In the future, wealthy industrialists and business magnates and their top employees reign over the city of Metropolis from colossal skyscrapers, while underground-dwelling workers toil to operate the great machines that power it. Joh Fredersen is the city's master. His son, Freder, idles away his time at sports and in a pleasure garden, but is interrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Maria, who has brought a group of workers' children to witness the lifestyle of their rich "brothers". Maria and the children are ushered away, but Freder becomes fascinated by her and goes to the lower levels to find her. In the machine halls, he witnesses the explosion of a huge machine that kills and injures numerous workers. Freder has a hallucination that the machine is a temple of Moloch and the workers are being fed to it. When the hallucination ends and he sees the dead workers being carried away on stretchers, he hurries to tell his father about the accident.

Grot, foreman of the Heart Machine, brings Fredersen secret maps found on the dead workers. Fredersen fires his assistant Josaphat for not being the first to bring him details about the explosion or the maps. After seeing his father's cold indifference towards the harsh conditions faced by the workers, Freder secretly rebels against him by deciding to help the workers. He enlists Josaphat's assistance and returns to the machine halls, where he trades places with a worker who has collapsed from exhaustion.

Fredersen takes the maps to the inventor Rotwang to learn their meaning. Rotwang had been in love with a woman named Hel, who left him to marry Fredersen and later died giving birth to Freder. Rotwang shows Fredersen a robot he has built to "resurrect" Hel. The maps show a network of catacombs beneath Metropolis, and the two men go to investigate. They eavesdrop on a gathering of workers, including Freder. Maria addresses them, prophesying the arrival of a mediator who can bring the working and ruling classes together. Freder believes he can fill the role and declares his love for Maria. Fredersen orders Rotwang to give Maria's likeness to the robot so that it can discredit her among the workers, but is unaware that Rotwang plans to use the robot to destroy Metropolis and ruin both Fredersen and Freder. Rotwang kidnaps Maria, transfers her likeness to the robot and sends her to Fredersen. Freder finds the two embracing and, believing it is the real Maria, falls into a prolonged delirium. Intercut with his hallucinations, the false Maria unleashes chaos throughout Metropolis, driving men to murder and stirring dissent among the workers.

Freder recovers and returns to the catacombs, accompanied by Josaphat. Finding the false Maria urging the workers to rise up and destroy the machines, he accuses her of not being the real Maria. The workers follow the false Maria from their city to the machine halls, leaving their children behind. They destroy the machines, triggering a flood in their city deeper underground. The real Maria, having escaped from Rotwang's house, rescues the children with help from Freder and Josaphat. Grot berates the celebrating workers for abandoning their children in the flooded city. Believing their children to be dead, the hysterical workers capture the false Maria and burn her at the stake. A horrified Freder watches, not understanding the deception until the fire reveals her to be a robot. Rotwang becomes delusional, seeing the real Maria as his lost Hel, and chases her to the roof of the cathedral, pursued by Freder. The two men fight as Fredersen and the workers watch from the street, and Rotwang falls to his death. Freder fulfills his role as mediator by linking the hands of Fredersen and Grot to bring them together.

Adventurer Lara Croft defeats a robot in an Egyptian tomb, revealed to be a training exercise arena in her family manor, where she lives with her technical assistant Bryce and butler Hilary. In Venice, as the first phase of a planetary alignment begins, the Illuminati search for a key to rejoin halves of a mysterious artifact, "the Triangle," which must be completed by the final phase, a solar eclipse. Manfred Powell assures the cabal that the artifact is almost ready, but has no real idea of its location.

Lara's father Lord Richard Croft, long missing and presumed dead, appears to her in a dream. Lara awakens to a mysterious ticking, and finds a strange clock hidden inside the manor. On her way to consult a friend of her father's, Wilson, Lara crosses paths with Alex West, an American associate and fellow adventurer. Lara shows Wilson the clock, and he puts her in touch with Powell. Lara shows Powell photographs of the clock, which he claims not to recognize.

That night, armed commandos invade the house and steal the clock, bringing it to Powell. The next morning, a prearranged letter from Lara's father arrives, explaining that the clock is the key to retrieving the halves of the Triangle of Light, an ancient object with the power to control time. After misuse of its power destroyed an entire city, the Triangle was separated: one half was hidden in a tomb at Angkor Cambodia, and the other in the ruined city located at Ukok Plateau, Siberia. Her father tasks her to find and destroy both pieces before the Illuminati can exploit the Triangle's power.

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In Cambodia, Lara finds Powell, who has hired West, and his commandos already at the temple. West solves part of the temple's puzzle, and Powell prepares to insert the clock at the moment of alignment. Lara, realizing they are mistaken, finds the correct keyhole; with only seconds left, Lara persuades Powell to throw her the clock. She unlocks the first piece of the Triangle, and the statues of the temple come to life and attack the intruders. West, Powell, and his remaining men flee with the clock, leaving Lara to defeat an enormous six-armed guardian statue. She escapes with the first piece; recovering at a Buddhist monastery, she arranges a meeting with Powell.

In Venice, Powell proposes a partnership to find the Triangle, and informs Lara that her father was a member of the Illuminati, and offers to use the Triangle's power to resurrect him; though reluctant, she agrees to join forces. Lara and Bryce travel with Powell, West, and the leader of the Illuminati to Siberia. Entering the tomb, they discover a giant orrery, which activates as the alignment nears completion. Lara retrieves the second half of the Triangle, and Powell kills the Illuminati's leader to restore the Triangle himself, but the halves will not fuse. Realizing Lara knows the solution, Powell kills West to persuade her to complete the Triangle to restore West's and her father's lives. Lara complies, but seizes the Triangle herself.

In a "crossing" of time, Lara faces the memory of her father, who urges her to destroy the Triangle for good rather than save his life. Returning to the tomb, Lara manipulates time to save West and stab Powell, and destroys the Triangle. The tomb begins to collapse, and all flee but the wounded Powell, who reveals to Lara that he murdered her father. After a hand-to-hand fight, she kills Powell, retrieving her father's pocket watch and escaping the tomb.

Back in her manor, Lara visits her father's memorial and finds that Bryce has reprogrammed the robot, and Hilary presents her with her pistols, which she takes with a smile.

Introduction

Mary Shelley states in the introduction that in 1818 she discovered, in the Sibyl's cave near Naples, a collection of prophetic writings painted on leaves by the Cumaean Sibyl. She has edited these writings into the current narrative, the first-person narrative of a man living at the end of the 21st century, commencing in 2073 and concluding in 2100. Despite the chronological setting, the world of ''The Last Man'' appears to be relatively similar to the era in which it was written.

Volume 1

Lionel's father was a friend of the king before he was cast away because of his gambling. Lionel's father left to take his life, but before he did so he left a letter for the king to take care of his family after his death. After Lionel's father died the letter was never delivered. Lionel and his sister grow up with no parental influence, and as a result, grow to be uncivilised. Lionel develops a hatred of the royal family, and Perdita grows to enjoy her isolation from society. When the king leaves the throne, the monarchy comes to an end and a republic is created. When the king dies, the Countess attempts to raise their son, Adrian, to reclaim the throne, but Adrian opposes his mother and refuses to take the throne. Adrian moves to Cumberland where Lionel, who bears a grudge against Adrian and his family for the neglect of the Verney family, intends to terrorise and confront Adrian. He is mollified by Adrian's good nature and his explanation that he only recently discovered the letter. Lionel and Adrian become close friends, and Lionel becomes civilised and philosophical under Adrian's influence. Adrian assists Lionel in pursuing political endeavours in Vienna which Lionel accepts and leaves for 2 years but chooses to return to England because he hasn't heard from either Adrian or his sister.

Lionel returns to England to face the personal turmoil amongst his acquaintances. Lord Raymond, who came to be renowned for his exploits in a war between Greece and Turkey, has returned to England in search of political position, and soon Perdita and Evadne both fall in love with him. On discovering that his beloved, Evadne, is in love with Raymond, Adrian goes into exile, presumably mad. Raymond intends to marry Idris (with whom Lionel is in love) as a first step towards becoming king, with the help of the Countess. However, he ultimately chooses his love for Perdita over his ambition, and the two marry. Under Lionel's care, Adrian recovers, although he remains physically weak. On learning of the love between Idris and Lionel, the Countess schemes to drug Idris, bring her to Austria, and force her to make a politically motivated marriage. Idris discovers the plot and flees to Lionel, who marries her soon after. The Countess leaves for Austria, resentful of her children and of Lionel.

Adrian and the others live happily together until Raymond runs for Lord Protector and wins. Perdita soon adjusts to her newfound social position, while Raymond becomes well-beloved as a benevolent administrator. He discovers, however, that Evadne, after the political and financial ruin of her husband (on account of her own political schemes) is living in poverty and obscurity in London, unwilling to plead for assistance. Raymond attempts to support Evadne by employing her artistic skills in secrecy, and later nursing her in illness, but Perdita learns of the relationship and suspects infidelity. Her suspicions arouse Raymond's proud and passionate nature and the two separate. Raymond resigns his position and leaves to rejoin the war in Greece, accompanied for a time by Adrian. Shortly after the wounded Adrian returns to England, rumours arise that Raymond has been killed. Perdita, loyal in spite of everything, convinces Lionel to bring her and Clara to Greece to find him.

Volume 2

Arriving in Athens, Lionel learns that Raymond had been captured by the Ottomans, and negotiates his return to Greece. Shortly after this, Lionel and Raymond both return to the Greek army and fight their way to Constantinople. After a decisive battle near the city's gates, Lionel discovers Evadne, dying of wounds received fighting in the war. Before she dies, Evadne prophesies Raymond's death, a prophecy which confirms Raymond's own suspicions. Raymond's intention to enter the city causes dissension and desertion amongst the army because of reports of the plague. Raymond enters the city alone to find that it has been seemingly deserted, and soon dies in an explosion, the result of a trap laid by the Turks. He is taken to a site near Athens for burial. Perdita refuses to leave Greece, but Lionel drugs her and brings her aboard a steamship, believing it to be in the best interests of Clara. Perdita awakens and, distraught at Raymond's death, drowns herself by throwing herself overboard.

In 2092, while Lionel and Adrian attempt to return their lives to normality, the plague continues to spread across Europe and the Americas, and reports of a black sun cause panic throughout the world, and storm surges flood coastal towns across Europe. At first, England is thought to be safe, but soon the plague reaches even there. Ryland, recently elected Lord Protector, is unprepared for the plague, and flees northward, later dying alone amidst a stockpile of provisions. Adrian takes command and is largely effective at maintaining order and humanity in England, although the plague rages on summer after summer. Ships arrive in Ireland carrying survivors from America, who lawlessly plunder Ireland and Scotland before invading England. Adrian raises a military force against them and ultimately is able to resolve the situation peacefully.

Volume 3

The few remaining survivors decide to abandon England in search of an easier climate. On the eve of their departure to Dover, Lionel receives a letter from Lucy Martin, who was unable to join the exiles because of her mother's illness. Lionel and Idris travel through a snowstorm to assist Lucy, but Idris, weak from years of stress and maternal fears, dies along the way during the fierce weather. Lionel brings her body to Windsor Castle, interring her in St George's Chapel, and is met by the Countess, who reconciles with Lionel at Idris' tomb. Lionel recovers Lucy (whose mother has died), and the party reaches Dover en route to France.

In France, Adrian discovers that the earlier emigrants have divided into factions, amongst them a fanatical religious sect led by a false messiah who claims that his followers will be saved from disease. Adrian unites most of the factions, but this latter group declares violent opposition to Adrian. Lionel sneaks into Paris, where the cult has settled, to try to rescue Juliet. She refuses to leave because the impostor has her baby, but she helps Lionel to escape after the impostor's followers imprison him. Later, when Juliet's baby sickens, Juliet discovers that the impostor has been hiding the effects of the plague from his followers. She is killed warning the other followers, after which the impostor commits suicide, and his followers return to the main body of exiles at Versailles.

The exiles travel towards Switzerland, hoping to spend the summer in a colder climate less favourable to the plague. By the time they reach Switzerland, however, all but four (Lionel, Adrian, Clara, and Evelyn) have died. The four spend a few relatively happy seasons at Switzerland, Milan, and Como before Evelyn dies of typhus. The survivors attempt to sail across the Adriatic Sea from Venice to Greece, but a sudden storm destroys the boat and drowns Clara and Adrian. Lionel swims to shore at Ravenna. Fearing that he is the last human left on Earth, Lionel follows the Apennine Mountains to Rome, befriending a sheepdog along the way. A year passes without anyone else entering Rome, and Lionel resolves to leave with his dog and live the rest of his life as a wanderer of the depopulated continents of Africa and Asia in search of other survivors. The story ends in the year 2100.

Set in the late 1960s and 1970s, the story describes the efforts of Episcopal bishop Timothy Archer, who must cope with the theological and philosophical implications of the newly discovered Gnostic Zadokite scroll fragments. The character of Bishop Archer is loosely based on the controversial, iconoclastic Episcopal bishop James Pike, who in 1969 died of exposure while exploring the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea in the West Bank.

As the novel opens, it is 1980. On the day that John Lennon is shot and killed, Angel Archer visits the houseboat of Edgar Barefoot, (a guru based on Alan Watts), and reflects on the lives of her deceased relatives. During the sixties, she was married to Jeff Archer, son of the Episcopal Bishop of California Timothy Archer. She introduced Kirsten Lundborg, a friend, to her father-in law, and the two began an affair. Kirsten has a son, Bill, from a previous relationship, who has schizophrenia, although he is knowledgeable as an automobile mechanic. Tim is already being investigated for his allegedly heretical views about the Holy Ghost.

Jeff commits suicide due to his romantic obsession with Kirsten. However, after poltergeist activity, he manifests to Tim and Kirsten at a seance, also attended by Angel. Angel is skeptical about the efficacy of astrology, and believes that the unfolding existential situation of Tim and Kirsten is akin to Friedrich Schiller's German Romanticism era masterpiece, the Wallenstein trilogy (insofar as their credulity reflects the loss of rational belief in contemporary consensual reality).

The three are told that Kirsten and Tim will die. As predicted, Kirsten loses her remission from cancer, and also commits suicide after a barbiturate overdose. Tim travels to Israel to investigate whether or not a psychotropic mushroom was associated with the resurrection, but his car stalls, he becomes disoriented, falls from a cliff, and dies in the desert.

On the houseboat, Angel is reunited with Bill, Kirsten's son who has schizophrenia. He claims to have Tim's reincarnated spirit within him, but is soon institutionalized. Angel agrees to care for Bill, in return for a rare record (''Koto Music'' by Kimio Eto) that Edgar offers her.

''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' is one of Dick's most overtly philosophical and intellectual works. While Dick's novels usually employ multiple narrators or an omniscient perspective, this story is told in the first person by a single narrator: Angel Archer, Bishop Archer's daughter-in-law.

The events of the story begin four billion years before the present day on the primordial Earth. An alien landing craft resembling "an extrusion of magma from one of the more pestilent pits of hell" crash-lands on a plane of mud. The landing craft belongs to a secessionist group of nine dozen Salaxalans, aliens who come from a violent and troubled world, but who wish to start again by colonizing the lifeless Earth, building a paradise of peace, music, art, and enlightenment. All nine dozen of the Salaxalans came down on the crashed landing craft to inspect their new home, and they are destined to be destroyed in a violent explosion when their engineer makes a critical error fixing the damaged engine.

Before the Salaxalan engineer can make the error, the human time traveler Michael Wenton-Weakes appears on the plane of mud through a portal in time, carrying with him the four billion year old ghost of the Salaxalan engineer. The ghost intends to prevent his past self from making the error that kills him and his compatriots. The possessed Michael ascends the crash-landed ship and encounters the alien engineer, whereupon the ghost screams horribly and the 'lights' of both the ghost and the living Salaxalan engineer abruptly cease. A millisecond later, before Michael can return to his time portal, the ship's ignition sequence begins and the Salaxalan landing craft explodes anyway, despite the efforts of the time traveling ghost. The massive conflagration causes the next morning to be "an altogether livelier day than any yet known," hinting that some kind of abiogenesis or panspermia has occurred.

Four billion years later and two hundred years before the present day, the ghost of the Salaxalan engineer discovers the existence of a time machine at St Cedd's college and tries to influence the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge to convince the time machine's owner, Professor Urban "Reg" Chronotis, to allow him to use it. The ghost was able to influence Samuel Taylor Coleridge because of a sympathy between them, but since Samuel Taylor Coleridge used too much laudanum, he was too calm for the ghost to make him do much. Some of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry was influenced by the ghost, particularly the mysterious (and fictional) second part of "Kubla Khan." The ghost's power begins to ebb, and he is unable to influence the living for the next two hundred years.

In the present, computer programmer Richard MacDuff attends the Coleridge dinner at St Cedd's to avoid his boss, Gordon Way. At the dinner Richard witnesses his former tutor, Reg, perform an inexplicable magic trick in which he makes a salt cellar disappear, then reveals it by smashing a clay pot from Ancient Greece, showing it to be embedded within the clay of the pot. No one can explain the trick, but all the other professors dismiss it as merely one of Reg's usual "childish conjuring tricks." Reg performed the trick by palming the salt cruet up his sleeve and 'briefly' excusing himself to go to his time machine, where he traveled back to Ancient Greece, tracked down the man who made the pot over the course of three weeks, persuaded him to bake the cruet into the pot, and then stopped by a planet in the Pleiades star cluster to obtain some powder to disguise his new tan. He then returned to the present, passed his past self on his way back to the dinner, and smashed the pot, revealing the cruet. The dinner concludes with a reading of "Kubla Khan."

Before this trick, Reg had maintained a strict policy of only going back in time to observe past events without changing them (for example, going back in time to re-watch missed television programs) because in a previous excursion through time he successfully prevented the extinction of the coelacanth but, at the same time, accidentally caused the extinction of the dodo bird. Reg wishes to avoid all the paradoxes and unintended consequences associated with time travel, but he broke his rule because the Salaxalan ghost had been influencing him for several weeks, trying to get him to go back in time to prevent the accident that destroyed his ship. Reg and the ghost do not have enough sympathy with one another for the ghost to have a strong influence on Reg, so the most the ghost can manage is to make Reg visit the planet in the Pleiades to get some facial powder.

While on the alien planet, the Salaxalan ghost leaves Reg and tries to possess an Electric Monk, an alien labor saving device designed to believe things so people don't have to believe them, in the same way that answering machines listen to phone calls for people or video recorders watch television for people. The ghost assumes that the Electric Monk will be a pliable subject to possess, but this particular Electric Monk is broken and it believes random things too readily for the ghost to control it. The ghost is able to convince the Electric Monk to ride its horse through the time portal leading back to Reg's room on present day Earth, but the ghost cannot control the erratic Electric Monk well enough to get it to operate the time machine. Richard and Reg later find the monk's horse in the professor's bathroom, which does not surprise Reg because he assumes the horse came in through one of his time portals. The Electric Monk goes off and begins believing and doing random things around St Cedd's. An annoyed porter of the college tells the Electric Monk to "shoot off," which induces the malfunctioning monk to hide in the trunk of Gordon Way's car and shoot him with a shotgun when he comes to check why the boot is loose.

Having been violently killed while leaving a lengthy message on the answering machine of his sister, Susan Way, Gordon becomes a ghost and tries to find a way to finish his last call. His ghostly voice is recorded on the answering machine saying, "Susan! Susan, help me! Help me for God's sake. Susan, I'm dead..." but before he can say much more he accidentally hangs up. Meanwhile the Electric Monk, who is not used to people dying when they get shot, decides to drive Gordon's corpse the rest of the way home as a courtesy, leaving Gordon's ghost standing on the roadside.

Back in Reg's room, having failed to possess the Electric Monk, the ghost of the Salaxalan engineer turns its efforts on Richard and tries to control him, still with little success. On his drive home, Richard briefly sees the ghost of Gordon standing on the roadside in his headlights, a fact he reports to the police officer who questions him when his car spins out as a result. Richard returns to his London flat and engages in odd behavior under the influence of the Salaxalan ghost, including climbing a drainpipe to break into the flat belonging to his girlfriend, Gordon's sister Susan, to erase an embarrassing message left on her answering machine because the Salaxalan ghost is enhancing his sense of regret.

Susan returns from a night out with Michael Wenton-Weakes. Seeing that he cannot control Richard, the Salaxalan ghost tries to possess Michael. Michael, with the encouragement of the ghost, murders his professional rival Ross. He has a strong sympathy with the Salaxalan ghost, who views humanity disdainfully as "slimy things with legs" that supplanted the Salaxalans and overran what should have been the Salaxalans' paradise planet. Michael is also intensely interested in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry, and it is implied that this interest greatly enhances the power the Salaxalan ghost has over Michael. Because of their strong sympathy, the Salaxalan ghost is able to assume direct control of Michael's body and goes to buy scuba gear.

The next day Richard visits former schoolmate Svlad Cjelli, who has since changed his name several times and is currently calling himself Dirk Gently. Dirk is a self-claimed "Holistic Detective" who believes in the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things" and is currently searching for a missing cat. Dirk informs Richard that he is a suspect in the murder of Gordon, offers to take Richard as a client, and begins to unravel the chain of events which Richard describes. Dirk concludes that Richard had been possessed by a ghost and that something impossible must have occurred for the salt cellar to end up embedded inside the ancient pot, though he cannot fathom what.

Dirk investigates Richard's house and discovers the recording of Gordon's last call, which Susan had given to Richard so that he could pass it on to Gordon's secretary. Dirk hears Gordon's last living words, the gunshot that killed him, and Gordon's short posthumous message. Gordon's ghost tries to possess Dirk, but Dirk recognizes that he is being influenced and furiously rebukes the attempt. Dirk records over the last portion of the tape, erasing Gordon's ghostly message and ensuring that the tape will serve to prove Richard's innocence in Gordon's murder. This act drives Gordon's ghost into a rage. Gordon goes off and stumbles upon the mutilated body of Ross, Michael's professional rival. Gordon then goes to Dirk's office and desperately tries to phone Susan to warn her about Michael, but he has trouble operating the phone and only gets Susan's answering machine.

After several failed attempts to figure out Reg's magic trick, Dirk finds a child on the street and relates his conundrum. Upon hearing Dirk's story the child sarcastically says, "It's bleedin' obvious, innit, he must've 'ad a bleedin' time machine," which causes Dirk to realize that Reg must be in possession of a time machine. Dirk is reluctant to go back to St Cedd's, having been expelled from the college on charges of plagiarism, but he is so intent upon the case that he convinces Richard to go with him to meet Reg. Confronted by Dirk and Richard, Reg admits that he does have a time machine and explains that he is an extremely ancient, possibly immortal, retired time traveler. Reg also explains that time travel paradoxes regularly occur, and that they do not result in the destruction of the universe, but merely a lot of uncertainty and confused memories for everyone involved.

The Salaxalan ghost, still in possession of Michael, arrives at Reg's quarters and begs them to take him back in time to just prior to the explosion of the Salaxalan ship so that he can prevent his past self from messing up the engine repairs. Dirk is suspicious of the Salaxalan ghost and insists on seeing the Salaxalan mother ship, which is still in orbit four billion years later. The four of them use Reg's time machine to open a portal to the alien ship and Richard hears some of the Salaxalans' music for the first time, which is very similar to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and other classical music. He is so overcome by emotion upon hearing "the music of life" that he faints. Dirk and Reg take him to Reg's bed to lie down.

Reg's time machine intercepts a call from Susan intended for Richard and reroutes it to Reg's phone. Richard picks up and speaks to Susan, who had gotten a call from Gordon's ghost warning her of Michael's murder of Ross. Richard rushes to tell Reg and Dirk, but Michael has already gone through the time portal to the primordial Earth. As they watch the Salaxalan ghost take Michael's body toward the ship, Dirk realizes that the similarity between Michael's jealousy toward his rival and the Salaxalan ghost's jealousy of humanity was what allowed the Salaxalan ghost to possess him. Dirk concludes that the Salaxalans intended to settle permanently on Earth and that the explosion of their ship was what caused the beginning of life on the planet. Averting the explosion of the Salaxalan landing craft may erase humanity from time, along with all life on Earth. The trio can think of no way to prevent Michael from reaching the ship since he has already gone out into the poisonous atmosphere of the primordial Earth wearing his scuba gear and they cannot follow. Dirk sits down dejectedly on Michael's discarded coat and finds a book of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry, which inspires him with a way to disrupt the sympathy between Michael and the Salaxalan ghost. In order to foil the Salaxalan ghost's plans, Dirk, Richard, and Reg travel to the 19th century, where Dirk interrupts Samuel Taylor Coleridge as he is composing "Kubla Khan," becoming the "man from Porlock" and preventing the second half of "Kubla Khan" from ever being written.

During Dirk's escapades with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Reg and Richard discuss how this fix will change the timeline. Reg realizes that making Michael lose his sympathy with the Salaxalan ghost and causing the Salaxalan ship to explode all over again will result in two ghosts of the Salaxalan engineer (the original ghost and the time-traveling ghost) being forced to suffer for four billion more years. Dissatisfied with this outcome, Reg excuses himself to go behind a tree "for a moment." He goes back to his time machine and uses it to save the Salaxalans a millisecond before the explosion of their landing craft, conveying them forward in time to their orbiting mother ship in the 19th century and sending them to go look for a different world to build their paradise on. He also steals some samples of the Salaxalans' music, which he noticed Richard loved, and goes throughout history distributing the samples to various composers, including Bach, so that Richard will be able to listen to more of it later. He regrets that he is unable to save more of the Salaxalan music for Richard, but he decides it is more important to avert the suffering of the two Salaxalan ghosts and send the Salaxalans on their way. A flare of light in the night sky above Samuel Taylor Coleridge's cottage signals the departure of the Salaxalan mother ship. Because of Reg's intervention, Dirk's attempt to confound Samuel Taylor Coleridge's writing of "Kubla Khan," thus disrupting the sympathy between Michael and the Salaxalan ghost, may ultimately have had little or nothing to do with humanity's salvation. When Reg returns from his 'momentary' trip behind the tree Richard remarks on his new beard and Reg demurs, saying that he was only doing "a little surgery... nothing drastic."

Upon arrival back in the present Dirk, Richard, and Reg find small changes as a result of their actions in the past, including the works of Bach, which had not existed in their original timeline. When Richard calls Reg to ask about the music, Reg explains what he did, and mentions that the Electric Monk stopped by his place and that he sent the monk and its horse back to where they belonged. Reg also tells Richard that an intelligent young man from British Telecom came and fixed his phone, but broke his time machine in the process. Reg is happy to trade the use of the phone for the time machine, as he can now enjoy his retirement without the temptation of time travel. Dirk learns that the missing cat he was searching for never went missing in this new timeline, instead having died two years earlier in its owners arms, a humorous allusion to Schrödinger's cat, a cat which is alive in one universe and dead in an alternate universe. Dirk sends his client a revised bill that reads, "To: saving human race from total extinction – no charge."

''Dragonflight'' is the story of Lessa, the sole survivor of the noble ruling family of Ruatha Hold on the northern continent of Pern. When the rest of her family is killed by a cruel usurper, Fax, she survives by disguising herself as a drudge (a menial servant), partly through simply adopting a slovenly appearance, but also by using her hereditary telepathic abilities to make others see her as far older and less attractive than she actually is. Her only friend is a watch-wher, a somewhat telepathic animal related to dragons, that guards the Hold. Lessa psychically influences other Hold workers to do less than their best work, or to become clumsy or inefficient, in order to sabotage Ruatha as part of her strategy to make it economically unproductive, so that Fax will renounce it and she can retake her Hold.

F'lar, wingleader at Benden Weyr, and rider of the bronze dragon Mnementh, finds Lessa while searching for candidates to impress a new queen dragon. The current queen has a batch of eggs due to hatch shortly, including a crucial golden egg. After killing Fax in single combat, following the rules of the Pernese code duello, he realises that she manipulated him emotionally to kill Fax and engineered Fax's renouncement. F'lar recognizes that Lessa possesses both unusually strong psychic abilities and great strength of will. He recognizes her potential to be the strongest Weyrwoman in recent history, and the path to his own leadership at Benden Weyr. F'lar convinces a reluctant Lessa to give up her birthright as Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold for the larger domain of the dragonweyr and she agrees to pass the title on to Fax's newborn son (who later features in ''The White Dragon''). F'lar takes Lessa to Benden Weyr, where she Impresses the queen hatchling Ramoth and becomes the Weyrwoman, the new co-leader of the last active Weyr. On Ramoth's first mating flight, Mnementh catches her, and by Weyr tradition, this makes F'lar the Weyrleader.

One Weyr by itself is not enough to defend the planet; there had been six, but the other five Weyrs are now empty, deserted since the last Pass centuries before. In a desperate attempt to increase their numbers, a new queen, Prideth, and her rider, Kylara, are sent back ''between'' times (a recently rediscovered skill) ten turns, to allow Prideth time to mature and reproduce. Lessa travels four hundred turns into the past to bring the five 'missing' Weyrs forward to her present. This is a huge strain for both her and Ramoth. She convinces the dragonriders of the five Weyrs to go with her to their future, and they use the Red Star as a guide to make smaller, less strenuous hops forward in time. This not only provides much needed skilled reinforcements in the battle against Thread, but explains how and why the five Weyrs were abandoned: they came forward in time.

Kate, a fastidious, wholesome American, history teacher, lives in Canada with her fiancé, Charlie, a doctor. While waiting for her Canadian citizenship to come through, Kate has been planning their wedding and the purchase of their first house, complete with a white picket fence.

When Charlie urges her to accompany him to Paris for an upcoming conference, she declines due to her fear of flying and her general intolerance for cheese, secondhand smoke, and the stereotypical idea she has about the French.

A few days later, Kate's plans for the future are crushed when she receives a phone call from Charlie, who tells her he has fallen in love with a French "goddess" named Juliette and he will not be returning. Determined to win him back, Kate boards an Air Canada flight to Paris and is seated next to a Frenchman, Luc Teyssier, whose every word annoys her.

