Dissecting The INSANE Lore of Wizards of Waverly Place

[@phillinsogood]

Let’s be honest the writers didn’t know what they wanted to do with Max. He always felt like just comic relief and a background character

[@divinelangene6813]

True, he never really had the same connection as Alexandra and Justin

[@noahlol14spinach95]

@@divinelangene6813Alexandra?

[@justanotherinternetwiseguy8018]

Technically max was an after thought. he wasn't in the original pilot for the show. it was just David and selena. I'm assuming that's why he's just the stupid/comedic relief character.

[@Kristianalexis1]

@@divinelangene6813Alexandra?

[@Marco-lr6yd]

​@@justanotherinternetwiseguy8018 a reference to harry potter with 3 kids. One is intelligent, one is dumb, Alex is Alex tho

[@kenzielater1378]

Controversial opinion: I actually like the movies version of the family wizard competition better. Justin thinking he had the edge because he knew more spells when in actuality it’s framed more around creative ways of using simple magic is cool. Gives anyone a chance to win and makes it less unfair for siblings of all different ages to be expected to know the same magic.

[@Lanas_bows]

I 100% agree bc ofc it makes sense that if you don’t take it seriously and don’t study for it it’s your own fault but that’s only if everyone is around the same age and had the same amount of type to prepare bc if a younger child is in the competition with a teenager that isn’t fair bc the teenage obviously knows to train before hand and also is taught more advanced spells bc they have more experience which is something even as a kid I thought it was unfair bc what’s like a 10 year old is against a 16 year old-? The movies handled it bettered bc it established ways that every age group had a fair chance (obviously if your like 3 you can’t win but I’m assuming you have to be over a certain age to hold the competition) while the show has it so unbalanced for age groups like let’s be real we all knew max would’t win-and yeah you might thinks it’s bc he’s “dumb” but he’s significantly younger and less experienced then his siblings even if your a max fan and wanted him to win you knew it wasn’t possible while in the movies i was actually unsure over who would win

[@jkid1337]

Jerry won his Family’s Wizard competition but gave up his powers to marry Theresa since she was mortal. He gave his powers to Kelbo over their sister cause Kelbo wouldn’t be able to survive life without magic.

[@dannybishop9179]

Yeah I was just about to type this

[@akrzton1]

@@dannybishop9179 Speaking of the Shakira episode, I plan to watch and reference this episode for our Schenley Park picnic next Sunday. Wizards brings the majority of the food every year, but iCarly and Liberty's Kids contribute food, too. Alex provides good, healthy food like veggies, fruit salad, homemade potato salad, and corn on the cob, along with fried chicken. Justin and Max grill the hamburgers and hot dogs every year, and they typically bring in lots of other food too like chips and salsa, cookies, and pita chips and hummus- even popcorn! I am sure that you guys are getting hungry just as I type this.

[@dannybishop9179]

@@akrzton1 what?

[@Mskittenlover12]

​@@akrzton1 Did AI write this?

[@akrzton1]

@@dannybishop9179 This is just my imagination. I am still sure that you guys are getting hungry after you read this comment.

[@alarrim29574]

Tbh I always just assumed max was fine with loosing his powers simply because he never thought he really had a chance during the show so by the time the competition actually happened he had already come to terms with it, which is really fucking sad

[@freyjathehealer5559]

Well they make him a billionaire in the new reboot apparently

[@Soapy-chan]

it's still so weiry weird to me that there is a competition at all and that the others become mortals. Imagine being the sibling to keep living for thousands of years and see your siblings die of old age shortly after winning against them. This would have large scale consequences for anyone's psychie.

[@sarahthomas8670]

Fr and imagine if their is like 6 siblings or something, or even twins

[@Soapy-chan]

@@sarahthomas8670 oh damn, twins would be the absolute worst

[@jaydenfindley488]

The thing is wizards in like any show at least that I’ve seen they don’t live forever they usually continue to age and that’s definitely the case in this show because Jerry’s brother that he gave his powers up to is still aging so that’s proof in itself but also it’s a Disney show so they would never speak about things like that. Now I don’t watch many shows involving wizards so i could be wrong about the generalization but just from the few I have watching with wizards they don’t just live forever so I don’t know if that helps you feel better about the whole thing but it makes me feel better about it but I do think the competition is dumb pointless except for more entertainment in the show that’s really the whole reason it exists here I’m sure but realistically imaging all the sibling relationships that that competition would have wrecked is just like why did they add that

[@jaydenfindley488]

Yeah wait I just realized I totally am wrong cause professor crumbs is hella old and now that’s really sad

[@maryelizamoore7870]

@@jaydenfindley488 It seems that the show implied that only some wizards (particularly the most powerful ones) can live forever. Its possible also that immortality comes from a specific spell. It could also be that wizards aren't actually immortal but they can use magic to heal any injuries or diseases they might have. Therefore, allowing them to live longer.

[@unibrowsheepZ]

Having only one child in the family become the family wizard actually makes some sense when you consider how old the tradition is. In ancient civilizations the first born child would inherit the family's lands and the others would have to find something else to do. If every family split up the lands between their kids, the lands would continue to become smaller and smaller and no one could use them. Having one person be the inherentor was a nessecity. Similarly, if everyone born with wizarding powers became a wizard, things would become very chaotic and unstable. The winners of the competition are usually the most responsible, so by ensuring the most responsible inherits the magic, it creates more stability.

[@rosecoloredbby]

This would make sense if magic in the wizarding world were some finite source that had to be shared between people in wizaring society, but according to the show's lore, magic is some sort of electricity that comes from generators?? In the real world, yes electricity is technically a finite source and we share it, but we don't inherit it, we pay for it, as a service. So if magic in the show works somewhat the same way, why can't wizarding families just pay to use it, or society find a way to generate more magic (like we do with renewables)? If magic were instead something physical that you could see and touch and actually split up, I could see this point working better (and it would be fun to see how they would portray this physical form of magic) bu idk, magic to me was always portrayed as something that came from within the wizard on the show, not from an outside source, despite all the random storylines that tried to say otherwise.

