Snape's Death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Messed Up the Final Plot Twist for No Reason
Lord Voldemort has never been the brightest tool in the shed, but the way he killed Severus Snape in the movies made him look like a completely hopeless cretin.
Summary:
- The movie version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows changed the way Snape was killed by Lord Voldemort.
- In the book, Voldemort only used Nagini for it as he thought Snape was the true master of the Wand and feared the backfire.
- The live-action adaptation saw Voldemort injure Snape himself first, defeating the point of the Elder Wand plot twist.
Severus Snape’s death was one of the most emotional scenes in the entire Harry Potter franchise, be it books or movies; however, the differences between the two versions of the story turned out to be way more significant than they should’ve been.
The movie scene of Snape’s death did everything the book version cleverly avoided: it ruined the final plot twist with the Elder Wand and made Voldemort look way dumber than he was. The latter is quite an achievement, but that’s beside the point.
How Was Snape’s Death in the Movie Different from the Book?
In both versions of The Deathly Hallows, Severus Snape dies in the Shrieking Shack after Lord Voldemort considers him an obstacle to acquiring the Elder Wand’s true power. But the exact way Snape is executed is different, and the devil’s in the details.
In the book, Voldemort orders his snake, Nagini, to kill Snape. Surrounded by a shield orb, Nagini attacks the Potions master and takes him out with her teeth; then, the Dark Lord leaves with the snake, and the Golden Trio gets to speak with Snape.
In the movie, Lord Voldemort first slits Snape’s throat with a spell — presumably, Sectumsempra. Nagini only joins the execution after the Dark Lord uses the Elder Wand to cast the spell. When he leaves, Harry still has time to talk to the Professor.
How and Why Did the Movie Version Miss the Point?
In the book, Voldemort chose to use Nagini for the execution because he believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand and realized that if he tried to kill the Death Eater himself, the Wand would backfire. This was a clever move that also allowed for a plot twist later since no one, including the audience, realized the truth.
The movie, on the other hand, completely missed the point. By showing Voldemort injuring Snape himself using the Elder Wand, it revealed that Snape was not the artifact’s true master since the Elder Wand would have never hurt him in that case. Alas, the movie notified every attentive viewer that a plot twist was coming soon.
But spoiling the Big Final Plot Twist was not the only problem with the movie version of Snape’s death: it also made Voldemort look bad…in terms of his mental capacity.
How Did the Movie Version Make Voldemort Look Dumb?
While the book Voldemort was not smart enough to figure out how the Elder Wand’s loyalty worked entirely, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to hurt the Wand’s true master with it. The Dark Lord then specifically chose to execute Snape with Nagini’s help — and he both succeeded and never got a chance to learn the truth.
The movie Voldemort, however, was stupid in two ways. First, he decided to use the Elder Wand to harm the person he thought to be its true master; second, after he did it, he never realized what it meant. The live-action Dark Lord was so special that he failed to grasp every single aspect of wand loyalty and didn’t even care to learn it.
Lord Voldemort has never been the brightest tool in the shed, but the last movie did him too dirty. Not even that psychopath was idiotic enough to make such mistakes.