The Looking Glass Wars

In Outerwilderbeastia, on the outskirts of Wonderland, King Nolan and his soldiers return from a diplomatic mission to the neighboring province of Boarderland, ruled by King Arch. Nolan reflects on the events of the mission: Nolan’s objective had been to negotiate an alliance between Wonderland and Boarderland against Redd, but Arch was unreceptive to the idea because Wonderland’s matriarchal structure goes against his beliefs that women are not suited for positions of power. Although ultimately the mission was of dubious success, Nolan is now anxious to return to his family and not miss Alyss’s birthday party, and he and his soldiers ride for Wonderland’s capital city of Wondertropolis without rest.

Bibwit Harte, the royal tutor, prepares materials for Alyss’s first lessons in becoming a queen. He reflects on the responsibilities and trials that will be required of her; she must learn to master the use of White Imagination and reject all temptations and practices of Black Imagination, and she must use those skills to complete the trial all queens must undergo—the Looking Glass Maze. Without passing this test, Alyss cannot come into possession of her full imaginative or sovereignly powers. Bibwit rejoins Alyss’s birthday party and passes several notable figures on the way, including General Doppelgänger, the royal army’s commander, who can split himself into the individual persons of Generals Doppel and Gänger; Sir Justice Anders, head guardsman; the blue caterpillar, considered the wisest of all caterpillars of the Valley of Mushrooms; and the sober Hatter Maddigan, personal guard to the queen and leader of the elite royal security force, the Millinery. As Bibwit observes Alyss, he reflects on similarities between her and Redd but acknowledges to himself that she is still a child and, with his guidance, will not end up like Redd.

As King Nolan and his men enter Wondertropolis, they come across card soldiers belonging to Redd, lying “undealt” (26) in a stack on top of each other. It is clear they are lying in wait for an attack. Nolan orders one of his men to relay a warning to Heart Palace, but before the soldier can complete the message, a previously unseen deck of card soldiers ambushes Nolan and his men, slaughtering them all. An unknown figure wearing a scarlet cloak kills Nolan with a scepter to the heart.

Alyss leaves the party and meets her best friend, Dodge Anders, in the Issa Room of the palace. Alyss reflects on the nature of her and Dodge’s relationship—they have been best friends as long as she can remember, despite the fact that Dodge is three years her elder. Dodge is the son of Sir Justice Anders, and a guard-in-training. Dodge harbors deep affection for Alyss, although a romantic relationship is impossible due to Dodge’s social class and his duties as a guard. Alyss instructs Dodge to dance with her; as they are dancing, Jack of Diamonds, the 10-year-old heir to the Diamond family, walks in on them and proceeds to mock Dodge with insults about his social class. Dodge retaliates by punching Jack in the face, sending Jack falling to the floor; Jack immediately runs off, presumably to tell his father. Dodge leads Alyss to a hidden servant’s passage, and they make their escape before they can get into trouble.

Bibwit Harte intercepts Jack after the scene in the Issa Room and hears Jack’s version of the events. Sensing Jack’s report is twisted against Dodge in Jack’s favor, Bibwit convinces Jack not to tell his father and sets out to find Alyss and Dodge. Bibwit catches up to them on the streets of Wondertropolis, but Alyss uses her imagination to allow her and Dodge to escape. Alyss and Dodge run into the forest and come upon the Pool of Tears, a lake that is a portal to other worlds—but from which it is said that no one ever returns. Alyss and Dodge decide to return to the palace, and as they approach the gate, Alyss finds a golden-furred kitten with a collar reading “Happy birthday.” However, it is unclear who sent it. Once they enter the palace, the kitten runs off as though it has some objective in mind. The narrator tells us that, “in fact, it did” (42).

Queen Genevieve retires to her room during the party and unexpectedly encounters the blue caterpillar there waiting for her. Genevieve knows there can only be one reason why he is here, as the caterpillars are only concerned about one thing: the Heart Crystal. The blue caterpillar shows her a series of vague images in the smoke from his hookah: a large cat grooming itself, a lightning bolt, and Redd’s face. Genevieve wakes up, having passed out, and informs Hatter of what just occurred. Although she does not know exactly what the images mean, Genevieve knows the caterpillar’s warning is not to be ignored. Hatter leaves to prepare the defense, but the narrator says that Hatter will be unable to protect the queen, as “it was already too late” (46).

Queen Genevieve sits with the members of the suits families (Spade, Diamond, and Club) in the South Dining Hall for tea after most of the guests have left the party. Alyss and Dodge slip back in without incident, until Bibwit Harte enters, covered in mud. The events since the scene in the Issa Room are recounted, including Jack of Diamonds’s insistence that Dodge attacked him and kidnapped Alyss, which Bibwit refutes. The Diamond family tries to use this to their advantage to secure more privileges from the crown, which results in a free-for-all argument among all the families, brought to an end only by the appearance of Alyss’s golden kitten. The kitten morphs into the Cat—the deadly half-cat, half-human top assassin belonging to Redd. The wall explodes, and Redd and her card army march in. Redd calls for everyone’s beheading.

This chapter follows the character Redd and reveals the history of the prior civil war and Redd’s activities since her defeat. Although it has been a grueling process throughout the years for Redd to amass an effective army, the army is finally prepared, and Redd chooses Alyss’s seventh birthday as the date of her attack. As Redd and her army enter Heart Palace, Redd recalls the scene of her initial banishment, feeling anger and resentment towards her family from that time. The conflict’s precipitating events are revealed: Redd experimented with Black Imagination since she was young, which went against her family’s principles. As a result, the crown passed to Genevieve instead of Redd. Enraged, Redd retaliated by killing her mother with a poisonous pink mushroom; she left her father alive, although he mentally deteriorated after his wife’s death. Redd then tried to take the throne by force, and Genevieve opposed her, leading to civil war. Although Redd considered her imagination to be stronger than Genevieve’s, the might of the Wonderland military, bolstered considerably by the skills of Hatter Maddigan, was far greater than Redd’s army, and she was defeated. Now, Redd has amassed a stronger and larger army, and she can match the skills of Hatter with the viciousness of the Cat. The events come full circle to the previous chapter, ending with Redd entering the South Dining Hall with the intent to kill everyone there.