okay, not gonna lie, the trailers for "who will be the family wizard" finale look pretty epic. i'm stoked to see how they will end it, considering they probably had the ending planned since the beginning. still, i decided to make a few predictions as to how the finale will end. there's a really good chance that at least one of my guesses will be correct ;)

and, of course, i inserted jalex as much as possible. you're welcome.

fin
nine ways it can all end, in order of likelihood.

1

Alex wins.

When she leans over and stretches her fingers into the bright orb of magic, she feels elated and wondrous and happy but mostly guilty. After all, Justin fell (literally) for the old mud puddle trick again and she pulled the old transport herself in a blossom trick again, and even though it was all perfectly legal, she can't help feeling like she cheated her brothers in the one thing that truly counts.

It's not fair, not really. The purple suits and earthy terrain of the obstacle course are all familiar to her the second time around, so she undoubtedly has the advantage. Max was already long gone by the time of the first unofficial competition and Justin hardly remembers the last half of it. Normally, Alex would be all for the chance to have the upper hand, but this isn't any normal little thing. This is the family wizard competition, this is a matter of who gets to keep their powers, this is about mortality. Now Justin and Max have to give up their magic just because they lost at a competition where they never had a chance to begin with.

"Congratulations," Justin says when he slows his sprint to a dejected pace, finally stopping in front of his victorious sister. He was so close. His whole life, he's always been so close. Close but no cigar, and second place still gets nothing.

"Thanks." It comes out as more of a whimper. She can sense the new magic coursing through her veins, the same incomparable rush she felt years ago, and yet she feels like crying. She can't look Justin in the eyes.

"You won," he says, "I told you so."

She reaches up to wipe some mud splatter from his face, still avoiding eye-contact. "I'm sorry, Justin. You deserved to win."

He grabs her hand away from his face, but keeps holding onto it afterwards.

"The whole competition was twisted in my favor," she continues.

Justin laughs, which finally gets her to look up at him. "Oh but Alex, everything has always been twisted in your favor."

There's the sound of footsteps and soon Max and the others emerge around the final corner. Her parents are cheering her name, Mason's eyes are bright like the moon, and Harper is smiling so widely it will surely fall off her face. The following events all happen in a blur—they teleport to the dark room where Justin and Max will transfer their powers, the very room Stevie shattered into a million pieces, and everyone is yelling, shouting, screaming, smiling, laughing, and Alex can't think. All she knows is Justin is still holding her hand and that's enough, in a way.

Justin and Max readily place their hands on the glowing sphere, prepared to give their powers to their sister who always wins. Alex clutches onto Justin's hand and ignores Mason's confused look at her actions.

"Wait!" she calls, just as they're about to pull the lever.

There's a long silence in the room before the people start murmuring amongst themselves. Justin sighs and pulls her close, speaking softly so only she hears. "It's okay, Alex. Max and I will be fine, I promise. You won. I hate to admit it, but you're going to be a great wizard."

Alex is getting teary-eyed and it's certainly embarrassing, but she cried at the last competition too, so she can always blame it on the sentimental trend later if questioned. She takes a shaky breath and nods, leading Justin back to the glowing sphere. "I hate to admit it, but you're a great brother."

He smiles at her and then the level is pulled, Alex becomes an official adult wizard, and everyone crowds around to celebrate. Justin hugs her first, which isn't really a significant detail except it is, and even though it's supposed to be a hug to welcome their new lives, it feels terribly like a hug farewell. Nothing has really changed except everything has. They will never bicker in magic lessons or steal away on flying carpet rides or carry out wild schemes to fix messes that she made or accidentally combine spells to turn Max into a girl or save the world together, ever again.

It's over.

He lets go of her hand.

2

Justin wins.

He knows more spells than Alex and Max combined and ever since the impromptu competition years ago, he's been perfecting the anti-charm for Alex's infamous mud puddles. He's daring and clever and at the end of the day, he's always been the better wizard. It's just like one generation ago with Jerry, Kelbo, and Megan. The book-smart one wins, as he should.

It takes him a second to grasp the fact that he's won, that he's the family wizard, that he's finally defeated Alex at something for once in his life. His parents, Zeke, and Juliet all erupt into whoops and cheers at once, and he leaps ten feet in the air to celebrate, giving his new full powers a spin.

