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Plot Summary
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Plot Summary
The second installment in the Dorothy Must Die series picks up immediately after the first book. Amy Gumm, a sixteen-year-old from Flat Hill, Kansas, was carried to Oz by a tornado and recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, a secret cell of rebel witches fighting to overthrow Dorothy Gale, Oz's tyrannical ruler. Amy was trained to assassinate Dorothy but failed. She did, however, rip out the Tin Woodman's mechanical heart, one of three magical artifacts the Wizard, a self-styled sorcerer from America who once ruled Oz and had been advising Amy's mission, told her she must collect before Dorothy can be killed. The other two are the Lion's courage and the Scarecrow's brains.
As the Emerald City burns, Amy flees through the sky, carried by Ollie, a wingless monkey Amy had previously helped free from Dorothy's clutches. His sister Maude carries Princess Ozma, the rightful fairy queen of Oz, whose mind was scrambled by a spell Dorothy cast on her. Amy worries about the Order members she left behind in the battle, including Nox, the young fighter who trained her. Giant predatory birds called rocs shred the monkeys' temporary paper wings, and the group plummets, but Amy channels magic to slow their fall. They land near a landscape visibly transforming as magic floods back into Oz, a consequence of the Order's destruction of devices that Glinda, a powerful witch allied with Dorothy, had used to drain the land's power.
The Cowardly Lion, one of Dorothy's enforcers who feeds on others' fear, ambushes them and devours Amy's pet rat, Star. The Lion had previously killed Gert, an Order witch who had mentored Amy in magic. Consumed by rage, Amy taps into something new: Her knife turns black, and she fights with terrifying skill, melting in and out of a shadowy alternate dimension. She dominates the Lion and nearly tortures him to death before Ozma's quiet words pull her from her bloodlust. Amy notices a golden aura around the Lion's tail, realizes it is an artificial attachment given by the Wizard, and slices it off, claiming his courage. She spares the Lion's life, disturbed by how close she came to losing herself.
Ollie and Maude bring Amy and Ozma to the Queendom of the Wingless Ones, the wingless monkeys' treetop kingdom in the Dark Jungle. Queen Lulu, a brassy monkey in a pink tutu and rhinestone sunglasses, refuses to involve her people in Oz's wars. Amy uses her shadow abilities to eavesdrop on Lulu's council, learning that Dorothy has fled the city, Glinda was gravely wounded, and the Order's fate is unknown.
Amy discovers she can perceive Oz's underlying magical structure and sees Ozma's body as a tangled knot of energy. She untangles the strands, and Ozma transforms into Pete, a boy Amy befriended when she first arrived in Oz, who shares a body with the princess. Pete explains their history: Ozma was born from a magical fountain as the sole descendant of the fairy Lurline and was raised by Lulu, who once served as the princess's nursemaid. When the Wizard arrived from America, he handed baby Ozma to the witch Mombi and installed himself as ruler. Mombi attempted to disguise Ozma by transforming her into a boy but accidentally split her soul, creating a separate person. Years later, Glinda exposed the disguise and restored Ozma to the throne, but Dorothy cast a spell that scrambled Ozma's mind, allowing the suppressed identity to re-emerge as Pete.
Mombi teleports into the village, badly injured, and is sentenced to house arrest after a trial. Privately, she tells Amy that she tried to teleport Nox and Glamora, fellow Order members, to safety after the battle but lost control, scattering them. Mombi instructs Amy to seek Polychrome, the Daughter of the Rainbow, a powerful fairy who controls the hidden Rainbow Falls, and places a magical "spell of intention" in Ozma's ear to guide her there. Before Amy departs, Lulu catches up with her in the jungle, confesses her guilt over failing to protect baby Ozma, warns that people from the Other Place (as Oz's inhabitants call the real world) are vulnerable to dark magic, and gives Amy a magical pink handkerchief that creates a hidden tent.
Ozma summons a Road of Yellow Brick and leads Amy into the mountains. Glinda appears via astral projection inside the tent, offering an alliance and warning Pete that the Order will eliminate him to restore Ozma. Pete confides to Amy that Ozma is growing stronger and his periods of control are shrinking. He fears restoration will mean his permanent disappearance. They promise to protect each other. Amy impulsively kisses Pete, who gently reveals he is gay, deepening their bond.
Amy enters the Fog of Doubt, a blinding mist where disembodied voices assault her with her deepest insecurities. A magical apparition of Dorothy tempts Amy to surrender, arguing that fighting only makes Dorothy stronger. Amy rejects the temptation and disperses the fog with black lightning.
