This week multiple pieces of the Wonderland history puzzle fall into place picking up the pace and hurtling to the inevitable Alice vs. Jafar finale. The terror of the Jabberwocky begins to grow and she hunts for the third genie bottle; unfortunately for our heroes, Will is now the hot commodity evil is seeking…
Cyrus (Peter Gadiot) is cheating at cards and his opponents are not pleased. In retaliation they burn down his mother’s house while she is still inside. To save her from her fatal burns the brothers travel to the Well of Wonders to gather magical water but, upon saving their mother they transform into genies, cursed to meet the desires of others for eternity.
In present day Wonderland our heroes plan is to find the genie bottles and take back Wonderland from Jafar (Naveen Andrews). All this despite the Queen’s current situation: deserted by her army and a kingdom of subjects willing to feed her to a pack of Mome Raths. The Jabberwocky (Peta Sergeant) has been ordered to find the bottle and the Red Queen (Emma Rigby).
The Queen awakens in the castle dungeon and is forced to make her three wishes through two choices: painful, or, severely painful. She gives in relatively quickly as the Jabberwocky analyses her fears and past lives. Jafar gains the genie and takes the bottle away, giving her loyal Tweedle (Matty Finochio) the opportunity to sneak in with food. She orders him to warn Cyrus and Alice to leave Wonderland – all is lost
During all this confusion, Alice (Sophie Lowe) and Cyrus travel to the Wonderland equivalent of the Well of Wonders, saving them the magic carpet fares to Agrabar. In the woods they come across two doors and a knight barring the way.
Cyrus proceeds alone to beg the Guardian of the Well to remove her curse from his brothers. She doesn’t dispense mercy without a reason and demands he return the water he stole.
But surely his mother, who took the water when healing, would be dead 100 years later! Well no… Their mother was/is Amara (Zuleikha Robinson), the sorceress who partnered with Jafar to harness the full power of the genies bottles and later betrayed by him, transformed into his serpent staff.
Alice and Cyrus both now know the past of the other. Cyrus was the cause of his mother’s injuries and brothers’ imprisonment through his arrogance - his time as a genie has changed him into a better person. Alice admits when she returned to England, she had accepted the asylum treatment to forget her Wonderland adventures and him as she truly believed he was dead – if Will and the White Rabbit (John Lithgow) hadn’t saved her she would not be in Wonderland to tell the tale. Indeed she would not know about Wonderland at all.
How would we cope without it?