[@Soapy-chan]

I am with Stevie, get em, destroy the wizard world and this oppressive system

[@sarahthomas8670]

Same!

[@growingupwithdisney]

Me too, I wish that was the plot of the Wizards revival series, we need that toxic wizard system GONE

[@feliciteacup]

stevie was so right i dont know why they literally murdered her

[@westernmonk6036]

this is the realest comment here 😭

[@staceynainlab888]

@@TokuNorth I hate when writers want us to believe something they failed to convey in the actual show. we saw Stevie's body shatter. anny reasonable person would assume she is dead based on what we are shown. if the writers wanted us to believe she was brought back to life SHOW US THAT

[@bob8mybobbob]

@@staceynainlab888 exactly! There are cases where it’s okay to leave things ambiguous, or imply things. But don’t completely reverse things off screen

[@marlonclark-pp9wg]

@@bob8mybobbob yeah i mean we're expected to believe what we're told instead of seeing

[@flamefusion8963]

Nah she deserved it

[@Momofan69]

I wonder if microplastics being found in humans would affect how spells impacted them.

[@Noellieellie]

Am I the only one who actually kind of preferred the wizard competition in the movie rather than the show? I mean, the fact that’s it’s specifically elemental magic is a little weird, but like the idea of only being able to use “level one spells” or something makes sense to me. Cause then it’d be like even the younger siblings have a fighting chance and again, like we saw Alex doing in both versions, the wizard who is more resourceful/creative with their magic is ultimately the one who wins.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

My little headcanon is that you get a somewhat randomised arena depending on where you are, so it's because of where they were and a little bit of a randomness that lead to a elemental battle. Maybe some other family would have an arena that lend itself to transformation or weather magic or proper pvp spells

[@silvertongue.242_99]

Plastic being a weakness to magic in this verse is hilarious. I can picture Batman in a fully plastic suit to fight wizards 😂😂😂😂

[@m.i.action8148]

I love how the siblings know all the rules but the audience is LOST

[@VictorianDemonica]

Honestly, the fact that Stevie was able to find over 5,000 wizards struggling with their own competitions and fears says a whole lot about how unfair the system is - especially when given no reason. Seriously, would it have been so hard to give an actual reason??? Like maybe because wizard families always had multiple children, it eventually caused some of the more troublemaking wizards to cause chaos and destruction and thus a wizarding civil war broke out and it caused this whole competition to be made in the first place. But instead it’s just given a shrug and ‘don’t question it’… Worse still, if you were to think about it, not everyone studies the same and some have a hard time concentrating or have test anxiety - so really the competition benefits the book smart individuals like Justin, but not those who are street smart like Alex and arguably Stevie, do good deeds but not the most intelligent, or who strive for change in the magic and/or mortal world. And since they clearly know that this competition alone has torn families apart, then why not have it that if those who lose also looses their memories of having powers and thus it doesn’t entirely destroy families. But then again I could be over analyzing this whole thing 😖

[@cathynguyen4198]

I wonder how big of an age gap the wizard competition could have? Some siblings are ten or more years older than their younger siblings.

[@westernmonk6036]

Yeah and when you throw step siblings into the mix, second marriages/families, it gets even murkier…

[@globblin1734]

I was watching this video going hmm wonder what would happen to my half siblings who are all 11+ years younger than me lmao

[@rosecoloredbby]

What if two siblings are 18 and 16 and they have the competition and one of them wins, but then their parents end up having another baby afterwards (probably unplanned but it happens), does the kid just never get to ever even use magic at all? Because if yes, of course some wizards would eventually rise up and rebel against the system.

[@leighanne709]

I came to ask this same question! I'm 15 years older than my youngest sibling. If I would have passed the Wizarding competition at 18, before he was able to manifest powers around puberty, would we all have to retake the test once he finished his studies?

[@alwaysrootingfortheantihero123]

i know someone who is a senior in high school, her youngest sibling is like a year and half, so how would that go?

[@JayeKisses]

54:37 it’s even crazier that both younger siblings Kelbo & Max have been women for long periods of time.

[@poxidog]

If I had a nickel and all

[@Mskittenlover12]

Regarding the wand thing, I don't think they're based on gender. I think they just order wands and the gemstone is probably just a customization feature that both Alex and Stevie chose to have on their wands. They're probably ordered from the World Wide Wiz Web.

[@Momofan69]

He chose 2 examples and then stopped so he doesn't seem to have a good grasp on that particular theory. Alex and Stevie are both characters who would choose a more "fashion" wand too.

[@digifreak90]

@@Momofan69 And Justin would be the kind of person to go for a more traditional looking wand.

[@christina369]

Also, Stevie sought out Alex specifically. Who’s to say that she didn’t just slap a gem on the back & call it a day? She wanted to appeal to Alex. The writers wanted us to think they were similar, so stylistically they had many of the same style elements. I’m sure it was more of a concept thing than a greater wizard cannon thing

[@1024tahsin]

Justin was book smart but STILL couldn’t utilise simple powers with the resources provided. That’s why Alex was able to do simple spells with the resources they were given. It sucks how they always discredit Alex that way when she was and always WILL be that person with the powers regardless. Justin only cared about having powers, but Alex had more sympathy with its usage OF powers and saving people, something Justin lacks in. He was so ready to leave his best friend in that nest or to be eaten 😭 and having the audacity to blame Alex.

