Show notes
A while back I made a video called ‘Why Didn't Voldemort Try to RECRUIT Grindelwald?’, and basically- the focus of that video was why Voldemort never made any attempts to recruit an imprisoned Grindelwald at Nurmengard. On both occasions that Voldemort rose to power, Grindelwald was sitting in a locked tower, so it always felt a bit peculiar to me that he wouldn’t have tried to recruit the most powerful resource at his disposal..Especially at times when things weren’t looking particularly good for him.
Ultimately, I concluded that the two men were simply too different to ever form a real alliance — at least at this stage in each of their lives.
Voldemort never sought Grindelwald’s help because he didn’t believe he needed it. By the time he rose to power, he saw himself as the apex of magical evolution—immortal, unstoppable, and unrivaled. The very idea of reaching out to another powerful dark wizard, particularly one who had already been publicly defeated, would have felt beneath him. His obsession with control and dominance also wouldn’t have left any room for shared power or rival influence.
And the truth here is that Grindelwald, despite having been beaten decades prior, still carried influence—and it’s entirely possible that his name, his ideology, and his ability to inspire loyalty could have easily disrupted the fragile obedience Voldemort maintained through fear. To recruit Grindelwald would be to risk dissent within his ranks and this was simply not the kind of risk that Voldemort would have been willing to take
But I think that even IF Voldemort had reached out, Grindelwald would have refused. The man we see in Nurmengard is no longer the revolutionary of his youth. He is reflective, burdened by the weight of his past, and—at least in part—repentant. Grindelwald may have been a dark wizard, but he was also a thinker, and most importantly a man with a cause—however flawed.
I fully stand behind the idea that an old Voldemort and an old Grindelwald just wouldn’t have worked out.
But in today’s video, I want to explore a different timeline that I FEEL has entirely different dynamics, one in which Grindelwald, at the height of his power, recruited a young Tom Riddle. I think this arrangement is far more likely, far more plausible and far more dangerous.
I’d also like to put forth a bold statement: the version of Voldemort that we got in the existing timeline Is NOT the most dangerous version.
Let’s dive in to it.
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