On the Island of Lost Things, a surreal place accessible only by becoming completely lost, Amy reunites with Nox, who has been stranded since Mombi's failed teleportation, and they share their first real kiss. A stranger named Bright, Polychrome's Royal Consort, guides them through a hidden portal to Rainbow Falls. Polychrome, an eccentric fairy, tests the Tin Woodman's heart and the Lion's tail in her laboratory. She determines the artifacts bear a deep connection to the Other Place but cannot find a direct tie to Dorothy. She also discovers Pete inside Ozma and proposes a Ritual of Restoration that would return Ozma to her true self but eliminate Pete entirely. Amy protests.
That night, Pete fights his way out of Ozma's body, begging Amy for help. She separates him, but Pete, swayed by Glinda's earlier manipulation, strikes Amy unconscious and uses the handkerchief to contact Glinda, who brings Dorothy to Rainbow Falls.
Amy wakes to find Rainbow Falls ablaze. In the ensuing battle, Polychrome is killed fighting Glinda. Amy beheads the Lion and drives her knife through Dorothy's heart, but Dorothy survives, revealing that neither of them can kill the other. Dorothy steals the heart and tail, reverts Pete into Ozma, and escapes with Glinda and the princess. Bright gives Amy a golden button that can conjure a door to anywhere, then departs.
The button transports Amy and Nox to a massive wall blocking the ruined Emerald City. Amy channels dark magic to destroy it, and her body undergoes a horrifying transformation: She grows enormous, sprouts green fur, red claws, and horns. Nox holds her until she calms and returns to normal. Inside the city, Queen Lulu commands a monkey army. Amy enters the warped palace, where reality is distorted, and finds the Scarecrow, already stripped of his brains by Dorothy. She kills him, confirming Dorothy now possesses all three artifacts.
Amy follows Dorothy through the palace's hedge maze to its center, where the Wizard waits beside the magical fountain where Oz was born. He reveals his plan to merge Oz and Kansas, which occupy the same space on different vibrational planes, and rule both as king. He hypnotizes Amy and Dorothy and instructs Amy to kill Dorothy to complete the ritual. Just as Amy raises her knife, Nox bursts in and breaks the spell. Pete explodes out of Ozma and attacks the Wizard. Dorothy, enraged at being manipulated, destroys the Wizard, and a portal to Kansas opens.
Amy and Dorothy are transported to the ruins of Dusty Acres, the trailer park where Amy grew up. Three cloaked witches stand before a fire: Glamora in red, Mombi in blue, and Gert, a witch Amy believed was dead, in gold. A purple cloak lies on the ground. Glamora says, "Rise, little witch. Take your place among us." Amy steps forward, believing the invitation is for her, but the novel ends on a cliffhanger: The invitation is actually for Nox, who steps forward from behind Amy to accept the purple cloak.
As the Emerald City burns, Amy flees through the sky, carried by Ollie, a wingless monkey Amy had previously helped free from Dorothy's clutches. His sister Maude carries Princess Ozma, the rightful fairy queen of Oz, whose mind was scrambled by a spell Dorothy cast on her. Amy worries about the Order members she left behind in the battle, including Nox, the young fighter who trained her. Giant predatory birds called rocs shred the monkeys' temporary paper wings, and the group plummets, but Amy channels magic to slow their fall. They land near a landscape visibly transforming as magic floods back into Oz, a consequence of the Order's destruction of devices that Glinda, a powerful witch allied with Dorothy, had used to drain the land's power.
The Cowardly Lion, one of Dorothy's enforcers who feeds on others' fear, ambushes them and devours Amy's pet rat, Star. The Lion had previously killed Gert, an Order witch who had mentored Amy in magic. Consumed by rage, Amy taps into something new: Her knife turns black, and she fights with terrifying skill, melting in and out of a shadowy alternate dimension. She dominates the Lion and nearly tortures him to death before Ozma's quiet words pull her from her bloodlust. Amy notices a golden aura around the Lion's tail, realizes it is an artificial attachment given by the Wizard, and slices it off, claiming his courage. She spares the Lion's life, disturbed by how close she came to losing herself.
Ollie and Maude bring Amy and Ozma to the Queendom of the Wingless Ones, the wingless monkeys' treetop kingdom in the Dark Jungle. Queen Lulu, a brassy monkey in a pink tutu and rhinestone sunglasses, refuses to involve her people in Oz's wars. Amy uses her shadow abilities to eavesdrop on Lulu's council, learning that Dorothy has fled the city, Glinda was gravely wounded, and the Order's fate is unknown.
