Wizard's dictatorship

The Wizard's dictatorship is the authoritarian regime that has ruled Oz since the Wizard's coup against the Ozma Regent, maintained through a combination of propaganda, secret police, military force, and the systematic suppression of dissent, including the marginalization of Animals and the exploitation of minority populations. The regime's power is exercised through institutions like the Gale Force, the Banns on Animal Mobility, and the manipulation of education and sorcery, and it is opposed by a scattered network of rebels, including Elphaba, who ultimately confronts the Wizard in a failed assassination attempt against his agent Madame Morrible.

Origins and Consolidation of Power

The Wizard seized power from the Ozma Regent in what is referred to as the Glorious Revolution, a coup that occurred sixteen years before the main narrative. The Ozma Regent was jailed, and the rightful heir, Ozma Tippetarius, was spirited away and allegedly frozen in a cave. The Wizard then dissolved the Hall of Approval indefinitely, ruling without legislative oversight. He consolidated his rule by presenting himself as a strong leader capable of maintaining order, with Madame Morrible noting that "a strong fist does wonders in a rotten situation" and that the Wizard "rules the Emerald City with an industry and an ability that the decaying knob-jawed Ozma line never dreamed of." The regime's propaganda portrays the Wizard as a benevolent figure, with slogans like "Safe Keep the Wizard's Laws, and the Wizard's Laws Will Keep You Safe" appearing on public scrolls.

Mechanisms of Control: The Gale Force and Terror

The dictatorship relies heavily on the Gale Force, a paramilitary organization that functions as a secret police. The Gale Force conducts raids on households at three in the morning, drags away dissenters, breaks up printing presses, holds mock trials for treason at midnight, and executes people at dawn. Elphaba describes this as "government by terror," noting that the Gale Force "harvest a crop of victims on a monthly basis." The regime also maintains a standing army and has enforced conscription, with the Gale Force threatening to outnumber the Royal Army. The Wizard's forces are deployed to suppress dissent in the provinces, including a slash-and-burn mission into Quadling Country and the garrisoning of troops at Red Windmill to keep Elphaba in check at Kiamo Ko.

The Banns on Animal Mobility and Systemic Oppression

A key policy of the dictatorship is the Banns on Animal Mobility, which restrict Animals from traveling on public conveyances, working in the professions or the public sector, and effectively force them back to farmlands and wilds. Doctor Dillamond explains that the Banns mean "any Animal coming of age is prohibited from working in the professions or the public sector" and that they are "to be herded back to the farmlands and wilds if they wanted to work for wages at all." The regime also engages in the systematic exploitation of minority populations, particularly the Quadlings, whose lands are despoiled for ruby deposits. The Wizard's engineers drain the Quadling badlands, chase the Quadlings out, round them up in settlement camps, and starve them. Elphaba's father, Frex, witnesses this and goes "barmy over it." The regime also targets the Vinkus, with plans to "eradicate any appreciable population in that godforsaken place."

The Wizard's Persona and Ultimate Weakness

The Wizard himself is a reclusive figure who rarely appears in public, often ruling from behind a screen or through ministers. He presents himself as a powerful magician, using illusions like a skeleton of dancing lights and a storm in the Throne Room to intimidate visitors. However, he is ultimately revealed as a charlatan who came to Oz from another world in a hot-air balloon, seeking the Grimmerie, a book of magic. He admits to Elphaba that he "had not intended to rule a country here, but just to find this document and return it to its own world." His regime is sustained by a network of collaborators, including Madame Morrible, who recruits young women as Adepts to serve as secret agents. The Wizard's dictatorship begins to unravel when Dorothy Gale arrives, and he ultimately absconds from the Palace in a hot-air balloon just hours before a Palace revolt, leaving Oz to its uncertain future.