Exploration of the book The Emerald City of Oz, Part Four

The Nome King, the Chief Whimsie, the Grand Gallipoot of the Growleywogs, and the First and Foremost of the Phanfasms led their armies toward the last bit of earth to be broken through into the grounds of the Royal Palace of Oz.

Ozma gave her friends the option to be wished back to Kansas via the Magic Belt, but all of them, even Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, elected to stay with the girl ruler and face whatever was to happen.

In lieu of fighting, Ozma announced that she would meet the enemy when they emerged at the Forbidden Fountain, wherein was kept the Water of Oblivion, which would erase the memory of any who drank it. This gave the Scarecrow an idea, which he told everyone he would only tell to Ozma, but he would let everyone know if they met him and Ozma at the fountain the next morning.

With the fearsome Phanfasms in the lead, the forces of evil drew ever nearer. Guph advised the Nome King that once the Magic Belt was again around Roquat's waist, he should wish their "allies" back to where they came from. By and by, many of the enemies of Oz began to cough and sneeze, realizing that the tunnel seemed to have become awfully dusty...

Which indeed it had, thanks to Ozma and that selfsame Magic Belt per the suggestion of the Scarecrow. By the time the hordes of horrors reached the surface, their throats were parched and they made straight for the Forbidden Fountain and its memory-destroying Water of Oblivion!

As Ozma and her closest subjects watched, all the monsters became as harmless as lambs. Only the Nome King had not drunk of it, but that was soon remedied when the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman hoisted the livid monarch up into the air and down into the water.

Ozma spoke sweetly to the Nome King, giving him back his forgotten name and telling him to go home with his forces, which he happily did. As for the other three armies, Ozma wished them to their homes with the Belt.

Amid the ensuing celebration, Ozma realized that as this enemy army was able to come so close to conquering Oz, other enemies, or at least other strangers, could endanger the safety and secrecy of her lovely kingdom.

So Ozma, Dorothy, and nearly everyone else who had played a part in this tale went to consult Glinda. The wise sorceress suggested making Oz invisible to the eyes of all outside of it. Dorothy asked if she really could.

"'It is already invisible,' Glinda stated. 'I knew Ozma's wishes, and performed the Magic Spell before you arrived.'

"Ozma seized the hand of the Sorceress and pressed it gratefully.

"'Thank you!' she said."

The book closes with Baum's transcription of a letter that reached him from Dorothy, explaining that Oz was now cut off from the rest of the world and would never be heard from again.

Or would it...?

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