All it takes is one look at his sister's face and his joy immediately deflates.

Alex is smiling, clapping her hands even, and when he lands back on the ground she gives him sincere congratulations. But her eyes are the most devastated thing he's ever known, and it's such a painful stab in his heart that he has to look away. In the distance, the werewolf bears the same expression.

Justin realizes then that his decision has already been made. In fact, he thinks this has always been his plan if he ended up winning the competition, even if he didn't know it until now. It's just like one generation ago with Jerry, Kelbo, and Megan. The book-smart one wins, but gives his acquired powers away for the woman he loves.

(Alex, always Alex.)

Everyone is crowding around him in cheerful elation, his name being chanted over and over again, but he still notices when she slips away. He excuses himself and quickly follows after.

He finds her sitting on stone steps, absentmindedly twirling her wand. He sits down beside her and she automatically rests her head on his shoulder without a word. "You're not even going to complain?" he questions. "Not even going to ask?"

She shakes her head and he's quite surprised by her unprecedented maturity.

"Well, if you did," he says, "I would have agreed, you know."

At this, she raises her head and looks at him with wide eyes. "But you don't like Mason."

"I like you."

The devastation in her eyes is replaced by hope. All it takes is one look at his sister's beautiful smile to confirm that he's doing the right thing.

"I want you to have the powers instead. So you can be with Mason."

She throws her arms around him and thanks him a million times before kissing his cheek and running back to the werewolf's arms. On one hand, he's making her happy and that's all that matters. On the other hand, he just lost her forever.

3

Max wins.

Just to be ironic.

4

They all win.

In the end, it comes down to a race to the finish line and the three Russos are neck-to-neck. Somehow, they all cross the finish line at the exact same time. There's a lot of confusion as to what to do for a tie-breaker since this scenario is not in the instruction manual. Even Professor Crumbs is a bit puzzled.

"Well…" Alex points out, "according to the rules, whoever wins the competition keeps his powers. So, if we all win, then we all keep our powers."

Crumbs mulls this over, stroking his snowy beard, before he shrugs. "I guess that sounds logical."

They know that this probably violates some wizarding code, but the Russos have always been favored by Crumbs—even if they did technically "expose" magic to humans—and life is all about finding loopholes, right?

Their family and friends cheer and the officials look the other way while all three Russos are awarded their full powers. In the ensuing celebration, Alex feels a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind and Justin's voice mutter in her ear, "I can't believe you sometimes."

She turns around and beams at him. "You're welcome."

Max joins in, wrapping his arms around his two older siblings, and pretty soon they're engulfed in a gigantic group hug. In the middle, the three give each other knowing smiles. As proved over and over again, the Russos are unstoppable.

Justin, Alex, and Max finish just like how they started. Together.

5

Max wins.

Justin and Alex are in a dead tie for first when Justin abruptly stops. Alex stops as well and walks back to him with a confused look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this," he says. "I can't let myself win. Because if you lose, then you and Mason can't be together anymore. I wouldn't be able to bear it knowing I took away the best thing in your life."

Alex's heart swells. When it comes down to the final moment, Justin still puts her first. She wants to hug him, but she shakes her head instead. "You can't just let me win, Justin. I mean, what about you and Juliet. They won't let you two be together either if you lose the competition and become a human. You think I would be able to bear it knowing I took away the best thing in your life?"

They both have much to lose and everything to gain, and neither was ever very good and balancing pros and cons.

As Justin and Alex stand there in this terrible conflict, Max appears out of nowhere and surges ahead, winning the competition. Justin and Alex feel utterly duped.

Like they predicted, once their powers are transferred away, Justin and Alex are banned from being in relationships with Juliet and Mason. They agree to remain friends, but we all know that never works.

It's only fair this way, really. When Max finds his siblings looking forlorn, he tries to cheer them up. "Hey, look on the bright side. Justin, you can get back together with the angel again and Alex, you can get back together with the beast tamer again. It's surely not the end of the world."

"I don't think we're ready to just jump into another relationship right now, Max," Justin says tiredly.

"But he's right. It's not the end of the world," Alex interjects. "And besides, we still have our Plan B."