Amy discovers she can perceive Oz's underlying magical structure and sees Ozma's body as a tangled knot of energy. She untangles the strands, and Ozma transforms into Pete, a boy Amy befriended when she first arrived in Oz, who shares a body with the princess. Pete explains their history: Ozma was born from a magical fountain as the sole descendant of the fairy Lurline and was raised by Lulu, who once served as the princess's nursemaid. When the Wizard arrived from America, he handed baby Ozma to the witch Mombi and installed himself as ruler. Mombi attempted to disguise Ozma by transforming her into a boy but accidentally split her soul, creating a separate person. Years later, Glinda exposed the disguise and restored Ozma to the throne, but Dorothy cast a spell that scrambled Ozma's mind, allowing the suppressed identity to re-emerge as Pete.
Mombi teleports into the village, badly injured, and is sentenced to house arrest after a trial. Privately, she tells Amy that she tried to teleport Nox and Glamora, fellow Order members, to safety after the battle but lost control, scattering them. Mombi instructs Amy to seek Polychrome, the Daughter of the Rainbow, a powerful fairy who controls the hidden Rainbow Falls, and places a magical "spell of intention" in Ozma's ear to guide her there. Before Amy departs, Lulu catches up with her in the jungle, confesses her guilt over failing to protect baby Ozma, warns that people from the Other Place (as Oz's inhabitants call the real world) are vulnerable to dark magic, and gives Amy a magical pink handkerchief that creates a hidden tent.
Ozma summons a Road of Yellow Brick and leads Amy into the mountains. Glinda appears via astral projection inside the tent, offering an alliance and warning Pete that the Order will eliminate him to restore Ozma. Pete confides to Amy that Ozma is growing stronger and his periods of control are shrinking. He fears restoration will mean his permanent disappearance. They promise to protect each other. Amy impulsively kisses Pete, who gently reveals he is gay, deepening their bond.
Amy enters the Fog of Doubt, a blinding mist where disembodied voices assault her with her deepest insecurities. A magical apparition of Dorothy tempts Amy to surrender, arguing that fighting only makes Dorothy stronger. Amy rejects the temptation and disperses the fog with black lightning.
On the Island of Lost Things, a surreal place accessible only by becoming completely lost, Amy reunites with Nox, who has been stranded since Mombi's failed teleportation, and they share their first real kiss. A stranger named Bright, Polychrome's Royal Consort, guides them through a hidden portal to Rainbow Falls. Polychrome, an eccentric fairy, tests the Tin Woodman's heart and the Lion's tail in her laboratory. She determines the artifacts bear a deep connection to the Other Place but cannot find a direct tie to Dorothy. She also discovers Pete inside Ozma and proposes a Ritual of Restoration that would return Ozma to her true self but eliminate Pete entirely. Amy protests.
That night, Pete fights his way out of Ozma's body, begging Amy for help. She separates him, but Pete, swayed by Glinda's earlier manipulation, strikes Amy unconscious and uses the handkerchief to contact Glinda, who brings Dorothy to Rainbow Falls.
Amy wakes to find Rainbow Falls ablaze. In the ensuing battle, Polychrome is killed fighting Glinda. Amy beheads the Lion and drives her knife through Dorothy's heart, but Dorothy survives, revealing that neither of them can kill the other. Dorothy steals the heart and tail, reverts Pete into Ozma, and escapes with Glinda and the princess. Bright gives Amy a golden button that can conjure a door to anywhere, then departs.
The button transports Amy and Nox to a massive wall blocking the ruined Emerald City. Amy channels dark magic to destroy it, and her body undergoes a horrifying transformation: She grows enormous, sprouts green fur, red claws, and horns. Nox holds her until she calms and returns to normal. Inside the city, Queen Lulu commands a monkey army. Amy enters the warped palace, where reality is distorted, and finds the Scarecrow, already stripped of his brains by Dorothy. She kills him, confirming Dorothy now possesses all three artifacts.
Amy follows Dorothy through the palace's hedge maze to its center, where the Wizard waits beside the magical fountain where Oz was born. He reveals his plan to merge Oz and Kansas, which occupy the same space on different vibrational planes, and rule both as king. He hypnotizes Amy and Dorothy and instructs Amy to kill Dorothy to complete the ritual. Just as Amy raises her knife, Nox bursts in and breaks the spell. Pete explodes out of Ozma and attacks the Wizard. Dorothy, enraged at being manipulated, destroys the Wizard, and a portal to Kansas opens.
Amy and Dorothy are transported to the ruins of Dusty Acres, the trailer park where Amy grew up. Three cloaked witches stand before a fire: Glamora in red, Mombi in blue, and Gert, a witch Amy believed was dead, in gold. A purple cloak lies on the ground. Glamora says, "Rise, little witch. Take your place among us." Amy steps forward, believing the invitation is for her, but the novel ends on a cliffhanger: The invitation is actually for Nox, who steps forward from behind Amy to accept the purple cloak.