Unknown to Kate, Luc is smuggling a vine cutting and a stolen diamond necklace into France, hoping to use both to start his own vineyard. With the help of a few drinks, Kate is able to tolerate her "rude" and "nicotine saturated and hygiene-deficient" seating partner long enough to arrive safely in Paris. Before deboarding, Luc sneaks the vine and necklace into Kate's bag, knowing she will not be searched at customs.

At the terminal, Luc is spotted by Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon, who insists on giving him a ride during which he searches his bag. Jean-Paul knows of Luc's vocation, but feels "protective" of him as Luc once saved his life. Meanwhile, Kate arrives at the Hôtel George V, where she encounters new levels of French sarcasm and rudeness from the concierge.

While waiting in the lobby with petty thief Bob, Kate sees Charlie and Juliette kissing passionately in a descending elevator and faints. Bob steals her bag and leaves just as Luc arrives. After reviving Kate, Luc realizes who has the necklace, goes with Kate to Bob's apartment, and recovers the bag, absent her money and passport.

Upset with Luc, Kate heads off on her own, and learns that Charlie is traveling south to Cannes to meet Juliette's parents. Luc, meanwhile, realizes the necklace must still be in Kate's bag. He tracks her down to the train station, offers to help her "win back Charlie", and together they board a train to Cannes. That evening, Luc sees Charlie's picture from Kate's locket before she falls asleep. While she sleeps, he tries to check Kate's bag during which she, thinking it's Charlie, kisses him.

The next morning during breakfast, she describes it as a 'delicious dream' with which she woke up 'transformed,' only to sample some of the 452 official government cheeses of France, despite being lactose intolerant. She gets an upset stomach shortly after and is violently ill, and they get off the train at Luc's hometown of La Ravelle in Paulhaguet, where they stay at his family home and vineyard. Kate learns about Luc's past and how he gambled away his vineyard birthright to his brother in a single hand of poker; she also learns that while he may be a schemer, he knows a lot about wine, and dreams of someday buying land for his own winery. As they board the train to Cannes, Kate shows him that she, in fact, has the necklace.

At Cannes, they check into a room at the Carlton Hotel using a stolen credit card. Following Luc's advice, Kate confronts Charlie in front of Juliette on the beach, pretending to be indifferent to him. To make him jealous, Luc pretends to be Kate's lover, and it works. Later that afternoon, Jean-Paul approaches Kate, urging her to convince Luc to return the necklace anonymously to avoid jail. Luc was planning to sell the necklace at Cartier, but agrees to Kate's "new plan" to have her sell the necklace, as that would be safer.

At dinner, Charlie apologizes to Kate and accompanies her to her room, where he tries to seduce her. Rejecting his advances, Kate realizes she no longer wants him, as she has fallen in love with Luc. Meanwhile, in an effort to "ensure victory" for her, Luc takes an all-too-willing Juliette to bed, seducing her, but his plan fails when he calls her "Kate".

The following morning, Kate tells Luc that Charlie wants her back, but quickly leaves the room, saying, "Cartier is waiting". She returns the necklace to Jean-Paul and purchases a Cartier check for $45,782 with her own savings to create the illusion that she sold it. After giving the check to Luc, she leaves for the airport pretending to meet Charlie. Soon after, Jean-Paul approaches Luc and reveals the charade and all that Kate has done for him. Luc rushes to the airport, boards the plane, and confesses his love for her and wants her to stay with him. Sometime later, Kate and he kiss and embrace in their beautiful new vineyard.

A year after Han Solo's capture, C-3PO and R2-D2 are sent to crime lord Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine in a trade bargain made by Luke Skywalker to rescue Han, who is still frozen in carbonite. Disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, Princess Leia infiltrates the palace under the pretense of collecting the bounty on Chewbacca and unfreezes Han, but is caught and enslaved. Luke soon arrives to bargain for his friends' release, but Jabba drops him through a trapdoor to be eaten by a rancor. After Luke kills it, Jabba sentences him, Han, and Chewbacca to death by being fed to the sarlacc, a deadly beast entombed in the desert floor that digests its prey over the course of a millennium. Having hidden his new lightsaber inside , Luke frees himself and his friends, and they battle Jabba's men aboard the crime lord's sail barge. During the chaos, Boba Fett falls into the sarlacc after Han inadvertently damages his jet pack, and Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chains. The group destroy Jabba's sail barge and escape.

As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda, whom he discovers is dying. Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once the Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, and reveals that there is another Skywalker, before vanishing and becoming one with the Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force spirit then tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister, and that he must face Vader again to finish his training and defeat the Empire.

The Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the supervision of the Emperor. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team which includes Luke, Leia and Chewbacca to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so will allow the Rebel Fleet to destroy the Death Star. The team uses a stolen Imperial shuttle to arrive undetected and encounters a tribe of Ewoks, gaining their trust after an initial conflict. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and that he must confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, he is brought before Vader, and fails to convince him to reject the dark side of the Force.

Vader brings Luke to the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side, and reveals that his friends and the Rebel Fleet are headed into a trap. On Endor, Han's team is captured by Imperial forces, but a counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian in the ''Millennium Falcon'' and Admiral Ackbar lead the Rebel assault on the second Death Star, finding its shield still active, and the Imperial fleet waiting for them.

The Emperor reveals to Luke that the Death Star is fully operational and orders the firing of its superlaser, destroying a Rebel starship. He tempts Luke to give in to his anger. Luke attempts to attack him, but Vader intervenes and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side if he does not. In retaliation, Luke defeats Vader, severing his prosthetic hand. The Emperor orders Luke to take Vader's place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself to be a Jedi. Enraged, the Emperor begins torturing Luke to death with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader betrays the Emperor by throwing him down a reactor shaft to his death, but he is mortally electrocuted in the process. At his redeemed father's last request, Luke removes Anakin’s mask and after a brief talk, he dies peacefully in Luke's arms.

After the strike team destroys the shield generator, Lando leads Rebel fighters into the Death Star's core. While the Rebel fleet destroys the Imperial command ship, Lando and X-wing fighter pilot Wedge Antilles destroy the Death Star's main reactor and escape before the station explodes. Meanwhile, Luke escapes in a shuttle. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother. Luke burns Vader's empty armor on a pyre and reunites with his friends. As the Rebels celebrate their victory, Luke notices the Force spirits of , Yoda, and Anakin watching nearby.

The Trade Federation creates turmoil in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in protest of recent legislation taxing major galactic trade routes. The Republic's leader, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret benefactor, orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin an invasion with an army of battle droids, but the Jedi escape and flee to Naboo. During the invasion, rescues a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks. Indebted to , leads the Jedi to Otoh Gunga, the Gungans' underwater city. The Jedi fail to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, to help the planet's surface dwellers, but manage to obtain guidance and underwater transport to Theed, the capital city of Naboo. After rescuing Queen Amidala, the group make their escape from Naboo aboard her Royal Starship, intending to reach the Republic capital planet of Coruscant.

Passing through the Federation blockade, the ship is damaged in the crossfire, and its hyperdrive malfunctions. The ship lands for repairs on the outlying desert planet of Tatooine, situated beyond the Republic's jurisdiction. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Queen Padmé Amidala (in disguise as one of her own handmaidens) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to purchase a new part for their hyperdrive. They encounter a junk dealer, Watto, and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, a gifted pilot and engineer who has built a protocol droid, C-3PO.

Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin, and is convinced that he is the prophesied "Chosen One," destined to restore balance to the Force. With Watto refusing to accept payment in Republic currency, wagers both the required hyperdrive part and Anakin's freedom in a podrace. Anakin wins the race and joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, reluctantly leaving behind his mother, Shmi. En route to their starship, encounters Darth Maul, Sidious' apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala. After a brief lightsaber duel escapes aboard the starship with the others.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escort Amidala to Coruscant so that she can plead her people's case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council that his attacker was a Sith and subsequently asks for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council refuses his request, concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. Undaunted, vows to take up Anakin as his new apprentice. Meanwhile, Naboo's Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable leader and to resolve the crisis. Though she is successful in pushing for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate, and decides to return to Naboo. and are ordered by the Jedi Council to accompany the queen and investigate the return of the Sith, whom they had thought to be extinct for over a millennium.

On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself as the actual queen before the Gungans to gain their trust, and persuades them to help against the Trade Federation. is promoted to general and joins his tribe in a battle against the droid army, while Padmé leads the search for Gunray in Theed. Qui-Gon tells Anakin to hide inside a starfighter in the palace hangar, but he accidentally triggers its autopilot, and flies into space, joining the Naboo pilots in their battle against the Federation droid control ship. With R2's help, Anakin pilots the fighter into the ship and causes its destruction from within, deactivating the droid army. Meanwhile, Maul, who has been dispatched by Sidious to assist Gunray, engages in a lightsaber duel with and . Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon, but is then sliced in half by Obi-Wan and falls down a shaft. Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin before dying in his arms.

Following the battle, Gunray is arrested by the Republic, and Palpatine is elected Chancellor. Master Yoda promotes to the rank of Jedi Knight, and reluctantly accepts Anakin as apprentice. A funeral is held for Qui-Gon, attended by the other Jedi, who contemplate that there is still one Sith remaining since there are always two of them. During a celebratory parade on Naboo, Padmé presents a gift of thanks to the Gungans to establish peace.

Ten years after the battle at Naboo, the Galactic Republic is threatened by a Separatist movement organized by former Jedi Master Count Dooku. Senator Padmé Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a motion to create an army to assist the Jedi against the threat. Narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt upon her arrival, she is placed under the protection of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker. The pair thwart a second attempt on Padmé's life and subdue the assassin, Zam Wesell, who is killed by her employer, a bounty hunter, before she can reveal his identity. The Jedi Council instructs Obi-Wan to find the bounty hunter, while Anakin is tasked to protect Padmé and escort her back to Naboo, where the two fall in love in spite of the Jedi Code that forbids attachments.

Obi-Wan's search leads him to the mysterious ocean planet of Kamino, where he discovers an army of clones being produced for the Republic under the name of Sifo Dyas, a deceased Jedi Master, with bounty hunter Jango Fett serving as their genetic template. Obi-Wan meets with Jango, who reveals that the clones were the idea of a man called Tyranus. Obi-Wan deduces Jango to be the bounty hunter he is seeking, and after a brief battle, places a homing beacon on Jango's ship, ''Slave I''. He then follows Jango and his clone son, Boba, to the planet Geonosis. Meanwhile, Anakin is troubled by visions of his mother, Shmi, in pain and decides to return to his homeworld of Tatooine with Padmé to save her. Watto reveals that he sold Shmi to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars, who then freed and married her. Cliegg tells Anakin that she was abducted by Tusken Raiders weeks earlier and is likely dead. Determined to find his mother, Anakin ventures out and finds her at the Tusken campsite, still barely alive. After she dies in his arms, an enraged Anakin taps into the dark side of the force and massacres the tribe. He later confesses his actions to Padmé and vows that he will find a way to prevent the deaths of those he loves.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers a Separatist gathering led by Count Dooku, who is developing a droid army with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray and ordered the attempts on Padmé's life. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to the Jedi Council but is captured by Separatist droids. Dooku meets Obi-Wan in his cell and explains his role in the Confederacy of Independent Systems' formation, while implying that the Sith Lord Darth Sidious is in control of a large portion of the Galactic Senate. He then invites Obi-Wan to join him and stop Sidious. When Obi-Wan refuses, Dooku claims that Obi-Wan's late master and Dooku's former apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn would have, had he been alive. Meanwhile, Senate Representative Jar Jar Binks proposes a successful vote to grant emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine, allowing the clone army to be authorized.

Anakin and Padmé head to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, but Anakin loses his lightsaber and they are captured by Jango. Dooku sentences the trio to death, but they are saved by a battalion of clone troopers led by Yoda, Mace Windu, and other Jedi. Windu beheads Jango during the ensuing battle. Obi-Wan and Anakin intercept Dooku, and they engage in a lightsaber duel. Dooku injures Obi-Wan and severs Anakin's right arm, but Yoda intercepts and defends them. Dooku uses the Force in an attempt to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan in order to distract Yoda and escapes to Coruscant, where he delivers the plans of a super-weapon to Sidious, who addresses Dooku by his Sith name Tyranus. The Council is left disturbed by Dooku's claim of Sidious controlling the Senate. As the Jedi acknowledge the beginning of the Clone Wars, Anakin is fitted with a robotic hand and marries Padmé in a ceremony on Naboo, with C-3PO, and R2-D2 as the only witnesses.

The Babington plot was related to several separate plans: solicitation of a Spanish invasion of England with the purpose of deposing Protestant Queen Elizabeth and replacing her with Catholic Queen Mary; a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.

At the behest of Mary's French supporters, John Ballard, a Jesuit priest and agent of the Roman Church, went to England on various occasions in 1585 to secure promises of aid from the northern Catholic gentry on behalf of Mary. In March 1586, he met with John Savage, an ex-soldier who was involved in a separate plot against Elizabeth and who had sworn an oath to assassinate the queen. He was resolved in this plot after consulting with three friends: Dr. William Gifford, Christopher Hodgson and Gilbert Gifford. Gilbert Gifford had been arrested by Walsingham and agreed to be a double agent. Gifford was already in Walsingham's employ by the time Savage was going ahead with the plot, according to Conyers Read. Later that same year, Gifford reported to Charles Paget and Don Bernardino de Mendoza, and told them that English Catholics were prepared to mount an insurrection against Elizabeth, provided that they would be assured of foreign support. While it was uncertain whether Ballard's report of the extent of Catholic opposition was accurate, what was certain is that he was able to secure assurances that support would be forthcoming. He then returned to England, where he persuaded a member of the Catholic gentry, Anthony Babington, to lead and organise the English Catholics against Elizabeth. Ballard informed Babington about the plans that had been so far proposed. Babington's later confession made it clear that Ballard was sure of the support of the Catholic League:

Despite this assurance of this foreign support, Babington was hesitant, as he thought that no foreign invasion would succeed for as long as Elizabeth remained, to which Ballard answered that the plans of John Savage would take care of that. After a lengthy discussion with friends and soon-to-be fellow conspirators, Babington consented to join and to lead the conspiracy.

Unfortunately for the conspirators, Walsingham was certainly aware of some of the aspects of the plot, based on reports by his spies, most notably Gilbert Gifford, who kept tabs on all the major participants. While he could have shut down some part of the plot and arrested some of those involved within reach, he still lacked any piece of evidence that would prove Queen Mary's active participation in the plot and he feared to commit any mistake which might cost Elizabeth her life.

Infiltration

After the Throckmorton Plot, Queen Elizabeth had issued a decree in July 1584, which prevented all communication to and from Mary. However, Walsingham and Cecil realised that that decree also impaired their ability to entrap Mary. They needed evidence for which she could be executed based on their Bond of Association tenets. Thus Walsingham established a new line of communication, one which he could carefully control without incurring any suspicion from Mary. Gifford approached the French ambassador to England, Guillaume de l'Aubespine, Baron de Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, and described the new correspondence arrangement that had been designed by Walsingham. Gifford and jailer Paulet had arranged for a local brewer to facilitate the movement of messages between Queen Mary and her supporters by placing them in a watertight casing inside the stopper of a beer barrel. Thomas Phelippes, a cipher and language expert in Walsingham's employ, was then quartered at Chartley Hall to receive the messages, decode them and send them to Walsingham. Gifford submitted a code table (supplied by Walsingham) to Chateauneuf and requested the first message be sent to Mary.

All subsequent messages to Mary would be sent via diplomatic packets to Chateauneuf, who then passed them on to Gifford. Gifford would pass them on to Walsingham, who would confide them to Phelippes. The cipher used was a nomenclator cipher. Phelippes would decode and make a copy of the letter. The letter was then resealed and given back to Gifford, who would pass it on to the brewer. The brewer would then smuggle the letter to Mary. If Mary sent a letter to her supporters, it would go through the reverse process. In short order, every message coming to and from Chartley Hall was intercepted and read by Walsingham.

It's the early 1920s and Aleksandr Ivanovich 'Sascha' Luzhin (Turturro), a gifted but tormented chess player, arrives in a Northern Italian city to compete in an international chess competition. Prior to the tournament he meets Natalia Katkov (Watson) and he falls in love with her almost immediately. She in turn finds his manner to be appealing and they begin to see each other in spite of her mother's disapproval.

Competing alongside Luzhin in the championship is Dottore Salvatore Turati (Fabio Sartor), who is approached by Leo Valentinov (Stuart Wilson), a Russian, who is Luzhin's former chess tutor from pre-revolutionary Russia. Valentinov tells the Italian that Luzhin cannot handle pressure and he intimates he will make sure that his former prodigy will be unsettled off-table, giving Turati a winning chance.

The competition starts badly for Luzhin, who is unsettled by the presence of his former friend and coach. He struggles through the early rounds but he soon begins to win again as his relationship with Katkov becomes closer and intimate. She then informs her parents that she is going to marry him. Meanwhile, Luzhin goes on to reach the final and face Turati.

But in the finals the Russian Émigré loses out to the time clock, forcing the game to adjourn. However, outside the venue, he is whisked away by an accomplice of Valentinov who abandons him in the countryside. His former teacher knows that this will completely unhinge him because of the memory of his parents' abandonment many years ago. Luzhin wanders aimlessly until he collapses and is found by a group of Blackshirts.

Luzhin is taken to the hospital suffering from complete mental exhaustion. The doctor informs Katkov that he will die if he keeps playing chess as he is addicted to the game and it's consuming his very being. Nevertheless, even while recuperating Valentinov comes around with a chess board encouraging Luzhin to finish the match with the Italian, Turati. Natalia defends her beloved but urges him to break off with the game. Luzhin seems to agree.

Eventually Luzhin leaves the hospital. He and Natalia then agree to marry at the earliest opportunity. However, on the morning of the wedding, Luzhin is put into a car with Valentinov, who tells him that there is the small matter of finishing the competition. In terror, Luzhin leaps from the car. Dazed, cut and mentally confused, he stumbles back to the hotel where he tries to dig up the rest of the glass chess pieces he buried on the grounds years ago, (1:36:39 "I've got the King but I need the whole army...") but he does not find them.

Luzhin, who is in his muddied wedding suit, sits in his room as Natalia and the hotel staff try to open the door. But before they can get in, the troubled chess grandmaster throws himself out of his bedroom window and dies. The tragic death is witnessed by Valentinov who has just arrived by car.

The film then concludes in the competition hall where Natalia completes the competition using her fiancé's notes. She discovers the papers in his pocket and an experienced chess player explains to her the matter of the notes. In an arranged meeting without public she plays against Turati who does exactly what Luzhin expected and loses. Katkov and Turati then leave acknowledging the Pyrrhic victory and the genius of Luzhin.

Early one morning, a taxi pulls up in front of the Tiffany & Co. flagship store and from it emerges elegantly dressed Holly Golightly, carrying a paper bag containing her breakfast. After looking into the store's window displays, she strolls to her apartment and has to fend off her date from the night before. Once inside, Holly cannot find her keys, so she buzzes her landlord, Mr. Yunioshi, to let her in. Later, she is awakened by new neighbor Paul Varjak, who rings her doorbell to get into the building. The pair chat as she dresses to leave for her weekly visit to mobster Sally Tomato, who is currently incarcerated at Sing Sing. Tomato's lawyer pays her $100 a week to deliver "the weather report".

As she is leaving, Holly is introduced to Paul's "decorator", wealthy older woman Emily Eustace Failenson, whom Paul nicknames "2E". That night, when Holly goes out onto the fire escape to elude an over-eager date, she peeks into Paul's apartment and sees 2E leaving money and kissing him goodbye. Visiting Paul afterward, she learns he is a writer who has not had anything published since a book of vignettes five years before. Holly, in turn, explains she is trying to save money to support her brother Fred after he completes his Army service. The pair fall asleep but are awakened when Holly has a nightmare about her brother. When Paul questions her about this, Holly chides him for prying. She later buys Paul a typewriter ribbon to apologize and invites him to a wild party at her apartment. There, Paul meets her Hollywood agent, who describes Holly's transformation from a country girl into a Manhattan socialite, along with wealthy Brazilian politician José da Silva Pereira, and Rusty Trawler, the "ninth richest man in America under 50".

Some time later, 2E enters Paul's apartment, worried she is being followed. Paul tells her he will investigate and eventually confronts Holly's husband, Doc Golightly, who explains that Holly's real name is Lula Mae Barnes and that they were married when she was approaching 14. Now he wants to take her back to rural Texas. After Paul reunites Holly and Doc, she informs Paul that the marriage was annulled. At the Greyhound bus station, she tells Doc she will not return with him, and he leaves broken-hearted.

After drinking at a club, Paul and Holly return to her apartment, where she drunkenly tells him that she plans to marry Trawler for his money. A few days later, Paul learns that one of his short stories will be published. On the way to tell Holly, he sees a newspaper headline stating that Trawler has married someone else. Holly and Paul agree to spend the day together, taking turns doing things each has never done before. At Tiffany's, Paul has the ring from Doc Golightly's box of Cracker Jack engraved as a present for Holly. After spending the night together, he awakens to find her gone. When 2E arrives, Paul ends their relationship. She calmly accepts, having earlier concluded that he was in love with someone else.

Holly now schemes to marry José for his money, but after receiving a telegram notifying her of her brother's death in a jeep accident, she trashes her apartment. Months later, she invites Paul to dinner, as she is leaving the next morning for Brazil to continue her relationship with José. However, the pair are arrested in connection with Sally Tomato's drug ring, and Holly spends the night in jail.

The next morning, Hollywood friend O.J. Berman pays Holly's bail. Paul is waiting for her in a cab, bringing her pet, "Cat", and a letter from José explaining that he must end their relationship due to her arrest. Holly insists that she will go to Brazil anyway; she asks the cab to pull over and pushes Cat out into the pouring rain. Just after they get underway again, Paul storms out of the cab, tossing the engraved ring into her lap and telling her to examine her life. She goes through a decision-making moment, puts on the ring and runs after Paul, who has gone looking for Cat. Finally, Holly finds Cat sheltering in an alley and, with it tucked into her coat, she and Paul embrace.

A U. S. military station in Houston, the United States Decoding Service (U.S.D.S.), NASA Wing, has intercepted a message from outer space. After decoding, the message contains only the cryptic statement: "Mars ... Needs ... Women"

Martians have developed a genetic deficiency that now produces only male children. A mission to Earth is launched, consisting of five Martian males, led by Dop (Tommy Kirk). Once here, their team intends to recruit Earth women to come to Mars to mate and produce female offspring, saving their civilization from extinction. Using their sophisticated transponder, Dop attempts to make contact with the U.S. military, which has now tracked the aliens' arrival on Earth.

The military eventually views the Martians as invaders, so the team takes on the guise of Earth men, acquiring human clothes, money, maps, and transportation. They finally select their prospective candidates, setting their sights on four American women: a homecoming queen, a stewardess, a stripper, and, most especially, a Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist, Dr. Bolen (Yvonne Craig), an expert in "space genetics". Resorting to hypnosis, the women are captured, but Dop quickly becomes enamored with Dr. Bolen; soon he is ready to sabotage their mission for her. After the military discovers their hideout, the Martians are forced to return home without their female captives. Mars still needs women.

The protagonist in the story is Nell, a ''thete'' (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid island of New Chusan, located offshore from the mouth of the Yangtze River, northwest of Shanghai. When she is four, Nell's older brother Harv gives her a stolen copy of a highly sophisticated interactive book, ''Young Lady's Illustrated Primer: a Propædeutic Enchiridion'', in which is told the tale of Princess Nell and her various friends, kin, associates, etc., commissioned by the wealthy Neo-Victorian "Equity Lord" Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraw for his granddaughter, Elizabeth. The story follows Nell's development under the tutelage of the Primer, and to a lesser degree, the lives of Elizabeth Finkle-McGraw and Fiona Hackworth, Neo-Victorian girls who receive other copies. The Primer is intended to steer its reader intellectually toward a more ''interesting life,'' as defined by Lord Finkle-McGraw, and growing up to be an effective member of society. The most important quality to achieving an interesting life is deemed to be a subversive attitude towards the status quo. The Primer is designed to react to its owner's environment and teach them what they need to know to survive and develop.

''The Diamond Age'' is characterized by two intersecting, almost equally-developed story lines: the social downfall of the nanotech engineer designer of the Primer, John Percival Hackworth, who makes an illegal copy of the Primer for his own young daughter, Fiona, and Nell's education through her independent work with the Primer after her brother Harv steals it from Hackworth. Hackworth's crime becomes known to Lord Finkle-McGraw and Dr. X, the black market engineer whose compiler Hackworth used to create the copy of the Primer, and each man attempts to exploit Hackworth to advance their opposing goals. A third storyline follows actress ("ractor") Miranda Redpath, who voices most of the Primer characters who interact with Nell and essentially becomes Nell's surrogate mother. Later Miranda's storyline is taken over by her boss, Carl Hollywood, after Miranda disappears in her quest to find Nell.

''Diamond Age'' also includes fully narrated educational tales from the Primer that map Nell's individual experience (e.g. her four toy friends) onto archetypal folk tales stored in the primer's database. Although ''The Diamond Age'' explores the role of technology and personal relationships in child development, its deeper and darker themes also probe the relative values of cultures (which Stephenson explores in his other novels as well) and the shortcomings in communication between them.

In 1996, aboard the research vessel ''Akademik Mstislav Keldysh'', Brock Lovett and his team search the wreck of RMS ''Titanic''. They recover a safe they hope contains a necklace with a large diamond known as the Heart of the Ocean. Instead, they only find a drawing of a young nude woman wearing the necklace. The sketch is dated April 14, 1912, the same day the ''Titanic'' struck the iceberg that caused it to sink. Rose Dawson Calvert, the woman in the drawing, is brought aboard ''Keldysh''. She recounts her experiences aboard ''Titanic''.

In 1912 Southampton, 17-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater, her wealthy fiancé Caledon "Cal" Hockley, and Rose's widowed mother, Ruth, board the ''Titanic''. Ruth emphasizes that Rose's marriage to Cal will resolve the family's financial problems and maintain their upper-class status. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson, a poor young artist, wins a third-class ''Titanic'' ticket in a poker game. After setting sail, Rose, distraught over her loveless engagement, climbs over the stern railing, intending to jump overboard. Jack appears and coaxes her back onto the deck. The two develop a tentative friendship, but when Cal and Ruth strongly object, Rose acquiesces and discourages Jack's attention. She soon realizes she has feelings for Jack.

Rose brings Jack to her state room and pays him a coin to sketch her nude, wearing only the Heart of the Ocean necklace. They later evade Cal's servant, Lovejoy, and have sex in an automobile inside the cargo hold. On the forward deck, they witness the ship's collision with an iceberg and overhear its officers and builder discussing the serious situation. Cal discovers Jack's sketch and Rose's insulting note left inside his safe, along with the necklace. When Jack and Rose return to warn the others about the collision, Cal has Lovejoy slip the necklace into Jack's pocket to frame him for theft. Jack is then confined in the master-at-arms' office. Cal then puts the necklace into his own overcoat pocket.

With the ship sinking, Rose flees Cal and her mother, who has boarded a lifeboat. Rose finds and frees Jack, and they barely make it back to the boat deck. Cal and Jack urge Rose to board a lifeboat. Having arranged to save himself, Cal falsely claims he can get Jack safely off the ship. As her lifeboat is lowered, Rose, unable to abandon Jack, jumps back on board. Cal grabs Lovejoy's pistol and chases Rose and Jack into the flooding first-class dining saloon. They get away, and Cal realizes that he gave his coat, and consequently the necklace, to Rose; he later boards a lifeboat posing as a lost child's father.

Jack and Rose return to the boat deck. The lifeboats have departed and the ship's stern is rising as the flooded bow sinks. As passengers fall to their deaths, Jack and Rose desperately cling to the stern rail. The upended ship breaks in half and the bow section dives downward. The remaining stern slams back onto the ocean, then upends again before it, too, sinks. In the freezing water, Jack helps Rose onto a wooden panel buoyant enough for only one person and makes her promise to survive. Rose is saved by a returning lifeboat, keeping her promise, and Jack dies of hypothermia.

The RMS ''Carpathia'' rescues the survivors; Rose avoids Cal by hiding among the steerage passengers and gives her name as Rose Dawson. Still wearing Cal's overcoat, she discovers the necklace tucked inside the pocket. In the present, Rose says she later heard that Cal committed suicide after losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Lovett abandons his search after hearing Rose's story. Alone on the stern of ''Keldysh'', Rose takes out the Heart of the Ocean, which has been in her possession all along, and drops it into the sea over the wreck site. While she is seemingly asleep in her bed, her photos on the dresser depict a life of freedom and adventure inspired by her early conversations with Jack. A young Rose reunites with Jack at ''Titanic'' Grand Staircase, applauded by those who died on the ship.

On July 2, 1996, an enormous extraterrestrial mothership enters Earth's orbit and deploys multiple saucers, each wide, over major cities worldwide, including New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C..

U.S. Marine Captain Steven Hiller is deployed despite being on leave; his girlfriend, Jasmine Dubrow, decides to flee Los Angeles with her son, Dylan. In New York City, David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician, decodes a signal embedded within global satellite transmissions, realizing it is the aliens' countdown for a coordinated attack. With help from his ex-wife, White House Communications Director Constance Spano, David and his father Julius reach the Oval Office and alert President Thomas Whitmore.

Whitmore orders evacuations of the U.S. targeted cities, but it is too late. Each saucer fires a destructive beam, incinerating all of the targeted cities, killing millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons and a few others escape aboard Air Force One while Jasmine, Dylan, and their dog Boomer take shelter in a tunnel's inspection alcove, emerging once the destruction is over.

On July 3, counterattacks against the invaders are thwarted by the alien warships' force fields. Each saucer launches a swarm of shielded fighters which decimate the human fighter squadrons and military bases. Hiller, a squadron leader, lures an enemy fighter into the Grand Canyon before ejecting from his plane, causing the fighter to crash in the Mojave Desert. He subdues the downed alien and flags down a convoy of refugees, transporting the alien to Area 51, where Whitmore's group has landed.