[@Effervescent06]

what if Kelbo had kids? What would that mean for the family competition? Would Alex, Justin, and Max have even gotten powers in the first place? What if they already had powers when he had kids? Technically they’re not the direct descendants of the family wizard, since Jerry gave his powers to Kelbo. But if they had powers AND his kids had them, would they all compete together in the competition? So many questions…

[@Effervescent06]

@@zacharykhan8556 true, I'm still wondering though if both sets of kids would have powers or not. If Megan had kids too, do you think wizard descendants always get powers regardless of whether their parent is the family wizard?

[@tatsudragneel4761]

@@Effervescent06 Descendants of those who lost the competition would have to be born with powers, otherwise like mentioned before Jerrys cousins kids wouldn't have them because their parents would have had their own competition and only one (presumably one of Jerrys parents) while the other lost (presumably the parents of Jerrys cousins). So yeah if Kelbo or Megan had kids they'd likely have powers, but Kelbo probably wouldn't be a good dad and Megan probably wouldn't want her kids to go through what she did, so neither had kids.

[@maddiemcnugget1076]

One thing I find so dumb about the wizard competition is that literally none of the losers have gone public. How have none of the losers revealed the wizarding world to the mortal world?

[@Saiyangoddess72]

Maybe some did and were just denounced as insane

[@dakotamartinez8310]

Maybe they were threatened not to tell.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

​@@Saiyangoddess72 if some random person come sip to you and tells you that they were one a wizard, but lost their magic in a magic duel, you'd think that person would be crazy. If it's more than one person, then it's a shared delusion, especially if the story is too alike. IRL, if a group of people tell you that, "Oh yeah, my mom can turn into a donkey" we all collectively understand that it makes no sense, even if the entire group tells you the exact same story about that person's mom turning into a donkey

[@Bubaiel]

If they don’t have powers then how can they prove it 😂

[@Saiyangoddess72]

@@JDM-is-my-name that's the thing, a former wizard could never convince people magic is real even if thousands of others are saying the same thing Only a current wizard could ever convince normal people that magic is real cause they could provide proof

[@countyfactswailuigi]

My head canon was always they needed to keep the total amount of wizards in the world stagnant, and not increasing. Otherwise, it is possible that everyone in the whole world would be wizards within a thousand year. A small wizard population helps the wizards be cautious with their powers, as they can't expose wizarding to the world. This decreases the amount of evil wisardry.

[@maryelizamoore7870]

It's interesting that they told Alex that she couldn't date Mason as a mortal because she could be eaten. However, when she visits Masons parents as a wizard, they try to eat her at the end. If she can still be eaten even when she is a wizard, then why can't she date Mason as a mortal?

[@JayeKisses]

Better question could Justin still date Juilet if he had lost the competition or would the rules still apply

[@cathynguyen4198]

the only reasoning I can come up with is that she can defend herself from being eaten by casting spells. its honestly wild that the wizard world has enough power to tell them what species that can and cannot date

[@Kristianalexis1]

That’s a good question 🤔

[@matti.8465]

I guess because wizards are better equipped to defend themselves in these situations?

[@deny2294]

​@@JayeKisses well, the reasoning ig was that werewolves would kill the person by eating it, which vampires I suppose wouldn't. So... my guess is he still could?

[@AJ-xc4qe]

If you want to talk lore, then I believe that the transition scenes are canon and the Russos are using magic to float around and warp the background!

[@itsmefm]

I always thought that Stevie plotline was stupid and I stand by it. Gorog was evil and wanted to turn the world evil, so him being seen as the antagonist and defeated makes sense. But all Stevie wanted was a fair chance to keep her powers. She was not a villain. Sure the way she went about it was underhanded but she was a cornered and scared teenager. She did not ask to be born 10 or so years after her older brother, heck she did not ask to be born at all into a wizard family. It is not fair for her to go up against an adult who had way more time to prepare for the competition. Even Max was done dirty cuz he was never given a fair chance. Not everyone excels at studying, so the whole competition in general is completely unfair. Anyway great video as always, but I am tired of constantly having to resubscribe to all my favorite channels, KZbin has really been tripping lately. Tiktok is the same, I have to constantly make sure I am following the creators I previously followed cuz I randomly see that I am unfollowing them smh

[@stuffyworld10]

I thought they said in the show only one wizard could keep their powers in order to prevent the chance of non wizards learning about the wizard world. It's a stupid reason, and honestly might've been my head canon but that's what I remember

[@liaolii]

My headcannon is that they all knew the date of the family wizard competition and the professor said that thing about a random act of kindness as the last requirement just for the joke.

[@JonBerry555]

Or there is a no latter than date, but certain things can move it up.

[@AzuriteAnimatorMMD]

The whole “plastic negates magic rule” never made sense until I looked into our real world: (believable) magical things in our world would be made of wood, and crystal, and seem organic. But with services for buying things like Amazon, plastic products are made to imitate authentic “magical” items like wands, brooms, cauldrons, etc. This stuff is the “knockoff” magic stuff so my theory is that magic in Wizards of Waverly Place is repelled by plastic because it is a cheap and lazily made imitation of magic. *Does anyone else agree with this theory or am I just looking too far into this idea 😄😄

[@lunalunaic4680]

i like this.