Alex has a wild spark in her eyes and Justin is only slightly terrified. Before he knows it, his guitar is shoved into his hands and Alex is back on the drums and the Alabaster Carnation is back, baby.

6

Justin wins.

But he doesn't give his powers to Alex so she can be with Mason. Instead, he keeps quiet and pretends he doesn't know what she's actually asking behind her silent smile. When she lies and tells him she's fine, he chooses to believe her. And when Alex and Mason are forced to separate, Justin secretly rejoices.

He realizes this over-protectiveness (read: over-possessiveness) of his little sister is on the side of sick and demented. No one else suspects a thing though, so maybe Justin truly is the best actor of them all.

The night after Alex and Mason say goodbye, Justin walks into the lair and finds her sitting alone, now devoid of both magic and the boy she loves. She's absolutely miserable and he's completely to blame. Still, he can't find it in him to change his mind. Instead, he pulls her up to her feet, leads her away, ignores her protests, and takes her on a magic carpet ride. You know, for old times' sake.

The cold evening air rushes through their hair and she closes her eyes, looking like an angel. She lies down on the carpet, her head in his lap, and he thinks about telling her that it's a flying hazard but then he doesn't. With her eyes half-shut, she stretches her arm up to the sky, as if trying to touch the stars with her fingertips.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asks her.

"Yeah. I'll be okay."

"Are we going to be okay?"

They fly into a thick cloud and his vision is completely obstructed by the fog. He can't see Alex, or the carpet, or the tip of his nose as a matter of fact. But he still feels her presence and she soon responds in a disembodied and ethereal voice, "Yeah. We'll be okay, too. It's you and I, how can we not?"

7

Justin wins.

Alex and Mason part ways (on a rather sour note because Alex refused to ask Justin to give his powers to her.) Justin and Juliet stay strong and after a two years, he proposes and she says yes and they're at the altar, exchanging vows, when none other than Mason Greyback has the hot nerve to barge into the church, profess his undying love to Juliet, part deux, and Juliet actually runs away with Mason as if Justin meant nothing to her at all.

The church doors slam shut and then silence, throughout the hall. Justin stands frozen and unfeeling. Finally, it's Alex, maid-of-honor, who steps forward and gingerly wraps her arms around him. At her touch, his heart cracks and tears form and he holds onto Alex because she's the last lifeline he has left and if he lets go, he will certainly fall apart.

8

Alex wins.

There's a celebration back at the substation after the whole thing is over. Harper, Zeke, Mason, Juliet, Felix and the delinquents, the 13th floor neighbors, Rosie and Tina, and even Tutor are all there. It's the happily ever after and if the camera pans out and the screen fades to back right now, it would be a spectacular ending.

But every ending has an epilogue. Alex and Justin wind up in the lair as a sort of after party for two. She convinces him to let them drink some of Jerry's beer stash (just this once!) because Alex just become a full wizard and it's kind of worth the festivity. They talk about the future and they talk about the past and she comments on how Justin is now even more boring than before without his powers and he shoves her with his shoulder in retaliation and they're laughing and wrestling on the couch like they did when they were kids and somehow, her lips wind up on his.

That awkward moment when—

Maybe it's the beer or maybe it's the rush of excitement but it's a good seven minutes before they pull apart. Later, they exit the lair with flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and no clear idea of what exactly just happened. In an unspoken agreement, they decide to not talk about it, forget it ever happened, carry on as usual, and definitely not kiss again.

To their credit, they lasted a whole week.

9

Max wins.

Things run smoothly for a while. Everything is basically the same that it's always been, except Max is more powerful than ever, Alex and Justin feel incomplete without their magic, and with the end of the competition comes the inevitable end of their childhood. They kind of have to face the fact that they're grown up now.

Justin decides to buy an apartment of his own (not on the 13th floor, thank you very much) and even without magic, Alex manages to sweet talk and wheedle their parents into letting her move in with Justin. He totally saw this coming.

It's all fun banter and sibling bicker in the beginning, but as the months go by, they start fighting less and hanging out more, falling asleep on the couch together while watching movies far too often. The distance between them seems to shrink with every day and suddenly, it doesn't seem too wrong to cuddle with your sister in a New York winter. They are drifting in dangerous waters and shades of grey, but then again, maybe they always were.