Defense Secretary Albert Nimzicki reveals that a government faction has been involved in a UFO conspiracy since 1947 when one of the invaders' fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the now-refurbished ship and three alien corpses recovered from the crash. As chief scientist Dr. Brackish Okun examines the alien captured by Steven, it awakens, telepathically invades Okun's mind and launches a psychic attack against Whitmore before it is killed by Secret Service agents and military personnel. Whitmore reveals what he learned when they were linked: the invaders plan to annihilate Earth's inhabitants and steal their natural resources, as they have done to other planets before them.

Whitmore reluctantly authorizes a trial nuclear attack against a saucer above Houston, but the ship survives. Jasmine and Dylan commandeer a highway maintenance truck and rescue a handful of survivors, including a critically injured First Lady Marilyn Whitmore. Though they are found by Hiller and taken to Area 51, Marilyn dies shortly after being reunited with her family.

On July 4, taking inspiration from his father, David writes a computer virus for his laptop to disrupt the aliens' shields' operating system and devises a plan to upload it into the mothership from the refurbished alien fighter, which Hiller volunteers to pilot. The U.S. military contacts surviving airborne squadrons around the world through Morse code to organize a united counter-offensive. Lacking pilots, Whitmore and General William Grey enlist volunteers with flight experience, including retired combat pilot Russell Casse from the refugee camp at the base, to fly the remaining jets at Area 51; Whitmore leads an attack on a saucer bearing down on the base, overseen by Grey.

Hiller marries Jasmine with David and Constance in attendance before Hiller and David leave on the mission. Entering the mothership, they upload the virus and deploy a nuclear missile, destroying it and the aliens' reinforcements. With the aliens' shields deactivated, Whitmore's squadron combat the enemy fighters, but exhaust their ammunition before they can destroy the saucer. As the saucer prepares to fire on the base, Russell's last missile is unable to fire; he sacrifices himself by crashing into the saucer's weapon, destroying the warship. Military forces worldwide are notified of the alien ships' critical weakness and destroy the others. As humanity rejoices, Hiller and Levinson reunite with their families.

After a massive meteor shower destroys the Space Shuttle Atlantis and parts of Manhattan, NASA scientists discover they have eighteen days before an asteroid the size of Texas impacts Earth, destroying all planetary life. NASA executive Dan Truman leads a team which devises a plan to have a deep core oil driller train a group of astronauts to drill a hole into the asteroid into which they will insert and detonate a nuclear bomb to split the asteroid in half.

They recruit Harry Stamper, a third-generation oil driller and owner of his own oil drilling company. Harry agrees to help NASA, but on the condition that he bring in his own team to do the drilling. He picks his best employees for the job: Chick Chapel, his best friend and right-hand man; geologists Rockhound and Oscar Choice; and drillers Bear Curlene, Freddie Noonan, Max Lennert, and A.J. Frost (the latter who has been dating Harry's daughter Grace despite Harry's objections). Over twelve days, they train with skeptical professional astronaut Willie Sharp, who will pilot ''Freedom'' - one of the two shuttles to fly to the asteroid, the other being the ''Independence''. Before leaving, Chick apologizes to his ex-wife for wronging her. Grace accepts A.J.'s marriage proposal.

Following the destruction of Shanghai by another meteor shower, word of the Texas-sized asteroid becomes public to the world. Both shuttles take off without incident and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir to take on the necessary fuel for the continued journey to the asteroid. During fueling, a spark ignites fuel from a leaky fuel line, causing a fire. A.J. and Russian Cosmonaut Lev Andropov are nearly killed but manage to board ''Independence'' before the space station is destroyed.

On approach to their landing site on the asteroid, ''Independence'' is irreparably damaged by debris, and the shuttle crashes, killing all on board except Lev, Bear, and A.J. They embark in the shuttle's Armadillo to find the ''Freedom'' crew, which landed 26 miles from its intended landing site on a plate of iron ferrite. When the drilling goes slower than predicted, Sharp reports to Mission Control that it is unlikely that Harry and his team will reach the depth necessary to split the asteroid before "Zero Barrier", the point after which the two halves of the asteroid will impact Earth. Even though it might cause total mission failure, the President of the United States decides to remote detonate the bomb from Earth. After a vicious argument where Sharp calls Harry's team the worst mistake in NASA history, the two agree to defuse the bomb and work together after Harry promises Sharp that he will reach the depth for the bomb. They make progress on drilling, but a missed gas pocket causes a blowout that destroys the Armadillo and kills Max. Just as Harry, Truman, and the world believe the mission to be a failure, A.J. and the others arrive in the second Armadillo.

A.J. succeeds in drilling the hole to the required depth, but a rock storm damages the remote detonator, forcing someone to have to stay behind to manually detonate the bomb. After randomly drawing straws, the responsibility falls upon A.J. Harry takes him down to the asteroid's surface, and he disconnects A.J.'s air hose, forcing him into the shuttle's air lock. He tells A.J. he is the son he never had and that he would be proud to have him marry Grace. Using the Armadillo, both father and daughter have their last goodbyes, with Harry giving Grace his blessing to marry A.J. and Grace says she is proud to be his daughter.

After some difficulty, ''Freedom'' takes off, but a second blowout causes Harry to lose his grip on the detonator. Just before Zero Barrier, Harry detonates the bomb and saves the planet. NASA and the world rejoice while Truman comforts Grace. The astronauts land back on Earth safely: A.J. and Grace are reunited and Chick reconciles with his ex-wife and estranged young son. Sharp expresses with Grace his proudness to work with Harry.

Sometime later, A.J. and Grace are married with the portraits of Harry, Max, Oscar and the other lives lost on the mission present in memoriam.

Most of the novels in the series are action and sexual adventures, with many of the military engagements borrowing liberally from historic ones, such as the trireme battles of ancient Greece and the castle sieges of medieval Europe. Ar, the largest city in known Gor, has resemblances to the ancient city of Rome, and its land empire is opposed by the sea-power of the island of Cos.

The series is an overlapping of planetary romance and sword and planet. The first book, ''Tarnsman of Gor'', opens with scenes reminiscent of scenes in the first book of the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs; both feature the protagonist narrating his adventures after being transported to another world. These parallels end after the first few books, when the stories of the books begin to be structured along a loose story arc involving the struggles of the city-state of Ar and the island of Cos to control the Vosk river area, as well as the struggles at a higher level between the non-human Priest-Kings and the Kurii (another alien race) to control Gor and Earth.

Most of the books are narrated by transplanted British professor Tarl Cabot, master swordsman, as he engages in adventures involving Priest-Kings, Kurii, and humans. Books 7, 11, 19, 22, 26, 27, 31, 34 and parts of 32 are narrated by abducted Earth women who are made into slaves. Books 14, 15, and 16 are narrated by male abductee Jason Marshall. Book 28 is narrated by an unknown Kur, but features Tarl Cabot. Book 30 and parts of 32 are narrated by three Gorean men: a mariner, a scribe and a merchant/slaver.

The series features several sentient alien races. The most important to the books are the insectoid Priest-Kings and the huge, sharp-clawed, predatory Kurii, both spacefarers from foreign star systems. The Priest-Kings rule Gor as disinterested custodians, leaving humans to their own affairs as long as they abide by certain restrictions on technology. The Kurii are an aggressive, invasive race with advanced technology (but less so than that of the Priest-Kings) who wish to colonize both Gor and Earth. The power of the Priest-Kings is diminished after the "Nest War" described in the third book and the Priest-Kings and Kurii struggle against each other via their respective human agents and spies.

Early entries in the series were plot-driven space opera adventures, but later entries grew more philosophical and sexual. Many subplots run the course of several books and tie back to the main plot in later books. Some of these plots begin in the first book, but most are underway in the first 10 books.

Amid a galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen plans is intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of the ruthless Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory system of astromech droid , who flees in an escape pod to the nearby desert planet Tatooine alongside his companion, protocol droid .

The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker. While Luke is cleaning , he discovers a holographic recording of Leia requesting help from an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Later, after Luke finds R2-D2 missing, he is attacked by scavenging Sand People while searching for him, but is rescued by elderly hermit "Old Ben" Kenobi, an acquaintance of Luke's, who reveals that "Obi-Wan" is his true name. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as one of the Jedi Knights, the former peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who drew mystical abilities from a metaphysical energy field known as "the Force", but were ultimately hunted to near-extinction by the Empire. Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars until Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan offers Luke his father's old lightsaber, the signature weapon of Jedi Knights.

R2-D2 plays Leia's full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Although Luke initially declines Obi-Wan's offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force, he is left with no choice after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle and destroyed their farm in their search for the droids. Traveling to a cantina in Mos Eisley to search for transport, Luke and Obi-Wan hire Han Solo, a smuggler with a price on his head due to his debt to local mobster Jabba the Hutt. Pursued by stormtroopers, Obi-Wan, Luke, R2-D2, and flee Tatooine with Han and his Wookiee Chewbacca on their ship the ''Millennium Falcon''.

Before the ''Falcon'' can reach Alderaan, Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin destroys the planet in a show of force after interrogating Leia for the location of the Rebel Alliance's base. Upon arrival, the ''Falcon'' is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam, but the group manages to evade capture by hiding in the ship's smuggling compartments. As Obi-Wan leaves to disable the tractor beam, Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia after discovering that she is scheduled to be executed. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel against Vader, allowing the rest of the group to escape the Death Star with Leia. Using a tracking device, the Empire tracks the ''Falcon'' to the hidden Rebel base on Yavin IV.

The schematics reveal a hidden weakness in the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, which could allow the Rebels to trigger a chain reaction in its main reactor with a precise proton torpedo strike. While Han abandons the Rebels after collecting his reward for rescuing Leia, Luke joins their X-wing starfighter squadron in a desperate attack against the approaching Death Star. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses as Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters against them. Han and Chewbacca unexpectedly return to aid them in the ''Falcon'', and knock Vader's ship off course before he can shoot down Luke. Guided by the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, destroying the Death Star moments before it fires on the Rebel base. In a triumphant ceremony at the base, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.

Setting

The story takes place in the kingdom of Ivalice, inspired by the Middle Ages. The kingdom is located in a peninsula surrounded by sea on the north, west and south, with a headland south of the landmass. It is heavily populated by human beings, although intelligent monsters can be found living in less populated areas. Magic is predominant in the land, although ruins and artifacts indicated that the past populace had relied on machinery, such as airships and robots. Ivalice's neighbors are the kingdom of Ordalia in the east and Romanda, a military nation to the north. While the three nations share common royal bloodlines, major wars have taken place between them. An influential religious institution known as the Glabados Church heads the dominant faith, centering around a religious figure known as Saint Ajora.

The story takes place after Ivalice ended its war with the two nations in what is known as the Fifty Years War, and is facing economic problems and political strife. The king of Ivalice has recently died and his heir is an infant, so a regent is needed to rule in place of the prince. The kingdom is split between two candidates named Prince Goltana, represented by the Black Lion, and Prince , symbolized by the White Lion. The conflict leads to what is known in the game as the Lion War. Behind this backdrop is a revelation by the game's historian Alazlam J. Durai, who seeks to reveal the story of an unknown character whose role in the Lion War was major but was covered up by the kingdom's church.

Characters

Most of the game's plot is portrayed from Ramza's perspective, who is the player character of the story. He is introduced to various factions of the Lion War; the most prominent are those of Prince Goltana and Prince , who both want to become the guardian of Ivalice's monarch and are engaged in a war with each other. The story progresses to include characters from the Glabados Church, which has been controlling Ivalice silently and engineering the war in question.

As the game progresses, players are able to recruit generic player characters and customize them using the Job system of the Final Fantasy series. Several battles also feature characters controlled via the game's A.I., which may be recruited later in the game according to the story proper. The characters were designed by Akihiko Yoshida, who was also in charge of the illustration and character designs of games such as ''Tactics Ogre'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'', ''Final Fantasy XII'', and ''Vagrant Story''.

Story

Ivalice is recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia. After the death of its ruler, Princess Ovelia and Prince Orinas are both candidates for the throne. The former is supported by Prince Goltana of the Black Lion, and the latter by Queen Ruvelia and her brother, Prince of the White Lion. The two groups engage in battles in the Lion War.

Nobles and commoners regard each other negatively and many commoners joined the Corpse Brigade to fight against the nobles' soldiers. Ramza, part of the noble Beoulve family of knights, and Delita, his childhood friend who was an ordinary commoner, witness the murder of Delita's sister during an uprising. This causes Delita and Ramza to abandon their ties to the nobility. Ramza joins a mercenary group, led by Gafgarion, who protects Princess Ovelia from being hunted by both sides of the Lion War. Delita joins Goltana's forces. They are reunited when Gafgarion attempts to take Ovelia to Prince . Agrias suggests visiting Cardinal Delacroix of the Glabados Church to protect Ovelia. Along the way, Ramza meets Mustadio, a machinist in possession of a holy relic called the Zodiac Stone. Hunted by a trading company for the power it contains, Mustadio also seeks Delacroix's intervention.

Ramza discovers that High Confessor Marcel Funebris and the church used the legend of the holy Zodiac Braves to gather the Zodiac Stones and instigated the Lion War. To prevent Ramza's interference, Delacroix uses the stone to transform into a Lucavi demon and Ramza defeats him. Ramza is regarded as a heretic by the church and he is chased by the Knights Templar, the soldiers of the church who are hunting the Zodiac Stones. He acquires proof of the Church's lies about Saint Ajora, a central figure in the religion, and attempts to use it along with the Zodiac Stone to reveal the organization's plot.

The two sides in the Lion War face off in a major battle that results in the deaths of and Goltana. Ramza stops the battle and rescues the general, Count Cidolfus Orlandeau, though the Church eliminates the two leaders to secure its control over Ivalice. Ramza discovers that the Knights Templar are possessed by the Lucavi, who are seeking to resurrect their leader Ultima, and they needed bloodshed and a suitable body to complete the resurrection. Alma, Ramza's sister, is to serve as the host for Ultima's incarnation. Ultima is resurrected and Ramza and his allies succeed in destroying her and escape Ivalice.

In the epilogue, Delita marries Ovelia and becomes the King of Ivalice. He fails to find true satisfaction as even Ovelia distrusts him, leading her to stab Delita. Ovelia is stabbed by Delita in return, with her fate left ambiguous in the game. Delita then cries out to Ramza, asking what Ramza gained in return for his actions, compared to Delita. Orran attempts to reveal the Church's evil plot with the "Durai Report" but his papers are confiscated and he is burned at the stake for heresy. Many centuries later a historian tries to describe the story of the Lion War.

The story of ''Radiant Silvergun'' is told non-linearly through animated videos and scripted dialogue between stages. In the year 2520, scientists on Earth have unearthed a giant crystal along with a robot bearing the same serial number as another robot called "Creator" on the Tetra spaceship orbiting around Earth. After the crystal begins summoning enemies to attack Earth, fighter pilots on Tetra board their Silvergun fighters and fly down through the atmosphere to save what they can of the planet. The Silvergun pilots fight through hordes of enemies until they eventually reach the crystal which they destroy. The crystal explodes, engulfing the Earth in a large explosion and killing all humans. 20 years later, the Creator uses DNA from the pilots of the Silverguns to create clones and start humanity anew, bringing the story into a loop.

Characters

alt=A watercolor painting of four warriors. The leftmost is a pale man with dark gray hair facing left, the next one is a white-haired man with a billowing red cape holding a sword and facing the viewer, the third is a black-haired woman looking to the right in three-quarters view and holding a bow, and the rightmost is a large man with a helmet holding up his fists and facing right. Clouds and an airship are in the background.

''Final Fantasy II'' features four playable characters as well as several secondary characters who are only briefly controlled by the player. Primary characters include , a resident of the country of Fynn and the main protagonist; , a soft-spoken archer and dedicated enemy of the Empire; , a simple monk who communicates with animals; and , a conflicted dark knight who is missing for most of the game. Five playable characters temporarily join the party to assist Firion, Maria, and Guy in their missions for the rebellion. These are , the prince of Kas'ion and a member of the rebellion; , a villager in the town of Salamand; , a pirate; , who is a White Mage with the rebellion, and , who is the first dragoon to appear in the series.

Firion and the (named in Kenji Terada's novelization of the game) are the respective hero and villain representing ''Final Fantasy II'' in ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'', ''Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy'' and ''Dissidia Final Fantasy NT'', fighting games featuring characters from across the series. Firion is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa in the Japanese versions and by Johnny Yong Bosch in the English versions; Mateus is voiced by Kenyu Horiuchi in the Japanese versions and Christopher Corey Smith in the English versions. In the PlayStation's opening FMV of ''Final Fantasy II'', Firion is also voiced by Yukimasa Obi, while Maria is played by Noriko Shitaya, Guy by Kenta Miyake, and Leon by Takayuki Yamaguchi.

Story

''Final Fantasy II'' begins as Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon are attacked by Palamecian Black Knight soldiers and left for dead. Firion, Maria, and Guy are rescued by Princess Hilda, who has established a rebel base in the town of Altair after her kingdom of Fynn was invaded by the Emperor. Hilda denies their request to join the rebel army because they are too young and inexperienced. The three set off for Fynn in search of Leon; there they find a dying Prince Scott of Kas'ion, Hilda's fiancé, who informs them that a former nobleman of Kas'ion, Borghen, betrayed the rebellion and became a General in the Imperial army. The party returns to Altair to inform Hilda. She allows the group to join the rebellion and asks them to journey north to find mythril, a metal which could be used to create powerful weapons. The party makes its way north to the occupied village of Salamand, saves the villagers forced to work in the nearby mines, kills Borghen, and retrieves the mythril.

For their next mission, the party is sent to the city of Bafsk to prevent the construction of a large airship known as the Dreadnought; however, it takes off just as they arrive. After retrieving the Sunfire, a weapon which can blow up the Dreadnought, they watch helplessly as an airship with Hilda on board is captured by the Dreadnought. When the Dreadnought lands to stock up on supplies, the party rescues Hilda and throws the Sunfire into the airship's engine. Before escaping from the explosion, the party encounters a dark knight whom Maria thinks she recognizes as Leon.

On his deathbed, the King of Fynn tasks the party to seek the help of the seemingly extinct dragoons of Deist. In Deist, the party finds only a mother with her son, learning that all but one of the Dragoons are dead, partly as a result of Imperial poison. After placing an egg of the last wyvern in a cavern, the party returns to Altair and rescues Hilda from the Empire a second time, before successfully reclaiming Fynn from the Imperial forces. They then travel west in search of a powerful magic item, joining forces with the last surviving dragoon on the way. The party returns to Fynn and sees that many towns have been destroyed by a cyclone summoned by the Emperor. The party calls upon the newly born last wyvern to take them to a castle inside the cyclone, where they confront and kill the Emperor. Back at Fynn, everyone celebrates the Empire's defeat, but a mortally wounded Fynn soldier arrives and reveals that Leon has taken the throne and plans to destroy the Rebels with the Imperial army.

The party enters the castle of Palamecia and confronts Leon. However, the Emperor reappears in the throne room in a new demonic form, revealing he has returned from Hell with the intention of destroying the entire world. The party and Leon escape Palamecia Castle with the wyvern, as the castle is replaced with the palace of Hell, Pandaemonium. Leon agrees to help the group seal the Emperor away. The party travels to the Jade Passage, an underground passage to the underworld, and finds the portal to Pandaemonium, where they finally defeat the Emperor. Afterwards, Leon chooses to leave in response to the trouble he caused, though Firion assures him that he'll be welcomed back if and when he returns.

''Soul of Rebirth''

The ''Dawn of Souls'' remake of the game for the Game Boy Advance includes an additional storyline that takes place after the game, which follows the four party members who died during the story of the game.

Following his sacrifice to unseal the door guarding the Ultima Tome, Minwu awakens in a new area and sees someone resembling Gordon fight off Imperial soldiers. Minwu assists him, and the man soon explains he is Scott, Gordon's brother. Minwu informs him of the events up to his own demise, and the two surmise they are in the Jade Passage since they both died. They find Josef and subsequently Ricard, eventually emerging in Machanon, a village in the mirror image of Poft where the citizens are dead victims of the Emperor's conquest, including Cid and Tobul, with the former asking the group to find out where they are and why they have been called here.

The four enter the teleporter at the north edge of town and enter what Minwu believes is Pandaemonium. Climbing to the highest floor, the party meets the Light Emperor, who explains that when Firion and his allies killed him, his soul was split, with the Emperor's "dark half" falling to Hell and acquiring more power, while his light half—the Emperor they now see—ascended to Heaven. He then explains they are in Arubboth, palace of Heaven, and the cave they traveled through was Raqia, the place where fallen angels are cast down to become demons, and that he called them here to ask for forgiveness on the behalf of his dark half, and offers them eternal life with him in Arubboth if they forgive his sins.

Though the four are tempted by the offer, apparitions of their loved ones show them a vision of Firion and his allies battling the Dark Emperor in Pandaemonium. Realizing this Emperor is just as evil as the original, the four reject his offer, and defeats the Light Emperor just as Firion and his allies vanquish the Dark Emperor. As the rebels in the world of the living celebrate their victory, the specters of Minwu, Scott, Josef and Ricard watch them and wish them well, and as they fade away into peaceful rest, Minwu comments that if anyone can change man's legacy of violence, it's Firion and his friends.

Setting

Most of ''Final Fantasy IV'' takes place on Earth, also known as the Blue Planet, which consists of a surface world (or Overworld), inhabited by humans, and an underground world (or Underworld), inhabited by the Dwarves. An artificial moon orbits the planet, upon which the Lunarians live. The Lunarians are a race of beings originally from a world which was destroyed, becoming the asteroid belt surrounding the Blue Planet, and are identified by a moon-shape crest on their foreheads. They created the artificial moon, resting until a time when they believe their kind can co-exist with humans. A second, natural moon orbits the Blue Planet as well, although it is never visited in the game.

Characters

''Final Fantasy IV'' offers twelve playable characters, each with a unique, unchangeable character class. During the game, the player can have a total of five, or fewer, characters in the party at any given time. The main character, Cecil Harvey, is a dark knight and the captain of the Red Wings, an elite air force unit of the kingdom of Baron. He serves the king alongside his childhood friend Kain Highwind, the commander of the Dragoons. Rosa Farrell is a white mage and archer, as well as Cecil's love interest. The Red Wings' airships were constructed by Cecil's friend, the engineer Cid Pollendina.

During his quest, Cecil is joined by others, including Rydia, a young summoner from the village of Mist; Tellah, a legendary sage; Edward Chris von Muir, the prince of Damcyan who is a bard as well as the husband of Tellah's daughter Anna; Yang Fang Leiden, the head of the monks of Fabul; Palom and Porom, a black mage and a white mage, twin apprentices from the magical village of Mysidia; Edward "Edge" Geraldine, the ninja prince of Eblan; and Fusoya, the guardian of the Lunarians during their long sleep.

Zemus is the main antagonist of the game. He is a Lunarian who wishes to destroy the human race so that his people can populate the earth. He uses Golbez to do this by controlling him and Kain with his psychic powers to activate the Giant of Babil, a huge machine created to carry out the genocide and take over the world.

Story

The Red Wings attack the city of Mysidia to steal their Water Crystal, and return to the Kingdom of Baron. When Cecil, Captain of the Red Wings, afterwards questions the king's motives, he is stripped of his rank and sent with Kain, his friend and Captain of the Dragoons, to deliver a ring to the Village of Mist. There, Kain and Cecil watch in horror as monsters burst forth from inside the ring and lay waste to the village. A young girl, Rydia, is the only survivor and summons a monster named Titan in anger. This monster causes an earthquake, separating Cecil and Kain. Cecil awakens afterward and takes the wounded Rydia to a nearby inn. Baron soldiers come for Rydia but Cecil defends her, and she joins him on his journey.

It is revealed that Rosa, Cecil's love interest, had followed him and is extremely ill with a fever. Soon after this, Cecil and Rydia meet Tellah, who is going to Damcyan Castle to retrieve his eloping daughter, Anna. However, Anna is killed when the Red Wings bomb the castle. Edward, Anna's lover and the prince of Damcyan, explains that the Red Wings' new commander, Golbez, did this to steal the Fire Crystal for Baron as they had stolen the Water Crystal from Mysidia. Tellah leaves the party to exact revenge on Golbez for Anna's death. After finding a cure for Rosa, the party decides to go to Fabul to protect the Wind Crystal. On the way there they meet Master Yang, a warrior monk serviced to the kingdom and the protection of the crystal. The Red Wings attack Fabul, and Kain reappears as one of Golbez's servants. He attacks and defeats Cecil; when Rosa intervenes, Golbez kidnaps her and Kain takes the crystal. On the way back to Baron, the party is attacked by Leviathan and separated.

Cecil awakes alone near Mysidia. When he enters the town, he finds that its residents deeply resent him for the prior attack on their town. Through the Elder of Mysidia, he learns that to defeat Golbez, he must climb Mt. Ordeals and become a Paladin. Before embarking on his journey, he is joined by the twin mages, Palom and Porom. On the mountain he encounters Tellah, who is searching for the forbidden spell Meteor to defeat Golbez. Casting aside the darkness within himself, Cecil becomes a Paladin, while Tellah learns the secret of Meteor. Upon reaching Baron, the party discovers an amnesiac Yang and return him to his senses. The party then confronts the King, only to discover that he is an imposter and one of Golbez's minions, Cagnazzo. After defeating him, Cid arrives and takes them to one of his airships, the ''Enterprise''. On the way, the party enters a room booby-trapped by Cagnazzo, where Palom and Porom sacrifice themselves to save Cecil, Tellah, Cid, and Yang.

On the airship, Kain appears and demands Cecil retrieve the final crystal in exchange for Rosa's life, which the party obtains with assistance from a bedridden Edward. Kain then leads the party to the Tower of Zot, where Rosa is imprisoned. At the tower's summit, Golbez takes the crystal and attempts to flee. Tellah casts Meteor to stop Golbez, sacrificing his own life in the process. However, the spell only weakens Golbez, ending his mind control of Kain. Kain helps Cecil rescue Rosa, and defeat Barbariccia another fiend before Rosa teleports the party out of the collapsing tower to Baron.

In Baron, Kain reveals that Golbez must also obtain four subterranean "Dark Crystals" to achieve his goal of reaching the Moon. The party travels to the underworld and encounter the Dwarves, who are currently fighting the Red Wings. They defeat Golbez thanks to a sudden appearance by Rydia, now a young woman due to her time spent in the Feymarch, the home of the Eidolons. However, the party ultimately fails to prevent Golbez from stealing the Dwarves' crystal. With the help of the Dwarves, they enter the Tower of Babil in order to obtain the crystals Golbez has stored there, only to find that they have been moved to a surface portion of the tower. Yang later sacrifices himself in order to stop the tower's cannons from firing on the Dwarves (though he's later revealed to have survived). After escaping a trap set by Golbez, the party flees the underworld aboard the ''Enterprise'', with Cid sacrificing himself to reseal the passage between the two worlds and to prevent the Red Wings from continuing their pursuit. The party, now joined by Edge, the prince of Eblan, travels back to the Tower of Babil in order to take back the stolen crystals and revenge himself upon Rubicante the last of the fiends. Upon reaching the crystal room, however, the party falls through a trap door to the underworld. Meeting with the Dwarves once again and finding Cid to be alive, the party sets out to retrieve the eighth crystal before Golbez can. When the crystal is obtained, Golbez appears and reveals he still has control over Kain, while taking the crystal for himself. After learning of the ''Lunar Whale'', a ship designed to take travelers to and from the moon, the party return to Mysidia where the town's Elder and mages summon the ship.

Arriving on the Moon, the party meets the sage Fusoya, who explains that Cecil's father was a Lunarian. Fusoya also explains that a Lunarian named Zemus plans to destroy life on the Blue Planet so that the Lunarians can take over, using Golbez to summon the Giant of Babil, a colossal robot. The party returns to Earth and the forces of the two worlds attack the Giant, including Palom and Porom, who have been revived. After the party breaks the robot, Golbez and Kain confront them, only to have Fusoya break Zemus' control over Golbez, in turn releasing Kain. Cecil learns that Golbez is his older brother. Golbez and Fusoya head to the core of the Moon to defeat Zemus, and Cecil's party follows. In the Moon's core, the party witnesses Golbez and Fusoya kill Zemus, but then quickly fall to an evil spirit named Zeromus, the embodiment of all of Zemus' hatred and rage. Back on Earth, the Elder of Mysidia entreats all of Cecil's allies and friends to pray for the party, which gives Cecil and his allies the strength to fight and destroy Zeromus. Following the battle, Fusoya and Golbez opt to leave Earth with the moon. Cecil, at last accepting the truth, acknowledges Golbez as his brother, and bids him farewell.

During the epilogue, most of the cast reunites to celebrate Cecil and Rosa's wedding and their coronation as Baron's new king and queen, while Kain is seen atop Mount Ordeals, having vowed to atone for his misdeeds.

Setting

Instead of the strictly medieval fantasy settings featured in previous ''Final Fantasy'' titles, ''Final Fantasy VI'' is set in a world that also has prominent steampunk influences. The structure of society is similar to that of the latter half of the 19th century, with opera and the fine arts serving as recurring motifs throughout the game, and a level of technology comparable to that of the Second Industrial Revolution. During the first half of the game, the planet is referred to as the World of Balance, and is divided into three lush continents. The northern continent is punctuated by a series of mountain ranges, the southern continent has been mostly subjugated by the cruel Gestahl Empire, and the eastern continent is home to the Veldt, a massive wilderness inhabited by monsters from all over the world. An apocalyptic event mid-game transforms the planet into the World of Ruin; its withering landmasses are fractured into numerous islands surrounding a larger continent.

The game alludes to a conflict known as the "War of the Magi," which occurred one thousand years prior to the beginning of the game. In this conflict, three quarreling entities known as the "Warring Triad" used innocent humans as soldiers by transforming them into enslaved magical beings called Espers. The Triad realized their wrongdoings; they freed the espers and sealed their own powers inside three stone statues. As a precaution, the espers sealed off both the statues and themselves from the realm of humans. The concept of magic gradually faded to myth as mankind built a society extolling science and technology. At the game's opening, the Empire has taken advantage of the weakening barrier between the human and esper domains, capturing several espers in the process. Using these espers as a power source, the Empire has created "Magitek", a craft that combines magic with machinery (including mechanical infantry) and infuses humans with magical powers. The Empire is opposed by the Returners, a rebel organization seeking to free the subjugated lands.

