Post #15: Part Five

Part 5: The Murder and Its Afterlife

***There are no chapters in this part***

In this part, a tornado tears through Munchkinland bringing the house with Dorothy and killing Nessarose when it lands on her.


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The Witch learns of Nessarose's death while she is busy trying to perfect the procedure to put wings onto a monkey (not Chistery). It is decided that Liir (who it turns out the soldiers left behind) will stay at the castle to care for Nanny while Elphaba goes to the funeral.


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She arrives and settles in before going to see her father. She asks him to look at the page from the Grimmerie (even though he is almost blind). They end up talking about Elphaba when she was a child and Frex says that she was his fault (for being green) and that she was a little beast until Nessa was born. He also says that Nessarose's deformitities were her mother's fault because of her lax morals. Glinda arrives and she and Elphaba talk in the garden while commenting on how the people of Munchkinland destroyed Colwen Grounds when Nessarose died. Glinda tells Elphaba about her sister's death (Glinda was already in Munchkinland when it happened) and describes how Dorothy came out of the house (with a little dog named Toto) and had come from a land Glinda had never heard of. She tells Elphaba that she sent Dorothy to the Emerald City to seek the Wizard's help to get home and that she gave her Nessa's magic shoes for protection. Elphaba is furious and tells Glinda off for giving away the shoes that should be hers.


***


The Wizard comes to see Elphaba after the funeral and asks her if she plans to become the next Eminence and asks to see the page that she brought with her from the Grimmerie. She tells him that she does not wish for the title, but will show him the page if he tells her if Sarima is alright (the army that was staying at Kiamo Ko was really just there to keep an eye on Elphaba). The Wizard says that Irji, Sarima, and her sisters are all dead, but brings out Nor all tied up. She gives him the page (how to train dragons) and he explains that the Grimmerie is the reason he came to Oz from another world in the first place. He refuses her bargain to trade the book for Nor and she reminds him about when her and Glinda came to visit him back when they were going to Shiz. As she leaves Colwen Grounds, she passes Glinda, seeing her for the last time.


***


The Wicked Witch of the West (as she is now known) starts after Dorothy and travels on the Yellow Brick Road until she comes to Boq and Milla's house. They catch up quickly and Elphaba finds out that Dorothy had just passed through and that Boq and Milla adored her, as everyone seems to. They discuss the reunification of Munchkinland to the rest of Oz as well as the issue of the Animals being mistreated. Elphaba tells them that she is after her sister's shoes and is worried what the Wizard would use them for if Dorothy brought them to him. She regrets not joining forces with her sister and dreams of Madame Morrible's death.


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She goes to Shiz to murder the Headmaster, but finds a new one in Madame Morrible's place. Elphaba learns that the old one is staying in a nearby building and when she gets there, she bashes in her head until she dies with a trophy that says "in appreciation of everything you have done" (even though Madame Morrible is so weak she is already almost dead).


***


She goes to see Avaric because she wants to know if there is gossip circulating about Madame Morrible's death. Avaric mentions what happened at the Philosophy Club and the woman named Yackle who gave them the tickets. Elphaba reveals to him that she killed the old Headmaster and she ends up stying for dinner and wine, while the group discusses the meaning of evil.


***


The Witch leaves Avaric's place and comes to The Clock of the Time Dragon, which he mentioned seeing earlier that day. There is a dwarf there who talks with Elphaba (he knows about Madame Morrible, Yackle, and the Grimmerie). She asks him why Yackle keeps appearing in her life and he says she is Elphaba's guardian angel of sorts. He then lets her see one of the Time Dragon's shows, where she sees the legend of Saint Aelphaba and how she herself was conceived. In the play Frex leaves and a man comes in and gives Melena a green bottle to drink from and then sleeps with her. He is seen getting back into an air balloon like the one the Wizard arrived in (the Wizard is Elphaba's father). Then a tray slides out and gives Elphaba the looking glass from when she was a child, in which she sees herself and Fiyero.


***


Elphaba goes back to see Boq to tell him what she did, but he gets scared and tells her not to harm Dorothy, so she leaves. She continues down the Yellow Brick Road until she meets a peddler who tells her that Dorothy passed by a few hours ago with a tin woodman, a scarecrow, and a Lion.


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She spots the foursome from the sky as a storm approaches and she ponders why she really wants the shoes.


