Episode Five: Triumph of the Hen
Billina marches into the Nome King's palace like an action-movie hero in the final act. She spots all ten purple (Evish) items and begins reversing the enchantments. When she's done with that she starts finding green objects which are people from Oz. With her inside information to help, Billina finds all the transformed people -- except the Tin Woodman. The Nome King didn't let slip what he had become.
The newly-freed captives follow their galline (look it up!) liberator to the doors of the palace -- only to find the Nome King has decided to be a sore loser. His throne room is full of soldiers, and for once the King isn't smiling at all.
Dorothy is safe, with the Lion and Tiger to guard her -- although when the Nome King uses his magic to freeze them in place the heroic Sawhorse gives him a vicious gold-shod kick in the rear. It seems the King's magic doesn't work on wood.
This gives us a clue to the origin of the Nome King's magic belt. There's another character in fiction who owns a magic item with almost limitless power, but which can't affect things made of wood. This is, of course, Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern from the Golden Age of comic books. Scott gained his power from a "mystic flame" in the titular lantern, and after seventy years of explanations, revisions, retcons, and re-retcons, I'm not sure what his lantern "really" is. But obviously during the early years of the 20th Century, Alan Scott's "mystic flame" was in the hands of the Nome King, and provided the sorceous megawatts for his magic belt.
The King threatens the restored Oz people, taking refuge in a legal loophole in his original bargain: he said they could leave his palace safely, but as soon as they step out he can have them thrown into dungeons full of molten lava. The single enlisted man of the Army of Oz bravely charges the Nomes, but is overwhelmed by numbers. And then the Scarecrow throws an egg at the Nome King. (You were paying attention to the eggs, right?)
The Nomes flee in terror from the poisonous egg, especially when the Scarecrow pulls another from his pocket. The King is paralyzed with terror, and Dorothy takes the opportunity to steal his magic belt. (Dorothy is obviously a roleplaying game character, as she never forgets to grab the magical loot off defeated foes.
Faced with the loss of his belt and the threat of more eggs, the Nome King surrenders. There's some plot-padding about his inability to locate the transformed Tin Woodman, and for a time our heroes are afraid their friend is forever lost. Green Lantern Dorothy leads the Oz/Ev contingent to safety. It turns out one of the little princes of Ev has a mild case of kleptomania, and pocketed a tin whistle in the Nome King's palace, which turns out to be the missing Woodman.
Prince Evardo takes the throne of Ev, with great rejoicing from the citizens who are no doubt relieved to have their first non-psychopathic ruler in decades. The Oz Crew return across the Deadly Desert to Oz. On the way to the Emerald City they meet General Jinjur, now dedicating her time to dairy farming and spousal abuse (because it's funny when husbands get injured).
They also pass the new institute of higher education, the College of Art and Athletic Perfection, run by (of course) Professor H.M. Wogglebug, T.E. Ozma explains: "It keeps him busy, and the young men who attend the college are no worse off than they were before. You see, in this country are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for them."
Bear in mind that when L.Frank Baum wrote this he was living in Chicago, which was home to the brand-new (and lavishly-funded) University of Chicago. The University had quickly established itself as a powerhouse in college athletics, and was racking up Big Ten championships under the coaching of the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg. The Wogglebug's College seems like a not-so-subtle dig at the new school.
(Eventually the University of Chicago decided education actually was more important than sports, and dropped out of the Big Ten conference in 1946. Without the U. of C. to keep the average up, the Big Ten colleges have since forgotten even basic arithmetic, as there are now twelve schools in the conference.)
Dorothy stays with Ozma in her palace for a time, until she happens to notice Ozma's Magic Picture, a sort of mystical television which can show Ozma what is happening anywhere in the world, blessedly free of gabbling voiceovers. Dorothy has a look at her Uncle Henry, who looks very depressed and ill, perhaps because he is still in Australia.
Since the magic belt won't work in a non-fairy country, Ozma uses it to wish Dorothy to her uncle, and promises to use the picture to check up on Dorothy once a week. Dorothy materializes in Sydney and apparently nobody bothers to ask where she's been or how she survived getting swept overboard in a typhoon.
Thus concludes Ozma of Oz. I'll pick up in a few weeks with the next book in the series, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. That's right, Agent Diggs returns!
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