[@hidansektas]

seems legit to me

[@daylemclaughland6841]

The most logical response I've seen in a youtube comment section

[@matthewmusco2581]

I’m assuming Max’s wand came with preset spells like the mimic spell and other more simple spells similar to the training wand Harper used, meanwhile Alex and Justin’s came with less presents like flashing places

[@patax144]

The Kelbo shakira thing was weird to me as a kid, because as a Colombian, because arguably our most popular artist in the wizards universe is just Kelbo, like I memorized her biography for school

[@maeganmonster]

I swear they decided the lore as they went along

[@pinkcandy0824]

How did Juliet manage to turn back into her teenage aged self to cheer on Justin at the wizard competition after she was bit by Mason and had to stay her true age forever like how does that make any sense lol

[@Tronn9672]

Apparently Gorog just did it, he made her young again, not sure if she’s still a vampire though that’s never explained

[@kierahenley2335]

Spoiler: Master Gorog somehow turned Juliet young again

[@Soapy-chan]

@@kierahenley2335 kinky

[@madisonyomans9004]

After watching this video and re-watching Charmed, I noticed that the magic system in these shows stops making sense at some point, and the way the world works in their universe also stops making sense. Especially when you have a very awful, terrible, corrupt rule system, or when the elderly council can't do their job. Sometimes they will explain a rule or mention a certain rule that makes you wonder why half of your wizards join the Darkside. Sometimes they create their own super villains. But the show would treat them like they’re the most evil thing on the planet, and then you hear their backstory and you’re like, "That’s very justified."

[@JayeKisses]

9:41 I think he meant that u don’t have to actually say the spell out loud. It’s still doing a spell but in his mind rather than going through the formality of using a wand & saying everything out loud. Basically the quick version

[@aurorachanel4502]

That could also explain how Alex was able to cast a spell by just saying it out loud. Maybe her thoughts combined with her feelings and what she said created some kind of spell.

[@JayeKisses]

@@aurorachanel4502 yup

[@Ulises92]

The body switching spell they used in the Quinceañera episode later being changed to a “witches spell” never made any sense because it’s never explained what the difference between a witch and a wizard

[@Jimmsy-54]

That episode where the government captures them really bothered me like how psychotic does crumbs have to be to do that putting a whole family thru that and have the nerve to make Justin and Alex start all over? I don’t get why they didn’t say this in court “so we’re in trouble for exposing wizards to fake people that crumbs made up?” So technically they didn’t expose themselves

[@poxidog]

The only reason i can think of to have a family wizard competition is to prevent familys from having lots of wizards by having kids snd make siblings fight so they can't have like an army of cousins either. The implications still being crumb trying to keep power

[@irenifilms]

I feel like the wizard competition should have been like you get a wider range of power if you win and if you lose you keep like standard level powers. So you do get something and if you don't win, you won't feel resentment to your siblings.

[@MissBimbo222]

That's actually a good idea!

[@iamawesome4026]

What do you mean by standard level powers

[@irenifilms]

@@iamawesome4026 honestly idk 😭 i just be talking, but like they could give them a select number on spells like a couple hundred or something or just keep the "losers" at a weaker wizard power level.

[@leahdavis9434]

​@@irenifilms, yeah that would definitely still cause resentment

[@irenifilms]

@@leahdavis9434 well it's more fair [the best thing would be no competition, but if it's necessary than this would be a better alternative]

[@darksaber230]

Also the Alex Russo doing a selfless act without the use of magic she already did that when she helped the lady with her groceries. It is the happy helper episode…

[@sjmhadsock4586]

I admit it's romantic Jerry won but gave up his powers to marry the woman he loves And it's sweet in the way he gave his powers to his brother

[@Dkgow]

If someone hasn't said this already, I am 90% sure they took the "Wizarding World" and a lot of the other rules from Sabrina the Teenage Witch as they did it the same where there was a closet in Sabrina's Aunt's house lead to "The other realm" as well as the "Cannot tell a mortal" and other Witch rules they have. Which I would recommend watching if you never did. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was so good and made me really wanted to watch Wizards of Waverly Place when it first aired.

[@jaydenbrown8517]

the craziest thing to me about this show was that during the alex vs alex special, they went to go visit their family who still has magic, which is impossible because the only way you could have magic is if you win the wizard completion. like jerry won during his time but gave it to his brother kelby, and their parents had to win before them, goin back to the extended family we see in the special. so how do they have their magic when alex and jerry already have it?

[@ToxicXNature]

Stevie was absolutely right, and honestly hearing something close to my theory gave me a bit of a jump scare, but I honestly don't think that Crumb would be the one trying to keep all the power for himself. I mean, it could make sense in a way, because he's so fucking old and we already know him... Adding in some new random character doesn't really make sense (then again they did kind of add a random villain towards the end themselves lmao) but I still think it could be something even older than the Headmaster. I've also had the thought that it could be a way to both power the wizarding world, as it is literally an alternate dimension that they all created, and to keep the secret. If there are less wizards, and the wizards there are have a safe place to hide and exist, it protects them from witch hunts. I guess in that case, the wizarding competition could have been made in self-defense, get the most capable wizards of each generation the most power so that if something goes wrong they can defend against the mortals... ... Still fucked up tho how they literally prosecuted Justin and Alex over a fucking TEST!!! THEY DIDN'T EVEN EXPOSE MAGIC!!! THOSE WEREN'T EVEN REAL PEOPLE!!!! THEY JUST FAILED A TEST BY REVEALING MAGIC TO A GUY WHO *ALREADY KNOWS* ABOUT IT!!!! God, looking back on that entire plot makes me so mad. I mean, I really like the delinquents, and all the stupid shenanigans that happen because of that, but the set up was such unjust bullshit

[@Retro_Red]

They also revealed the wizard world to save people. Granted, Justin was tricked, but he knows aliens exist (thank you Milky Way Milkshakes) and Alex was literally trying to save Crumb's life and the lives of every magical being in existence.

