Who WAS the True Master of the Elder Wand?

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 183938

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Leeann wrote:
> > It, The Elder Wand, must in fact be "won" from the previous master.
> Just possessing it or holding it does not make one its true master. It
> will work to some extent, but not to its full potential.
> 
> Carol responds:
> I agree with this assessment. Grindelwald makes sure that he "wins" it
> by Stupefying Grindelwald, not merely stealing it. And merely taking
> the wand from the dead Dumbledore, who was no longer its master,
> doesn't make Voldemort its master (despite the annoying fact that we
> never see the wand failing him; it creates Nagini's bubble and kills
> just as effectively as the yew wand until the confrontation with Harry). 

Montavilla47:
It's funny, but thinking about that image of the "laughing boy" waiting
at the window sill to stun Gregorovich really made me see Grindelwald
as not-much in the Evil Overlord department.  To be entirely honest, 
he sort of reminded me of Harpo Marx.  I mean, that's the kind of 
thing Harpo would do, isn't it?

Bear with me, because I actually have a point.  I just realized with
Carol's rundown of the Elder Wand (more myth than reality) that it 
makes a decent metaphor for the arch-villains in general.  None of 
them is really that scary by the end of DH.   

But they have these reputations as unbeatable.  Well, neither of them
was--and we never even saw anybody put up a decent fight with 
Voldemort and lose.  

I wonder if that was deliberate--it that was the
real reason we see James wandless--to deflate Voldemort as a 
scary villain.  Wouldn't he be more scary if James had actually
tried to fight him off?