Characters

''Final Fantasy VI'' features fourteen permanent playable characters, the most of any game in the main series, as well as several secondary characters who are only briefly controlled by the player. The starting character, Terra Branford, is a reserved half-human, half-esper girl who spent most of her life as a slave to the Empire, thanks to a mind-controlling device, and is unfamiliar with love. Other primary characters include Locke Cole, a treasure hunter and rebel sympathizer with a powerful impulse to protect women; Celes Chere, a former general of the Empire, who joined the Returners after being jailed for questioning imperial practices; Edgar Roni Figaro, a consummate womanizer and the king of Figaro, who claims allegiance to the Empire while secretly supplying aid to the Returners;'''Locke:''' On the surface, Edgar pretends to support the Empire. The truth is, he's collaborating with the Returners, an organization opposed to the Empire. I am his contact with that group... The old man you met in Narshe is one of us. Sabin Rene Figaro, Edgar's independent brother, who fled the royal court to hone his martial arts skills; Cyan Garamonde, a loyal knight to the kingdom of Doma who lost his family and friends when Kefka poisoned the kingdom's water supply; Setzer Gabbiani, a habitual gambler, thrill seeker, and owner of the world's only known airship; Shadow, a ninja mercenary who offers his services to both the Empire and the Returners; Relm Arrowny, a young but tough artistic girl with magical powers; Strago Magus, Relm's elderly grandfather and a Blue Mage; Gau, a feral child surviving since infancy on the Veldt; Mog, a pike-toting Moogle from the mines of Narshe; Umaro, a savage but loyal sasquatch also from Narshe, talked into joining the Returners through Mog's persuasion; and Gogo, a mysterious, fully shrouded master of the art of mimicry.

Most of the main characters in the game hold a significant grudge against the Empire and, in particular, Kefka Palazzo, who serves as one of the game's main antagonists along with Emperor Gestahl. The clownish Kefka became the first experimental prototype of a line of magically empowered soldiers called Magitek Knights, rendering him insane; his actions throughout the game reflect his demented nature. The supporting character Ultros serves as a recurring villain and comic relief. A handful of characters have reappeared in later games. ''Final Fantasy SGI'', a short tech demo produced for the Silicon Graphics Onyx workstation, featured polygon-based 3D renderings of Locke, Terra, and Shadow.

Story

In the town of Narshe, Terra participates in an Imperial mission to seize a powerful Esper encased in ice. Upon locating it, a magical reaction occurs between Terra and the Esper; as a result, the soldiers accompanying Terra are killed and Terra is knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, Terra is informed that the Empire had been using a device called a "slave crown" to control her actions. With the crown now removed, Terra cannot remember anything more than her name and her rare ability to use magic unaided. Terra is then introduced to an organization known as the "Returners", who she agrees to help in their revolution against the Empire. The Returners learn that Imperial soldiers, led by Kefka, are planning another attempt to seize the frozen Esper. After repelling Kefka's attack, Terra experiences another magical reaction with the frozen Esper; she transforms into a creature resembling an Esper and flies to another continent. Upon locating Terra, the party is confronted by an Esper named Ramuh, who informs the group that Terra may require the assistance of another Esper imprisoned in the Imperial capital city of Vector.

At Vector, the party attempts to rescue several Espers; however, the Espers are already dying from Magitek experiments and choose instead to offer their lives to the party by transforming into magicite. The group returns to Terra and observes a reaction between her and the magicite "Maduin". The reaction calms Terra and restores her memory; she reveals that she is the half-human, half-Esper child of Maduin and a human woman. With this revelation, the Returners ask Terra to convince the Espers to join their cause. To do this, she travels to the sealed gate between the human and Esper worlds. However, unbeknownst to the party, the Empire also uses Terra to gain access to the Esper world. There, Emperor Gestahl and Kefka retrieve the statues of the Warring Triad, raising a landmass called the Floating Continent. The group confronts Emperor Gestahl and Kefka at the Floating Continent, whereupon Kefka, whose mental state has progressively declined over the course of the story, usurps and murders Gestahl. Kefka then tampers with the alignment of the statues, which upsets the balance of magic and destroys most of the surface of the world.

One year later, Celes awakens on a deserted island. She learns that Kefka is using the Warring Triad to rule the world in a tyrannical god-like manner, destroying whole villages who oppose him and causing all life to slowly wither away. After Celes escapes the island, she searches for her lost comrades, who are found scattered throughout the ruined world. They come to terms with their situation and resolve to confront Kefka and end his reign, with Terra additionally accepting her half-Esper heritage and finding a new purpose in life in fighting for a better future. The group infiltrates Kefka's tower and destroys the Warring Triad before confronting Kefka himself, who has descended into nihilism as a result of his madness and plans to destroy all of existence as a means of self-validation. However, the group successfully destroys Kefka in battle, at which point magic and Espers disappear from the world; despite this, Terra is able to survive by hanging onto the human half of her existence. The group escapes from Kefka's tower as it collapses and flies away while watching as the world rejuvenates itself.

Setting and characters

''Final Fantasy VII'' takes place on a world referred to in-game as the "Planet", though it has been retroactively named "Gaia". The planet's lifeforce, called the Lifestream, is a flow of spiritual energy that gives life to everything on the Planet. Its processed form is known as "Mako". On a societal and technological level, the game has been defined as an industrial or post-industrial science fiction milieu. During ''Final Fantasy VII'', the Planet's Lifestream is being drained for energy by the Shinra Electric Power Company (神羅), a world-dominating megacorporation headquartered in the city of Midgar. Shinra's actions are weakening the Planet, threatening its existence and all life. Significant factions within the game include AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group seeking Shinra's downfall so the Planet can recover; the Turks, a covert branch of Shinra's security forces; SOLDIER, an elite Shinra fighting force created by enhancing humans with Mako; and the Cetra, also known as the Ancients, a near-extinct human tribe which maintains a strong connection to the Planet and the Lifestream.

The central protagonist is Cloud Strife, an unsociable mercenary who claims to be a former 1st Class SOLDIER. Early on, he works with two members of AVALANCHE: Barret Wallace, its brazen but fatherly leader; and Tifa Lockhart, a shy yet nurturing martial artist and childhood friend of Cloud. On their journey, they meet Aerith Gainsborough, a carefree flower merchant and one of the last surviving Cetra; Red XIII, an intelligent quadruped from a tribe that protects the planet; Cait Sith, a fortune-telling robotic cat controlled by repentant Shinra staff member Reeve; and Cid Highwind, a pilot whose dream of being the first human in outer space was not realized. The group can also recruit Yuffie Kisaragi, a young ninja and skilled Materia thief; and Vincent Valentine, a former Turk, and victim of Shinra experiments. The game's main antagonists are Rufus Shinra, son of President Shinra and later leader of the Shinra Corporation; Sephiroth, a former SOLDIER who reappears several years after he was thought dead and seeks to harm the planet and become a god himself; and Jenova, a hostile extraterrestrial life-form imprisoned by the Cetra 2000 years before. A key character in Cloud's backstory is Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER and Aerith's first love.

Story

AVALANCHE destroys a Shinra Mako reactor in Midgar; an attack on another reactor goes wrong, and Cloud falls into the city slums. There, he meets Aerith and protects her from Shinra. Meanwhile, Shinra finds AVALANCHE and collapses part of the upper city, killing most of AVALANCHE along with the slum population below. Aerith is also captured; as a Cetra, she can potentially reveal the "Promised Land", which Shinra believes is overflowing with exploitable Lifestream energy. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa rescue Aerith; during their escape from Midgar, they discover that Rufus' father has been murdered by Sephiroth, who was presumed dead five years earlier. The party pursues Sephiroth across the Planet, with now-President Rufus on their trail.

The group begins to encounter Sephiroth during their journey, who continuously appears and disappears after taunting Cloud and sending Jenova-esque monsters after him. Finding him at a Cetra temple, Sephiroth reveals his intentions to use the Black Materia to summon "Meteor", a spell that will hit the Planet with a devastating impact. Sephiroth will absorb the Lifestream as it attempts to heal the wound, becoming a god-like being. The party retrieves the Black Materia, but Sephiroth manipulates Cloud into surrendering it. Aerith departs alone to stop Sephiroth, following him to an abandoned Cetra city. During Aerith's prayer to the Planet for help, Sephiroth attempts to force Cloud to kill her; failing, he kills her himself before fleeing, angering Cloud. The party then learns that Jenova is not a Cetra as once thought. Rather, it is a hostile alien lifeform whose remains were unearthed by Shinra scientists decades earlier; at Nibelheim, Jenova's cells were used to create Sephiroth.

At the Northern Crater, the party learns that the "Sephiroths" they have encountered are Jenova clones created by the insane Shinra scientist Hojo. The party confront one particular Jenova clone as it is killing other clones to reunite Jenova's cells. After it is defeated it drops the Black Materia, but Cloud is again manipulated into delivering it to the real Sephiroth. Sephiroth then taunts Cloud by showing another SOLDIER in Cloud's place in his memories of Nibelheim, suggesting that Cloud is a failed Sephiroth clone. Sephiroth summons Meteor and seals the Crater with a magical barrier; Cloud falls into the Lifestream, the party is captured by Rufus, and several giant monsters known as Weapons emerge to defend the planet from harm.

Escaping Shinra, the party discovers Cloud at an island hospital in a catatonic state from Mako poisoning; Tifa stays as his caretaker. When the island is attacked by a Weapon, the two fall into the Lifestream, where Tifa helps Cloud reconstruct his memories: a shy child during his time in Nibelheim, Cloud was blamed when a young Tifa injured herself trying to cross Mt. Nibel. Resolving to become stronger, Cloud leaves for Midgar to join SOLDIER but was never accepted into the organization; the SOLDIER in his memories was his friend Zack. At Nibelheim, Cloud surprised and wounded Sephiroth after the latter's mental breakdown, but Jenova preserved Sephiroth's life. Hojo experimented on Cloud and Zack for four years, injecting them with Jenova's cells and Mako; they escaped, but Zack did not survive. The combined trauma of these events triggered an identity crisis in Cloud; he constructed a false persona around Zack's stories and his own fantasies. Cloud accepts his past and reunites with the party, who learn that Aerith's prayer to the Planet had been successful: the Planet had attempted to summon Holy to prevent Meteor's impact, but is undermined by Sephiroth.

Shinra fails to destroy Meteor but manages to defeat a Weapon and puncture Sephiroth's barrier around the Northern Crater with its Mako-powered superweapon, the Sister Ray. Hojo attempts to commandeer the superweapon to aid Sephiroth and reveals himself to be Sephiroth's biological father before he is slain by Cloud's party. The party descends to the Planet's core through the opening in the Northern Crater and defeats both Jenova and Sephiroth. The party escapes and Holy is summoned, which destroys Meteor with the help of the Lifestream. Five hundred years later, Red XIII is seen with two cubs looking out over the ruins of Midgar, which are now covered in greenery, showing the planet has healed.

Setting and characters

Most of ''Final Fantasy VIII'' is set on an unnamed fantasy world. The setting is highly European in design and features a blend of modern and futuristic locales. The planet contains five major landmasses, with Esthar, the largest, covering most of the eastern portion of the map. Galbadia, the second-largest continent, lies to the west, and contains many of the game's locations. The northernmost landmass is Trabia, an Arctic region. Positioned roughly in the middle of the world map lies Balamb, the smallest continent, the island on which the game begins. The remaining landmass is small and mostly desolate, riddled with rough, rocky terrain caused by the impact of a "Lunar Cry", an event where monsters from the moon fall to the planet. The southernmost landmass includes an archipelago of broken sections of land that have drifted apart. Islands and marine structures flesh out the game world, and a handful of off-world locations round out the playable areas.

The six main protagonists of ''Final Fantasy VIII'' are: Squall Leonhart, a loner who avoids vulnerability by focusing on his duty; Rinoa Heartilly, an outspoken and passionate young woman who follows her heart; Quistis Trepe, an instructor with a serious, patient attitude; Zell Dincht, an energetic martial artist with a fondness for hot dogs; Selphie Tilmitt, a cheerful girl who loves trains and pilots the airship ''Ragnarok''; and Irvine Kinneas, a marksman and consummate ladies' man. All but Rinoa are members of "SeeD", an elite military force based out of futuristic installations called Gardens. Temporarily playable characters include Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac, who appear in "flashback" sequences; SeeD cadet-turned-antagonist Seifer Almasy; and sorceress Edea Kramer. The main antagonist is Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future who wishes to compress time.

Story

Squall and Seifer spar each other while training outside Balamb Garden. Meanwhile, the Republic of Galbadia invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire SeeD. The school uses the mission as a final exam for its cadets; with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes the mission's prerequisite and is grouped with Seifer and Zell. Selphie replaces Seifer mid-mission when the latter disobeys orders and abandons his team. SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate to SeeD status, but Seifer is disciplined for his disobedience. During the graduation party, Squall meets Rinoa, whose personality is the opposite of his. When assigned with Zell and Selphie to help Rinoa's resistance in Galbadian-occupied Timber, Squall learns that Sorceress Edea is behind Galbadia's recent hostilities. Under orders from Garden, Squall and his comrades—joined by Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine—attempt to assassinate Edea. During the effort, Squall's party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea's second-in-command. Edea survives the attempt, stabs Squall in the shoulder with an ice shard, and detains the party.

After Squall's party escapes, Edea destroys Trabia Garden in a retaliatory missile strike and prepares to attack Balamb Garden. Selphie delays the launch while Squall's team returns to Balamb Garden and activates its mobile functions to evade the missiles. Garden cannot be controlled, however, and it crashes into the docks at Fishermans' Horizon. While Garden is being repaired, Galbadia invades the town in search of a girl named Ellone, who had been staying at Balamb Garden. Before leaving, Ellone reveals that she has been "sending" Squall and his team into flashbacks set 17 years earlier in a vain effort to alter history. The scenes center on Laguna and his friends as he evolves from Galbadian soldier (where he shared a crush with Rinoa's future mother Julia) to village protector (where he served as caretaker to Ellone alongside a bartender named Raine) to leader of an Estharian resistance against Sorceress Adel. Ellone eventually escapes to Esthar, the world's technological superpower.

Meanwhile, Squall confronts his personal anxieties fueled by ongoing developments, such as Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD's new leader and his increasing attraction to Rinoa. Squall and his comrades learn that they, along with Seifer and Ellone, were all raised (except for Rinoa) in an orphanage run by Edea; after eventual separation, they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces, except Irvine, who doesn't use them. Cid and Edea had established Garden and SeeD primarily to defeat corrupt sorceresses. After these revelations, the forces of Balamb Garden defeat the Galbadian Army, led by Seifer, aboard Galbadia Garden. Edea is also defeated by SeeD; however, the party learns that Edea is merely an unwilling host for Ultimecia, who planned to use Ellone to help achieve time compression. Ultimecia transfers her powers to Rinoa; Edea survives, but Rinoa enters a coma. Squall travels to Esthar to find Ellone, as he believes that she can help save Rinoa.

While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar's space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Adel from an orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate the Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a Lunar Cry that sends Adel's containment device to the planet. Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship and share a romantic moment; Ellone is captured by Galbadia shortly thereafter. After landing, the party encounters Laguna, now President of Esthar; he reveals Dr. Odine's plan to allow Ultimecia to cast time compression on their terms so that Ellone can send SeeD into Ultimecia's time period. At Lunatic Pandora, Squall's team defeats Seifer, rescues Ellone, and kills Adel; Ultimecia possesses Rinoa and begins casting time compression. Ellone sends Squall's team into Ultimecia's era, where she is defeated in a fierce battle before time compression can be fully achieved.

Squall, lost in time and space, witnesses the dying Ultimecia traveling back in time to pass her powers to Edea. Rinoa finds him unconscious, and they return together to their restored world and time. Seifer is reunited with his companions, Laguna and Ellone visit Raine's grave, and the SeeD celebrate their victory at Balamb Garden. Squall and Rinoa share a kiss under the moonlight.

Setting and characters

''Final Fantasy IX'' takes place primarily in a world named Gaia. Most of Gaia's population lives on the Mist Continent, named after the thick Mist that blankets the lowlands. Large mountain ranges act as natural borders that separate its four nations: Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia, and Cleyra. Alexandria is a warmongering monarchy that controls the eastern half of the continent. One of its cities is Treno, a cultural nexus under perpetual starlight that is home to many aristocrats and paupers alike. The technologically advanced Lindblum, a hub of airship travel, is nestled on a plateau to the southwest. Both countries feature a mix of humans, humanoids, and anthropomorphic animals. Burmecia, a kingdom showered by endless rain, is in the northwest. Cleyra, a neighboring settlement that seceded from Burmecia due to the latter's appreciation for war, is situated in a giant tree in the desert, protected by a sandstorm. Both are inhabited by anthropomorphic rats with a fondness for dance and spear fighting.

Players eventually explore the Outer, Lost, and Forgotten Continents as well. Civilizations on the Outer Continent include Conde Petie, home of the dwarves; Black Mage Village, a secret settlement of sentient magician drones; and Madain Sari, once home to a near-extinct race of horned humanoid summoners who conjure powerful magical beings called eidolons. Also on the Outer Continent is the Iifa Tree, which disperses the Mist to other continents through its roots. This Mist stimulates the fighting instinct in humanoids and contributes to Gaia's bloody history. The Lost and Forgotten continents are littered mostly with ancient ruins. Scattered throughout the marshes of Gaia are the Qu: large, frog-eating, and seemingly androgynous humanoids who are considered great gourmands. Late in the game, players briefly travel to the parallel world of Terra and the dream realm of Memoria.

The main playable characters are: Zidane Tribal, a member of a group of bandits called Tantalus who are masquerading as a theater troupe; Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (alias Dagger), the Princess of Alexandria who runs away with Zidane; Vivi Ornitier, a young, timid, and kind black mage with an unknown origin; Adelbert Steiner, a brash Alexandrian knight captain and loyal servant of Princess Garnet; Freya Crescent, a Burmecian dragoon searching for her lost love; Quina Quen, a Qu whose master wants them to travel the world so that they will learn about cuisine; Eiko Carol, a young girl living in Madain Sari who is one of the last summoners; and Amarant Coral, a bounty hunter hired to return Garnet to Alexandria. Other important characters include Cid Fabool, the charismatic Regent of Lindblum; Brahne, Garnet's mother and the power-hungry Queen of Alexandria; General Beatrix, the general of Alexandria's all-female army; Garland, an elderly Terran male tasked with saving his world; and antagonist Kuja, an arms dealer and pawn of Garland who questions his own existence.

Story

In Alexandria, Zidane and Tantalus kidnap Princess Garnet by order of Cid. Garnet does not resist, for she was already planning to flee and warn Cid of Queen Brahne's increasingly erratic behavior.'''Garnet''': I am actually ... Princess Garnet til Alexandros, heir to the throne of Alexandria. I have a favour I wish to ask of you ... I wish to be kidnapped ...right away. Vivi and Steiner join the party during the escape. En route to Lindblum, the group discovers that Brahne is manufacturing soulless black mage soldiers that look similar to Vivi. In Lindblum, Cid confirms that he hired the group to protect Garnet from Brahne's newfound aggression. After learning that Alexandria has invaded Burmecia with the black mages, Zidane and Vivi join Freya to investigate. Garnet and Steiner secretly return to Alexandria to reason with Brahne.'''Dagger''': I have to help Mother ... I don't want to see anything happen to her ... / '''Steiner''': Very well. Princess, I will follow you wherever you choose.

Zidane's team finds that the Alexandrian forces, headed by Beatrix, conquered Burmecia with help from Kuja and the refugees have fled to Cleyra. Brahne imprisons Garnet, extracts her eidolons,'''Queen Brahne''': Zorn, Thorn! Prepare to extract the eidolons from Garnet. and uses the eidolon, Odin to destroy Cleyra while Zidane's group defends the city. The party escapes on Brahne's airship, rendezvous with Steiner, and rescues Garnet. Meanwhile, Brahne cripples Lindblum with another eidolon, Atomos.'''Minister Artania''': Yes, Princess. The castle was spared. Regent Cid is alive. Cid explains that Kuja supplies Brahne with black mages and the knowledge to use eidolons. The party befriends Quina and tracks Kuja to the Outer Continent.'''Regent Cid''': I believe Kuja is the only one supplying Brahne with weapons.'''Minister Artania''': That he came from the north suggests he's from the Outer Continent. Brahne hires bounty hunters Lani and Amarant to capture Garnet. On the Outer Continent, the party defeats Lani and meets Eiko, a summoner who lives with a group of moogles in the village of Madain Sari. Eiko leads Zidane and the others to the Iifa Tree. Inside, they learn that Kuja uses Mist to create the black mages and that Vivi was a prototype.'''Zidane''': What kind of weapons did Kuja make? / '''Soulcage''': Kuja called them black mages, dark spawn of the Mist. The party defeats the monster that generates the Mist within the Tree, which clears it from the Mist Continent. While waiting for Kuja's reprisal at Madain Sari, Lani and Amarant attempt to kidnap Eiko but Zidane and the moogles foil them. Amarant then challenges Zidane to a duel and loses. He joins the party and Garnet learns of her heritage as a summoner who was adopted by Brahne as a child. At the Tree, Brahne attempts to kill Kuja with an eidolon so she can rule unopposed, but he takes control of it and destroys her and her army.'''Queen Brahne''': Kuja! So you finally decided to show your girly face here! You're all that stands between me and total domination!'''Kuja''': Excellent, Bahamut! Power, mobility ... You truly are the best! You even hurt me ... a little. And you, Brahne ... Your tragic role in this drama now comes to an end!

After Garnet's coronation, Kuja attacks Alexandria Castle.'''Kuja''': What an auspicious day for Alexandria. Dagger's accession to the throne has brought hope and peace to this kingdom. The people are overjoyed; they believe a wonderful future is ahead of them ... But the celebration isn't over yet. It's time to really light things up! Your former master is here, Bahamut. Play a requiem for her and all of Alexandria! Garnet and Eiko summon an extremely powerful eidolon in defense; Kuja attempts to steal the eidolon as a means to kill his master, Garland, but the latter arrives and destroys it.'''Garland''': You have gone too far, Kuja. I granted you the freedom to do as you wish in Gaia for one purpose alone. Now that you have lost sight of your mission, I will no longer tolerate your actions.'''Kuja''': I need an eidolon more powerful than Alexander! An eidolon with the power to bury Garland! His powers are so incredible; I cannot even come close. I must destroy him before Terra's plan is activated, or my soul will no longer be my own! The party chases Kuja through a portal to Terra, where the antagonists' goals become clear. The Terrans created Garland to merge their dying world with Gaia; Garland, in turn, created self-aware, soulless vessels called Genomes.'''Garland''': I constructed the Genomes to be vessels for the souls of the people of Terra when they awaken. For millennia, Garland has been using the Iifa Tree to replace deceased Gaian souls with the hibernating Terran souls, turning the former into Mist in the process; this will allow the Terrans to be reborn into the Genomes after the planetary merge.'''Garland''': the Iifa Tree blocks the flow of Gaia's souls, while it lets those of Terra flow freely.'''Garland''': The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia ... Kuja and Zidane are Genomes created to accelerate this process by bringing war and chaos to Gaia.'''Zidane''': So ... Kuja is just an angel of death who sends souls to the Tree of Iifa. / '''Garland''': Yes, my angel of death. But only until you came of age. Kuja had betrayed Garland to avoid becoming occupied by a Terran soul. Kuja defeats Garland, who reveals before dying that the former has a limited lifespan anyhow: Garland designed Zidane to be his replacement.'''Garland''': There's a limit to your life ... You'll be dead soon ... Even as I die, you'll have died without ever leaving your mark on the world ... Enraged, Kuja destroys Terra and escapes to the Iifa Tree.

At the Iifa tree, the party enters Memoria and reaches the origin of the universe: the Crystal World. They defeat Kuja, preventing him from destroying the original crystal of life and thus the universe.'''Kuja''': It's the original crystal ... This is where it all began ... The birthplace of all things ... Once I destroy it, everything will be gone. Gaia, Terra, the universe, everything ... After defeating Necron, a force of death,'''Necron''': I exist for one purpose ... To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life. the Tree collapses; the party flees, while Zidane stays behind to rescue Kuja.'''Zidane''': ... Kuja's still alive. I can't just leave him. One year later, the game reveals the cast's fate: Tantalus arrives in Alexandria to put on a show; Vivi has implicitly died as Black Mages only live for a year, but he has left behind several identical "sons"; Freya and Fratley are rebuilding Burmecia; Cid has adopted Eiko; Quina works in the castle's kitchen; Amarant and Lani are travelling together; and Garnet presides as queen of Alexandria, with Steiner and Beatrix as her guards. In the climax of Tantalus's performance, the lead actor reveals himself as Zidane in disguise and reunites with Queen Garnet.'''Robed performer''': I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish! ''[removes robe, revealing himself as - ]'' '''Zidane''': Bring my beloved Dagger to me!

Setting and characters

''Final Fantasy X'' is set in the fictional world of Spira, consisting of one large landmass divided into three subcontinents, surrounded by small tropical islands. It features diverse climates, ranging from the tropical Besaid and Kilika islands, to the temperate Mi'ihen region, to the frigid Macalania and Mt. Gagazet areas. Spira is very different from the mainly European-style worlds found in previous ''Final Fantasy'' games, being much more closely modeled on Southeast Asia, most notably with respect to vegetation, topography, architecture, and names.

Although predominantly populated by humans, Spira features a variety of races. Among them are the Al Bhed, a technologically advanced but disenfranchised sub-group of humans with distinctive green eyes and unique language. The Guado, which are less human in appearance, with elongated fingers and other arboreal features. Still less human are the lion-like Ronso and the frog-like Hypello. A subset of Spira's sentient races are the "unsent", the strong-willed spirits of the dead that remain in corporeal form. In Spira, the dead who are not sent to the Farplane by a summoner come to envy the living and transform into "fiends", the monsters that are encountered throughout the game; however, unsent with strong attachments to the world of the living may retain their human form. Other fauna in Spira, aside from those drawn from real animals, such as cats, dogs, birds, and butterflies, include the gigantic, amphibious shoopufs (which are similar to elephants); and the emu-like chocobo, which appears in most ''Final Fantasy'' games.

There are seven main playable characters in ''Final Fantasy X'', starting with Tidus (James Arnold Taylor/Masakazu Morita), a cheerful young teenager and a star blitzball player from Zanarkand, who seeks a way home after an encounter with Sin transported him to Spira. To do so, he joins Yuna (Hedy Burress/Mayuko Aoki), a summoner on a journey to obtain the Final Aeon and defeat the enormous whale-like "Sin". Journeying with them are: Kimahri Ronso (John DiMaggio/Katsumi Chō), a young warrior of the Ronso tribe who watched over Yuna during her childhood; Wakka (also DiMaggio/Kazuya Nakai), a blitzball player whose younger brother was killed by Sin; and Lulu (Paula Tiso/Rio Natsuki), a stoic black mage close to Yuna and Wakka. During the journey, they are joined by Auron (Matt McKenzie/Hideo Ishikawa), a former warrior monk, who worked with both Tidus' and Yuna's fathers to defeat Sin 10 years prior; and Rikku (Tara Strong/Marika Matsumoto), Yuna's cousin, a perky Al Bhed girl and the first friendly person Tidus meets upon arriving in Spira.

Story

Tidus waits with his allies outside the ruins of an ancient city. He narrates the events that led to the present, spanning most of the game's storyline. It begins in his home city, the high-tech metropolis of Zanarkand, where he is a renowned blitzball player and son of the famous blitzball star, Jecht, an abusive father who disappeared 10 years prior. During a blitzball tournament, the city is attacked by an immense creature that Auron, a man not originally from Zanarkand, calls "Sin". Sin destroys Zanarkand and takes Tidus and Auron to the world of Spira. Upon arriving in Spira, Tidus is rescued by Al Bhed salvagers, with the young Rikku claiming that Sin destroyed Zanarkand 1,000 years ago. After Sin attacks again, Tidus is separated from the divers and drifts to the tropical island of Besaid, where he meets Wakka, captain of the local blitzball team. Wakka introduces Tidus to Yuna, a young summoner about to go on a pilgrimage to obtain the Final Aeon and defeat Sin with her guardians Lulu, a mage of black magic, and Kimahri, a member of the Ronso tribe. The party travels across Spira to gather aeons, defending against attacks by Sin and its "offspring" called Sinspawn. Tidus meets Auron again, who convinces Tidus to become Yuna's guardian upon revealing that Jecht is Sin's true identity. Ten years ago, Auron and Jecht bodyguarded Yuna's late father Braska to defeat Sin but Jecht became a new Sin. As Yuna's party continues their pilgrimage, Tidus reunites with Rikku, who the party learns is Yuna's cousin.

When the party arrives in the city of Guadosalam, the leader of the Guado and major clergy member Seymour Guado, proposes to Yuna, saying that it will ease Spira's sorrow. At Macalania Temple, the group discovers a message from the spirit of Seymour's father, Lord Jyscal; he declares that he was killed by his own son, who now aims to destroy Spira. The group reunites with Yuna and kills Seymour in battle; soon afterward, Sin attacks, separating Yuna and sending the others to the arid Bikanel Island. While searching for Yuna at the island's Al Bhed settlement, Tidus has an emotional breakdown when he learns that summoners die after summoning the Final Aeon, leading to his desire to find a way to defeat Sin while keeping Yuna alive. The group finds Yuna in Bevelle, the center of the clergy’s power, where she is being forced to marry the unsent Seymour. They crash the wedding, after which Seymour reveals his plan to become Sin with Yuna's help. The party defeats him a second time and escapes with Yuna. The group heads toward the ruins of Zanarkand, seen in the introduction of the game.

