Here's A Breakdown Of That Main 'Fantastic Beasts 2' Mystery

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has arrived in theaters and, to quote The Good Place, "Holy Mother Forking Shirtballs" there's a heck of a twist at the end of this thing. Fans knew Credence Barebone's identity was going to be a major reveal, but no one knew it was this big. So, who are Credence's parents? Warning: Spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald follow.

(No, really, if you haven't seen the movie, turn back now.)

It seemed like the twist had been semi-spoiled by the film's marketing, push, heading into the film's premiere. All signs, including screenshots from trailers, character bios, and casting lists, suggested the big twist would be Credence was really Corvus Lestrange Jr., half-brother to Leta Lestrange (Theseus Scamander's fiancée) through their father and also related to Yusuf Kama, who is also probably a son of Corvus Sr., though a bastard one.

But then, just when the movie looks like it will confirm everything, Leta pulls out a trump card. The real Corvus Jr. baby died. She killed him.

It was an accident. They were on the boat to America, and her half-brother wouldn't stop crying. So she traded him with another baby. Unfortunately, at that moment, the ship listed and the passengers evacuated as it sank, never giving her a chance to swap back. The boat with her brother capsized, and everyone died.

So who is Credence then? Turns out the baby she traded for was no muggle. The dark-haired woman looking after the child was probably a nanny. (A mother, one would assume, would notice the switch instantly.) If this is so, it means two wizarding families were stowing away children to America to hide them. But from who?

Corvus was doing it to keep his son safe from Yusuf and his father. Leta, it turns out, was the child by Yusuf's mother, who Corvus stole, used a love potion on'/;Oppo, and then threw away once he was done. They had vowed to kill the only thing Corvus loved, the son he had with his next wife, who he married after Leta was born.

If the dark-haired woman on the boat was a nanny, fans never get to see Credence's parents in the film. This is just as well because viewers might have recognized them.

Credence is a Dumbledore. Aurelius Dumbledore, as Grindelwald names him. The proof, he says, is in the phoenix chick who came to Credence in his hour of need in the film, after he is attacked by an Auror sent by the British Ministry of Magic to track the boy down.

But what Grindelwald is hard to swallow. He names Credence "Albus' brother." But Albus' father Percival was put in Azkaban when Albus was young, and his mother Kendra died when Albus was 19, around the year 1900. Credence as a baby was sent across the sea at least a couple of years later. (Leta looks to be around 6-8 years old in the boat trip, and she was 11 in 1908, so the earliest their journey would have been was 1902.

Obviously, there is more to the story. Fans will have to wait until 2020 to find out in Fantastic Beasts 3: There's A New Dumbledore In Town.