Tornado in Munchkinland

The Tornado in Munchkinland is the single most consequential natural disaster in Oz's recorded history, a vortex of wind that not only devastates the agricultural heart of the secessionist Free State of Munchkinland but also kills Nessarose, the self-styled Wicked Witch of the East, and deposits a farmhouse—and a girl named Dorothy—from another world onto the stage of Oz's political crisis. The event is simultaneously an act of random destruction, a political assassination, and the catalyst for the Wizard's final gambit against Elphaba.

Causes and Character of the Storm

The tornado was not a typical weather event. It was described as "a wind twisted up in a vortical braid," a concentrated funnel of energy that seemed to possess an almost intelligent design. The noise of its arrival was so unprecedented that witnesses struggled to describe it: journalists reached for apocalyptic scriptures, pleasure faithers heard the sound of clockworks running down, and the superstitious believed it was the collapsing of time itself. The storm's path was eerily selective. It drove into Oz thirty miles north of Stonespar End, then "delicately maneuvered around Colwen Grounds, leaving every rose petal attached and every thorn in place." From there, it sliced through the Corn Basket, the breadbasket of the renegade nation, devastating the basis of its economy. The tornado then petered out "as if by design" at the precise spot—the hamlet of Center Munch—where Nessarose was awarding prizes for perfect attendance at religious education classes.

The Death of Nessarose

The storm dropped a house directly on Nessarose. The house, of an exotic design never seen in Oz, was set down almost intact upon the platform rigged for the visiting dignitaries. All the children at the ceremony survived to pray for Nessarose's soul. The event was immediately mythologized. Jokes circulated: "You can't hide from destiny, that house had her name on it" and "Everybody needs to grow up and leave home sometimes, but sometimes HOME DOESN'T LIKE FE." The alien girl who emerged from the house, Dorothy, was by virtue of her survival elevated to living sainthood. The house carried passengers: Dorothy and her dog, Toto. The mere presence of a house set down intact was stretching credulity; that creatures survived such a fall was either patently unbelievable or a clear indication of divine intervention. Predictably, there were reports of blind people suddenly crying "I can see!" and a lame Pig that stood and danced a jig.

Consequences and Aftermath

The tornado's political consequences were immediate and far-reaching. Glinda, who happened to be in Munchkinland on charity business, arrived on the scene before most locals had figured out what had hit them. She found Nessarose's more unhappy subjects, who were the greater in number, reveling at their release from her "particular sort of fundamentalist bondage." Glinda, recognizing the political danger of Dorothy being elevated as a figurehead by the fickle Munchkinlanders, decided to get the girl out of Munchkinland before a civil war tore the place up even worse. She sent Dorothy to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard to send her home. Crucially, Glinda gave Dorothy Nessarose's silver shoes as a sort of protection, a decision that would later enrage Elphaba. The tornado also created a power vacuum. With Nessarose dead, the honorific of Eminence was abolished, and the Free State of Munchkinland was left leaderless, ripe for the Wizard's planned reunification. The event also brought Dorothy into direct conflict with Elphaba, as the Wizard, seeing an opportunity, sent the girl and her companions to kill the Wicked Witch of the West in exchange for their wishes.