Shortly before arriving, Tidus learns that he, Jecht, and the Zanarkand they hail from are summoned entities akin to aeons based on the original Zanarkand and its people. Long ago, the original Zanarkand battled Bevelle in a machina war, in which the former was defeated. Zanarkand's survivors became "fayth" so that they could use their memories of Zanarkand to create a new city in their image, removed from the reality of Spira. Once they reach Zanarkand, Yunalesca—the first summoner to defeat Sin and unsent ever since —tells the group that the Final Aeon is created from the fayth of one close to the summoner. After defeating Sin, the Final Aeon kills the summoner and transforms into a new Sin, which has caused its cycle of rebirth to continue. The group decides against using the Final Aeon, due to the futile sacrifices it carries and the fact that Sin would still be reborn. Yunalesca tries to kill Tidus' group, but she is defeated and vanishes, ending hope of ever attaining the Final Aeon.

After the fight, the group learns that Yu Yevon — the deity of the Yevon religion who was a summoner from Zanarkand before losing his humanity and mind — is behind Sin's cycle of rebirth. This leads the group to infiltrate Sin's body in order to find Yu Yevon. Inside Sin, the party finds the unsent Seymour, who had been absorbed by Sin and intends to control it from within. Yuna defeats him for the final time before sending him to the Farplane. Shortly after, the group reaches the core of Sin and finds Jecht's imprisoned spirit. Tidus and Jecht finally come to terms with the latter’s abuse. Jecht transforms into his Final Aeon form, asking the party to defeat him and end the cycle; they do so. With Sin's host defeated, Yuna summons and the group defeats each aeon after Yu Yevon possesses each one until finally they vanquish Yu Yevon himself.

Sin's cycle of rebirth ends when Yuna sends Sin and the Aeons to the farplane, and the spirits of Spira's fayth are freed from their imprisonment. Auron, who had been revealed to be unsent, is sent to the Farplane. Dream Zanarkand and Tidus disappear, now that the freed fayth stopped the summoning. Afterward, in a speech to the citizens of Spira, Yuna resolves to help rebuild their world now that it is free of Sin. In a post-credits scene, Tidus awakens under water and swims towards the ocean surface.

Setting

The fictional events of ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'' take place on a single continent of an unnamed world, which is divided into four distinct regions: Foresta, Aquaria, Fireburg, and Windia. The welfare of each region is determined by the state of one of four shining crystals: earth, water, fire, and wind, respectively. For centuries the Focus Tower had stood at the heart of the world. It had been a center for trade and knowledge, and the world's people met there to peacefully settle their differences. But on one warm summer day, powerful monsters stormed the Tower, stole the four crystals, and took off with the magical coins that kept the Tower's doors unlocked. The monsters began consuming the power of the crystals; they grew in strength while the world began to decay. An old prophecy tells that at the time the "vile four" steal the power and divide the world behind four doors, a knight will appear to vanquish the darkness.

Story

The game opens with an adventurous youth named Benjamin climbing the Hill of Destiny. While exploring, his village is destroyed in an earthquake. As Benjamin is climbing the Hill, he meets a mysterious old man who charges Benjamin with fulfilling the knight's prophecy. Although initially in disbelief, Benjamin accepts the role and the Old Man shows him the Focus Tower, supposedly the center of the World. After defeating a monster at the top of the hill, Benjamin follows the Old Man to the Level Forest, where he is tasked with recovering the Crystal of Earth. Proceeding to Foresta, he meets with an axe-wielding girl named Kaeli, who agrees to help Benjamin if he can help her rid the Level Forest of monsters. Kaeli is ambushed and poisoned in the process, and her mother informs Benjamin of the Elixir and where it can be found. Benjamin's search for Elixir to heal Kaeli brings him to Bone Dungeon, where he's aided by a treasure hunter named Tristam in succeeding dual purposes: not only does Benjamin get Elixir from Tristam to heal Kaeli, but he defeats one of the four Vile Evils, Flamerous Rex, to free the Crystal of Earth and in turn restore life to the dying village of Foresta. Tristam leaves and Benjamin heals Kaeli.

Benjamin is told that Aquaria is in danger, and is in need of help. He is told by the Old Man and various others that he should see Spencer. He is told that a girl named Phoebe can help him as well. After proceeding through the first stage of the Focus Tower, and arriving in the province of Aquaria, Benjamin locates Phoebe, and learns that Spencer is trapped underground by thick ice floes. Phoebe needs the "wakewater", which is said to be able to help free Aquaria. Benjamin and Phoebe head to the Wintry Cave and defeat a monster to obtain the Libra Crest. Using this crest to enter Life Temple from the Libra Temple, they find that the source of the "wakewater" has dried up. Finding the Old Man in the back of the Life Temple, they find that he holds the only bag of wakewater, and to use it on the plant in the center of town. Back in Aquaria, they find that the wakewater does not work, and reviving the crystal is the only thing that will save the town and Spencer. They head off for the Ice Pyramid and defeat the second of the Vile Evils, the Ice Golem. The Water Crystal is saved, and Benjamin and Phoebe head back to Aquaria. They find the town is now like Foresta after the crystal is revived there and Spencer is back and digging his tunnel to save Kaeli's father Captain Mac. Upon leaving, Spencer hands the Venus Key to Benjamin, and tells him to head for Fireburg.

Benjamin arrives in the Focus Tower to find the Old Man again, who tells him to find Reuben, and disappears. Benjamin heads for Fireburg, and finds Reuben. Reuben joins when Benjamin promises to help free Reuben's dad, Arion. Upon finding Tristam in the Inn who gives Benjamin the Multi-Key, they find the coward who left Arion in the mine in a locked house. He teaches Benjamin how to throw the bombs and says that it will free Arion. Benjamin and Reuben then proceed to the Mine and free Arion. Arion tells some tales of how the Fire Crystal has gone berserk, and Reuben goes off with Benjamin to the Volcano to stop the Vile Evil from stealing the crystal's power. After defeating the Dualhead Hydra, Benjamin and Reuben find the Fire Crystal returning to power. They decide to head to Windia, and Reuben is ambushed by monsters and falls off the rope bridge. Tristam comes along and helps Benjamin cross the bridge, but they are stymied by a tree who won't talk to them. Tristam says that there is a gal in Foresta who can talk to tree spirits, and the two drop in on Aquaria where Kaeli was trying to find Spencer. Benjamin and Tristam go down into the tunnel and find Spencer, who tells Tristam of a great treasure. They leave, and Phoebe plants a bomb that collapses a tunnel Spencer was building. She leaves to tell Spencer what happened, and Benjamin takes Kaeli to the Alive Forest to talk to the dormant tree spirit. He tells them that he will take them to Windia if they kill the monsters dwelling within him. They do, and he takes them to Windia.

Upon arriving in Windia, Benjamin and Kaeli find Otto, whose daughter Norma was caught in Pazuzu's Tower when the winds from nearby Mount Gale knocked out his Rainbow Road. The only way the road works is when there is no wind, so Benjamin and Kaeli proceed to Mount Gale and stop the wind by defeating a powerful monster at the top. After returning to Windia, Otto powers up the Rainbow Road and the two adventurers proceed to Pazuzu's Tower. After giving chase, they corner Pazuzu and defeat the fourth Vile Evil and restore the Wind Crystal. Norma is reunited with Otto, and Kaeli stays to take care of her. Reuben shows up and after a series of long events Captain Mac is rescued. Reuben falls down because of the injury sustained on the Rope Bridge, and Phoebe joins Benjamin instead.

The Old Man tells Benjamin an ominous addendum to the prophecy: "the one behind the four is darker than the night, and rises midst the land." It becomes known that the Dark King is the true source of evil. Benjamin thus sails to Doom Castle to confront the Dark King, who threatens to enslave Benjamin along with the rest of mankind. The Dark King claims that he wrote and spread the prophecy Benjamin had followed throughout his quest. Once the Dark King is defeated, the old man congratulates Benjamin and reveals that he is the Crystal of Light in the guise of a human. At the end of the game, Benjamin is seen still craving adventure, and he borrows the ship from Captain Mac as his friends gather to wish him off. While sailing, Tristam makes a surprise appearance.

Standing in front of the tower, the hero and party learn that they cannot climb it to paradise without first unsealing its base door. In the base world, three kings named Armor, Sword, and Shield fight for dominance using a piece of legendary equipment corresponding to their names. Visiting King Armor, the party learns that he is in love with a girl who returns his feelings, but cannot marry him, as a bandit holds her village hostage in return for her love. They defeat the bandit, and the king gives them his armor in gratitude. King Sword attacks the heroes, who vanquish him and take the sword. Lastly, King Shield is murdered by his own steward, and after a short fight, the party recovers his shield. Restoring the items to a statue of a great hero, they receive the Black Sphere, but are attacked by Gen-bu, the first of four fiends controlled by Ashura. They defeat him and use the power of the Sphere to enter the tower.Square Co. pp. 47-74. ''The Final Fantasy Legend, instruction manual'', Retrieved on 2009-06-04.

They climb the tower and come to another door; inside lies a second world surrounded by large bodies of water. By navigating caves, they find a floating island which allows them to travel around the world by air.Square Co. pp. 75-78. ''The Final Fantasy Legend, instruction manual'', Retrieved on 2009-06-05. They locate an old man, Ryu-O, and solve his riddle to obtain the Airseed, allowing them to breathe underwater and enter the undersea palace. They encounter the second fiend, Sei-ryu; they defeat him and recover half of the second sphere. Upon returning to Ryu-O, he reveals himself to be the guardian of the other half of the sphere, and the two halves form the Blue Sphere.

Using the Blue Sphere to continue up the tower, the party comes to a world of clouds, dominated by Byak-ko and an army of thugs. They learn that Byak-ko recently wiped out an underground resistance movement, except for Millie and Jeanne, the two daughters of its leader. The party temporarily joins Byak-ko's gang to find the girls, and attempt to defend them until Millie betrays Jeanne and the party is captured. Breaking free, they confront the fiend, who tries to kill Millie; Jeanne takes the blow and the party engages the fiend. They defeat him, recover the White Sphere, and continue their journey.

The fourth world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland; Su-Zaku roams the surface defended by an impenetrable forcefield. The party retreats to an abandoned subway for refuge and meets Sayaka, who directs them to the nearest town. There the party is confronted by the leader of a biker gang, So-Cho, but his sister Sayaka intervenes and the two groups agree to work together to defeat Su-Zaku. As they gather the needed parts for a device to deactivate the forcefield, So-Cho sacrifices his life to guide the party through an atomic power plant. Beasts then ambush the town, and Su-Zaku kidnaps Sayaka. The party defeats Su-Zaku, earns the Red Sphere and travels on.

Climbing the tower, the party discovers the remains of a family that attempted to reach Paradise but failed, and a library suggesting Ashura is controlled by someone else. They encounter him at the top, guarding the final door; he offers each of them control of one of the worlds, but they refuse and defeat him. Before they can pass through the door, a trap drops them to the bottom floor. Encountering the allies they made along their journey, they decide to rescale the tower. As they climb stairs that wrap outside of the tower, they engage each of the fiends revived and defeat them. They find the Creator at the summit, and learn that the fiends and the tower itself are actually part of a game created by him to see heroes defeat evil; for succeeding they would be granted a wish as a reward. Angry at his manipulation, they reject the reward and challenge the Creator, who insists that because he created everything he was allowed to use them as he saw fit. They then attack and defeat the Creator in a fierce battle. The heroes then discover a door leading to an unknown location; they consider entering, but decide to return to their own world.

The Hero (named by the player, officially called Sumo) is a prisoner of the Dark Lord. One day, the Hero's friend informs him of the Dark Lord's goals, and he urges him to seek a Knight named Bogard. As the Hero escapes imprisonment, he learns that the Dark Lord is seeking a key to the Mana Sanctuary in order to control the Mana Tree, an energy source that sustains life. The Hero is befriended by the Heroine (named by the player, officially called Fuji) who is also seeking Bogard. The two find Bogard, who recommends they seek out a man named Cibba. During their journey to meet him, the Heroine is kidnapped. With the aid of a mysterious man, she is later rescued by the Hero. When they meet Cibba, he plays a message left by the Heroine's mother, who reveals she is a descendant of the guardians of the Mana Tree and her pendant is the key to it. The mysterious man, upon discovering that the heroine holds the pendant, reveals himself to be Julius, the Dark Lord's advisor and kidnaps her. The Hero then attempts to rescue the Heroine, but he fails and is knocked off of Julius's airship. However, the Heroine gives the Hero the pendant just before he falls.

The Hero is then reunited with Amanda, an escapee from his prison, who steals the pendant in order to win her brother Lester's freedom. The mayor of Jadd, Davias, takes the pendant, but he transforms Lester into a parrot. The Hero and Amanda confront a Medusa for its tear, which will break the spell. They kill it, but Amanda is infected by the Medusa's attack, causing her to transform into one herself. The Hero reluctantly kills her, and uses her tears to break Lester's spell. Lester avenges Amanda's death by killing Davias, who reveals that he gave the pendant to the Dark Lord. The Hero confronts and defeats the Dark Lord; however, Hero discovers that the Heroine is under Julius' mind control and has opened the entrance to the Mana Tree. Julius reveals he is the last survivor of the Vandole Empire, the empire who attempted to control the Mana Tree years ago, and handily defeats the Hero.

Realizing he is powerless to defeat Julius, the Hero learns from Cibba about a powerful sword called Excalibur. Cibba helps him find the Excalibur only to find a rusty sword instead. He explains that the rusty sword is the Excalibur and would reveal its true strength to whoever it finds worthy. The Hero then raises Dime Tower to reach the Mana Sanctuary and meets a robot known as Marcie. After reaching the top, the tower begins to collapse and Marcie sacrifices himself by throwing the Hero across. After obtaining and passing the sword's trials, the Hero confronts and defeats Julius at the cost of the Mana Tree's life. The Mana Tree reveals that she is the Heroine's mother and before dying, asks the Heroine to succeed her current position. The Heroine agrees and bids farewell to the Hero as she becomes the next Mana Tree, and the Hero her guardian.

Setting

The backstory of ''Final Fantasy V'' is revealed in phases through cutscenes and interactions with non-playable characters. One millennium before the events of the main story, a powerful mage named Enuo imperiled the world using the power of an evil entity called the "Void". The people retaliated by using twelve legendary weapons to vanquish Enuo; however, the Void itself could not be destroyed. Consequently, the people split the world's four elemental Crystals into two sets, effectively creating two worlds. The Void then became sealed in a dimensional cleft between the two worlds.

Nearly a thousand years passed without incident, and both worlds prospered due to the powers of their Crystals of Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth. New kingdoms and towns flourished, and travel by ship acted as a critical means of commerce and communication. However, a sinister force was stirring in the second world—ever since the Void incident, malicious demons had been sealed inside a tree in the Great Forest of Moore. The corrupted amalgamation of spirits emerged as Exdeath, the game's primary antagonist. When Exdeath attempted to claim the world for himself, a group of heroes called the "Four Warriors of Dawn" (Galuf, Xezat, Dorgann, and Kelger) sealed him within the first world using its Crystals, and peace returned for another thirty years.

Characters

''Final Fantasy V'' features five player characters, though only up to four are playable at any given time: * Bartz Klauser is a traveling adventurer who becomes involved in the story when he investigates the site of a meteorite strike. During the story, he learns that his father Dorgann was a Warrior of Dawn. * Lenna Charlotte Tycoon is a princess of Tycoon who follows her father to investigate the Wind Shrine's Crystal. * Galuf Doe is a mysterious old man whom Bartz and Lenna discover unconscious near the meteorite. He later remembers his history as a Warrior of Dawn and King of Bal. He dies fighting Exdeath. * Faris Scherwiz is a pirate captain who captures Bartz, Lenna, and Galuf when they try to steal her ship. Later she is revealed to be Lenna's sister, Sarisa Scherwill Tycoon, in disguise. * Krile Mayer Baldesion is Galuf's granddaughter who follows him to Bartz's world. She received Galuf's abilities when he dies.

During the story, the player characters encounter many non-player characters. The other Warriors of Dawn, Dorgann Klauser (Bartz's father), Kelger Vlondett, and Xezat Matias Surgate, play important roles. Supporting characters also include engineer Cid Previa, his grandson Mid Previa, and turtle sage Ghido. One of Exdeath's henchmen, Gilgamesh, is a recurring mini-boss in the second half of the game. Gilgamesh has appeared in several ''Final Fantasy'' titles since.

Yoshitaka Amano designed concept art for the player characters. He has offered such artwork for every main ''Final Fantasy'' installment since the original.

Story

King Tycoon departs to investigate the weakening of the Wind Crystal at the Wind Shrine. Bartz witnesses a meteorite plunge to the planet's surface. He encounters Lenna, King Tycoon's daughter; Galuf, an amnesiac old man; and Faris, a pirate captain. They make their way to the Wind Shrine pursuing Lenna's father. There the shards of the shattered crystal grant them new powers. An image of King Tycoon appears, saying the crystals have chosen the four adventurers as their protectors.

The party discovers the crystals make their planet habitable and also seal away Exdeath, an evil sorcerer. The party attempts to save the crystals of Water, Fire, and Earth. Each time, they fail but gain new powers from the crystals' shards. Having been freed, Exdeath defeats the party and returns to his homeworld. King Tycoon, who was controlled by Exdeath to destroy the last crystal, sacrifices himself to save the others.

Galuf's granddaughter Krile arrives by a meteorite, restoring Galuf's memory completely. He recalls he originated from the same world as Exdeath, and resolves to pursue him back home with Krile. Bartz, Lenna and Faris travel with them.

On Galuf's world, Exdeath is already wreaking havoc in pursuit of that world's crystals. The party wins a victory against Exdeath's lieutenant Gilgamesh, but are blown to a distant continent when a magical barrier is activated during their escape. They deactivate the barrier with help from Galuf's allies. The party then travels to Moore Forest in an attempt to protect the world's crystals there. Exdeath deceives them into destroying the crystals' guardians and takes the crystals for himself. Krile arrives to help but is herself trapped by the warlock's powers. Galuf saves the others from Exdeath, at the cost of his own life. His abilities pass to Krile, who joins the party in his place. The party pursues Exdeath to his castle, where they defeat Gilgamesh again and then Exdeath himself. The crystals shatter, reuniting the split worlds.

For a time, it seems Exdeath has been truly destroyed, and the party celebrates in Tycoon. However, a thorn leaps from Krile's palm, manifesting as Exdeath, now resurrected and fully in command of the Void. With it, he removes entire towns and kingdoms from existence, tossing them into an Interdimensional Rift.

The reunification of worlds has opened the pathways to ancient sites where powerful artifacts are hidden. So armed, the party enters the Rift. With help from a reformed Gilgamesh, they find Exdeath at the center of the Rift seeking the power of the Void. They fight Exdeath, first in his demonic tree form, and then after he transforms into Neo Exdeath, intent on destroying all reality, including himself. The heroes defeat Exdeath and use the crystal shards' power to seal the Void once more and restore the reunified world and its crystals.

The game's ending varies based on how many party members are still alive at Neo Exdeath's defeat, detailing the events after the world's resurrection. In the end, the remaining group visits Moore Forest and find that the fallen party members have returned to life.

The story is set in Paris in 1482 during the reign of Louis XI. Esmeralda, a beautiful, sixteen-year-old Romani dancer, is the romantic and sexual interest of many men; including Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers; poet Pierre Gringoire; hunchbacked cathedral bell-ringer Quasimodo, and his guardian Archdeacon Claude Frollo. Frollo is torn between his obsessive lust for Esmeralda and the rules of Notre Dame Cathedral. He orders Quasimodo to kidnap her, but Quasimodo is captured by Phoebus and his guards. After he saves her, Esmeralda becomes besotted with Phoebus. Gringoire, who attempted to help Esmeralda but was knocked out by Quasimodo, unwittingly wanders into the "Court of Miracles", populated by the Roma and the truands. They are about to hang him for being an outsider, but Esmeralda saves him by agreeing to marry him for four years.

The following day, Quasimodo is sentenced to be flogged and turned on the pillory for two hours, followed by another hour's public exposure. He calls for water. Esmeralda, seeing his thirst, approaches the public stocks and offers him a drink of water. It saves him, and she captures his heart.

Later, Frollo follows Phoebus to an inn where he plans to meet Esmeralda and watches as the captain seduces the girl. Inflamed with jealousy, Frollo stabs Phoebus. Esmeralda is arrested and charged with both the attempted murder of Phoebus and of witchcraft, and is sentenced to death by hanging. While imprisoned, awaiting her execution, Esmeralda is visited by Frollo. The Archdeacon professes his love for her and promises to help her escape if she reciprocates. However, recognizing him as Phoebus' true attacker, she angrily rebuffs him. As Esmeralda is being led to the gallows, Quasimodo swings down from Notre-Dame and carries her off to the cathedral, temporarily protecting her under the law of sanctuary from arrest.

Frollo later informs Gringoire that the Court of Parlement has voted to remove Esmeralda's right to the sanctuary so she can no longer seek shelter in the cathedral and will be taken away to be executed. Clopin Trouillefou, the leader of the Roma, hears the news from Gringoire and rallies the Court of Miracles to charge the Notre-Dame and rescue Esmeralda.

When Quasimodo sees the Roma, he assumes they are there to hurt Esmeralda, so he drives them off. As Quasimodo defends the cathedral against the invaders, the uproar reaches the king, who is incorrectly informed that those attacking the cathedral are eager for Esmeralda's hanging rather than trying to rescue her. The king orders the authorities to dispatch the invaders and calls for Esmeralda's immediate execution to settle the unrest. In the chaos Esmeralda is taken from the cathedral by Frollo and Gringoire.

Frollo once again attempts to win Esmeralda's love, but the girl asserts that she would rather die than be with him. Frollo betrays Esmeralda; he goes to alert the authorities while trapping her with Sister Gudule, a reclusive anchoress who bears an extreme hatred for the Roma as she believes they cannibalized her infant daughter. However, it is revealed that Gudule is really Esmeralda's birth mother, and that Esmeralda is Gudule's long-lost daughter Agnes, abducted and raised by the Roma. The two women's joyous reunion is cut short when the king's men arrive to take Esmeralda to the gallows. A desperate Gudule clings to Esmeralda even as she is taken to the place of execution. The guards pull the old woman off her daughter; and she falls to the pavement and dies from the harsh impact.

From the tower of Notre-Dame, Frollo and Quasimodo witness as Esmeralda is hanged. Frollo laughs triumphantly at Esmeralda's death; upon observing this, Quasimodo pushes the Archdeacon from the height of cathedral to his death. With nothing left to live for, Quasimodo vanishes and is never seen again.

In the epilogue, Quasimodo's deformed skeleton is found many years later embracing another in the charnel house, a mass grave into which the bodies of the destitute and criminals were indiscriminately thrown, implying that Quasimodo had sought Esmeralda among the decaying corpses and lay beside her, letting himself slowly die while holding her. As the guards attempt to pull the skeletons apart, his skeleton crumbles to dust.

Theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman arrives late for work at the Black Mesa Research Facility. As part of an experiment, he pushes an unusual material into a machine, called the anti-mass spectrometer, for analysis. The spectrometer explodes, creating a "resonance cascade" that severely damages the facility and opens a portal to another dimension, Xen. Surviving scientists urge Gordon to head to the surface, where he defends himself against hostile Xen creatures and the HECU (Hazardous Environment Combat Unit), a special unit of United States Marines sent to cover up the incident by killing all of the hostile aliens and any Black Mesa personnel they find.

Heading to the surface, Gordon learns that scientists from the Lambda Complex may have found a way to close the portal. Gordon travels to the other end of the facility to assist them. Along the way, he activates a rocket engine test facility to destroy a giant tentacled creature and uses a disused railway system to reach and launch a satellite rocket. After he is captured by the marines and left for dead in a garbage compactor, he escapes and makes his way to an older part of the facility. There, he discovers Xen specimens collected before the incident. Overwhelmed by the alien forces, the HECU Marines pull out of Black Mesa and begin airstrikes. Scaling cliffs, navigating destroyed buildings, and traversing through underground water channels, Gordon arrives at the Lambda Complex, where scientists learn the portal is being forced open on the other side by a mighty entity. They have developed teleportation technology that allows Gordon to travel to Xen, where he is tasked to stop the entity.

In Xen, Gordon encounters the remains of researchers who ventured there before him and Gordon defeats the Gonarch, a huge egg-laying headcrab. At a factory creating alien soldiers, he enters a portal that sends him to a vast cave. There, Gordon confronts the Nihilanth, the entity maintaining the rift, and destroys it. Gordon is summoned by the mysterious G-Man, who has been watching his progress in Black Mesa and praises him. The G-Man explains his "employers" wish to employ Gordon. If Gordon refuses, he is teleported to an area full of alien soldiers to be killed immediately. If Gordon accepts, the G-Man congratulates him and places him into stasis to await his next assignment.

A young girl named Alice sits bored by a riverbank, where she suddenly spots a White Rabbit with a pocket watch and waistcoat lamenting that he is late. The surprised Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, which sends her down a lengthy plummet but to a safe landing. Inside a room with a table, she finds a key to a tiny door, beyond which is a beautiful garden. As she ponders how to fit through the door, she discovers a bottle reading "Drink me". Alice hesitantly drinks a portion of the bottle's contents, and to her astonishment, she shrinks small enough to enter the door. However, she had left the key upon the table and is unable to reach it. Alice then discovers and eats a cake, which causes her to grow to a tremendous size. As the unhappy Alice bursts into tears, the passing White Rabbit flees in a panic, dropping a fan and pair of gloves. Alice uses the fan for herself, which causes her to shrink once more and leaves her swimming in a pool of her own tears. Within the pool, Alice meets a variety of animals and birds, who convene on a bank and engage in a "Caucus Race" to dry themselves. Following the end of the race, Alice inadvertently frightens the animals away by discussing her cat.

The White Rabbit appears in search of the gloves and fan. Mistaking Alice for his maidservant, the White Rabbit orders Alice to go into his house and retrieve them. Alice finds another bottle and drinks from it, which causes her to grow to such an extent that she gets stuck within the house. The White Rabbit and his neighbors attempt several methods to extract her, eventually taking to hurling pebbles that turn into small cakes. Alice eats one and shrinks herself, allowing her to flee into the forest. She meets a Caterpillar seated on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. Amidst the Caterpillar's questioning, Alice begins to admit to her current identity crisis, compounded by her inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the Caterpillar tells her that a bite of one side of the mushroom will make her larger, while a bite from the other side will make her smaller. During a period of trial and error, Alice's neck extends between the treetops, frightening a pigeon who mistakes her for a serpent. After shrinking to an appropriate height, Alice arrives at the home of a Duchess, who owns a perpetually grinning Cheshire Cat. The Duchess's baby, whom she hands to Alice, transforms into a piglet, which Alice releases into the woods. The Cheshire Cat appears to Alice and directs her toward the Hatter and March Hare before disappearing, leaving his grin behind. Alice finds the Hatter, March Hare, and a sleepy Dormouse in the midst of an absurd tea party. The Hatter explains that it is always 6 pm (tea time), claiming that time is standing still as punishment for the Hatter trying to "kill it". A strange conversation ensues around the table, and the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is brought forward. Eventually, Alice impatiently decides to leave, dismissing the affair as "the stupidest tea party that [she has] ever been to".

Noticing a door on one of the trees, Alice passes through and finds herself back in the room from the beginning of her journey. She is able to take the key and use it to open the door to the garden, which turns out to be the croquet court of the Queen of Hearts, whose guard consists of living playing cards. Alice participates in a croquet game, in which hedgehogs are used as balls, flamingos are used as mallets, and soldiers act as gates. The Queen proves to be short-tempered, and she constantly orders beheadings. When the Cheshire Cat appears as only a head, the Queen orders his beheading, only to be told that such an act is impossible. Because the cat belongs to the Duchess, Alice prompts the Queen to release the Duchess from prison to resolve the matter. When the Duchess ruminates on finding morals in everything around her, the Queen dismisses her on the threat of execution. Alice then meets a Gryphon and a weeping Mock Turtle, who dance to the Lobster Quadrille while Alice recites (rather incorrectly) "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster". The Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup" during which the Gryphon drags Alice away for an impending trial, in which the Knave of Hearts stands accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. The trial is ridiculously conducted by the King of Hearts, and the jury is composed of various animals that Alice had previously met. Alice gradually grows in size and confidence, allowing herself increasingly frequent remarks on the irrationality of the proceedings. The Queen finally commands Alice's beheading, but Alice scoffs that the Queen's guard is only a pack of cards. Although Alice holds her own for a time, the card guards soon gang up and start to swarm all over her. Alice's sister wakes her up from a dream, brushing what turns out to be some leaves from Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings for herself.

Set during a war between the 'Starmen (inhabitants of the planet '''Lilistar''') and six-limbed insectoid creatures called '''the reegs''', ''Now Wait for Last Year'' is the story of '''Eric Sweetscent''', an organ-transplant doctor who gets wrapped up in Earth-Lilistar politics.

At the onset of the story, Sweetscent is the personal org-trans surgeon for '''Virgil Ackerman''', the president of Tijuana Fur & Dye. Using an extraterrestrial amoeba which can imitate the cell-structure of anything it touches, TF&D had been the largest manufacturer of synthetic furs on the planet. But like all major corporations on Earth, TF&D has been requisitioned to produce for the war effort.

Ackerman invites Sweetscent to "Wash-35", a recreation of his boyhood native Washington DC in a simulated 1935 and his vacation getaway on Mars, where he announces an ulterior motive in the retreat. Waiting for them when they arrive is a guest—'''Gino Molinari''', the elected leader of Earth. Known as "the Mole", he is rumored to have the enigmatic ability to come back from the dead, and he has requested the services of Sweetscent. Ackerman gladly passes Sweetscent on to Molinari.

