West is a cardinal witch, known as the Witch of the West and Mistress of the Western Fields, Vessel of Truth and Solace. She is the madam of a run-down brothel, and the council witch to Tip, the new Queen of Oz.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Twenty years prior to Dorothy Gale's trip to Oz, West saw her sister, Glinda, when she and the cardinal witches unsuccessfully attempted to defeat the Beast Forever. They were saved by The Wizard's aid.[1]
Dorothy Gale's return to Oz[]
Twenty years following the Beast Forever's vanquishing, West was inside her brothel, visited by The Wizard, desperate to find out the source of magic that caused a tornado in the eastern parts, seeing it as the first sign of the Beast Forever's return. West immediately stated that it her magic wasn't the cause of it and then pointlessly exposed the pregnancy of one of the Wizard's servants, who are supposed to be chaste, with one of the wizard's bodyguards. Some time later, after feeling the death of her eastern sister, West took to the streets of Emerald City to cry in pain. She waited for Glinda as the latter arrived into the city, reminding West of what was required of them in order to absorb their deceased sister's spells. Both witches soon meet with the Wizard in his palace, where he allowed them to use their temple for their sister's funeral while asking for them to recreate the Prison of the Abject their sister once made. However, they claimed that it was impossible.[1]
Later on, during preparations for the funeral, the Wizard arrived and claimed the entire process would be open to public eyes, to remind the people of the city of who witches are. Glinda immediately saw this as an attempt to embarrass them. The ritual started at night and West arrived, high on opium, which angered Glinda, afraid the ritual would go wrong. Under the eyes of the public, the witches started the funeral and West took over, performing a ritualistic dance by taking control over the girls who participated in the funeral. She performed the spell and absorbed East's spells, though in the process, scared away the common-folk of the city through her display of magic, much to the Wizard's satisfaction. She later handed over the spells to Glinda, who then stored them in a jar. Glinda later made a remark to the Wizard of her sister's self-harming practices, clearly blaming him for West's new tendencies.[1]
Following the magical suicide of three women, the Wizard sought council with West, suggesting that it was her magic to blame. West denied any involvement, meanwhile teasing Anna for her mother's past in West's brothel. West admitted her hatred of magic, reminiscing of her helplessness twenty years prior when the Beast Forever laid waste to many witches.[2]
When Tip arrived at Glinda's orphanage, West showed an interest in her, perceiving her to be strong, spirited and vigorous, giving her an offer to join her brothel. When Tip went for a bath, West appeared before her in the guise of another girl, suggesting that West's offer was better than Glinda's. Following her bath, Tip went to speak to West, acknowledging that she knew it was her the whole time, requesting use of West's magic in exchange for joining her.[3]
West had Dorothy Gale brought to her by Ojo, whose wife she promised to bring back from the Prison of the Abject. She questioned as to how she killed her, taking possession of Dorothy's gun. As it had no clips in it, it didn't work, leading West to believe Dorothy had lied, knocking her out. In the meanwhile, West contacted Glinda, letting her know that she had their sister's killer, while the latter asked that nothing be done to Dorothy before she arrived. Tip had also begun working for West, replacing Miranda as West's right hand. Ignoring her sister's wishes, West began torturing Dorothy with magic, before noticing the Elements on Dorothy's hands. Believing she'd stolen then from East, West attempted to take them off, but was met with a surge of power. West returned, imitating Dorothy's mother Karen, using this to take some of Dorothy's memories, discovering that East had been travelling to warn her of Glinda. When Glinda arrived, West questioned her regarding any secrets kept, but Glinda feigned not knowing anything. As they entered Dorothy's cell, Dorothy had escaped, which greatly angered Glinda. Assuming it had been Miranda, in spite of having been thrown aside, West threw her down the sewerage line, killing her. Ojo came to collect his wife, but was angered when West admitted that she'd lied about releasing her.[4]
Sometime following, the Wizard brought in West to extract magically-protected memories from Lucas. She attempted to break through the barrier, but found that Glinda had protected them. Using Dorothy as a conduit, as she had a close bond with Lucas, they were able to see into some of Lucas' final moments before he lost his memory, in which he had been transporting young witches for Glinda. Angered at Glinda's impending uprising, West spoke directly to the Wizard, considering him a fool for thinking Glinda was still his ally.[5]
West soon fell into a spiral, taking too many drugs and falling somewhat ill. She was visited by the Wizard, who asked her to identify young witches amongst them. She promised to do, but only if they would be released into her care, to which the Wizard promised. She was brought among a large group of young girls, but she claimed that none of them were witches, being able to tell if any were. After a young witch caused an explosion, killing two members of the Wizard's Guard, West was brought in. She safely brought the witch out, promising to keep her safe. However, as the Wizard brought in a cell on wheels, she ran away, forcing West to trap her in a pit for her own safety. As the general populace began to riot, West and company were escorted away. Back at her brothel, West continued to have nightmares of the flood that had previously killed all of the witches. The following day, West laid Aithne to rest, her magic having been exhausted by the Wizard. Tip showed her a dagger, having suggested she use it instead. Recognizing it as having the crest of King Pastoria, West acknowledged it as belonging to his daughter, Princess Ozma.[6] While initially refusing to believe it, Tip came to accept that she was the princess, before West transported the two of them to the crypt beneath the witches' sacred temple.[7]
She presented Tip with a jar full of her eastern sister's spells, giving her the chance to obtain magic. Seemingly not working, West took Tip to a pool within the crypt, laying her body to rest. Wishing to save Tip, West went to see Glinda, giving her servitude and begging to learn the location of their mother, wanting to use her magic. With Glinda refusing, East resorted back to the temple, slitting her wrists and letting herself die. As she lay there, Tip approached her, having in fact lived, claiming that it had worked.[7]