[@karellemaquilan7351]

i just realized… TJ was an only child… so he was already a full wizard, so that’s why he didn’t need to use spells as much, because i think full wizards probably have more power

[@zachclawges6932]

So I (kinda) have an explanation for the wand thing. All the wands for the show were made by a company called Alivans and slightly modified. Justin and Max were given the same wand, only Justin's was bound in leather and Max's was painted white and blue. But the wand we see in the movie is how those specific wands arrive from Alivans. So what likely happened is either the prop broken or lost, so they just ordered a new one from the shop but didn't paint it when it arrived for whatever reason

[@Shyyannek]

In all seriousness Max should’ve zoomed passed both of them to cross that finish line 😭

[@brookestevens1898]

How did harpers wand open plastic containers if plastic is magics natural enemy?

[@matti.8465]

The only valid reason I can think for the wizard family competition is ensuring the power ends up in the hands of someone responsible. But if that's the case, why not just make everyone go through an exam that decides if you keep your powers? And this system has shown to fail, Kelbo is extremely irresponsible with his powers but gets to keep them because Jerry gave them up.

[@awtummelon]

it’s insane how many of these inconsistencies and contradictions can be solved just by making half-wizards second class citizens and the wizarding world racist against them and highly against the idea of wizards mating with humans oh there’s a family wizard? thats only for half-wizards to discourage them from having more than one child why cant wizards marry non-wizards? well because they don’t want humans and wizards mixing the family wizard competition is unfair and the rules are wishy washy and it often turns siblings against each other? oh that’s just out of spite to make half-wizard families suffer cause racism why aren’t the russo’s living in the wizarding world? cause humans aren’t allowed to live there like it would make so much sense and could create a lot of good conflict on the show. plus having professor crumbs form a mentorship with justin throughout the series and in the final episode have him give his position to justin would make him the first half-wizard in history to hold the position, which could do so much for the wizarding worlds future when it’s comes to equality like there were so many gold mines here and so many opportunities but hindsight is 20/20 i guess

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

I can picture a situation like the hunger games where enough of the rebels or the bad users jeopardized everything through their magic making the good magic users just fight to the metaphorical death. And I got to tell you, I always cried for Alex when Justin threw that sandwich at her. He could not only have had hurt her, but the customers at the table. And to have that much hate, resentment, and anger for someone for simply saving their friends is unfathomable to me. I get it. All that work for nothing. But your powers are squat compared to losing your friends, in my opinions. This really made me hate the guy. I gradually not liked Justin after loving him for many episodes when the writers turned Justin into this. And I hated how easy it was for Max to follow Justin on that. O just can’t with that.

[@alyssao517]

Yeah how they treated Alex after they thought they lost their powers was…really dark for Disney honestly. I don’t know how to explain it but I never seen a sibling fight on Disney get that nasty

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

@@alyssao517 i agree.

[@Aquamarine333]

I loved the fact that Justin got to keep his. He studied so hard and gave it his all. He thought the best way to utilize magical powers was by studying. He has the theory down. It made sense for him to be the next Dumbledore basically.

[@visualsituation]

I always thought that only one sibling was allowed to keep their magic because it's a powerful thing and it makes sense that only wizards who have proved their responsible get to use it. But it is still messed up cause why only pit siblings against eachother and not have worldwide competitions instead? And if you lose you should at-least be allowed minor magic abilities. Like if Harper could open bottles with a training wand, then if you lose your powers, you could still use forms of magic like that. Plus, was the two headed dog insinuating that the dog used Alex's wand to grow another head? So if you don't have powers you could still use the wand of a wizard with powers? It would be nice if the show ever gets a reboot, that they have a whole new system of government that is for the people lol. Stevie was the best character idk I wish her and Alex had more time together.

[@aurorachanel4502]

To explain the dog thing. Magic is more of an electrical charge thing. When Alex’s wand fell it probably somehow blasted the dog. So technically she performed the spell

[@joeyscomics5197]

Max’s wand wasn’t the reason he could control Alex from far away. It’s because he was puppeting her clone, and her connection to the clone is what made her copy the movements.

[@kenzielater1378]

I think the test to see if they would expose wizardry is bs. If this is a condition every wizard family has to go through in order to qualify for the wizard competition then it shouldn’t be unheard of for someone to fail this test. And yet everyone in the wizard world acts like they’ve never heard of something like that happening

[@knjgoldencomics]

I remember watching the series finale as a kid and thinking if they could deus ex machina a reason for Justin to keep his powers they should have let Max keep his. The whole "...and you get to keep the Sub Shop." always bugged me like it already sucks you're losing your powers but to see not only one but both your older siblings get to keep theirs one from of course winning and the other from the professor deciding that he's retiring, I would personally have gone crazy.

[@kylecunns]

Stevie was right to wanna get rid of that Generator. Why would this be a bad thing

[@kylecunns]

Yeah makes no sense that only one Sibling can be a wizard and keep their powers. I've seen other shows where this isn't the case and siblings both having their powers. There's no Wizard Competition there

[@dannyphantom3090]

I remember as a kid i thought the rules were unfair but as a adult the wizard council are assholes and has the most unfair rules

[@zaynabmusleh5197]

Jerry actually won the wizard competition. He decided to sacrifice his powers for Theresa and gave them to Kelbo instead.

[@theunchosenone4610]

i always like the way the fate series handled magic. Basically the reason why magic is hidden is that magic thrives in obcurity and the less people know about it/wield it the more powerful it becomes for the people that do. Making magic a limited resource like oil and giving the mages an incentiv to limit acess to, one family having one wizard would be sensible in this context

[@patrickboldea599]

I kinda imagined that the reason why there would only be one wizard is essentially to limit the numbers so that you don’t expose magic.

[@hamzasajidbaksh1740]

Oh, thank u for uploading this. I've been waiting for this And I love your videos

[@randomblackperson9209]

17:01 In "Alex in the Middle" it's revealed that Jerry originally won the competition and gave his powers to marry Teresa. He also didn't meet Teresa at the time so naturally, he would still have his powers and didn't have to give them up yet.