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Because of the storm and her hangover, the Witch gives up for the time being and heads back to Kiamo Ko. Nanny tells her that she caught the gold carp from the fishwell (Madame Morrible) and Elphaba finally admits to herself that Dorothy reminds her of herself at that age. She recollects a time from her childhood when her family is in Quadling Country and there is a great resemblance between the two of them. Elphaba begins to have strange dreams when she takes a "miracle elixir" from a green bottle before going to bed and one night she dreams about the Wizard. He looks at a watch and then walks naked into the ocean and it throws him back to shore repeatedly. Elphaba wakes up coughing and terrified because of the water.


***


Liir finally returns and tells Elphaba about what he has overheard. Dorothy, along with the other three, got in to see the Wizard (the Lion asked for courage, the tin woodman asked for a heart, the scarecrow asked for brains, and Dorothy asked to be sent home). The Wizard said that he would only grant their requests if they killed Elphaba. We also discover that Dorothy's last name is Gale, so the Gale Forcers will not harm her because they are superstitious. Liir admits that he wishes to meet Dorothy. When they discuss what they would ask for, Elphaba says a soul and Liir says a father.


***


Elphaba ponders the idea of religion and the Unnamed God.


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Elphaba has trouble sleeping as she waits for Dorothy to come to Kiamo Ko. She wonders if the Lion is the same one as from Life Sciences class and if the tin woodman was the one that had stolen the heart of the maid that worked for the woman who had come to seek Nessarose's help. She decides that the scarecrow is really Fiyero in disguise coming back to her after all these years. She gets excited and sends Killjoy to fetch them.


***


Elphaba starts preparing for her guests, but is horrified and furious when she finds out the the tin woodman killed the dog she sent to fetch them. She bewitches some crows, but her magic fails so she sends bees after Dorothy. To her great surprise the scarecrow (who she believed to be Fiyero coming back to her) took all of the straw out of him and covered the four of them to keep the bees from stinging. She ends up sending Chistery and the other flying monkeys to fetch them. She is devastated now due to the death of her familiars and the loss of hope of Fiyero coming back.

***

Nanny and Liir welcome Dorothy when she arrives (Liir tries to show off and flirts mercilessly). The Witch enters and Dorothy, who is terrified of the Witch, apologizes for killing Nessarose but Elphaba is not impressed. During dinner Dorothy cries because she misses her family. Afterwards, Elphaba tricks the Lion and he gets locked in another room (after trying to protect Dorothy from the Witch) along with Toto. Liir stands up for the girl and kisses her, but then leaves to go save the dog.

***

Elphaba is now alone with Dorothy and demands the shoes from her, but the shoes will not come off her feet. Dorothy says she only came to apologize and ask forgiveness for the death of Nessarose and could never kill the Witch. Elphaba is now furious and lights her broom on fire and threatens Dorothy with it. A piece flutters to the Witch's clothing, and Dorothy tries to save her by throwing a bucket of water on her, but Elphaba dies.

***

Barely an hour after her death, the unknowing clans of the Vinkus decide to send Elphaba a delegation to ask for advice and support for their alliance. The same night a baby gets eaten by a Crocodile, Grommetik gives a speech about class revolution in the old Philosophy Club, and Glinda has a bad night and is unable to sleep although she is not sure why. The Wizard realizes that his rule is coming to an end and plans his suicide for when he returns home (he also knows that sending Dorothy was a mistake and he hopes she will be alright). The Wicked Witch of the West's death becomes a celebration and Dorothy returns to the Emerald city with the green bottle from the castle to prove that she had been there. The Wizard gasps when he sees it, as he discovers that Elphaba was his daughter. He leaves in his hot air balloon, Dorothy leaves by some unknown means, and Liir goes to search for Nor. The novel ends with: "And there the wicked old Witch stayed for a good long time." "And did she ever come out?" "Not yet".


THE END!

My Thoughts/Questions:

-good vs. evil or illusion and reality would be the best topics for final paper
-will Liir save Nor in the next book?
-what happened to Dorothy and Shell and Glinda?
-did Elphaba kill Madame Morrible?
-the Wizard is Elphaba's FATHER?!?
-what powers the Clock of the Time Dragon/where is it from?
-is Madame Morrible the Carp?
-Dorothy Gale and Gale Forcers? what is the connection here?
-why will the shoes not come off of Dorothy's feet?
-SUCH a good book!!