Tip encouraged her to get back up and continue her fight, eventually causing her to close her wounds and sit up, hugging Tip. They began on their way, walking through woods. Claiming to not feel any magic, West sat Tip down and made her bring up emotions, causing her to tap into her magic and transform into a boy. Initially frustrated at Tip's wishing to be a boy, suggesting that none of Pastoria's followers would believe it to be his actual daughter. However, understanding that Tip considered being a boy one of her greatest importances, West allowed him to remain a boy. They headed to the Prison of the Abject, where Tip freed all of the witches that weren't dying or dead. They assembled them in a forest. West attempted to explain Tip's connection as the rightful Princess of Oz, but they refused to listen. Considering West a traitor, they closed up her mouth, keeping her suspended in the air, hearing the charges before she was sentenced. Tip attempted to convince them that West stood with the witches, but they wouldn't hear anything of the sort. Because of this, Tip forced them to all relive memories of Tip's final moments with her parents as they were slaughtered. Revealing herself as Ozma, they let West go, helping her up.[8]
West, Tip, and the freed witches blasted through a wall and stormed Emerald City. The people of the city cowered in fear of the group, which upset Tip. West told the girl that her reputation proceeded her, and asked her what she expected, sarcastically asking if she expected rose petals at her feet. West spotted a guardsman who survived the blast, and West attacked him with magic and tried to kill him. Tip commanded her to stop as she didn't want to rule by killing everyone in her way, and West did so unhappily, telling the girl that she had to decide what kind of ruler she wanted to be. The guard pulled a dagger to attack West, and she killed him instantly. She then introduced the people to Ozma (Tip) and the townspeople accepted the girl. The group headed to the castle, which was barren due to the guards being with the Wizard, and encountered the man with the lion mask who killed Tip's parents. Much to everyone's surprise, the man kneeled before Tip and surrendered his sword. Tip removed his mask, to reveal him as Eamonn, which prompted him to give her the crown of Oz. West snatched it and demanded to know if he really believed the crown to make up for what he took from Ozma, and told the girl to kill Eamonn. To her surprise, Tip instead erased Eamonn's family's memories of him and exiled him from the kingdom, sparing his life. West presented Tip with the crown, telling her that she deserved it, and looked forward to Tip's rule. Later, Glinda arrived at the throne room wanting to take Emerald City for herself. West informed her of Tip's true identity and that the girl was the new Queen, and that together they could be her advisors - something she claimed they were meant to do. She pressed on to say that magic and reason could rule side-by-side again. Glinda denied her, stating that Oz belonged only to magic. West angrily stated that Glinda would just be doing the same thing as the Wizard - isolating everyone and turning people against each other. She pressed on, telling her that she was of clear mind and tongue, asking her sister once more to join her by extending her hands. West was seen later standing on the balcony of the castle with Tip and Glinda, watching the Beast Forever fly over the castle.[9]
Powers and abilities[]
West, as one of the four cardinal witches, possesses powerful magic and is one of the most powerful witches in Oz, though both her hatred of magic[2] and the prohibition of it in the entire country keeps her from practicing it in any way. For this reason, Glinda assumed that West's tongue and her craft had weakened over time.[1]
However, despite the amount of time she spent not practicing the craft, West was seen to easily be able to adapt to magic in times of need and use it fluently and to great effect, even when high on drugs such as the poppy. Upon her sister's death, West shortly returned to magic in order to extract her deceased sister's spells for Glinda to take. However, before doing so, she performed a ritualistic dance through which she demonstrated great magical abilities, being able to completely assume control over more than a dozen girls participating in the ritual by completely controlling their movements and forcing them to dance in unison. She then ended the ceremony by extracting all of her sister's spells by inhaling them from East's mouth, while also releasing a blast of energy that caused all the windows to combust and stunned all of the girls who participated in the ritual, causing them to shake violently on the ground.[1]
West was also shown as highly perceptive and skilled in clairvoyance, being able to discern Isabel's secret pregnancy immediately after laying eyes on her, despite not even actively practicing witchcraft. She was also able to determine the father of Isabel's unborn child. Afterwards, following East's death, West immediately felt it, despite being miles away, leading her to a breakdown.[1] While at Glinda's orphanage, looking for new girls for her brothel, West used a form of deceptive magic by appearing as another girl from the orphanage to Tip, in order to convince her into accepting her offer to join her brothel.[3] She was later shown using the same abilities to appear to Dorothy as her mother.[4] She is also seemingly capable of teleportation, having suddenly appeared in the bathtub and surprising Tip.[3] West also demonstrated the ability to transport herself and another, seemingly through some sort of magical "flight".[7]
Mistress West is also very adept at the movement of objects, as seen when she tortured Dorothy by simple hand gestures. She was also shown capable of communicating with her sister Glinda across great distances through the use of a white blanket, by which she was able to invoke Glinda spiritually.[4]
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
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Promotional stills[]
Appearances[]
- "The Beast Forever"/"Prison of the Abject"
- "Mistress - New - Mistress"
- "Science and Magic"
- "Everybody Lies"
- "Beautiful Wickedness"
- "They Came First"
- "Lions in Winter"
- "The Villain That's Become"
- "No Place Like Home"
Behind the scenes[]
- West is based on Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's Oz novel.
- West has a much younger appearance than portrayed in the L. Frank Baum's Oz novels (though it is hinted that she is older than she appears). In the books, both witches of the East and West are old crones.
- The Facebook page of Emerald City pictured West as "The Moon" tarot card.[10]
References[]
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