A tornado hits Oz. Munchkinland suffers the most destruction, and Nessarose is crushed to death by a house carried by the tornado. The tornado also brings an alien girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto.

Elphaba is now known as both Eminent Thropp and the Witch of the West. Her scientific and magical experiments on Animals have proven mostly successful; her winged monkeys are sentient and active allies. Nanny, now elderly and ailing, lives with Elphaba. Liir was recovered after surviving the annihilation of Fiyero’s family because no one knows he is also Fiyero’s descendent.

When Elphaba returns to Colwen Grounds, the prime minister informs her that the role of Eminence has been abolished. Elphaba doesn’t care, as she tries to stay away from politics. She simply needs a place to stay to visit family and take care of her sister’s remains. When she next meets with her father, she asks where she learned hatred. Frex tells her that she is his curse and his blessing, that hatred was how she was born into the world. Elphaba posits that he loved Nessarose more because Nessa was a product of Melena’s moral failings, not Frex’s.

All of Oz has fundamentally changed.