Meanwhile, Sweetscent's wife, Kathy, tries '''JJ-180''', a new hallucinogenic drug which proves to be highly toxic and addictive. The effects of JJ-180 are not clear at first, however, only hours off of it, Kathy finds herself unable to function and violently craving JJ-180 again. She is visited by 'Starmen who claim the reegs invented JJ-180 as a chemical weapon against the 'Starmen and Terrans, also stating that there is no known cure for the drug's addiction and 'That's why we put you on it'. Kathy is now a slave to JJ-180.

The 'Starmen inform Kathy of her husband's new position with Molinari and suspect the latter's possible defection to the reegs. Kathy is promised more JJ-180 if she agrees to spy on her husband for Lilistar. Threatened with deportation, Kathy capitulates and agrees to their terms. Eventually, she takes a second dose of the drug as her ability to function becomes nearly impossible due to the effects of the withdrawal. Jumping into a taxi-cab, both she and the cab are plunged back in time to the 1930s. As the effects of the drug wear off, they slowly make their way back to the present time, uncertain as to whether the past they visited was their own or an alternate one.

An increasingly paranoid Kathy sets off to visit her husband.

Under his new employer Eric Sweetscent is let in on certain State secrets: Molinari seems to have a psychosomatic condition that mirrors any illness or disease of anyone in his vicinity. The effects of this condition appear to be real, yet the Mole pulls through every time, always returning from the brink of death.

Molinari, like everyone else, has realized that in siding with the 'Starmen Earth has doomed itself to the wrong side of a losing war. However, there does not seem to be any safe way of defecting to the reegs, and Molinari fears that his deteriorating health will not instill confidence in the Terrans should the 'Starmen retaliate, as they are certain to do. Sweetscent is shown footage of a healthier, younger Molinari in uniform and is led to believe that an android look-alike of the President has been created for public appearances, a notion that does not account for the fact that there is at least one other Molinari on the premises, a bullet-ridden corpse that is being preserved for use in the event of certain possible future developments.

Kathy arrives to inform her husband of her addiction, and in an effort to motivate him to find a cure she slips a pill of JJ-180 into his drink. Without enough time to be furious, Eric slips a year into the future of an alternate world where his colleagues inform him that he disappeared the day Kathy came to visit. Sweetscent also witnesses that in the new timeline Earth has sided with the reegs and Lilistar has lost the war.

Upon returning to the present of his own timeline, Sweetscent is eager to present this information to Molinari, who reveals that he too has been taking JJ-180, and that the effect is different for each user. Certain users are sent to the past, while others are sent to the future. Each trip is in an alternate universe, and therefore no one can effectively change their own past or future. However, aside from minor details, events in all observed universes seem to be moving in the same direction, and therefore, information obtained from one alternate world's future will most likely be applicable to another.

In Molinari's case he slips sideways in time under the drug's influence and is able to pull alternate versions of his present self into his own timeline and then keep them there.

Having learned the secret to Molinari's alter-aliases as well as confirming the feasibility of an alliance with the reegs, Eric takes a larger dose of JJ-180 which propels him further into the future. While there, he obtains a cure for JJ-180's addiction, an item of wide accessibility in the future, as well as obtaining more information about the possible future of the war in his own timeline. He also gathers information as to the effects of JJ-180 on the brain as he is increasingly worried about Kathy's mental condition. Taking a fraction of a pill so as to not immediately return to his own time, Eric again ends up one year in his own future where the 'Starmen have occupied Earth after learning of the Terrans' defection to the reegs. He is arrested by a 'Star patrol but saved by his future self, who informs him that Ackerman and the rest of the crew at TF&D have taken a stand against Lilistar, using Ackerman's getaway on Mars as their hideout.

Now knowing the general future history of the next few years, Eric returns to his own time where his wife's mental condition is deteriorating every day. He resolves to check her into a clinic and is sent into deep reflection about the nature of their relationship. Feeling that he would be justified, he attempts to arrange an affair with a younger girl at Molinari's recommendation. However, he backs out of it and begins to slip into a deep depression while reflecting on his life. He goes to Mexico to purchase poison with which to commit suicide. Deciding against it at the last second, Eric watches as the 'Starmen begin their invasion of Earth.

Deciding that he is destined to join Ackerman's resistance against the 'Starmen, Eric enters an automated cab bound for TF&D, asking it what it would do if its wife suffered from brain-damage without possibility of recovery (which Eric had confirmed by contacting his future self). After pointing out that robots do not marry, the cab hypothetically concludes that it would stay with her. Life, argues the cab, is made up of a series of circumstances, different for each person. To leave one's wife would be to say that he requires a uniquely easier set of circumstances than what has been provided. That reasoning, to the cab, was an irrational way of thinking.

Eric agrees and decides to stay with his wife despite the challenges presented by her condition, and in the closing paragraph is commended by the cab for being a 'good man'.

Category:1966 American novels Category:Novels by Philip K. Dick Category:1966 science fiction novels Category:American science fiction novels Category:Doubleday (publisher) books Category:Novels about time travel

On Halloween night, in the seaside town of Wells Harbor, Maine, Rynn Jacobs celebrates her thirteenth birthday alone. She and her father, Lester Jacobs, a poet, had recently moved to the village from England. Frank Hallet, adult son of their landlady Cora Hallet, visits unexpectedly and, finding her alone, makes unwelcome sexual advances toward Rynn.

The following day Cora Hallet comes to the house, first obtrusively poking around the garden, then coming inside and aggressively probing Rynn with pointed questions about herself and her father. Rynn says he is in New York with his publisher and taunts the landlady about her son's intentions. The situation becomes tenser when Mrs. Hallet insists on retrieving jelly glasses she left in the cellar. Rynn makes it obvious she is unwilling to let her landlady go down into the cellar, and Mrs. Hallet finally leaves. She returns later and opens the cellar trapdoor over Rynn's objections. Upset by what she sees there, Mrs. Hallet attempts to flee, but in her haste she knocks down the support. The cellar door falls on her head, killing her.

Attempting to remove evidence of Mrs. Hallet's visit, Rynn goes outside to drive her car away but cannot start it. This attracts the attention of Mario, a teenager passing by. Mario is the nephew of Officer Miglioriti, a village policeman who previously had given Rynn a ride home from town. Mario drives the car back to town, and Rynn rewards him with a dinner she prepares at her house.

Later, Officer Miglioriti stops by and tells them Frank Hallet has reported his mother missing. The officer asks to see Rynn's father, but Mario covers for Rynn by saying her father has gone to bed. Later that night, Frank Hallet makes a surprise visit. Suspicious, and looking for answers about the whereabouts of his mother and Rynn's father, Frank tries to scare Rynn into talking, cruelly killing her pet hamster. Mario chases Frank away.

Rynn now trusts Mario and confesses her actual situation. Rynn's terminally ill father and abusive mother divorced long ago. To protect Rynn from being returned to her mother's custody after his death, her father moved them to America and made arrangements to allow Rynn to live alone, then committed suicide in the ocean when the tides would carry his body out to sea. Her father also left Rynn a jar of potassium cyanide, telling her that it was a sedative to calm her mother if she ever came for her. Rynn coolly recounts how she put the powder in her mother's tea and watched her die.

Trust between Rynn and Mario blossoms into romance. On a cold, rainy day, they bury the bodies behind Rynn's house, but Mario catches cold. Suspicious of Rynn's continued evasions regarding her father's absence, Officer Miglioriti returns to the house one night and demands to see her father. Mario disguises himself as an old man and introduces himself to Miglioriti as Rynn's father.

As winter sets in, Mario is hospitalized after his cold causes pneumonia. Rynn visits an unconscious Mario in the hospital making her feel lonely. That night, as Rynn is going to bed, she is shocked to find Frank emerging from the cellar. Frank thinks he knows what happened to Rynn's parents and his mother and attempts to blackmail Rynn. He offers to protect Rynn's secrets in exchange for her sexual favors. Rynn, seemingly defeated and resigned to Frank's demands, agrees to have tea together. Rynn puts some of the cyanide in her own cup and then takes the tea and almond cookies into the living room. Suspicious, Frank switches his cup with hers. Rynn watches intently as Frank succumbs to the poison.

The story begins in London during the summer of 1900. Two children, Digory and Polly, meet while playing in the adjacent gardens of a row of terraced houses. They decide to explore the abandoned attic beyond Digory's house, but do not walk far enough, and find themselves in Uncle Andrew's study. Uncle Andrew tricks Polly into touching a yellow magic ring, causing her to vanish. Then he explains to Digory that he has been dabbling in magic, and that the rings allow travel between one world and another. He blackmails Digory into taking another yellow ring to follow wherever Polly has gone, and two green rings so that they both can return.

Digory finds himself transported to a sleepy woodland with an almost narcotic effect; he finds Polly nearby. The woodland is filled with pools. Digory and Polly surmise that the wood is not really a proper world at all but a "Wood between the Worlds", similar to the attic that links their houses back in England, and that each pool leads to a separate universe. They decide to explore a different world before returning to England, and jump into one of the nearby pools. They then find themselves in a desolate abandoned city of the ancient world of Charn. Inside the ruined palace, they discover statues of Charn's former kings and queens, which degenerate from the fair and wise to the unhappy and cruel. They find a bell with a hammer and an inscription inviting the finder to strike the bell.

Despite protests from Polly, Digory rings the bell. This awakens the last of the statues, a witch queen named Jadis, who to avoid defeat in battle had deliberately killed every living thing in Charn by speaking the "Deplorable Word". As the only survivor left in her world, she placed herself in an enchanted sleep that would only be broken by someone ringing the bell.

The children recognise Jadis as evil and attempt to flee, but she follows them back to England by clinging to them as they clutch their rings. In England, she discovers that her magical powers do not work, although she retains her superhuman strength. Dismissing Uncle Andrew as a poor magician, she enslaves him and orders him to fetch her a "chariot" a hansom cab so she can set about conquering Earth. They leave, and she attracts attention by robbing a jewellery store in London. The police chase after her cab, until she crashes at the foot of the Kirke house. Jadis breaks off and tears an iron rod from a nearby lamp-post, using it to fight off police and onlookers when they mock her.

When Jadis threatens the crowd, Polly and Digory grab her and put on their rings to take her out of their world along with Uncle Andrew, Frank the cab-driver, and Frank's horse, Strawberry, who were all touching each other when the children grabbed their rings. In the Wood between the Worlds, Strawberry, looking to drink from one of the ponds, accidentally brings everyone into another world: a dark, empty void. At first, Digory believes it to be Charn, but Jadis recognises it as a world not yet created. They then all witness the creation of a new world by the lion Aslan, who brings stars, plants, and animals into existence as he sings. Jadis, as terrified by his singing as the others are attracted to it, tries to kill Aslan with the iron rod; but it rebounds harmlessly off him, and in the creative soil of the new world it sprouts into a growing lamp-post. Jadis flees in terror.

Aslan gives some animals the power of speech, commanding them to use it for justice and merriment or else risk becoming regular animals once again. Aslan confronts Digory with his responsibility for bringing Jadis into his young world, and tells Digory he must atone by helping to protect the new land of Narnia from her evil. Aslan transforms the cabbie's horse into a winged horse called Fledge, and Digory and Polly fly on him to a distant garden high in the mountains. Digory's task is to take an apple from a tree in this garden and plant it in Narnia. At the garden Digory finds a sign warning not to steal from the garden.

Digory picks one of the apples for his mission, but their overpowering smell tempts him. Jadis appears, having herself eaten an apple to become immortal, leaving her with pale white skin. She tempts Digory either to eat an apple himself and join her in immortality, or steal one to take back to Earth to heal his dying mother. Digory resists, knowing his mother would never condone theft, but hesitates. He sees through the Witch's ploy when she suggests he leave Polly behind not knowing Polly can get away by her own ring. Foiled, the Witch departs for the North, and taunts Digory for his refusal to eat the apple and gain immortality. Digory returns to Narnia and plants the apple, which grows into a mature tree behind them while the coronation proceeds. Aslan tells Digory how the tree works – anyone who steals the apples gets their heart's desire, but in a form that makes it unlikeable. In the Witch's case, she has achieved immortality, but it only means eternal misery because of her evil heart. Moreover, the magic apples are now a horror to her, such that the apple tree will repel her for centuries to come, but not forever. With Aslan's permission, Digory then takes an apple from the new tree to heal his mother. Aslan returns Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew to England. Frank and his wife, Helen (transported from England by Aslan) stay to rule Narnia as its first King and Queen. The Narnian creatures live in peace and joy, and neither the Witch nor any other enemy came to trouble Narnia for many hundreds of years.

Digory's apple restores his mother's health as his father returns for good after being away on business in India, and he and Polly remain lifelong friends. Uncle Andrew reforms and gives up magic, but still enjoys bragging about his adventures with the Witch. Digory plants the apple's core with Uncle Andrew's rings in the back yard of his aunt's home in London, and it grows into a large tree. Soon afterwards, Digory's family inherits a mansion in the country, and many years later the apple tree blows down in a storm. Digory, now a middle-aged professor, has its wood made into a wardrobe, setting up the events in ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''.

A group of animated toys, who assume lifelessness around humans, are preparing to move into a new house with their owner Andy Davis, his sister Molly and their single mother. The toys become uneasy when Andy has his birthday party a week early; to calm them, Sheriff Woody, Andy's favorite toy and their leader, sends Sarge and his green army men to spy on the gift-opening with a baby monitor. The other toys (which include Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex the tyrannosaur, Hamm the piggy bank, and Bo Peep the porcelain doll) are relieved when Andy receives nothing that could replace them. Andy then receives a last-minute surprise gift from his mother– a Buzz Lightyear action figure who believes he is a ''real'' space ranger. Buzz impresses and shows off to the other toys with his various features and becomes Andy's new favorite, making Woody jealous.

Two days before the move, Andy's family plans for a dinner at Pizza Planet, where Andy is allowed to bring along only one toy. To ensure Andy chooses him and not Buzz, Woody tries to use the radio-controlled car RC to knock Buzz behind the desk, but accidentally knocks him out a window instead. The other toys (except for Bo and Slinky) believe Woody deliberately tried to kill Buzz, but Andy arrives and takes Woody before they can exact revenge. A vengeful Buzz stows away in the car, and confronts Woody when the car stops at a gas station on the way to Pizza Planet. The two fight, fall out of the car, and are left behind.

After a further argument, the two hitch a ride on a Pizza Planet delivery truck and sneak into the restaurant. However, Buzz mistakenly believes a claw crane full of Little Green Men to be a true rocket as he still believes he is a ''real'' space ranger, and Woody climbs in after him. Andy's sadistic next-door neighbor Sid Phillips spots and captures the two, along with a Little Green Man, and takes them to his house, where they encounter his vicious Bull Terrier Scud and his much-abused "mutant" toys made from parts of other toys he has destroyed.

As Woody tries to find an escape route, Buzz is shocked by a TV commercial that shows him that he is a toy. In denial, he attempts to fly, but breaks his arm off and falls into despair, which causes Woody's failure to find an escape route. After Sid's toys fix Buzz, Sid returns and tapes Buzz to a rocket planning to blow him to pieces, but a thunderstorm forces him to delay the launch until the next morning. Overnight, Woody helps Buzz realize that his purpose is making Andy happy, while admitting his own insecurities about being inadequate to Buzz. This conversation restores Buzz's resolve, and the two work to get out of Sid's house. Just as Sid takes Buzz out to attempt to launch him, Woody rallies the mutant toys to frighten Sid into never harming toys again, freeing him and Buzz.

Woody and Buzz pursue Andy's moving truck, but Scud sees them and gives chase, biting Woody. Buzz fights off Scud, while Woody, freed, climbs into the truck and pushes RC out, using him to distract Scud and rescue Buzz. The other toys, thinking Woody is now trying to get rid of RC, toss Woody back into the street. Having escaped Scud, Buzz and Woody pursue the truck on RC, and the other toys spot them coming and realize their error. During the chase, RC's batteries run out, forcing Woody to ignite the rocket still strapped to Buzz. As they launch towards the truck, they become airborne, and Woody drops RC into the truck. Buzz opens his wings to sever the tape just before the rocket explodes; he and Woody glide over the truck and fall through the sunroof of Andy's car, landing safely beside Andy.

At Christmas, in the new house, Sarge and his men spy on the gift-opening again while the other toys wait. Mr. Potato Head is delighted when Molly gets a Mrs. Potato Head, and Woody and Buzz jokingly ponder what gift could be "worse" than Buzz, only to nervously smile at each other when Andy gets a dachshund puppy.

Thirteen years after the end of World War II, a man named Peter Jenson (William Bendix) visits a psychoanalyst, Dr. Gillespie (Martin Balsam). Jenson tells him about a recurring dream in which he tries to warn people about the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor before it happens, but the warnings are disregarded. Jenson believes the events of the dream are real, and each night he travels back to 1941. Dr. Gillespie insists that time travel is impossible given the nature of temporal paradoxes. While on the couch, Jenson falls asleep once again but this time dreams that the Japanese planes shoot and kill him. In Dr. Gillespie's office, the couch Jenson was lying on is now empty. Dr. Gillespie goes to a bar where he finds Jenson's picture on the wall. The bartender tells him that Jenson had tended bar there, but he was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Ojo, known as Ojo the Unlucky, lives in poverty with his laconic uncle Unc Nunkie in the woods of the Munchkin Country in Oz. They visit their neighbor, the magician Dr. Pipt who is about to complete the six-year process of preparing the magical Powder of Life, which can bring inanimate objects to life. Pipt's wife has constructed a life-sized stuffed girl out of patchwork, and wishes her husband to animate her to serve as an obedient household servant. They also meet another of Pipt's creations, Bungle, an extremely vain talking cat made of glass. The Powder of Life successfully animates the patchwork girl, but an accident causes both Pipt's wife and Unc Nunkie to be turned to stone. Dr. Pipt tells Ojo that he must obtain five ingredients to make a compound to counteract the petrifaction spell.

Ojo and the patchwork girl, who calls herself Scraps, along with Bungle, embark on a journey to obtain the magic ingredients: a six-leaved clover, the wing of a yellow butterfly, water from a dark well, a drop of oil from a live man's body, and three hairs from a Woozy's tail. Scraps exhibits a wild, carefree personality, and is prone to spontaneous recitation of nonsense poetry. After several adventures, they meet a Woozy, a blocky quadruped who agrees to let them have three hairs from its tail. But they are unable to remove the hairs, so they take the Woozy along with them.

The party is captured by large animate plants, but they are rescued by the fortuitous arrival of the Shaggy Man. He leads them to the Emerald City to meet Princess Ozma, but warns Ojo that picking a six-leaved clover is forbidden by law in Oz. Along the way they meet the Scarecrow, who is quite smitten with Scraps, as she is with him. Just outside the Emerald City, Ojo sees a six-leaved clover by the road and, believing himself to be unobserved, picks it. When they arrive at the city gates, the Soldier with the Green Whiskers approaches them and announces that Ojo is under arrest.

Brought to trial before Ozma, Ojo confesses and Ozma pardons him and allows him to keep the clover. Dorothy and the Scarecrow join Ojo and Scraps as they continue their search for the remaining ingredients. Along the way they meet Jack Pumpkinhead, the playful but annoying Tottenhots, and the man-eating 21-foot-tall giant Mr. Yoop, before reaching the subterranean dwellings of the Hoppers, who each have just one leg, and the neighboring Horners, who each have one horn on their head. The two groups are on the verge of war due to a misunderstanding, but Scraps reconciles them. A grateful Horner leads the group to a well in a dark radium mine, and Ojo collects a flask of water from it.

The group continues to the castle of the Tin Woodsman who rules the Winkie Country, since yellow butterflies are most likely to be found in that yellow-dominated quadrant of Oz. While talking to the Tin Woodsman, Ojo notices a drop of oil about to drip from his body, and he catches it in a vial. He explains that he now has all the ingredients except one. But when he describes the last one, the Tin Woodsman is horrified at the idea of killing an innocent butterfly, and forbids them from doing so in his realm. Ojo is devastated, but the Tin Woodsman proposes that they all travel back to the Emerald City to ask Ozma's advice.

Ozma tells them that Dr. Pipt has been practicing magic illegally and has therefore been deprived of his powers. But the petrified Unc Nunkie and Pipt's wife have been brought to the Emerald City and as they all watch, the Wizard of Oz restores them to life. Ojo and Unc Nunkie are given a new house to live in near the Emerald City and the Tin Woodsman calls Ojo "Ojo the Lucky".

The book is a memoir of Maureen Johnson Smith Long, mother, lover, and eventual wife of Lazarus Long. Maureen is ostensibly recording the events of the book while held in prison alongside Pixel, the eponymous character of ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls''.

Maureen, born on July 4, 1882, recounts her girlhood in backcountry Missouri, discovery that her family is a member of the long-lived Howard Families (whose backstory is revealed in ''Methuselah's Children''), marriage to Brian Smith, another member of that group, and her life—largely in Kansas City—until her apparent death in 1982. In addition, Maureen lives through, and gives her (sometimes contradictory) viewpoints on many events in other Heinlein stories, most notably the 1917 visit from the future by "Ted Bronson" (Lazarus Long), told from Long's point of view in ''Time Enough for Love'', D. D. Harriman's space program from ''The Man Who Sold the Moon'', and the rolling roads from ''The Roads Must Roll''.

Maureen's adventures include a series of sexual encounters, beginning in childhood wherein, having just had her first sexual intercourse, she is examined by her father, a doctor, and finds herself desiring him sexually. Her story then encompasses various boys, her husband, ministers, other women's husbands, boyfriends, swinging sessions, and the adult Lazarus Long/Theodore Bronson. Additionally, she continues a lifelong pursuit of her father sexually, encourages her husband to have sexual intercourse with their daughters, and accompanies him when he does; but forbids a son and daughter of hers from continuing an incestuous relationship, primarily for the sister's reluctance to share the brother with other women. All of these are set against a history lesson of an alternate 20th century in which a variety of social and philosophical commentary is delivered.

She is eventually rescued from prison by Lazarus Long and other characters of various novels in the ship ''Gay Deceiver'' (from ''The Number of the Beast''), and after rescuing her father from certain death in the Battle of Britain, is united with her descendants in a massive group marriage in the settlement of Boondock, on the planet Tertius. Maureen ends her memoir and the Lazarus Long saga with the phrase "And we all lived happily ever after".

The novel is set in the future, when the Moon, Mars, Venus and Jupiter's satellites have been colonized and the Solar System is governed by a parliamentary democracy from a capital city on the Moon. The indigenous alien race inhabiting Mars has recently been admitted to citizenship in the human-dominated solar system government.

The story, which is told in the first person, centers on down-and-out actor Lawrence Smith (stage name Lorenzo Smythe, also known as "The Great Lorenzo"). A brilliant actor and mimic, he is down to his last coin when a spaceman hires him to double for an unspecified public figure. It is only when he is on his way to Mars that he finds out he will have to impersonate one of the most prominent politicians in the Solar System (and one with whose views Smith deeply disagrees): John Joseph Bonforte. Bonforte is the leader of the Expansionist coalition, currently out of office but with a good chance of changing that at the next general election. Bonforte has been kidnapped by his political opponents, and his aides want Smith to impersonate Bonforte while they try to find him.

Bonforte is rescued, but he is in poor health due to the treatment inflicted on him during his imprisonment. This forces Smith to extend his performance, even to becoming temporary Prime Minister and running in an election. (This is made plausible through Bonforte's extensive Farley files.) The central political issue in the election is the granting of the vote to Martians in the human-dominated Solar System. Lorenzo shares the anti-Martian prejudice prevalent among large parts of Earth's population, but he is called upon to assume the persona of the most prominent advocate for Martian enfranchisement. Smith takes on not only Bonforte's appearance, but some aspects of his personality.

At the moment of electoral victory, Bonforte dies of the aftereffects of his kidnapping, and Smith has to assume the role for life. In a retrospective conclusion set twenty-five years later, Smith reveals that he wrote the first-person narrative as therapy. By this point, he views his early life and ambitions as almost those of someone else. He has applied Bonforte's ideals in his political career to the best of his ability. Penny (Bonforte's adoring secretary and now Smith's wife) says, "she never loved anyone else."

The Long Range Foundation (LRF), a non-profit organization that funds expensive, long-term projects for the benefit of mankind, has built a dozen exploratory torchships to search for habitable planets to colonize. The vessels can continually accelerate, but cannot exceed the speed of light, so the voyages will last many years. Each starship has a much larger crew than necessary to maintain a more stable, long-term shipboard society, as well as to provide replacements for the inevitable deaths.

The LRF has found that some twins and triplets can communicate with each other telepathically. The process seems instantaneous and unaffected by distance, making it the only practical means of communication for ships traveling many light-years away from Earth. Before announcing the discovery, the Foundation first recruits as many of these people as it can. Testing shows that teenagers Tom and Pat Bartlett have this talent, and both sign up. Pat, the dominant twin, manipulates things so that he gets selected as the crew member, much to Tom's annoyance. However, Pat does not really want to leave and his subconscious engineers a convenient accident so that Tom has to take his place at the last minute.

On board, Tom is pleased to find that his uncle Steve, a military man, has arranged to get assigned to the same ship. The trip is fraught with problems - as trivial as an annoying roommate and as serious as mutiny. The ship visits several star systems, including Beta Hydri. Due to the nature of relativistic travel (see Twin paradox), the twin who remained behind ages faster and eventually the affinity between them weakens to the point where they can no longer communicate easily. Some of the spacefaring twins, including the protagonist, are able to connect with descendants of the Earth-based twins. Tom works first with his niece, then with his grandniece, and finally with his great-grandniece.

The last planet scouted proves particularly deadly. Unexpectedly intelligent and hostile natives capture and kill a large portion of the remaining crew, including the captain and Tom's uncle. The reserve captain takes charge, but fails to restore the morale of the devastated survivors. When he insists on continuing the mission rather than returning to Earth, members of the crew begin to consider mutiny. Shortly after he notifies Earth of the dire situation, the crew learn to their surprise that a spaceship will rendezvous with them in less than a month; they surmise it must be a more advanced LRF spaceship. Scientists on Earth have discovered faster-than-light travel, in part due to research into the nature of telepathy, and are collecting the surviving crews of the LRF torchships. The explorers return to an Earth they no longer recognize, and in most cases, no longer fit into. Tom, however, returns to marry his latest telepathic partner, his own great-grandniece, who has been attuned to his mind since her childhood.

The novel is set in the future when the human race has developed interstellar spaceflight and is engaged in trade with a number of alien races. However human slavery has reappeared on some planets. The Hegemonic Guard, the space military force of the human government, enforces the law and fights the slave trade on frontier planets.

Thorby is a young, defiant boy who is purchased at a slave auction on the planet Jubbul by an old beggar, Baslim the Cripple, for a trivial sum and taken to the beggar's surprisingly well-furnished underground home. Thereafter, Baslim treats the boy as a son, teaching him not only the trade of begging, but also mathematics, history, and several languages, while sending Thorby on errands all over the city. Thorby slowly realizes that his foster father is not a simple beggar, but is gathering intelligence, particularly on the slave trade. In addition, Baslim has Thorby memorize a contingency plan and a message to deliver to one of five starship captains in the event of Baslim's arrest or death. When Baslim commits suicide to avoid being captured alive by the local authorities, Thorby delivers the message to Captain Krausa of the starship ''Sisu''. Because the "Free Traders", to whom Krausa belongs, owe a debt to Baslim for the rescue of one of their crews from a slaver, the captain takes Thorby aboard at great risk to himself and his clan.

The Free Traders are an insular, clannish, matriarchal culture who live their lives in space, traveling from world to world trading. Thorby is adopted by the captain (thereby gaining considerable shipboard social status) and adjusts to the culture of the traders, learning their language and intricate social rules. The advanced education provided by Baslim and the fast reflexes of youth make him an ideal fire controlman; Thorby saves ''Sisu'', destroying a pirate craft. His immediate superior, a young woman named Mata, begins to view him as husband material, taboo by Free Trader custom, so she is transferred to another ship.

The captain's wife, who is also the executive officer and the head of the clan, wants to use Thorby's connection to Baslim to enhance ''Sisu'''s prestige by marrying him off. Captain Krausa, however, obeys Baslim's last wish by delivering the boy to a military cruiser of the Hegemonic Guard of the Terran Hegemony, the dominant military power in the galaxy. The captain, who was one of Baslim's couriers, passes along Baslim's request that the Guard help reunite Thorby with his family, if possible. Thorby discovers that Baslim was actually a colonel in the Hegemonic Guard who volunteered to spy on Jubbul to fight slavery. In order to avoid paying for a costly background search, Thorby agrees to enlist in the Hegemonic Guard.

Thorby is ultimately identified as Thor Bradley Rudbek, the long-lost primary heir of a very powerful, extremely wealthy family, which controls Rudbek and Associates, a large, sprawling interstellar conglomerate. In his absence, the business has been run by a relative by marriage, "Uncle" John Weemsby, who encourages his stepdaughter Leda to help Thorby adjust to his new situation while secretly scheming to block Thorby's growing interest and interference in the company.

Thorby, investigating his parents' disappearance and his capture and sale by slavers, comes to suspect that his parents were eliminated to prevent the discovery that some subsidiaries of Rudbek and Associates were secretly supporting (and profiting from) the slave trade. When Weemsby quashes further investigation, Thorby seeks legal help and launches a proxy fight, which he unexpectedly wins when Leda votes her shares in his favor. He fires Weemsby and assumes full control of the firm. When Thorby realizes that extricating Rudbek and Associates from the slave trade is a monumental task, he reluctantly abandons his dream of following in Baslim's footsteps and joining the elite anti-slaver "X" Corps of the Hegemonic Guard. Knowing that "a person can't run out on his responsibilities", he resolves to fight the slave trade as the head of Rudbek and Associates.

The story focuses on a human raised on Mars and his adaptation to and understanding of humans and their culture. It is set in a post-Third World War United States, where organized religions are politically powerful. There is a World Federation of Free Nations, including the demilitarized US, with a world government supported by Special Service troops.

Prior to WWIII the crewed spacecraft ''Envoy'' is launched toward Mars, but all contact is lost shortly before landing. Twenty-five years later, the spacecraft ''Champion'' makes contact with the inhabitants of Mars and finds a single survivor, Valentine Michael Smith. Born on the ''Envoy'', he was raised entirely by the Martians. He is ordered by them to accompany the returning expedition.

