The Wizard asks for help, Jack and Lady Ev explore friendship, Lucas learns some hard truths, and West looks to get answers from Dorothy one way or another.

Spoilers coming for you and your little dog too!

Tale of Two Cities

As Lady Ev’s new pet, Jack travels with her and her father, King August, to Emerald City for the annual Festival of the Beast. With the return of said Beast imminent, it seems a bit strange to throw a party. But hey, might as well go out with a bang. At dinner that evening, the Wizard asks King August to build weapons for the return of the Beast. Before he can get an answer from the King, Lady Ev provokes an argument between Anna and Elizabeth.

Later, Great and Powerful One realizes the mind of Ev’s ruler is fading into dementia and turns to Lady Ev for a resolution. The Princess Langwidere has no desire to help. The last time the Beast came, the Wizard saved Emerald City, but not Ev. Langwidere’s mother died in the aftermath. “I want to see Emerald City laid to waste and I want to see you drown in its suffering. And when the Beast returns, I shall have my wish,” she expresses.

Friend Zone

The next morning, Lady Ev orders Jack to accompany her to the festival. Jack refuses. The princess made fun of the clumsiness of his new body on the trip to Emerald City and again at dinner in front of everyone. He asks Lady Ev if she demanded him to have someone to make fun of. Langwidere is shocked at the question. She wanted a friend and thought he was hers. Jack gently explains the concept of friendship and the two go off to the festival together. On the walk back to the palace, a group of drunkards harass Princess Lanwidere. Jack saves the day and the Lady rewards her hero with a big kiss on the lips, then proposes they be something other than friends.

 

A Scary Crow

Eammon returns to Emerald City with Lucas and Sylvie in tow pleading with them to not leave his home. Lucas is a wanted man for killing a group of guards in Nimbo. Eammon is positive he didn’t do it, but Lucas is not so sure. Before the two men can talk further, the bullet wound from Dorothy’s gun starts to get the better of Eammon and he goes to the Wizard for help. The Wizard removes the bullet, realizes exactly what it is, and knows how he can kill the Beast.

Sylvie senses Dorothy’s presence in the city and tells Lucas as much. They sneak out of the house with a mask to cover Lucas’ face and set out to find Dorothy. They don’t get far when the guards recognize him. Without breaking a sweat, Lucas takes them down and questions the last guard standing about what happened in Nimbo. He explains the guards had pulled Lucas’ wagon over and demanded to see inside. Lucas refused and killed ten men before the rest overpowered him and strung him up. Distraught, Lucas surrenders himself and makes Sylvie promise to not use magic to help him. The guard takes Lucas to Eammon and the scarecrow confesses to his crimes.

Who is the Good Witch? Who is the Bad Witch?

Promised by West she would spring his wife from the Prison Abject, Ojo captured Dorothy to bring her to the witch. Ojo should have known better. “Everybody lies” West tells him when she reneges. East had urgent news for West and she assumes Dorothy killed East to stop her from talking. Dorothy professes again and again she didn’t mean to kill the Merciful and Stern One. She even tells West about the gun in her bag. West presses the muzzle to Dorothy’s temple and pulls the trigger. Fortunately for Dorothy, no more bullets.

West informs Glinda she has East’s killer. The Northern witch demands West wait for her before questioning Dorothy further. Needing answers before the arrival of her sister, West steps up the torture. During questioning, East’s jeweled gauntlets appear on Dorothy’s hands. West attempts to remove them, but is burned by them. Realizing pain is not getting her the responses she wants, West looks to trickery. She transforms herself into Karen Chapman, Dorothy’s mother, to obtain a confess. As Karen, West pulls the memory of the encounter with East from Dorothy’s mind and sees East’s accusations Dorothy was sent by Glinda to kill her.

 

Tip, working as West’s servant, refuses to help Dorothy escape. The young girl blames Dorothy for everything that has happened since she helped Tip escape Mombi. Eventually, Tip realizes she is being a spoiled brat. She aids Dorothy’s escape and sets up West’s other maid take the blame.

Glinda arrives and after a tense conversation with West, claims to not have spoken to East in several years. West later learns this is a lie after watching a drone monkey’s video of Glinda and East arguing the day of East’s death.

Welcome Home

Dorothy steals a mask and stumbles her way thru the festival to the palace. As she enters the Wizard’s chambers, she hears Pink Floyd’s “Breath (In the Air)” playing on an old portable cassette player. “We both come from the same place,” she says, as she shuts off the music and brandishes her (empty) gun. The Wizard asks if she is going to kill him, Dorothy pulls the mask over her head and asks about Karen Chapman. “Dorothy? Oh, my god. Dorothy, you’ve come home,” the Wizard exclaims.

Thoughts and Questions

I should have seen the big revel coming, but somehow, I didn’t. Is the Wizard Dorothy’s dad?

Thanks to Dorothy, the Wizard has a gun. I highly doubt it will be the solution he thinks it will be. We all know the Beast is going to be killed by Dorothy’s magic.

Till next week!

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About the author: The Nerdling has an unhealthy obsession with books, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Star Wars. She finds hockey to be the best sport in the world (Go Dallas Stars!) and is working on her first novel, but mostly glowers at a blank screen. You can find her on Twitter @nerdlingstale