that Grindelwald achieved was capturing Theseus and then having to alter his plans to instead frame Jacob to make it look convincing. His last gambit was what truly lets the heroes secure a true win over Grindelwald: [[spoiler:Knowing and expecting Grindelwald would be after him, Newt, Theseus, and Eulalie because they were magically powerful enough to guard the Qilin, he instead gives that role to Bunty, exploiting Grindelwald's tendency to underestimate simple people, and it works wonders as she easily bypasses him, reveals the Qilin, and exposes Grindelwald, effectively eliminating any chances he had to become Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and making it clear to the public that beneath Grindelwald's façade, he is dangerous, leaving him with only his truly loyal disciples as everyone else who previously admired him clearly either turns their back on him or outright attacks him.]]
* BittersweetEnding: Like fellow midpoint entry, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', this film essentially wraps up the first arc of the series with some positives and some negatives. [[spoiler:Grindelwald's plan to become Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards has been stopped, Dumbledore has broken the blood pact between them, meaning they can now fight each other, and Jacob and Queenie have finally gotten married while Newt reunites with Tina, but while Credence redeems himself, it is seemingly too late for him as his Obscurus has already begun killing him and all that Aberforth, actually Credence's father, can do is bring him home and give him some comfort, knowing fully well he'll die sooner or later. In addition, even with Grindelwald thwarted, he is still out there and he has also in a way succeeded in starting his war, meaning the global Wizarding War will truly begin soon. While the heroes are given a brief respite and moment of happiness, it's apparent the road ahead will be filled with many difficulties even after this victory - Dumbledore's grim expression as he walks away from Jacob's wedding and the fact that we now know the legendary duel between them that will lead Grindelwald to defeat will only take place on 2 November 1945, 13 years from the film's end, makes this very clear]].

* HumiliationConga: It's Grindelwald's turn to lose after managing to so effectively manipulate the events of the first two movies to his favor. He loses hard, too. [[spoiler:He manages to lose the election, have two powerful Acolytes defect, get exposed for his true colors, lose his former lover forever, and be forced into hiding in one fell swoop. Albus pretty masterfully manages to use ConfusionFu to negate his seeing with the only hiccup being Theseus getting arrested. Grindelwald gets Vogel to pardon him of his crimes, get him on the ballot, and help him use the zombified Qilin to bow to him. Meanwhile, Bunty manages to slip by his group of supporters in Bhutan with the case with the second Qilin because he mistakenly thought the more powerful Scamander brothers or Lally would have been given it. Queenie, whom he worked so hard to recruit, also defects before the election takes place. After a short respite of him winning the initial vote for Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Newt and Credence expose his fraudulent Qilin and Bunty walks up with the case as the zombified one disanimates in Vogel's arms. A new vote is called. The Qilin first bows to Albus who turns her down and then to Santos, whom the crowd elects the new Supreme Mugwump. At that point, Grindelwald completely loses it. He tries to kill Credence in front of everyone and the blood pact gets destroyed in the crossing of spells. As he and Albus fight to a draw in the mirror dimension, he desperately reaches for him as they part and Albus turns his back on him which signifies the breaking of their bond, both literally and metaphorically. With real pain in his voice, all he can do is lash out at him with, "Who will love you now, Dumbledore. You're all alone!" As everyone starts pointing their wands at him, all he can do (while being a visible wreck of emotions) is jump off the cliff and apparate away.]] A far cry from the cocky, flirtatious, and smug demeanor seen at the beginning of the movie in the restaurant scene.

Set in [[TheGreatDepression 1932]], the story leads up to the Wizarding World's involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Albus Dumbledore entrusts Newt Scamander and his friends on a mission to foil Grindelwald's attempt to get elected as the chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards while Dumbledore himself ponders how long he will stay on the sidelines in the approaching war.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: In a mild example, it turns out that Credence's mother was sent off by her family due to being pregnant with him out of wedlock, explaining why his father wasn't aware of him, at least with any certainty (and then he was believed yo have drowned). This was indeed a common response to such a situation at the time.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: The Wizarding World's different social morales are on full display here. They don't seem to hold the social taboo that Muggle society had at the time over homosexuality and focus more on things like blood purity. While Theseus certainly judges Albus when he tells essentially marrying Grindelwald as a teenager, it's clear that it's more about the man he decided to do this with (the man who killed his own fiancée) instead of the fact that he was a man. Aberforth makes thinly veiled comment about their relationship too that implies that he feels the same way. Newt, however, doesn't judge at all. However, it's unclear how exactly Jacob, the token Muggle friend, feels about it or if he knows the full extent of their relationship because he's not directly told like the Scamander brothers and wasn't around for it like Aberforth was.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: The Wizarding World's different social morales are on full display here. They don't seem to hold the social taboo that Muggle society had at the time over homosexuality and focus more on things like blood purity. While Theseus certainly judges Albus when he tells essentially marrying Grindelwald as a teenager, it's clear that it's more about the man he decided to do this with (the man who killed his own fiancée) instead of the fact that he was a man. Aberforth makes thinly veiled comment about their relationship too that implies that he feels the same way. Newt, however, doesn't judge at all. It's unclear if Jacob knows about the full extent of their relationship, however as he wasn't directly told like the Scamander brothers or there when it happened like Aberforth.

* ConfusionFu: The plan to stop Grindelwald relies on keeping everyone in the dark about the entire plan, so Grindelwald can't foresee and counter it. Although the gang gets sent to Berlin for two differnt

Set in [[TheGreatDepression 1932]], the story leads up to the Wizarding World's involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Albus Dumbledore entrusts Newt Scamander and his friends on a mission to foil Grindelwald's attempt to get elected as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards while Dumbledore himself ponders how long he will stay on the sidelines in the approaching war.

* AbsenteeActor: Claudia Kim’s Nagini doesn’t appear in this film due to her pregnancy limiting her ability to travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She’d mentioned in an interview in September 2019 (before the pandemic delayed production by six months) that the film was her next project but she was nine months pregnant by the time production resumed and gave birth in Korea a few weeks later.

* ArcSymbol: Grindelwald's sigil, the deathly hallows symbol combined with a pair of G's, can be seen in the form of fireworks launched by his supporters and even on a hood ornament of a car.

* ConfusionFu: The plan to stop Grindelwald relies on keeping everyone in the dark about the entire plan, so Grindelwald can't foresee and counter it.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: In a mild example, it turns out that Credence's mother was sent off by her family due to being pregnant with him out of wedlock, explaining why his father wasn't aware of him (at least with any certainty). This was indeed a common response to such a situation at the time.

* MissingMom: Credence's mother presumably drowned in the ship wreck when he was switched with Leta's brother, though it's not explicitly stated.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: It's implied Wizarding Britain and the wider magical world has no problem with gay people, since nobody bats an eye at hearing Dumbledore was involved with Grindelwald (then again, even the Muggle Jacob doesn't).