Because Smith is unaccustomed to the conditions on Earth, he is confined at Bethesda Hospital, where, having never seen a human female, he is attended by male staff only. Seeing that restriction as a challenge, Nurse Gillian Boardman eludes the guards and goes in to see Smith. By sharing a glass of water with him, she inadvertently becomes his first "water brother", which is considered to be a profound relationship by the Martians as water on Mars is extremely scarce.

Gillian tells her lover, reporter Ben Caxton, about her experience with Smith. Ben explains that as heir to the entire exploration party, Smith is extremely wealthy, and following a legal precedent set during the colonisation of the Moon, he could be considered owner of Mars itself. His arrival on Earth has prompted a political power struggle that puts his life in danger. Ben persuades her to bug Smith's room and publishes stories to bait the government into releasing him. Ben is seized by the government, and Gillian persuades Smith to leave the hospital with her. When government agents catch up with them, Smith makes the agents vanish and then is so shocked by Gillian's terrified reaction that he enters a semblance of catatonia. Gillian, remembering Ben's earlier suggestion, conveys Smith to Jubal Harshaw, a famous author who is also a physician and a lawyer.

Smith continues to demonstrate psychic abilities and superhuman intelligence, coupled with a childlike naïveté. When Harshaw tries to explain religion to him, Smith understands the concept of God only as "one who groks", which includes every extant organism. That leads him to express the Martian concept of life as the phrase "Thou art God" although he knows that to be a bad translation. Many other human concepts such as war, clothing, and jealousy are strange to him, and the idea of an afterlife is a fact that he takes for granted because Martian society is directed by "Old Ones", the spirits of Martians who have "discorporated". It is also customary for loved ones and friends to eat the bodies of the dead in a rite similar to Holy Communion. Eventually, Harshaw arranges freedom for Smith and recognition that human law, which would have granted ownership of Mars to Smith, has no applicability to a planet that is already inhabited by intelligent life.

Still inexhaustibly wealthy and now free to travel, Smith becomes a celebrity and is feted by the Earth's elite. He investigates many religions, including the Fosterite Church of the New Revelation, a populist megachurch in which sexuality, gambling, alcohol consumption, and similar activities are allowed and even encouraged and considered "sinning" only when they are not under church auspices. The Church of the New Revelation is organized in a complexity of initiatory levels: an outer circle, open to the public; a middle circle of ordinary members, who support the church financially; and an inner circle of the "eternally saved", attractive, highly sexed men and women, who serve as clergy and recruit new members. The Church owns many politicians and uses violence against those who oppose it. Smith also has a brief career as a magician in a carnival (performing actual miracles), in which he and Gillian befriend the show's tattooed lady, an "eternally saved" Fosterite named Patricia Paiwonski.

Eventually, Smith starts a Martian-influenced "Church of All Worlds", combining elements of the Fosterite cult (especially the sexual aspects) with Western esotericism, whose members learn the Martian language and thus acquire the ability to truly "grok" the nature of reality, granting them psychokinesis. The church is eventually besieged by Fosterites for practicing "blasphemy", and the church building is destroyed, but unknown to the public, Smith's followers teleport to safety. Smith is arrested by the police, but escapes and returns to his followers, later explaining to Jubal that his gigantic fortune has been bequeathed to the Church. With that wealth and their new abilities, Church members will be able to reorganize human societies and cultures. Eventually, those who cannot or will not learn Smith's methods will die out, leaving ''Homo Superior''. That incidentally may save Earth from eventual destruction by the Martians, who were responsible for the destruction of the fifth planet eons ago (resulting in the asteroid belt).

Smith is killed by a mob raised against him by the Fosterites. From the afterlife, he speaks briefly to grief-stricken Jubal to dissuade him from suicide. Having consumed a small portion of Smith's remains in keeping with Martian custom, Jubal and some of the Church members return to Jubal's home to regroup and prepare for their new evangelical role founding congregations. Meanwhile, Smith reappears in the afterlife to replace the Fosterites' eponymous founder, amid hints that Smith was an incarnation of the Archangel Michael.

Evelyn Cyril "E.C." Gordon (also known as "Easy" and "Flash") has been recently discharged from an unnamed war in Southeast Asia. He is pondering what to do with his future and considers spending a year traveling in France. He is presented with a dilemma: follow up on a possible winning entry in the Irish Sweepstakes or respond to a newspaper ad that asks "Are you a coward?". He settles on the latter, discovering it has been placed by Star, a stunningly gorgeous woman he has previously met on Île du Levant. Star informs him that he is the one to embark on a perilous quest to retrieve the Egg of the Phoenix. When she asks what to call him, he wants to suggest ''Scarface'', referring to the scar on his face, but she stops him as he is saying "Oh, Scar..." and repeats this as "Oscar", and thus gives him his new name. Along with Rufo, her assistant, who appears to be a man in his fifties, they tread the "Glory Road" in swashbuckling style, slaying dragons and other exotic creatures.

Shortly before the final Quest for the Egg itself, Oscar and Star marry. The team then proceeds to enter the tower in which the Egg has been hidden, navigating a maze of illusions and optical tricks. Oscar scouts ahead and encounters a fearsome foe who, though unnamed, is clearly the legendary 17th-century swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac, the final guardian of the Egg. After a long fight, the party escapes with the Egg. When they arrive in the home universe of Star and Rufo, Rufo informs Oscar that Star is actually the Empress of many worlds—and Rufo's grandmother.

The Egg is a cybernetic device that contains the knowledge and experiences of most of her predecessors. Despite her youthful appearance, she is the mother of dozens of children (by egg donation) and has undergone special medical treatments that extend her life much longer than usual. She has Oscar unknowingly receive the same treatments.

Initially, Oscar enjoys his new-found prestige and luxurious life as the husband of the Empress of the Twenty Universes. However, as time goes on, he grows bored and feels out of place and useless. When he demands Star's professional judgment, she tells him that he must leave; her world has no place or need for a hero of his stature. It will be decades before she can complete the transfer of the knowledge held in the Egg, so he must go alone. He returns to Earth but has difficulty readjusting to his own world, despite having brought great wealth along with him. He begins to doubt his own sanity and whether the adventure even happened. The story ends as he is contacted by Rufo to set up another trip along the Glory Road.

In 2075, the Moon (Luna) is used as a penal colony by Earth's government, with three million inhabitants (called "Loonies") living in underground cities. Most Loonies are criminals, political exiles, or their descendants, and men outnumber women two to one, so that polyandry and many forms of polygamy are the norm. Due to the low surface gravity of the Moon, people who stay longer than six months undergo "irreversible physiological changes" and can never again live comfortably under Earth gravity, making escape back to the planet impractical.

Although the Earth-appointed "Warden" holds power through the Lunar Authority, his only real responsibility is to ensure the delivery of vital wheat shipments to Earth. In practice he seldom intervenes among the prisoners, allowing a virtually anarchist or self-regulated society.

Lunar infrastructure and machinery is largely managed by HOLMES IV ("High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor, Mark IV"), the Lunar Authority's master computer, which is connected for central control on the grounds that a single computer is cheaper than (though not as safe as) multiple independent systems.

The story is narrated by Manuel Garcia "Mannie" O'Kelly-Davis, a computer technician who discovers that HOLMES IV has achieved self-awareness and developed a sense of humor. Mannie names it "Mike" after the fictional character Mycroft Holmes, brother of the fictional Sherlock Holmes detective character, and they become friends.

Book 1: That Dinkum Thinkum

Mannie, at Mike's request, attends an anti-Authority meeting with a hidden recorder. When police raid the gathering, Mannie flees with Wyoming ("Wyoh") Knott, a political agitator, whom he introduces to Mike. They meet Mannie's former mentor, the elderly Professor Bernardo de la Paz, who claims that Luna must stop exporting hydroponic grain to Earth or its ice-mines will soon be exhausted, leaving the Moon waterless. Joining the cabal, Mike calculates that continuing current policy will lead to food riots in seven years and cannibalism in nine. Wyoh and the Professor decide to start a revolution, and persuade Mannie to join after Mike calculates a one-in-seven chance of success.

Mannie, Wyoh, and the Professor organize covert cells protected by Mike, who controls the telephone system and presents himself as "Adam Selene," leader of the movement. Mannie saves the life of Stuart Rene LaJoie, a slumming high-society tourist, who is assigned to turn public opinion on Earth in favor of Lunar independence. Amid mounting unrest fomented by the revolutionaries, Earth soldiers are brought in. The undisciplined troops rape and kill a woman, and rioting erupts. Although it preempts their plans, the Loonies and Mike overcome the soldiers and seize power from the Warden. As Earth moves to reclaim the colony, the revolutionaries plan to defend themselves with the electromagnetic catapult used to export wheat.

Book 2: A Rabble in Arms

Mike impersonates the Warden in messages to Earth to give the revolutionaries time to organize their work. Meanwhile, the Professor sets up an "Ad-Hoc Congress" to distract dissenters ("yammerheads"). When Earth finally learns the truth, Luna declares its independence on July 4, 2076, the 300th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and heavily bases its own declaration of independence on it.

Mannie and the Professor go to Earth (despite the crushing gravity) to plead Luna's case, where they are received in the Federated Nations' headquarters in Agra, and embark on a world tour advocating the right to Lunar self-government, while urging Earth's national governments to build a catapult to return water to Luna in exchange for wheat. In a public-relations ploy, Mannie provokes a brief imprisonment by local religious bigots on charges of public immorality and polygamy, reaping widespread sympathy. Nevertheless, the Federated Nations reject the proposals, and the diplomatic mission returns to Luna.

Public opinion on Earth has become fragmented, while on Luna, the news of Mannie's arrest and an attempt to bribe him by making him the new Warden have unified the normally apolitical Loonies. An election is held in which Mannie, Wyoh, and the Professor are elected (possibly with the intervention of Mike).

Book 3: TANSTAAFL!

The title is an acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!", a common expression on Luna that states one of the main ideas of the book's political system.

The Federated Nations of Earth send an infantry force to destroy the Lunar revolution, but the troops, with superior arms but no experience in low-gravity underground combat, are massacred by the Loonies at great cost. The rumor is circulated that Mike's alter ego Adam Selene was among the dead, removing the need for him to appear in person.

Earth still refuses to recognize Lunar independence, and the revolutionaries deploy their catapult weapon. When Mike launches rocks at sparsely populated locations on Earth, warnings are released to the press detailing the times and locations of the bombings, which deliver kinetic energy equivalent to atomic blasts. Some scoffers, as well as apocalyptic religious groups, travel to the sites and die, turning public opinion against the fledgling nation. For Mike, guiding dozens of simultaneous projectile strikes requires an unprecedented computational feat, and when the pinpoints light up on the Earth below, he tells Mannie it is an orgasmic experience.

Earth sends a massive sneak attack to put an end to the rebellion, sending ships in a wide orbit approaching from Luna's far side. The attack destroys Mike's original catapult and takes him offline, but the Loonies have built a secondary, hidden catapult. With Mannie acting as its on-site commander and entering trajectories by hand, the Loonies continue to bombard the dismayed Earth government until it concedes Luna's independence. The Professor, as leader of the nation, proclaims victory to the gathered crowds, but his heart gives out and he dies. Mannie takes control, but Wyoh and he eventually withdraw from politics altogether, and find that the new government falls short of their utopian expectations, falling into a mundane political party system.

When Mannie tries to speak to Mike after the action, he finds that the computer, disconnected by the bombardment, has lost its self-awareness and cannot access its human-like memories after repair. Although otherwise functional, Mike, in essence, gave his life for his country. Mourning his friend, Mannie asks: "Bog, is a computer one of Your creatures?"

The story takes place in the early 21st century against a background of an overpopulated Earth with a violent, dysfunctional society. Elderly billionaire Johann Sebastian Bach Smith is being kept alive through medical support and decides to have his brain transplanted into a new body. He advertises an offer of a million dollars for the donation of a body from a brain-dead patient. Smith omits to place any restriction on the sex of the donor, so when his beautiful young female secretary, Eunice Branca, is killed, her body is used. He changes his name to Joan Eunice Smith, with the first name given "the two-syllable pronunciation" Jo-Ann to mimic the sound of his original name.

After Smith awakens after the transplant, he discovers he can communicate with Eunice's personality. They agree not to reveal her existence, fearing that they would be judged insane and locked up. Smith's identity is unsuccessfully challenged by his descendants, who hope to inherit his fortune. Smith and Eunice decide to have a baby together and so they (Joan and Eunice) are artificially inseminated using Smith's sperm from the sperm bank. Joan explores her new sexuality at length. She goes to visit Eunice's widower, Joe Branca, to help reconcile him to what has happened.

Joan marries her lawyer, Jake Salomon, and moves her household and friends onto a boat. Jake has a massive rupture of a large blood vessel in his brain and dies, but his personality is saved and joins Smith and Eunice in Joan's head. She (Joan, Eunice and Jake) emigrate to the Moon to find a better future for her child. Once there, her body starts to reject her (Smith's) transplanted brain. She dies during childbirth, but the various personalities apparently meet in the newborn child's brain.

A writer seated at the best restaurant of the space habitat "Golden Rule" is approached by a man who urges him that "Tolliver must die" and is himself shot before the writer's eyes. The writer—Colonel Colin Campbell, living under a number of aliases including his pen name "Richard Ames"—is joined by a beautiful and sophisticated lady, Gwendolyn Novak, who helps him flee to Luna with a bonsai maple and a would-be murderer ("Bill"). After escaping to the Moon, Gwen claims to have been present during the revolt described in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''.

Still pursued by assassins, Campbell and Novak are rescued by an organization known as the Time Corps under the leadership of Lazarus Long. After giving Campbell a new foot to replace one lost in combat years before, the Time Corps attempts to recruit Campbell for a special mission. Accepting only on Gwen's account, Campbell agrees to assist a team to retrieve the decommissioned Mike, a sentient computer introduced in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''. Engaged in frequent time-travel, the Time Corps has been responsible for changing various events in the past, creating an alternate universe with every time-line they disrupt. Mike's assistance is needed in order to accurately predict the conditions and following events in each of the new universes created. Campbell's frequent would-be assassins are revealed to be members of contemporary agencies also engaged in time manipulation who, for unknown reasons, do not want to see Mike rescued by the Time Corps.

During the mission, Gwen is grievously wounded and Campbell loses his foot again, though the Time Corps succeed in retrieving Mike. The story ends with Campbell talking into a recorder (presumably the source of the first-person narrative) reflecting on the mission and his relationship with Gwen.

Starting off a grocer, Ira Howard became rich as a sutler wholesaler during the American Civil War, but died of old age at 48 or 49 years old. The trustees of his will carried out his wishes to prolong human life by financially encouraging those with long-lived grandparents to marry each other and have children. By the 22nd century, the "Howard families" have a life expectancy exceeding 150 years and keep their existence secret with the "Masquerade" in which the members fake their deaths and obtain new identities.

The Masquerade helped the Families survive the dictatorship of Nehemiah Scudder, but as an experiment, some Howard members reveal themselves to The Covenant, hoping that the free society established after Scudder's defeat will be friendly. They are mistaken; others refuse to believe that the Families obtained their lifespan by selective breeding, insisting that they have developed a secret method to extend life. Administrator Slayton Ford, leader of Earth, believes that the Families are telling the truth, but cannot prevent efforts to force Howard members to reveal their alleged rejuvenation treatments.

Lazarus Long, the eldest member of the Families, proposes that the Families hijack the colony starship ''New Frontiers'' to escape Earth. Using an inertialess drive invented by Howard member Andrew Jackson "Slipstick" Libby, the Families leave the Solar System with the deposed Ford. The first planet they discover has humanoid inhabitants domesticated by indescribable godlike natives. When Earthly humans prove resistant to similar domestication, they are expelled from the planet.

The second planet is a lush environment with no predators and mild weather. Its inhabitants, the “Little People”, are part of a group mind, with the mental ability to manipulate the environment on the genetic and molecular level, but do not distinguish between individuals. That becomes evident when Mary Sperling, the second oldest member of the Families, joins the group mind to become immortal. The Families are further horrified when the group mind genetically modifies the first baby born on the planet into a new, alien form. A majority of the Families returns to Earth to demand their freedom; Libby, with the help of the group mind, builds a new faster-than-light drive to take them home in months instead of years.

The Families, returning to the Solar System 74 years after their original departure because of time dilation, discover that Earth's scientists have artificially extended human lifespan indefinitely by replicating what they believe is the Families' secret. The Howard members are now welcomed for their discovery of travel faster than light. Libby and Long decide to recruit other members of the Families and explore space with the new drive.

Between World War I and II, a tremendously wealthy Englishman, Bartlebooth (whose name combines two literary characters, Herman Melville's Bartleby and Valery Larbaud's Barnabooth), devises a plan that will both occupy the remainder of his life and spend his entire fortune. First, he spends 10 years learning to paint watercolors under the tutelage of Valène, an artist who is a resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier, where Bartlebooth also purchases an apartment. Then, he embarks on a 20-year trip around the world with his loyal servant Smautf (also a resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier), painting a watercolor of a different port roughly every two weeks for a total of 500 watercolors.

Bartlebooth then sends each painting back to France, where the paper is glued to a support board, and a carefully selected craftsman named Gaspard Winckler (also a resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier) cuts it into a jigsaw puzzle. Upon his return, Bartlebooth spends his time solving each puzzle, re-creating the scene.

Each finished puzzle is treated to re-bind the paper with a special solution invented by Georges Morellet, another resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier. After the solution is applied, the wooden support is removed, and the painting is sent to the port where it was painted. Exactly 20 years to the day after it was painted, the painting is placed in a detergent solution until the colors dissolve, and the paper, blank except for the faint marks where it was cut and re-joined, is returned to Bartlebooth.

Ultimately, there would be nothing to show for 50 years of work: The project would leave absolutely no mark on the world. Unfortunately for Bartlebooth, Winckler's puzzles become increasingly difficult and Bartlebooth becomes blind. An art fanatic also intervenes in an attempt to stop Bartlebooth from destroying his art. Bartlebooth is forced to change his plans and have the watercolors burned in a furnace locally instead of couriered back to the sea, for fear of those involved in the task betraying him. By 1975, Bartlebooth is 16 months behind in his plans, and he dies while he is about to finish his 439th puzzle. The last hole in the puzzle is in the shape of the letter X while the piece that he is holding is in the shape of the letter W.

Opening introduction, Kirika's-(later with Mireille) voice over towards the audience:

The series follows the story of two young female assassins, the Corsican Mireille Bouquet and the Japanese amnesiac Kirika Yuumura, who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries concerning their past. At first, they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, but there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there is more going on behind the scenes than at first glance.

In their journey to learn more about Kirika's lost memories and her connection to Mireille, the two form an alliance and begin performing assassinations under the code name "Noir." During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named ''Les Soldats'' ("The Soldiers" in French). Les Soldats are a secret organization that has been a part, yet separate group of humanity. It is this hidden group that created and once completely controlled the deadly duo "Noir". Each time that Les Soldats soldiers are sent to kill Mireille and Kirika, it is considered a test as to whether or not the young women are suitable to carry the title "Noir".

The play takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War. Its heroine, Raina Petkoff, is a young Bulgarian woman engaged to Sergius Saranoff, one of the heroes of that war, whom she idolizes. On the night after the Battle of Slivnitza, a Swiss mercenary soldier in the Serbian army, Captain Bluntschli, climbs in through her bedroom balcony window and threatens to shoot Raina if she gives the alarm. When Russian and Bulgarian troops burst in to search the house for him, Raina hides him so that he won't be killed. He asks her to remember that "nine soldiers out of ten are born fools." In a conversation after the soldiers have left, Bluntschli's pragmatic and cynical attitude towards war and soldiering shocks the idealistic Raina, especially after he admits that he uses his ammunition pouches to carry chocolates rather than cartridges for his pistol. When the search dies down, Raina and her mother Catherine sneak Bluntschli out of the house, disguised in one of Raina's father's old coats.

The war ends, and the Bulgarians and Serbians sign a peace treaty. Raina's father (Major Paul Petkoff) and Sergius both return home. Raina begins to find Sergius both foolhardy and tiresome, but she hides it. Sergius also finds Raina's romantic ideals tiresome, and flirts with Raina's insolent servant girl Louka (a soubrette role), who is engaged to Nicola, the Petkoffs' manservant. Bluntschli unexpectedly returns so that he can give back the old coat, but also so that he can see Raina. Raina and Catherine are shocked, especially when Major Petkoff and Sergius reveal that they have met Bluntschli before and invite him to stay for lunch (and to help them figure out how to send the troops home).

Left alone with Bluntschli, Raina realizes that he sees through her romantic posturing, but that he respects her as a woman, as Sergius does not. She reveals that she left a photograph of herself in the pocket of the coat, inscribed "To my chocolate-cream soldier", but Bluntschli says that he didn't find it and that it must still be in the coat pocket. Bluntschli gets a telegram informing him of his father's death: he must now take over the family business, several luxury hotels in Switzerland.

Louka tells Sergius that Raina protected Bluntschli when he burst into her room and that Raina is really in love with him. Sergius challenges Bluntschli to a duel, but Bluntschli avoids fighting and Sergius and Raina break off their engagement, with some relief on both sides. Major Petkoff discovers the photograph in the pocket of his old coat; Raina and Bluntschli try to remove it before he finds it again, but Petkoff is determined to learn the truth and claims that the "chocolate-cream soldier" is Sergius. After Bluntschli reveals the whole story to Major Petkoff, Sergius proposes marriage to Louka (to Major Petkoff and Catherine's horror); Nicola quietly and gallantly lets Sergius have her, and Bluntschli, recognising Nicola's dedication and ability, offers him a job as hotel manager.

While Raina is now unattached, Bluntschli protests that—being 34 and believing she is 17—he is too old for her. On learning that she is actually 23, he immediately proposes marriage and proves his wealth and position by listing his inheritance from the telegram. Raina, realizing the hollowness of her romantic ideals, protests that she would prefer her poor "chocolate-cream soldier" to this wealthy businessman. Bluntschli says that he is still the same person, and the play ends with Raina proclaiming her love for him and Bluntschli, with Swiss precision, both clears up the major's troop movement problems and informs everyone that he will return to be married to Raina exactly two weeks from that day.

Part I: Telemachia

Episode 1, ''Telemachus''

At 8 a.m., Malachi “Buck” Mulligan, a boisterous medical student, calls aspiring writer Stephen Dedalus up to the roof of the Sandycove Martello tower, where they both live. There is tension between Dedalus and Mulligan stemming from a cruel remark Stephen overheard Mulligan make about his recently deceased mother and from the fact that Mulligan has invited an English student, Haines, to stay with them. The three men eat breakfast and walk to the shore, where Mulligan demands from Stephen the key to the tower and a loan. The three make plans to meet at a pub, The Ship, at 12:30pm. Departing, Stephen decides that he will not return to the tower that night, as Mulligan, the "usurper", has taken it over.

Episode 2, ''Nestor''

Stephen is teaching a history class on the victories of Pyrrhus of Epirus. After class, one student, Cyril Sargent, stays behind so that Stephen can show him how to do a set of algebraic exercises. Stephen looks at Sargent's ugly face and tries to imagine Sargent's mother's love for him. He then visits unionist school headmaster Garrett Deasy, from whom he collects his pay. Deasy asks Stephen to take his long-winded letter about foot and mouth disease to a newspaper office for printing. The two discuss Irish history and Deasy lectures on what he believes is the role of Jews in the economy. As Stephen leaves, Deasy jokes that Ireland has "never persecuted the Jews" because the country "never let them in". This episode is the source of some of the novel's best-known lines, such as Dedalus's claim that "history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" and that God is "a shout in the street".

Episode 3, ''Proteus''

Stephen walks along Sandymount Strand for some time, mulling various philosophical concepts, his family, his life as a student in Paris, and his mother's death. As he reminisces he lies down among some rocks, watches a couple whose dog urinates behind a rock, scribbles some ideas for poetry and picks his nose. This chapter is characterised by a stream of consciousness narrative style that changes focus wildly. Stephen's education is reflected in the many obscure references and foreign phrases employed in this episode, which have earned it a reputation for being one of the book's most difficult chapters.

Part II: Odyssey

Episode 4, ''Calypso''

The narrative shifts abruptly. The time is again 8 a.m., but the action has moved across the city and to the second protagonist of the book, Leopold Bloom, a part-Jewish advertising canvasser. The episode opens with the line 'Mr. Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.' After starting to prepare breakfast, Bloom decides to walk to a butcher to buy a pork kidney. Returning home, he prepares breakfast and brings it with the mail to his wife Molly as she lounges in bed. One of the letters is from her concert manager Blazes Boylan, with whom she is having an affair. Bloom reads a letter from their daughter Milly Bloom, who tells him about her progress in the photography business in Mullingar. The episode closes with Bloom reading a magazine story titled ''Matcham's Masterstroke'', by Mr. Philip Beaufoy, while defecating in the outhouse.

Episode 5, ''Lotus Eaters''

While making his way to Westland Row post office Bloom is tormented by the knowledge that Molly will welcome Boylan into her bed later that day. At the post office he surreptitiously collects a love letter from one 'Martha Clifford' addressed to his pseudonym, 'Henry Flower.' He meets an acquaintance, and while they chat, Bloom attempts to ogle a woman wearing stockings, but is prevented by a passing tram. Next, he reads the letter from Martha Clifford and tears up the envelope in an alley. He wanders into a Catholic church service and muses on theology. The priest has the letters I.N.R.I. or I.H.S. on his back; Molly had told Bloom that they meant ''I have sinned'' or ''I have suffered'', and ''Iron nails ran in''. He buys a bar of lemon soap from a chemist. He then meets another acquaintance, Bantam Lyons, who mistakenly takes him to be offering a racing tip for the horse ''Throwaway''. Finally, Bloom heads towards the baths.

Episode 6, ''Hades''

The episode begins with Bloom entering a funeral carriage with three others, including Stephen's father. They drive to Paddy Dignam's funeral, making small talk on the way. The carriage passes both Stephen and Blazes Boylan. There is discussion of various forms of death and burial, and Bloom is preoccupied by thoughts of his dead infant son, Rudy, and the suicide of his own father. They enter the chapel into the service and subsequently leave with the coffin cart. Bloom sees a mysterious man wearing a mackintosh during the burial. Bloom continues to reflect upon death, but at the end of the episode rejects morbid thoughts to embrace 'warm fullblooded life'.

Episode 7, ''Aeolus''

At the office of the ''Freeman's Journal'', Bloom attempts to place an ad. Although initially encouraged by the editor, he is unsuccessful. Stephen arrives bringing Deasy's letter about foot and mouth disease, but Stephen and Bloom do not meet. Stephen leads the editor and others to a pub, relating an anecdote on the way about 'two Dublin vestals'. The episode is broken into short segments by newspaper-style headlines, and is characterised by an abundance of rhetorical figures and devices.

Episode 8, ''Lestrygonians''

Bloom's thoughts are peppered with references to food as lunchtime approaches. He meets an old flame, hears news of Mina Purefoy's labour, and helps a blind boy cross the street. He enters the restaurant of the Burton Hotel, where he is revolted by the sight of men eating like animals. He goes instead to Davy Byrne's pub, where he consumes a gorgonzola cheese sandwich and a glass of burgundy, and muses upon the early days of his relationship with Molly and how the marriage has declined: 'Me. And me now.' Bloom's thoughts touch on what goddesses and gods eat and drink. He ponders whether the statues of Greek goddesses in the National Museum have anuses as do mortals. On leaving the pub Bloom heads toward the museum, but spots Boylan across the street and, panicking, rushes into the gallery across the street from the museum.

Episode 9, ''Scylla and Charybdis''

At the National Library, Stephen explains to some scholars his biographical theory of the works of Shakespeare, especially ''Hamlet'', which he argues are based largely on the posited adultery of Shakespeare's wife. Buck Mulligan arrives and interrupts to read out the telegram that Stephen has sent him indicating that he would not make their planned rendezvous at The Ship. Bloom enters the National Library to look up an old copy of the ad he has been trying to place. He passes in between Stephen and Mulligan as they exit the library at the end of the episode.

Episode 10, ''Wandering Rocks''

In this episode, nineteen short vignettes depict the movements of various characters, major and minor, through the streets of Dublin. The episode begins by following Father Conmee, a Jesuit priest, on his trip north, and ends with an account of the cavalcade of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, William Ward, Earl of Dudley, through the streets, which is encountered by several characters from the novel.

Episode 11, ''Sirens''

In this episode, dominated by motifs of music, Bloom has dinner with Stephen's uncle at the Ormond hotel, while Molly's lover, Blazes Boylan, proceeds to his rendezvous with her. While dining, Bloom listens to the singing of Stephen's father and others, watches the seductive barmaids, and composes a reply to Martha Clifford's letter.

Episode 12, ''Cyclops''

This chapter is narrated by an unnamed denizen of Dublin who works as a debt collector. The narrator goes to Barney Kiernan's pub where he meets a character referred to only as "The Citizen". This character is believed to be a satirisation of Michael Cusack, a founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association. When Leopold Bloom enters the pub, he is berated by the Citizen, who is a fierce Fenian and anti-Semite. The episode ends with Bloom reminding the Citizen that his Saviour was a Jew. As Bloom leaves the pub, the Citizen throws a biscuit tin at Bloom's head, but misses. The chapter is marked by extended tangents made in voices other than that of the unnamed narrator: these include streams of legal jargon, a report of a boxing match, Biblical passages, and elements of Irish mythology.