[@Igorcastrochucre]

Can we like assess the fact that the characters within the show are aware of how messed up of a concept the Family competition is? Justin has no problem gloating about how he's essentially going to ruin Alex and Max's lives, Alex is given the chance of ending this system and yet she still keeps it because she wants to beat her brother (for pride, I guess?) and Max's ignorance blesses him with the fact the odds are stacked against him to stop him from having anxiety or fears of the future or preemptive resentment towards his older siblings.

[@AshleysAdvice]

You raise a lot of good points in this video but I think a lot of it also comes down to each individual family first of all secondly the age of each family member and also how they are being trained and by who because remember there is the Wizarding school and then also sometimes they can be chewed at home like how Jerry tutors them, also When you were talking about how he does lots of different classes but they all take them together remember he's teaching them certain spells altogether but then they're studying on their own as well you just don't see it, it's mentioned when they talk about Alex and mostly all of the time they talk about Justin doing independent study but they do talk about Max doing independent study as well so it's implied that they do independent study but it's just They have certain classes they take together and it's sort of implied that jury pulls from different levels and does different spells with them he doesn't do everything in order if that makes sense. Also the thing at the end of the show before the competition when Alex does a selfless deed I don't think that that is specific to the contest I think it's just specific to Her because we know that the professor targets individual students like he targets most of the time Alex but sometimes Justin as well and tests them kind of individually so I think part of her being selfless and not using magic and all of that is just another test like they all knew once they reach a certain level that the family wizard competition was going to take place it was sort of implied that once Max was at a similar age to his siblings then the test would begin so it was sort of implied that they had like five years or whatever before the test was gonna take place that was always got it reached a certain level of skill like once they were all past level three or something like that then they would have the Wizarding competition and it was always implied that it would be once they were older like implication out of school they were nearing the end of high school school or something like that but at the same time it could happen any time it was kind of implied I know it doesn't seem like it kind of brought up that wing competition although they talk about it being far off in the future especially in season one the implication is that that once you reach a certain level the test can happen at any time it's just that although they know when as in around the age that they'll be for the competition they just don't know what the competition is or the exact date of it is the implication I got like they knew okay it'll happen this year but we don't know what day if that makes sense or they may not have even known but they knew it was gonna take place around this time they were just waiting on certain things like points and things and I know it doesn't quite make sense but that's kind of fun of the show is that some stuff doesn't quite make sense and if you think about it too hard it's gonna break your brain but I think there are a lot of things you mentioned that if you think about them a little bit more they start to make a bit more sense you just have to think about it differently and understand that the logic system is different it's not always consistent that you just don't think about it and also you have to remember that a lot of the things that different people say in the show it's not that it's inaccurate it's not like oh this doesn't make sense know what's actually happening is that especially professor crumbs is just making a lot of stuff up he's just bending the rules for different families he's doing different competitions for different families he's playing with rules he's doing whatever he wants to do like a lot of it doesn't make sense because he's in control and he can do whatever he wants if he wants to remote them he can demote them if he wants to give them extra points he can give them extra points and more importantly we see this when he steps down his headmaster and makes Justin headmaster he gives him his powers, so clearly he does whatever he wants like don't think about it too literally because obviously the creators of this world have thought about the magic system quite well and yes there are some errors with it like some mistakes and that's just because it is a Disney show like don't think about it too hard but then at the same time you also have to remember that although some stuff doesn't make sense the main purpose or the main law of the show does and when it doesn't make sense it's not because it's a mistake it's because it has something to do with the characters usually the professor just doing what he wants like a lot of the things you've pulled from in this episode where you say oh this was stated by Professor crumbs but then he also said this and this can't be right well you have to remember he's just making those things up they don't actually matter he's just deciding when the competition is or he's deciding what makes them get demoted or what you know so don't think about it too literally because it is his decision and it's gonna be different for every family and then a lot of it you can't take seriously because they do it for fun like the fact that they have the magical power bank thing that shuts off all the powers like that's just a joke it's not supposed to be taken literally. Also I do think that although there are a lot of things about the movie that don't quite miss with the show because they had different writers and stuff there are some things about it they do okay the magical wand that each family has that is something that is a movie only I think but firstly I think Calbo does have that one I'm not sure if it's just a movie only thing I haven't really looked at his wand but I do know that he has that magic that has the film and we see it in Alex versus Alex now I don't know if the original craters of the show produced that or if someone else did or if it was the craters of the film or what but she has the same magic system that Jerry had in the film like the way in which her powers work now that she's the full wizard is the same I also think it's really cool that she won the competition in the movie which was foreshadowing to her winning in the show and I think the way they handled both of those dances were really cool as well I think it was a little bit of a cheat to make get his powers back by getting the professors powers and all of that but still I did like how they handled it I feel sorry for Max though but it did make sense that he didn't have powers in the end. Also Felix's magical wand is not a reference to Dumbledore's wand, it might be but it's also and more importantly a reference to another Disney property a movie nobody really knows much about but it's also a reference to King Arthur and that is the sword in the stone the magic wand inside the globe is the sword in the stone and the fact that nobody catches that I find surprising but there you go that's what the reference actually is. Magical sword that only a certain person was able to wield and pull out of a magical rock so there you go that is what the in the globe thing was it's also kind of a reference to doors hammer I guess because only Thor could lift itanother one of those kind of things.