It all comes to a horrible end one Christmas when they return to Waverly Place to visit their parents. Max is also there with his long-time girlfriend Talia. Then, when the others are decorating the tree, Max pulls Justin aside and confesses that he plans on marrying Talia. It's great news, Justin pats his little brother on the back, but then the hard truth sets in.

"A wizard can't marry a mortal," Max says with a shrug. He turns and looks at Talia with such loving eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" Justin asks.

"Yeah. I love her," Max replies. "Which is why I want to give my powers to you."

Justin should be thanking him profusely, but the words only serve as a hard punch to the stomach. See, Justin always thought he was like his father while Max was like Uncle Kelbo and Alex like Aunt Megan. He always thought, if anything, he would be the one giving up his magic to marry a mortal and giving it to Max—not the other way around. This sure gives his perspective a nice rattle.

When Alex finds out, of course she is furious. Why give the powers to Justin? Why not her?

They get into a fight but this time, they don't ever make up. It ends with a bang before it ever became anything real. The day Max transfers his powers to Justin is the day Alex up and moves away to California. She doesn't return any of his phone calls.

History repeats itself and it's cruel as hell. Max ends up being the one raising a family, teaching his kids magic in a secret lair. Alex ends up the rogue sibling, cutting all contact with her family except for a birthday card now and then if she feels like it. And Justin ends up being the family wizard, wandering between the dimensions and worlds, never settling down and never getting over the not-quite-love that never-quite-was. Simply put, he misses her, so much. He doesn't like this ending.

10

It was all a dream.

Alex wakes up, back in the makeshift tent that Justin had constructed in the forest ground. Justin is already up, patting her awake and staring at some far-off point in the jungle. She groans and tries to return to her complicated mess of a dream, but then she hears the footsteps too and quickly sits up in fright. (Turns out to be a false alarm, oops.)

They continue their trek through the forest in search of the stone of dreams. Everything is happening just like in her dream. The déjà vu is scary. Maybe she's not a wizard but a prophetess.

She easily finds the stone and Justin will never be able to figure out how she did it. She smiles smugly and orders him to go retrieve the stone. While he slowly inches along the side, dangerously close to the open abyss below, Alex learns from her mistake in the dream and pulls a loose rock from the wall. An avalanche of smaller rocks come tumbling after, effectively blocking the entrance and preventing any stray parrots from flying in and stealing the stone and screwing them all.

"Why did you do that?" Justin shouts, clinging onto the cave wall as the ground shakes.

"Sorry," she calls. He'll thank her later.

They finally get the stone of dreams and this time, she's not making the same mistake. Because in her dream, none of the outcomes were that great, honestly. She holds the stone of dreams in her hand, squeezes her eyes shut, and whispers, "I wish everything stays exactly like this."

There is a slightly gust of magic as the stone's powers are executed. Justin is staring at her with utter disbelief. "NO! Alex, you just ruined everything!"

"No, trust me," she says, beginning to pick through the fallen rocks, "everything will turn out alright."

They finally make it down from the cave and are reunited with Max and their parents. Jerry and Theresa still don't remember them, but they will, very soon. Max and Justin never get swept into a vortex and they never forget who they are or who Alex is. The entire course of events changes.

Later, back at the resort, Jerry and Theresa are rekindling a romance from another life while Max is playing with a random dog at the smoothie stand. Justin and Alex lounge in the pool, basking in the alternate universe sun.

"Why did you do this? Why not return to the way things were?" he asks.

"Because it's better like this," she says, scooting over to sit closer to him. "Technically, we're not related here. Technically, we don't even exist here. Which means no one will force us to have a wizard competition and that way, we all get to keep our powers."

Justin arches an eyebrow and gives her a strange look. "You really thought this through."

"Is that so surprising?" She snatches his sunglasses and places them over her own eyes before resting her head on his shoulder and intertwining their fingers under the pool water. He is stiff as a statue at her actions, but he's not complaining either. It's a start, right?

After all, they're not related here.

yep, so there ya go. i can totally see 1-4 actually happening on the show, maybe even 5 if the writers are cool. 6-9 are a bit of a stretch. 10 is just LOL I WISH. which one was your favorite? which one do you think will actually happen?

a late merry christmas to you all! thanks for sticking with me as i brave the horrible monster that is college applications. love you.