Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

As the characters transition from the university setting of Cambridge to the wilderness of St. Leisl, the poison begins to take hold of Wendell and the severity of his condition becomes increasingly apparent. His unpredictable magic comes to reflect the gravity of Emily’s decision about the fate of their romance. On one hand, as she witnesses the sheer quantity of Wendell’s power and abilities she wasn’t aware Wendell had, the horror stories of romance with the Folk continue to lurk in the back of her mind. During a moment when Wendell gives her an unfathomable look, Emily admits “It makes [her] nervous when he does this; it reminds [her] too much of the snow king of the Ljosland Folk, a creature beyond mortal understanding” (98-99). Despite constantly defending her trust of Wendell to Rose, Emily still wonders if she can ever truly learn to know any of the Folk, let alone Wendell.

On the other hand, Wendell’s unpredictable magic provokes the primary dilemma Emily struggles with: Balancing Objectivity and Subjectivity. As his condition worsens, she becomes more erratic and desperate. Instead of thinking things through rationally and with a clear head, Emily acts on emotional impulse, which results in multiple injuries to herself and others. The fluttering bird shadows—the death omen—that appear on Wendell’s chest connect with a story Emily knows from the Irish realms, in which the poisoned faerie dies and his lover consequently dies by suicide. The fact that the story is recreating itself just after Wendell’s proposal to Emily suggests their ill-fated romance is coming to fruition. However, as Wendell’s health continues to decline, Emily only becomes more devoted to their romance. The urgency of the unanswered proposal hangs over Emily throughout this section and for much of the novel, as she feels there is suddenly an unexpected time limit to her decision—she may not be able to see Wendell’s realm first, as he may pass away before they find the nexus. Like she had in the previous installment, Emily endeavors to change the narrative of her own story, resisting the urge to leave Wendell because of the danger and insisting to herself and others that she understands him and that they will find happiness together.

Emily’s struggle to separate her emotions from academics does not detract from her excessive arrogance and academic recklessness about the Folk, however. The Dangers of Arrogance become increasingly apparent from this section on. Rose, who is highly distrustful of the Folk, offers many warnings in these chapters. After telling Emily a story about his friend who was killed by his faerie lover, Rose says to her: “I often wish I had warned him […] I had studied the Folk more deeply than he—his enthusiasm was that of a hobbyist, and it had blinded him to their darker qualities. I simply didn’t think he would do something so foolish” (106). His words fall flat on Emily, though, as she continuously dismisses Rose’s experience and expertise, believing his methods to be too outdated and traditional to be useful. Additionally, the fact that Rose hints that Emily’s ignorance of Wendell’s darker qualities is similar to that of a non-scholarly hobbyist bruises Emily’s ego, prompting her to become even less receptive to his warnings.

Rose calls out Emily’s excessive arrogance by pointing out the irresponsibility of how “[she] disdain[s] the locals’ trust in their ribbons” yet places her own faith in various Folk artifacts (116). When Emily’s response points out the innovative methods of scholars such as Gabrielle Goode or Marcel Tzara, whom she believes will advance their understanding of the Folk unlike Rose’s traditional methods, Rose again refutes this argument, saying, “Goode’s lanterns will lead her over a cliff one day” (117). While Fawcett never suggests that traditional or innovative methods are better than the other, it does become clear that each has its strengths; innovation proves effective for discoveries, but tradition proves safer for the scholars and townsfolk involved. Emily has become too confident with her success with innovative techniques, which is shown in her habit of taking increasingly larger risks each time she ventures out for research—so much so that even the easygoing Wendell warns her not to underestimate the viciousness of the Folk. By pointing out the dangers of innovative techniques, Rose foreshadows the havoc Emily’s arrogance will wreak on herself and others in the coming sections.

Until the end of this section, Emily has yet to realize The Benefits of Accepting Help From Others. It is only when Rose is near-fatally hurt and Wendell’s illness becomes worse that Emily truly begins to realize that “[she] had stepped beyond the world [she] knew. Before [her] lay a world of dangers, of sharp edges and deep shadow, and for all [her] knowledge, [she] was a mortal woman without an ounce of magic to guide [her]” (126). Never has Emily come across an expedition that’s been too much for her to handle alone—not to mention, lacking Wendell’s companionship and protection because of his illness illuminates her frailty on numerous occasions.

The fact that she has a willing assistant and Department Head dedicated to helping proves frustrating to Emily at first. Emily ignores everything Rose proposes and loses her temper at every mistake made or inconvenience caused by Ariadne. However, when she becomes desperate enough to seek out Poe to help Wendell, Emily “did what [she has] never done before, and which would perhaps prove the most unwise venture of [her] career: [She] put [her] trust wholly and entirely in Wendell” (160). Fortunately, her decision to rely on someone else is fruitful and during her visit with Poe, the little one even says to her something that his mother always said to him: “You must try your best to make friends, for those who are small cannot easily stand alone” (165). Poe voices best what Emily must learn on this latest journey. As the conflict becomes too much to handle alone, she must rely on others to achieve her goals before time runs out or risk losing someone she cares about.