[@jimbobsenpai8494]

For Harry Potter , the creatures are controlled by subsections of magic governments it’s said quite a bit that there’s lots of incidents where Muggles see these creatures and have to be memory wiped

[@Tronn9672]

which like…why not just have a separate dimension so there are less chances of muggles interacting with magical creatures, the idea that a muggle could just stumble upon hogwarts has always been crazy to me

[@jimbobsenpai8494]

For the separate dimension thing, I think the only in universe reason is magic ain’t that’s strong , it can’t create things for example only summon them, Hermione says that in book 7. And muggles can’t find hogwarts there are spells that compel them to walk away and anyone with out magic sees a run down broken shack not hogwarts itself

[@lunakingsley.7247]

​​@@Tronn9672I don't get your beef with the stone of dreams, considering a person can only use it once. It is far from the most plot device thing in this franchise. Also, Jerry won the wizard competition, not kelbo

[@meciocio]

​​@@Tronn9672the problem is that you are thinking of the Harry Potter world building with the Wizards of Waverly Place rules and limitations in mind. Because as far as we know, creating dimensions(or even dimensions existing at all) is never implied as in the realm of possibilities for the magic in the Harry Potter world Also Hogwarts is charmed so for muggles who stuble upon it it would look like an unwelcoming castle in ruins.

[@AmoreMiu]

@@Tronn9672Maybe continue your Harry Potter research, finish the books and movies, then form your options instead of judging it before you even know anything about the HP world.

[@Ag8844]

in the 90s sabrina the teenage witch sitcom, in one episode it's mentioned that magic is also repelled/immune by a specific type of plastic. Not all plastic. Idk where this comes from but I think it's interesting it showed up on both shows (though not really explored in Sabrina)

[@yanii6665]

My headcanon is that only children have to compete against each other and only the child of one family can win. This reduces the incentive for having only one kid since it’s like putting all your eggs in one basket since your family’s magic can be lost in a single generation. It also makes sense with my other headcanon that the wizard competition is the wizard’s way of artificially producing “survival of the fittest.” We know how highly they think of themselves, it only makes sense they’d want magic to be this exclusive thing that not just anybody gets to have. Especially considering their history with persecution and the real need to be greater than mortals.

[@the_blackpotatoe1268]

Shaq has a pocket elf and played for Orlando Magic….he’s a wizard 😮

[@haileybrii]

the amount of plot holes in the show is actually crazy😭🤣

[@eatatjoes6751]

The thing that annoys me the most about WoWP lore is that up until they revealed magic came from an electric panel later I expected it to come from, like, a wizard organ or something and in the wizard competition if you lost they’d amputate it and wipe your brain.

[@accidentalmadness1708]

I’m early in the video but I’m gonna drop some theories. Spells vs no spells: I assume it’s like the magicians and Naruto where words/gestures are more there to help you focus your power than actual trigger them and that with enough GB practice/skill you can skip parts of simpler/well practiced moves. Max’s wand: the extra features work like any magic item. The levitation ability for example instead of having to focus on the spell and maintain concentration you can just press a button and go at it with no effort.

[@garrettsmith8562]

I always thought that it seemed like, if they were weaker before becoming full wizards, and then they take their siblings power when they become full wizards... then that kind of implies that over time, wizards would become mortals as their powers grew progressively weaker after generations of dwindling. It might be that they do the wizard competition to keep the magic pure and consolidated. Idk. It certainly doesn't match with the final episode, but it makes sense with everything else.

[@KatsiYori-zk5gm]

I hate that if you lose the wizard competition, you lose your powers.

[@fromthehills814]

My head canon is that the reason only one wizard keeps their powers is because (bear with me, it's gonna be kinda long). Long ago, everyone knew about magic and magical creatures. That's why mortals still have memories of dragons and unicorns and werewolves. But, whenever human beings found magical creatures, they would kill them(think of fairy tales). Sometimes wizards (like merlin) would help them even. But other wizards caught on to how awful humans are to magical creatures, so they created a new dimension for magical creatures. The wizarding world.The only problem was wizards are closely related to humans and love humanity. Many of them fought on the side of the humans actually. It's why humans in the show are theorised to have slight innate magical abilities. So, as part of the deal, the wizards promised to only have one wizard per family as a sort of eugenics program to peacefully separate the wizarding world/magical dimension and the mortal world.

[@AJLaz000]

the Wizard Competition just has so much dark implications for the lighter theme of the show and the fact that they actually expanded on these dark implications by introducing Jerry's Sister (broken families) and Stevie (people whoa are literally rebelling against it) just makes you feel dread the more they bring it into conversation

[@danielladahoui888]

25:40 - Honestly, with Justin wanting Alex keep her powers for him to be a better wizard, as much as they try to make it seem touching, it actually comes across as quite selfish. If he believed that she was worth something in her own merit and wanted Crumbs to give her another chance, then yeah, I'd get it, like he said "she may have failed this time, but I've seen her succeed too many times for her journey to stop here. She deserves to prove herself". But the way he phrased it made it seem like he only wanted her in the competition so he could gain something out of it. Anyway, one thing I do notice about their magical lore is that it's quite similar to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, where magical beings do have their own Realm/Dimension, but do live in and frequently interact with the Moral Realm in many ways. Even if they still have their own traditions, we can see from their clothing that they've adapted and borrowed a lot from our culture and technology, like wear modern clothing or have artefacts that look modern but are magical.

[@Queenhaylihill]

And the Renaldi wand is also a parody of The sword in the stone. So Felix is like King Arthur.

[@Aviator43]

I always interpreted wands similarly to the Thor: Ragnarok explanation for Mjolnier: They exist mainly to help the wizards channel and control their powers, and the most powerful ones don't need one to control their full strength.

[@joytaylor6553]

Alex and Justin are talent in their own way in any one of them have what it takes to be the family wizard and plus in a way it's kind of not for the only one wizard gets to keep their powers

[@RomaroBrandon]

I think wands are like Mjolnir in the MCU, a way for wizards to control their magic and do spells on specific things.

[@Adam-326]

The craziest thing is that Jerry gave up immortality to date Theresa for like a fraction of his intended lifespan.

