Study Guide

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Volume 5, Part 2

By Gregory Maguire

Volume 5, Part 2

The Witch is hanging out at Kiamo Ko performing a wing-plasty on some unfortunate monkeys.
Yes, she's attaching wings to monkeys using Doctor Dillamond's notes and the Grimmerie:

She had more or less perfected the procedure, after years of botched and hideous failures. (5.2.1)
Yikes. Elphaba is definitely becoming more of a Wicked Witch. Or at least a mad scientist.
The Witch gets a letter from her brother Shell informing her of Nessa's death.
Elphaba barely reacts to the news and quickly gets back to her monkey surgery. She later goes down for dinner.
Nanny, Liir, and Elphaba all live at Kiamo Ko.
Nanny is very old and going deaf, which leads to rather hilarious – in a macabre, black-humor way – exchanges like this:

"Nanny," said Liir, "Nessie's dead." […]

"Nessie did what?" screeched Nanny, looking rheumily out at them.

"Did died dead," intoned Chistery.

"Did what?"

"Nessie DIED." said Liir. (5.2.19-24)
Poor Nanny.
Nanny then starts bemoaning Sarima's fate.
Elphaba says she's never stopped trying to find Sarima and her family, but she can't get any information from the militia, who continue to guard the compound.
Nanny blames Elphaba for the tragedy, but in a fairly good-natured way.
It's been seven years since Sarima and the others disappeared.
Elphaba now sets off for Munchkinland to attend Nessa's funeral.