Flash back! Many many years ago in Agrabah when Cyrus is
playing cards and gambling, including with his mother’s compass while his
brother, Taj, advises him to stop. Cyrus wins – and the sore loser is both not
happy and planning revenge. Cyrus seems pretty happy with all of this while his
brothers are much more suspicious.
As they walk home through the countryside his more
careful brothers warn him of his cheating and pushing his luck. When they reach
their home they see men leaving their home – which catches fire with their
mother inside.
To the present and Anastasia and Alice comfort Cyrus for
not knowing about his brothers being Jafar’s prisoner. Alice suggests breaking
into the palace but Anastasia fears Jafar’s magic – she needs her army, though
they point out her former subjects don’t exactly remember her fondly.
Cyrus has a different plan – since he and his brothers
were human, not genies, he suggests breaking the curse that enslaved them. A
curse laid on them by the guardian of the Well of Wonders in Agrabah. Getting to
Agrabah is not easy – but Anastasia tells them the Well of Wonders is in every
realm and she knows where it (and the guardian) is in Wonderland. Anastasia
still isn’t convinced on the solution and goes back to her army – so they split
up
The Jabberwock is on their trail, in the village where Will
and Elizabeth had their little party (despite the odd makeup, she does
manage to be awfully menacing). Elizabeth’s death is a little annoying, but she
cuts out her eyes and brings them to a confused Jafar. He uses his magic to
reveal that Anastasia has the genie.
Flashback again: the brothers’ mother is badly injured by
the fire and Cyrus suggests they go to the Well of Wonders since its waters may
cure her (his brother tries to convince him he’s not to blame but he clearly
feels guilty).
In the present Cyrus is very assiduously dodging
questions from Alice about how he was cursed and she wouldn’t recognise a hint
if it were dropped on her from a very great height.
Anastasia recruits the Rabbit to spread the word of her battle to the people while she and Will hurry to warn Alice and Cyrus about the Jabberwock (will is still questioning why they’re not running and hiding). He doubts her motivations, believing her motivated entirely by her own comfort – but she says she can never be comfortable without him, her whole plot with Jafar was about getting him back and if that’s never going to happen at least she can help others.
She hears something and puts Will back in his bottle and hides it. The Jabberwock appears, teleporting around and building the fear she feeds upon. The Jabberwock mocks her fear (not for herself, but for her finding the bottle) and Anastasia rather niftily turns a branch into a sword and impales the Jabberwock with it. Of course, a normal sword doesn’t do much but it’s still nifty. The Jabberwock then headbuts Anastasia, I have to say I didn’t see that coming.
At the palace, Anastasia and Will wake up in a cage, with
Jafar. Of course, for Jafar’s plan to work, he has to make Anastasia use her
three wishes. Jafar reminds us he doesn’t play well with others and what
happened to Amara, the last woman he worked with. Will points out that she
could just wish for Jafar to be banished from Wonderland, but he uses magic to
silence her before she can. And in comes the Jabberwock to get those wishes
used.
Cyrus and Alice, meanwhile, head to the Well and come across
a knight guarding 2 doors and speaking in rhyme. It’s a pretty opaque riddle
and this time it’s Cyrus’s turn to be all short tempered and impatient as Alice
was last episode.
Flashback to Agrabah when getting the water was easy –
but the Guardian, Nyx (who doesn’t look well and isn’t pleased to be woken up)
showed up. She told them that her waters can heal people - but not those whose “destinies
have been written” like their mother. She warns them to return the water or
else. She then goes back to her waters. Of course, no-one’s going to listen to
ominous warnings when their mother’s life is at stake - his brothers try to
convince him to be sensible, but Cyrus is feeling far too guilty about his
mother’s burns. They do ask him whether they’re risking this for their mother’s
sake or for his guilt though.
To the present and Alice figures out the rather easy
puzzle and they’re off to the Well of Wonders. But once in Cyrus wants to go on
alone, being sharp with Alice when she questions why but lets him go. She
disturbs the water and the Guardian wakes up and she’s not amused – she says
all things happen for a reason which you understand with time. That’s another
flashback cue!
The brothers arrive back to their mother with the water. The
burns heal and she is restored – their mother is Amara, Jafar’s mentor/partner
and now his snake staff.
Cyrus pleads with the guardian for his brothers, since he
was the one who pushed them to steal the water. He begs on their behalf but she
can’t cure the curse until the water is returned to her; which Cyrus thinks is
impossible because he gave it to his mother 100 years ago – surely she’s dead
now. Uh-huh, not so much.
Flashback to Amara learning that they got the water from
the Well of Wonders. She tries to get them to leave before the Guardian comes
for them – but it’s too late, the Guardian arrives and curses them to serve the
desires of others.
At the palace the Jabberwock works on Anastasia’s fears –
her rejection by her mother and her love for Will that she fears will never be
returned. She pushes for Anastasia to wish for her crown back and end both of
their suffering. She breaks and wishes for her crown – literally? Damn that’s a
useless wish. Next step is the jewels, which she also does, apparently broken
by the Jabberwock. The final wish is for her to wish for the Jabberwock to stop…
she does.
Later the broken Anastasia cries in her cage – and Tweedledum
comes to see her, still loyal. Instead of accepting his offer to escape, she
tells him to go to Alice and Cyrus and warn them.
At the Well, Alice emerges from where she has been hiding
and spying on Cyrus. They have a hugging reaffirmation with Cyrus confessing
how everything is all his fault and Alice confessing she nearly had a lobotomy to
forget him and let us all love each other as flawed human beings and drown into
a puddle of saccharine twee. Blargle
Anyway, Jafar is talking to Amara the staff to remind us,
yet again, about Amara in case the twee has rotted your brains. He’s also fool
enough to bandy words with the Jabberwock (Jafar, you can’t even match words
with your incarcerated father, give it up man). He prepares his ritual with the
three genie bottles.
The problem with the Jabberwock’s fearness spell and her
make up and need to prance about in an unnecessarily sensuous manner is that it
detracts from its own menace. I mean we CAN see the menace – with Jafar last
week him falling and choking, with the man who she killed in the beginning of
this episode – but it needs to be a little more drawn out than it is. Maybe
with some flashbacks or images or creepy lights or something. Because this
episode didn’t make me think “damn that Jabberwock is scary powerful”, instead
it made me think “damn, Anastasia, is that all it takes to break you?”
Which is a shame because these last few episodes have
been awesome for Anastasia – she is growing and changing and generally amazing.
She and Will make the show
Which is thankful because Alice is wetter than a tissue
in a tsunami. What happened to her? When did she get this soggy? Cyrus was
always kind of bland (and his backstory, even with its twists, didn’t change
anything about that) but Alice had some spark.