[@leowebster316]

8:21 Alex's wand is different in the movie than it is in the show, Justin's wand is the only wand that is the same in both tv show and movie.

[@LOTLore]

Awesome video man, I also stay up at night thinking about the lore of this kids show

[@Daniel-bj4lz]

Amazing video. Great job

[@matti.8465]

Regarding wands, my current theory is that certain "special" wands come with spells built in, so you can use them without needing to master that spell first. Basically, you pay extra for a shortcut. Which might give some young wizards an unfair advantage when it comes to the family competition.

[@phillinsogood]

What happens if there’s a big age gap between the children does the older one win by default or do both of them by default?

[@staceynainlab888]

Jerry didn't lose the competition to Kelbo, Jerry won the competition but gave up his magic so he could marry a muggle

[@QueenieOkay]

What would have been really cool, obviously social media and polls maybe wasn’t at its highest popularity; but Disney should have done a worldwide voting poll and the winner would have their own ending, and the “congeniality/professor” would be the second place And then we can say this would be the “official one” since they are doing the reboot with Alex and Justin still having magic: but it would have left a sense of wonder and creativity as to what each of the characters “endings” would be.

[@noahlol14spinach95]

Justin doesn’t have magic anymore in the sequel show

[@QueenieOkay]

@@noahlol14spinach95 he doesn’t… I forgot… Hmmm.. my bad 😂

[@lukapainter9038]

What I always assumed about the special features of Max’s wand was that any wand can do those things if the wizard knows the spell, but that wand can do those things inherently, the wizard doesn’t need to know how to do it. It doesn’t waste energy or something. Kinda like in dnd there are wands and weapons that have spells attached to them so you don’t have to spend a spell slot to use them.

[@onewhoknocks1154]

I have an idea for why the family wizard competition exists. There is an episode where the family's magic is out and Alix asks if they forgot to pay the magic power bill then Jerry says there are magic blackouts in the wizarding world. This clearly establishes that magic is not an unlimited resource. With this we can intuit that the reason for the competition is if everyone got to keep their powers then the number of wizards would multiply over the generations to the point that magic is so spread out that nobody really got it. Because of this they limit it to one wizard per family to keep the number at sustainable levels.

[@aurorachanel4502]

I think the whole Stevie plot line would’ve been better if it was Justin instead of Alex. I feel like Justin, the most out of Alex and Max wants the wizard competition to happen. Realistically I don’t think Alex would assume Stevie’s plan was bad, max either. Justin is the only one who I think would actually be against it

[@ad-sd-vids5332]

In Alex vs Alex, they say creating a portal to Italy can only be done by a powerful wizard, but in season 1 they teleport to mars like it’s nothing

[@awkwardsquirtle]

My headcanon is WoWP connected to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. So many tiny things connected like a wizard council and weakness to plastic. Also being punished for marrying a mortal.

[@NormalLunk]

I kinda think they have a limit to one wizard per family because of the power source things. In my mind if you have a limited amount of magic power to disperse to every Wizard in the world, you would also want to limit how many people can access it, otherwise nobody has enough power to do anything.

[@mercuryyoung9206]

Based on this video, if I had to guess why only one person in the family can keep their wizard powers, I would say it’s so that the wizard power system doesn’t get overloaded. The show very much portrays wizarding powers like it’s an electric system, and so the more wizards, the more energy being used, and the more likely the system will encounter issues. Capping it off, the same way electric system cap or throttle electricity, would be a good way to prevent that. This would be a good reason to portray Stevie as a villain (one with a good point but that ultimately could threaten all wizards with her plan because she’s blinded by the now). I think this is reiterated by the fact that literally no other magic beings have any sort of competition similar to wizards. Juliet and her entire family are vampires. Mason and his entire family are werewolves. Leprechauns and their entire family are leprechauns. Angels and their families, fairies and their families, etc. - And also yes thank you for bringing up that fact that what if the kids are 18 and 19, and they already had the competition and there’s a new baby on the way? What if they haven’t had the competition, do they now have to wait for that baby to grow up and join their level??? And what if the parents divorce, and have children with other people? Do those half siblings count as a new family or what??? Yes I know this is a show for children, but these answers are going to bug me LMAO.

[@Missmagazinebura]

Thank you so much for this video . I can’t wait for the sequel . Please Disney give Justin a redemption arc

[@akrzton1]

We all are! The Music Support Group Academy in Turtle Creek is heading to "the happiest place on Earth" this Memorial Day week! If all goes well with traffic and without rest stops, we should get to Orlando, Florida around 10:00 am. During my personal favorite season of the original series, the Russos went to Disney World for their 11th grade band trip. Not to mention, I have made posts about some of my favorite episodes from this particular season due to similar weather analogs. Either way, this was a very memorable time for me!

[@Mskittenlover12]

​@@akrzton1okay so this is 100% AI. What I can't figure out is the point.

[@akrzton1]

@@Mskittenlover12 What does AI mean?

[@jungwons]

i kind of like tge idea of TJ just saying that spells are like training weels, so he can seem greater yk

[@karellemaquilan7351]

the fact that stevie’s older brother won, jerry won his competition… shows how the eldest sibling is at a higher advantage

[@GrimDrago]

Magic is dying due to micro plastics

[@Fonzop]

They didn't plan anything, did they?

[@TheBarzieChile]

it never made sense to me hat if you lose the competition your powers are stripped away why not just leave a wizard as a half wizard ,the writers really were scrambling.

[@Mario-SunshineGalaxy64]

I think that the features on Max’s wand are just that, features, ones that the wand can perform without the need of a spell. I’m guessing that the spells the wand can perform are low-level or mundane spells that can be cast at the metaphorical push of a button instead of actually casting a spell.