The Looking Glass Wars

Alice is 18 now and has mostly conformed to her surrounding society. She is much sought-after by men of good rank due to her beauty and intelligence; however, she is interested in none of them. When Alice turns 20, Mrs. Liddell wants her to choose a husband, but Alice protests that she feels nothing for any of these men. Shortly after, Alice meets Prince Leopold, son of the queen of England. Leopold is immediately taken with Alice, and Alice finds herself liking Leopold well enough, as he respects and listens to her. However, no matter how intellectually satisfactory she finds him, she cannot bring herself to feel romantically. Three months later, Leopold and Alice visit an orphanage together, where Leopold proposes to Alice. She accepts, out of a sense of duty to her family. Alice suggests they hold a masquerade as an engagement party.

Hatter finally finds Lewis Carroll, or Charles Dodgson, at Christ Church College and goes directly to Dodgson’s apartment to request information on Alyss’s whereabouts. Dodgson is alarmed and does not want to answer Hatter’s questions. Spotting a newspaper on Dodgson’s table, Hatter sees a story detailing Alice’s engagement to Leopold; Hatter realizes that Alyss goes by a different name now. Dodgson directs Hatter to Kensington Palace, where Alice is preparing for the masquerade. Hatter hurries there, upset that Alyss is now “Alice Liddell,” taking it as a sign of her forsaken Wonderlander identity. At Kensington Palace, Hatter rushes the gate and is shot by a guard. The guards chase Hatter, but he finds the portal back to the Pool of Tears and escapes.

General Doppelgänger and others of the Alyssian army meet at the main Alyssian camp. Jack of Diamonds is also present; he works as a double agent of sorts between Redd and the Alyssians, although it is clear that he plays both sides and really only serves his own self-interests. Jack has come to the Alyssians with Redd’s proposal of a summit between the two sides: If the Alyssians cease their activities and denounce all associations with the name “Alyssian” and with White Imagination, Redd will give them a small portion of land and sovereignty as a self-governing entity. Although they don’t trust Redd, Generals Doppel and Gänger decide to attend the summit, as they know they are losing military strength and need to do what’s best for their cause.

Dodge, still standing on the shores of the Pool of Tears, spots Hatter when Hatter surfaces from the depths. Dodge helps the injured Hatter back to the Alyssian camp, where Hatter informs everyone that Alyss is still alive and that she has matured enough to reclaim the throne. Since Hatter is injured, Dodge volunteers to go back through the Pool of Tears to retrieve Alyss. Hatter gives Dodge the newspaper with the details of Alyss’s engagement party and instructions for finding the portal again when he and Alyss are ready to return. Dodge departs for the Pool of Tears.

At the masquerade, Leopold and Alice share a dance, and when Leopold goes to greet his mother, a stranger takes Alice’s hand and leads her in another dance. The stranger says nothing, but Alice senses that their steps match each other perfectly, “as if they had been dancing together all their lives” (192). Alice removes the stranger’s mask and feels she vaguely recognizes him, asking if she knows him; the stranger replies that she knew him once, and he turns his head to show her the four scars on his cheek, revealing himself to be Dodge Anders, whose face was scratched by the Cat on the night of Red’s attack. Alice is shocked, and before she can respond, Dodge vanishes. Shaken, Alice tries to convince herself that it was not real and that Dodge, like her memories of Wonderland, never existed.

Redd summons the Cat to the Observation Dome on Mount Isolation, where she is waiting with Jack of Diamonds. Jack has brought Redd intelligence that Alyss is still alive and that Hatter Maddigan has returned to Wonderland. Realizing that the Cat lied to her all those years ago about killing Hatter and Alyss, Redd takes one of the Cat’s lives as punishment. After the Cat revives, Redd commands him to go through the Pool of Tears and retrieve Alyss’s head, threatening to eliminate his six remaining lives if he fails. The Cat takes a regiment of card soldiers, and they move through the Pool of Tears to emerge in the House of Parliament in England.

Alice prepares for her marriage ceremony in Westminster Abbey. During the ceremony, she notices a mounting premonition, right before the Cat and his card soldiers explode through the windows. Alice feels oddly relieved upon seeing them, however, she still tries to convince herself that they don’t exist and never have. Uncertain after so long repressing her Wonderland memories, Alice tries to touch the Cat, to feel if he is real, but Dodge pulls Alice away and out of the church. Dodge commandeers a horse from a parked carriage, and he and Alice ride away, pursued by the card soldiers and the Cat. Dodge leads Alice to the return portal, and as they fall down into the Pool of Tears, Alice finally allows herself to believe that this is really happening, that all her memories do exist, and finally she allows herself to say the stranger’s name—Dodge Anders.