The Looking Glass Wars

Prologue

Reading Check

1. Alice’s Adventures Underground (Prologue)

Short Answer

1. Alyss feels upset and betrayed when she reads the book Dodgson has written. She thinks that he has made her memories into a silly children’s story, insulting the traumatic nature of Alyss’s history and betraying the trust she placed in him. Overwhelmed by shock and hurt, Alyss runs from Dodgson. (Prologue)

Part 1, Chapters 1-9

Reading Check

1. Redd (Part 1, Chapter 1)

2. Black and White (Part 1, Chapter 3)

3.  A golden kitten (Part 1, Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. The Heart Crystal is the source of all creation in Wonderland. It is a giant crystal that stands at the center of Heart Palace; anything that passes through it inspires the inhabitants of other worlds and becomes reality there. (Part 1, Chapter 1)

2. Bibwit worries that if Alyss is not guided according to the principles of White Imagination, and her powerful imagination not disciplined, she may fall to the same twisted fate as Redd. (Part 1, Chapter 3)

3. Dodge is Alyss’s best friend. He is the son of palace guard Sir Justice Anders, and four years older than Alyss. Despite their age difference, Dodge has been in love with Alyss for years, although he knows they can never marry because of the difference in their social stations. (Part 1, Chapter 5)

4. Redd felt betrayed and resentful when her parents passed the crown to Genevieve instead of her because of Redd’s dangerous experiments with Black Imagination. (Part 1, Chapter 9)

Part 1, Chapters 10-18

Reading Check

1. The Pool of Tears (Part 1, Chapter 11)

2. Alyss lands in London, England (Part 1, Chapter 12); Hatter lands in Paris, France (Part 1, Chapter 13)

3. Liddell (Part 1, Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. In England, Alyss finds that she cannot use her imagination as she did in Wonderland; she can no longer manifest fantastic things from her mind. With every day that passes, her abilities grow weaker until she loses them altogether. This instills a great sense of self-doubt and shame in Alyss and is compounded by feelings of failure when Alyss can no longer use her imagination to earn money for Quigly and the other orphans. (Part 1, Chapter 16)

2. Miss Prickett spells Alyss’s name as ‘Alice,’ and when Alyss tries to correct her, both Miss Prickett and Alyss’s adoptive sisters ridicule her. Alyss feels embarrassed, angry, and ashamed; Miss Prickett’s refusal to acknowledge the spelling of Alyss’s name invalidates Alyss’s Wonderland identity and makes Alyss question her reality. (Part 1, Chapter 18)

Part 2, Chapters 19-22

Reading Check

1. The Alyssians (Part 2, Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. Multiple answers: Redd has transformed Wonderland into a place of violence, hatred, and oppression. She encourages Jabberwock-fighting rings; much of the natural foliage has been killed; Redd places herself at the center of everyone’s lives, and her doctrines dominate all; she mercilessly removes any dissenters against her regime. (Part 2, Chapter 19)

2. After she runs from Dodgson, Alyss returns to her bedroom and tears down all her drawings of Wonderland. She renounces her Wonderland identity and resolves to behave as people expect her to and fit in with her peers. Alyss dresses differently, her body language changes, and she calls Dean Liddell and Mrs. Liddell “Mother and Father” for the first time, which signifies that Alyss has released the Heart familial bonds that were an integral part of her Wonderland identity. (Part 2, Chapter 21)

Part 2, Chapters 23-30

Reading Check

1. Prince Leopold (Part 2, Chapter 24)

2. Charles Dodgson (Part 2, Chapter 25)

3. Dodge Anders (Part 2, Chapter 28)

Short Answer

1. After being betrayed by others, Alice views close relationships as pointless because they will inevitably hurt her. She accepts the men’s social invitations more out of an obligation to familial expectations than a genuine interest in the men themselves. (Part 2, Chapter 24)

2. Generals Doppel and Gӓnger know their supplies are running low and their military numbers are dwindling; the good of the cause demands they pursue every available avenue to ensure its survival. However, the generals also secretly plan to make a covert deal with King Arch of Boarderland for reinforcements, if the need becomes dire enough. (Part 2, Chapter 26)

3. When Alice first sees the Cat, she cannot allow her mind to accept that he is real after spending so much time suppressing her memories of Wonderland. (Part 2, Chapter 30)

Part 3, Chapters 31-37

Reading Check

1. The Looking Glass Maze (Part 3, Chapter 33)

2. The Cat (Part 3, Chapter 36)

Short Answer

1. As Alyss finds her thoughts returning to the life she left behind in England, she realizes she has come to love the Liddells. (Part 3, Chapter 35)

2. Although Dodge intends the sight of the ruined Heart Palace to ignite Alyss’s rage, it instead renews her hope. Alyss recalls happy memories of her family and develops a new spark of defiance against Redd’s cruel regime. (Part 3, Chapter 37)

Part 3, Chapters 38-45

Reading Check

1. A Jabberwock (Part 3, Chapter 42)

2. A puzzle shop in Wondertropolis (Part 3, Chapter 45)

Short Answer

1. When the cannonball spider attacks Alyss and her friends in the Crystal Continuum, Alyss manifests a muzzle to cover its mouth, sparing everyone from the spider’s vicious pincers. (Part 3, Chapter 39)

2. Alyss realizes that the key to using her imagination is belief. When she was a child, she didn’t question her imagination; the use of it was effortless because she had no doubt whatsoever. To reconnect with those powers, Alyss must vanquish all her self-doubt. (Part 3, Chapter 43)

Part 3, Chapters 46-49

Reading Check

1. Homburg Molly (Part 3, Chapter 47)

2. A crystal cube (Part 3, Chapter 47)

3. The Heart Scepter (Part 3, Chapter 48)

Short Answer

1. The first time Alyss sees Redd in the Looking Glass Maze, rage and grief overcome her. Alyss beheads her aunt, killing her. Alyss fails the test. (Part 3, Chapter 48)

2. In the final scene of her Looking Glass Maze trial, Alyss sacrifices herself to Redd to save her friends’ lives and ensure that the cause of White Imagination lives on. Alyss realizes that responsibility to others and duty to cause is bigger than any one person. Her revelation and sacrifice allow her to pass the trials of the Looking Glass Maze and emerge with the Heart Scepter, symbolizing the realization of her full powers. (Part 3, Chapter 48)

Part 3, Chapters 50-56

Reading Check

1. Genevieve, Alyss’s mother (Part 3, Chapter 56)

Short Answer

1. Once the Alyssians enter Mount Isolation, Dodge vanishes to confront the Cat and exact his revenge. (Part 3, Chapter 52)

2. During their final confrontation, Redd throws herself into the Heart Crystal to avoid defeat; it is uncertain what the consequences of this action will be. (Part 3, Chapter 54)