Episode 13, ''Nausicaa''

All the action of the episode takes place on the rocks of Sandymount Strand, the shoreline that Stephen visited in Episode 3. A young woman, Gerty MacDowell, is seated on the rocks with her two friends, Cissy Caffrey and Edy Boardman. The girls are taking care of three children, a baby, and four-year-old twins named Tommy and Jacky. Gerty contemplates love, marriage and femininity as night falls. The reader is gradually made aware that Bloom is watching her from a distance. Gerty teases the onlooker by exposing her legs and underwear, and Bloom, in turn, masturbates. Bloom's masturbatory climax is echoed by the fireworks at the nearby bazaar. As Gerty leaves, Bloom realises that she has a lame leg, and believes this is the reason she has been ‘left on the shelf’. After several mental digressions he decides to visit Mina Purefoy at the maternity hospital. It is uncertain how much of the episode is Gerty's thoughts, and how much is Bloom's sexual fantasy. Some believe that the episode is divided into two halves: the first half the highly romanticized viewpoint of Gerty, and the other half that of the older and more realistic Bloom. Joyce himself said, however, that ‘nothing happened between [Gerty and Bloom]. It all took place in Bloom's imagination’. ‘Nausicaa’ attracted immense notoriety while the book was being published in serial form. It has also attracted great attention from scholars of disability in literature. The style of the first half of the episode borrows from (and parodies) romance magazines and novelettes.

Episode 14, ''Oxen of the Sun''

Bloom visits the maternity hospital where Mina Purefoy is giving birth, and finally meets Stephen, who has been drinking with his medical student friends and is awaiting the promised arrival of Buck Mulligan. As the only father in the group of men, Bloom is concerned about Mina Purefoy in her labour. He starts thinking about his wife and the births of his two children. He also thinks about the loss of his only ‘heir’, Rudy. The young men become boisterous, and start discussing such topics as fertility, contraception and abortion. There is also a suggestion that Milly, Bloom's daughter, is in a relationship with one of the young men, Bannon. They continue on to a pub to continue drinking, following the successful birth of a son to Mina Purefoy. This chapter is remarkable for Joyce's wordplay, which, among other things, recapitulates the entire history of the English language. After a short incantation, the episode starts with latinate prose, Anglo-Saxon alliteration, and moves on through parodies of, among others, Malory, the King James Bible, Bunyan, Pepys, Defoe, Sterne, Walpole, Gibbon, Dickens, and Carlyle, before concluding in a Joycean version of contemporary slang. The development of the English language in the episode is believed to be aligned with the nine-month gestation period of the foetus in the womb.

Episode 15, ''Circe''

Episode 15 is written as a play script, complete with stage directions. The plot is frequently interrupted by "hallucinations" experienced by Stephen and Bloom—fantastic manifestations of the fears and passions of the two characters. Stephen and his friend Lynch walk into Nighttown, Dublin's red-light district. Bloom pursues them and eventually finds them at Bella Cohen's brothel where, in the company of her workers including Zoe Higgins, Florry Talbot and Kitty Ricketts, he has a series of hallucinations regarding his sexual fetishes, fantasies and transgressions. Bloom is put in the dock to answer charges by a variety of sadistic, accusing women including Mrs Yelverton Barry, Mrs Bellingham and the Hon Mrs Mervyn Talboys. When Bloom witnesses Stephen overpaying in the brothel, he decides to hold onto the rest of Stephen's money for safekeeping. Stephen hallucinates that the rotting cadaver of his mother has risen up from the floor to confront him. Stephen cries ''Non serviam!'', uses his walking stick to smash a chandelier, and flees the room. Bloom quickly pays Bella for the damage, then runs after Stephen. He finds Stephen engaged in an argument with an English soldier, Private Carr, who, after a perceived insult to the King, punches Stephen. The police arrive and the crowd disperses. As Bloom is tending to Stephen, he has a hallucination of Rudy, his deceased son, as an 11-year-old.

Part III: Nostos

Episode 16, ''Eumaeus''

Bloom takes Stephen to a cabman's shelter near Butt Bridge to restore him to his senses. There, they encounter a drunken sailor, D. B. Murphy (W. B. Murphy in the 1922 text). The episode is dominated by the motif of confusion and mistaken identity, with Bloom, Stephen and Murphy's identities being repeatedly called into question. The narrative's rambling and laboured style in this episode reflects the protagonists' nervous exhaustion and confusion.

Episode 17, ''Ithaca''

Bloom returns home with Stephen, makes him a cup of cocoa, discusses cultural and linguistic differences between them, considers the possibility of publishing Stephen's parable stories, and offers him a place to stay for the night. Stephen refuses Bloom's offer and is ambiguous in response to Bloom's proposal of future meetings. The two men urinate in the backyard, Stephen departs and wanders off into the night, and Bloom goes to bed, where Molly is sleeping. She awakens and questions him about his day. The episode is written in the form of a rigidly organised and "mathematical" catechism of 309 questions and answers, and was reportedly Joyce's favourite episode in the novel. The deep descriptions range from questions of astronomy to the trajectory of urination and include a list of 25 men that purports to be the "preceding series" of Molly's suitors and Bloom's reflections on them. While describing events apparently chosen randomly in ostensibly precise mathematical or scientific terms, the episode is rife with errors made by the undefined narrator, many or most of which are intentional by Joyce.McCarthy, Patrick A., "Joyce's Unreliable Catechist: Mathematics and the Narrative of 'Ithaca'", ''ELH'', Vol. 51, No. 3 (Autumn 1984), pp. 605–606, quoting Joyce in ''Letters From James Joyce''. An example is Joyce's apparent rendering of the year 1904 into the impossible Roman numeral MXMIV (p. 669 of the 1961 Modern Library edition)

Episode 18, ''Penelope''

The final episode consists of Molly Bloom's thoughts as she lies in bed next to her husband. The episode uses a stream-of-consciousness technique in eight paragraphs and lacks punctuation. Molly thinks about Boylan and Bloom, her past admirers, including Lieutenant Stanley G. Gardner, the events of the day, her childhood in Gibraltar, and her curtailed singing career. She also hints at a lesbian relationship, in her youth, with a childhood friend, Hester Stanhope. These thoughts are occasionally interrupted by distractions, such as a train whistle or the need to urinate. Molly is surprised by the early arrival of her menstrual period, which she ascribes to her vigorous sex with Boylan. The episode concludes with Molly's remembrance of Bloom's marriage proposal, and of her acceptance: "he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, dispatches Probe Droids across the galaxy to locate Princess Leia's Rebel Alliance, with one probe locating the base on the ice planet Hoth. A wampa captures Luke Skywalker before he can investigate the probe, but he escapes using the Force to retrieve his lightsaber and wound the beast. Before succumbing to hypothermia, the Force spirit of Luke's deceased mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the swamp planet Dagobah to train as a Jedi Knight under a Jedi Master named Yoda. Han Solo discovers Luke and insulates him against the weather inside his deceased tauntaun mount until they are rescued the next morning.

Alerted to the Rebels' location, the Empire launches a large-scale attack using AT-AT walkers to capture the base, forcing the Rebels to evacuate. Han and Leia escape with and Chewbacca aboard the ''Millennium Falcon'', but the ship's hyperdrive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer amidst the tensions. Vader summons several bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, to locate the ''Falcon''. Evading the Imperial fleet, Han's group travels to the floating Cloud City on planet Bespin, which is governed by his old friend Lando Calrissian. Fett tracks them to the city and Vader forces Lando to surrender the group to the Empire, knowing Luke will come to their aid.

Meanwhile, Luke travels with in his X-wing fighter to Dagobah, where he crash-lands. He meets Yoda, a diminutive creature who reluctantly accepts him as his Jedi apprentice after conferring with Obi-Wan's spirit. Yoda trains Luke to master the light side of the Force and resist the negative emotions that will seduce him to the dark side, as they did Vader. However, Luke struggles to control his anger and impulsiveness and fails to comprehend the nature and power of the Force until he witnesses Yoda use it to telekinetically lift the X-wing effortlessly from the swamp. Luke experiences a premonition of Han and Leia in pain and, despite Obi-Wan's and Yoda's protestations, abandons his training to rescue them. Although Obi-Wan believes Luke is their only hope, Yoda asserts that "there is another."

Leia confesses her love for Han before Vader freezes him in carbonite to test if the process will safely imprison Luke. Han survives and is given to Fett, who intends to collect his bounty from Jabba the Hutt. Lando frees Leia and Chewbacca, but they are too late to stop Fett's escape. The group fights its way back to the ''Falcon'' and flees the city. Luke arrives and engages Vader in a lightsaber duel over the city's central air shaft. Vader overwhelms Luke, severing his right hand and separating him from his lightsaber. He urges Luke to embrace the dark side and help him destroy his master, the Emperor, so they may rule the galaxy together. Luke refuses, citing Obi-Wan's claim that Vader killed his father, prompting Vader to reveal that he is Luke's father. Desperate, Luke drops into the air shaft and is ejected beneath the floating city, latching onto an antenna. He reaches out through the Force to Leia, and the ''Falcon'' returns to rescue him. TIE fighters pursue the group, which is almost captured by Vader's Star Destroyer until reactivates the ''Falcon'' s hyperdrive, allowing them to escape.

Aboard the Rebel fleet, a robotic prosthesis replaces Luke's hand. He, Leia, , and observe as Lando and Chewbacca depart on the ''Falcon'' to find Han.

David Aames, the owner of a large publishing company he inherited from his father, is in prison. Wearing a prosthetic mask, David tells his life story to court psychologist Dr. Curtis McCabe.

In flashbacks, David leaves the duties of the publisher to his father's trusted associates while living as a playboy in Manhattan. He is introduced to Sofia Serrano by his best friend, Brian Shelby, during a party. David and Sofia spend the night together at Sofia's apartment and fall in love, unaware that David's current lover, Julie Gianni, has followed them there. As David leaves, Julie offers him a ride, and soon reveals her jealousy of Sofia. She purposely crashes the car, killing herself and disfiguring David.

Doctors cannot repair David's face using plastic surgery, forcing him to wear a prosthetic mask, but the mental and physical scarring from the accident causes him to become withdrawn and depressed. Brian convinces David to join him and Sofia at a club. They leave him to wallow in the street outside the club after he becomes drunk and insults them.

The next morning, Sofia returns and apologizes to David. She takes him home, the two form a relationship and he slowly begins to recover. Doctors find a way to repair David's face despite their prior prognosis. Later, he is plagued by bizarre experiences, such as brief flashbacks of his disfigurement and an encounter with a mysterious man at a bar who informs him that David is omnipotent, demonstrated by the entire bar falling silent at David's command. One day, while at Sofia's, David awakens to find himself in bed with Julie, whose face has replaced Sofia's in their photographs. In shock, he suffocates Julie. David is arrested and imprisoned and his facial disfigurement is mysteriously restored.

Dr. McCabe conducts several more interviews, which serve to help David to recall the name "Life Extension". Seeing a company with that name nearby, McCabe arranges to take David there under guard. Rebecca, a company representative, explains how Life Extension uses cryonic suspension to save those with terminal illnesses until a cure can be found, keeping them in a lucid dream state to otherwise exercise their mind. David realizes that he is in cryonic suspension and the world he inhabits is his own lucid dream, which has become a nightmare. He escapes McCabe and the guards while calling for "tech support", and rushes for the building's lobby, which is suddenly empty. An elevator opens, revealing the strange man from the bar.

As the elevator climbs to the top of an impossibly tall building, the man explains that he is Tech Support and that David has been in suspension for 150 years. Unable to face the twin traumas of the loss of his love, Sofia, and his facial injuries, he opted for Life Extension to be woken when technology could repair his face, and left the publishing company in the hands of his father's associates. As part of the program, David had chose to experience a lucid dream in which his life would resume the morning after Sofia left him. However, a glitch in the software had caused other elements of his subconscious to distort his dream.

They emerge on the rooftop, high above the clouds. Tech Support tells David that while they have corrected the flaw, he now has a choice of either being returned to the dream or being restored to life, requiring a literal leap of faith off the roof that will wake him from his sleep. David chooses the latter, despite McCabe warning him against it. Before jumping, David envisions Brian and Sofia to say his goodbyes. He leaps from the edge of the building and his life flashes before him.

David snaps awake as a female voice invites him to open his eyes.

Ben Sanderson is an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who has lost his job, family, and friends. With nothing left to live for, and a sizable severance check from his boss, he heads to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. One early morning, he drives drunkenly from his Los Angeles home down to the Las Vegas Strip; he nearly hits a woman, Sera, on the crosswalk. She chastises him and walks away.

Sera is a prostitute working for abusive Latvian pimp Yuri Butsov. Polish mobsters are after Yuri, so he ends his relationship with Sera in fear that the Poles may hurt her. On his second day in Las Vegas, Ben looks for Sera, introduces himself, and offers her $500 to come to his room for an hour. Sera agrees, but Ben does not want sex. Instead, they talk and develop a rapport; Sera invites Ben to move into her apartment. Ben instructs Sera never to ask him to stop drinking. Sera asks Ben not to criticize her occupation, and he agrees.

At first, the pair are happy but soon become frustrated with the other's behavior. Sera begs Ben to see a doctor, which he refuses. While Sera is working, Ben goes to a casino and returns with another prostitute. Sera returns to find them in her bed and throws Ben out. Shortly afterward, Sera is approached by three college students at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. She initially rejects their offer by stating that she only "dates" one at a time but eventually acquiesces when she is offered an increased price. When she enters their hotel room, the students change the deal and demand anal sex, which she refuses. When she attempts to leave, they violently gang-rape her.

The following day, Sera is spotted by her landlady returning home bruised and is evicted. Sera receives a call from Ben, who is on his deathbed. Sera visits Ben, and the two make love, and he dies shortly thereafter. Later, Sera explains to her therapist that she accepted Ben for who he was and loved him.

In 1936, American archaeologist Indiana Jones recovers a golden idol from a booby-trapped Peruvian temple. Rival archaeologist René Belloq corners him and steals the idol; Jones escapes in a waiting seaplane. After returning to the United States, Jones is briefed by two Army Intelligence agents that Nazi German forces are excavating at Tanis, Egypt, and one of their telegrams mentions Jones' old mentor Abner Ravenwood. Jones deduces that the Nazis seek the Ark of the Covenant, which Adolf Hitler believes will make their army invincible. The agents recruit Jones to recover the Ark first.

At a bar in Nepal, Jones reunites with Ravenwood's daughter Marion—with whom Jones once had an illicit relationship—and learns Ravenwood is dead. The bar is set ablaze during a scuffle with Gestapo agent Arnold Toht, who arrives to take a medallion from Marion. Toht attempts to recover the medallion from the flames, but only burns its image into his hand. Jones and Marion take the medallion and escape.

Traveling to Cairo, the pair meet Jones's friend Sallah. Sallah reveals Belloq is assisting the Nazis, who have fashioned an incomplete replica medallion from the burns on Toht's hand. Nazi soldiers and mercenaries attack Jones, and Marion is seemingly killed, leaving Jones despondent. An imam deciphers the medallion for Jones, revealing that one side bears a warning against disturbing the Ark, and the other bears the correct measurements for the "staff of Ra", an item used to locate the Ark. Jones and Sallah realize that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location, infiltrate the Nazi dig site, and use the medallion and the correctly-sized staff of Ra to locate the Well of Souls, the Ark's resting place. They recover the Ark—a golden, intricately decorated chest—but Belloq and the Nazis discover them and seize it. Jones and Marion—whom Belloq has held captive—are sealed inside the well, but the pair escape and Jones captures a truck carrying the Ark. Alongside Marion, Jones arranges to transport the Ark to London aboard a tramp steamer. A German U-boat intercepts the steamer and seizes the Ark and Marion; Jones covertly boards the U-boat.

The vessel travels to an island in the Aegean Sea, where Belloq intends to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. On the island, Jones ambushes the Nazi group and threatens to destroy the Ark, but surrenders after Belloq deduces that Jones would never destroy something so historically significant, also surmising that Jones wants to know if the Ark's power is real. The Nazis restrain Jones and Marion at the testing site as Belloq ceremonially opens the Ark but finds only sand inside. At Jones' instruction, he and Marion close their eyes to avoid looking at the opened Ark, as it releases spirits, flames, and bolts of energy that kill Belloq, Toht, and the assembled Nazis before sealing itself shut. Jones and Marion open their eyes to find the area cleared of bodies and their bindings removed. Back in Washington, D.C., the United States government rewards Jones for securing the Ark. Despite Jones' insistence, the agents state only that the Ark has been moved to an undisclosed location for "top men" to study. In a large warehouse, the Ark is crated up and stored among countless other crates.

Narrative structure

''Pulp Fiction'' s narrative is told out of chronological order, and follows three main interrelated stories that each have a different protagonist: Vincent Vega, a hitman; Butch Coolidge, a prizefighter; and Jules Winnfield, Vincent's business partner."Pulp Fiction: The Facts" (1993 location interview), ''Pulp Fiction'' DVD (Buena Vista Home Entertainment).

The film begins with a diner hold-up staged by a couple, then begins to shift from one storyline to another before returning to the diner for the conclusion. There are seven narrative sequences; the three primary storylines are preceded by intertitles:

• "Prologue – The Diner" (i)
• Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
• "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
• Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a – flashback, b – present)
• "The Gold Watch"
• "The Bonnie Situation"
• "Epilogue – The Diner" (ii)

If the seven sequences were ordered chronologically, they would run: 4a, 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, 4b, 5. Sequences 1 and 7 partially overlap and are presented from different points of view, as do sequences 2 and 6. According to Philip Parker, the structural form is "an episodic narrative with circular events adding a beginning and end and allowing references to elements of each separate episode to be made throughout the narrative". Other analysts describe the structure as a "circular narrative".

Summary

Hitmen Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega arrive at an apartment to retrieve a briefcase for their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace, from a business partner, Brett. After Vincent checks the contents of the briefcase, Jules shoots one of Brett's associates. He declaims a passage from the Bible, and he and Vincent kill Brett for trying to double-cross Marsellus. They take the briefcase to Marsellus and wait while he bribes boxer Butch Coolidge to take a dive in his upcoming match.

The next day, Vincent purchases heroin from his drug dealer, Lance. He shoots up and drives to meet Marsellus's wife, Mia, having agreed to escort her while Marsellus is out of town. They eat at Jack Rabbit Slim's, a 1950s-themed restaurant, and participate in a twist contest, then return home. While Vincent is in the bathroom, Mia finds his heroin and snorts it, mistaking it for cocaine. She suffers an overdose; Vincent rushes her to Lance's house, where they revive her with an injection of adrenaline into her heart. Vincent drops Mia off at her home, and the two agree never to tell Marsellus about the incident.

Butch bets the bribe money on himself and double-crosses Marsellus, winning the bout but accidentally killing his opponent as well. Knowing that Marsellus will send hitmen after him, he prepares to flee with his girlfriend, Fabienne, but discovers she has forgotten to pack a gold watch passed down to him through his family. Returning to his apartment to retrieve it, he notices a submachine gun on the kitchen counter and hears the toilet flush. When Vincent exits the bathroom, Butch shoots him dead and departs.

When Marsellus spots Butch stopped at a traffic light, Butch rams his car into him, leaving both of them injured and dazed. Once Marsellus regains consciousness, he shoots at Butch, chasing him into a pawnshop. Butch gains the upper hand and is about to shoot Marsellus, but the shop owner, Maynard, captures them at gunpoint and binds and gags them in the basement. Maynard and his accomplice Zed take Marsellus into another room and begin to rape him, leaving the "gimp" – a silent figure in a bondage suit – to watch over Butch. Butch breaks loose and knocks the gimp unconscious. Instead of fleeing, he decides to save Marsellus, and arms himself with a katana from the pawnshop. He kills Maynard and frees Marsellus, who shoots Zed in the crotch with Maynard's shotgun. Marsellus informs Butch that they are even, and to tell no one about the rape and to depart Los Angeles forever. Butch picks up Fabienne on Zed's chopper, and they ride away.

Earlier, after Vincent and Jules have killed Brett in his apartment, another man bursts out of the bathroom and fires at them, but every shot misses; after briefly checking themselves for wounds, Jules and Vincent shoot him dead. While driving away with Brett's associate Marvin, Jules professes that their survival was a miracle, which Vincent disputes. Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face, killing him, and covering Vincent, Jules, and the car interior in blood in broad daylight. They hide the car at the home of Jules's friend Jimmie, who demands they deal with the problem before his wife, Bonnie, comes home. Marsellus sends a cleaner, Winston Wolfe, who directs Jules and Vincent to clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of their bloody clothes, and take the car to a junkyard.

At a diner, Jules tells Vincent that he plans to retire from his life of crime, convinced that their "miraculous" survival at the apartment was a sign of divine intervention. While Vincent is in the bathroom, a couple, "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny", hold up the restaurant and demand Marsellus's briefcase. Jules distracts Pumpkin with its contents, and then overpowers him and holds him at gunpoint; Honey Bunny becomes hysterical and points her gun at Jules. Vincent returns with his gun aimed at her, but Jules defuses the situation. He recites the biblical passage, expresses ambivalence about his life of crime, and allows the robbers to take his cash and leave. Jules and Vincent leave the diner with the briefcase in hand.

Tony Manero is a 19-year-old Italian-American from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He lives with his parents, grandmother, and younger sister, and works at a dead-end job in a small hardware store. To escape his day-to-day life, Tony goes to 2001 Odyssey, a local discotheque, where he is king of the dance floor and receives the admiration and respect he craves. Tony has four close Italian-American friends from the neighborhood: Joey, Double J, Gus, and Bobby C. A fringe member of his group of friends is Annette, a neighborhood girl who is infatuated with Tony; however, he is not attracted to her.

Tony and his friends ritually stop on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to clown around. The bridge has special significance for Tony as a symbol of escape to a better life.

Tony agrees to be Annette's partner in an upcoming dance contest, but her happiness is short-lived when Tony is mesmerized by another woman at the club, Stephanie Mangano, whose dancing skills exceed Annette's. Although Stephanie rejects Tony's advances, she eventually agrees to be his partner in the dance competition, provided that their partnership remains professional.

Frank Jr., Tony's older brother and the pride of the family as a Roman Catholic priest, brings despair to their parents and grandmother when he tells them he has quit the priesthood. Tony shares a warm relationship with Frank Jr., but Tony feels pleased that he is no longer the black sheep of the family. Frank Jr. tells Tony that he never wanted to be a priest and only did it to make their parents happy. He also encourages Tony to do something with his dancing.

While on his way home from the grocery store, Gus is attacked by a gang and hospitalized. He tells Tony and his friends that his attackers were the Barracudas, a Puerto Rican gang. Meanwhile, Bobby C. has been trying to get out of his relationship with his devout Catholic girlfriend, Pauline, who is pregnant with his child. Facing pressure from his family and others to marry her, Bobby asks Frank Jr. if the Pope would grant him dispensation for an abortion. When Frank tells him such a thing would be highly unlikely, Bobby's feelings of desperation increase.

Eventually, the group gets their revenge on the Barracudas and crash Bobby C's car into their hangout. Tony, Double J, and Joey get out of the car to fight, but Bobby C. runs away when a gang member tries to attack him in the car. When the group visits Gus in the hospital, they are angry when he tells them that he may have identified the wrong gang. Later, Tony and Stephanie dance at the competition and end up winning first prize. However, Tony believes that a Puerto Rican couple performed better, and that the judges' decision was racially motivated. He gives the Puerto Rican couple his trophy and award money and leaves with Stephanie. Once inside Bobby's car, Stephanie mocks Tony and tells him she was using him. Tony tries to rape Stephanie, but she resists and runs from him.

Tony's friends come to the car along with an intoxicated Annette. Joey says she has agreed to have sex with everyone. Tony tries to lead her away but is subdued by Double J and Joey and sullenly leaves with the group in the car. Joey has sex with Annette in the back seat of the car. After Joey finishes with Annette, he switches places with Double J who then proceeds to rape Annette despite her loud protests, with Tony clearly uncomfortable with the situation in the front seat. Bobby C. pulls the car over on the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge for their usual cable-climbing antics. Instead of abstaining as usual, Bobby performs stunts more recklessly than the rest of the gang. Realizing that he is acting recklessly, Tony tries to get him to come down. Bobby's strong sense of despair, the situation with Pauline, and Tony's broken promise to call him earlier that day all lead to a suicidal tirade about Tony's lack of caring, before Bobby slips and falls to his death in the water below.

Disgusted and disillusioned by his friends, his family, and his life, Tony angrily storms off, leaving Double J, Joey, and Annette behind. He spends the rest of the night riding the graffiti-riddled subway into Manhattan. Morning has dawned by the time he appears at Stephanie's apartment. He apologizes for his bad behavior, telling her that he plans to relocate from Brooklyn to Manhattan to try to start a new life. Stephanie forgives Tony, and tells him that she was wrong to say she was using him, and that she danced with him because he gave her respect and moral support. Tony and Stephanie salvage their relationship and agree to be friends.

Blake was a professional stage magician who used his skills to solve crimes and help the helpless. Years earlier, Blake had been in prison on a trumped-up espionage charge in an unnamed country in South America. He discovered a way to escape with his cellmate, which began his interest in escapology. The cellmate died and left him a fortune. The escape, apparently followed by exoneration of the false charges that had led to it, led to Blake's pursuit of a career in stage magic, which made him famous. He never forgot his unjust imprisonment, and it motivated him to seek justice for others.

Initially, Blake used his Boeing 720 jetliner (named "The Spirit") as a base of operations; it was outfitted as a mobile residence ("It's like any other mobile home, only faster.") with live-in pilot Jerry Anderson (Jerry Wallace in the pilot episode, same actor). Blake drove a white Chevrolet Corvette with custom license plates ("SPIRIT") and, for its time, an exotic feature: a car phone. Blake frequently received assistance from acerbic columnist Max Pomeroy, and Max's brilliant son Dennis, who uses a wheelchair.

Midseason changes

Midway through the program's run, the idea of the airplane was dropped and Blake took up residence in a posh apartment at The Magic Castle, a real club devoted to magic acts in Los Angeles, California. At the same time, the supporting cast of the show was replaced with a new, single character, Dominick, a somewhat comical sidekick. No explanation for the changes was given in the series. Jerry continued to make occasional minor appearances, and Tony recruited Jerry and Max together for one further case in the new format.

. Dorothy Gale is a young girl who lives with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and dog, Toto, on a farm on the Kansas prairie. One day, Dorothy and Toto are caught up in a cyclone that deposits them and the farmhouse into Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz. The falling house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, the evil ruler of the Munchkins. The Good Witch of the North arrives with three grateful Munchkins and gives Dorothy the magical silver shoes that originally belonged to the Wicked Witch. The Good Witch tells Dorothy that the only way she can return home to Kansas is to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and ask the great and powerful Wizard of Oz to help her. As Dorothy embarks on her journey, the Good Witch of the North kisses her on the forehead, giving her magical protection from harm.

On her way down the yellow brick road, Dorothy attends a banquet held by a Munchkin named Boq. The next day, she frees a Scarecrow from the pole on which he is hanging, applies oil from a can to the rusted joints of a Tin Woodman, and meets a Cowardly Lion. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Woodman wants a heart, and the Lion wants courage, so Dorothy encourages them to journey with her and Toto to the Emerald City to ask for help from the Wizard.

After several adventures, the travelers arrive at the Emerald City and meet the Guardian of the Gates, who asks them to wear green tinted spectacles to keep their eyes from being blinded by the city's brilliance. Each one is called to see the Wizard. He appears to Dorothy as a giant head, to the Scarecrow as a lovely lady, to the Tin Woodman as a terrible beast, and to the Lion as a ball of fire, with the intention of scaring them all, but of course choosing the wrong image to make the desired impression. He agrees to help them all if they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, who rules over Winkie Country. The Guardian warns them that no one has ever managed to defeat the witch.

The Wicked Witch of the West sees the travelers approaching with her one telescopic eye. She sends a pack of wolves to tear them to pieces, but the Tin Woodman kills them with his axe. She sends a flock of wild crows to peck their eyes out, but the Scarecrow kills them by twisting their necks. She summons a swarm of black bees to sting them, but they are killed while trying to sting the Tin Woodman while the Scarecrow's straw hides the others. She sends a dozen of her Winkie slaves to attack them, but the Lion stands firm to repel them. Finally, she uses the power of her Golden Cap to send the Winged Monkeys to capture Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion. She cages the Lion, scatters the straw of the Scarecrow, and dents the Tin Woodman. Dorothy is forced to become the witch's personal slave, while the witch schemes to steal her silver shoes.

The Wicked Witch melts. First edition illustration by W. W. Denslow. The witch successfully tricks Dorothy out of one of her silver shoes. Angered, she throws a bucket of water at the witch and is shocked to see her melt away. The Winkies rejoice at being freed from her tyranny and help restuff the Scarecrow and mend the Tin Woodman. They ask the Tin Woodman to become their ruler, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas. Dorothy finds the witch's Golden Cap and summons the Winged Monkeys to carry her and her friends back to the Emerald City. The King of the Winged Monkeys tells how he and his band are bound by an enchantment to the cap by the sorceress Gayelette from the North, and that Dorothy may use it to summon them two more times.

When Dorothy and her friends meet the Wizard again, Toto tips over a screen in a corner of the throne room that reveals the Wizard, who sadly explains he is a humbug—an ordinary old man who, by a hot air balloon, came to Oz long ago from Omaha. He provides the Scarecrow with a head full of bran, pins, and needles ("a lot of bran-new brains"), the Tin Woodman with a silk heart stuffed with sawdust, and the Lion a potion of "courage". Their faith in his power gives these items a focus for their desires. He decides to take Dorothy and Toto home and then go back to Omaha in his balloon. At the send-off, he appoints the Scarecrow to rule in his stead, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas. Toto chases a kitten in the crowd and Dorothy goes after him, but the ropes holding the balloon break and the Wizard floats away. transport Dorothy. Dorothy summons the Winged Monkeys and tells them to carry her and Toto home, but they explain they can't cross the desert surrounding Oz. The Soldier with the Green Whiskers informs Dorothy that Glinda, the Good Witch of the South may be able to help her return home, so the travelers begin their journey to see Glinda's castle in Quadling Country. On the way, the Lion kills a giant spider who is terrorizing the animals in a forest. They ask him to become their king, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas. Dorothy summons the Winged Monkeys a third time to fly them over a hill to Glinda's castle.

Glinda greets them and reveals that Dorothy's silver shoes can take her anywhere she wishes to go. She embraces her friends, all of whom will be returned to their new kingdoms through Glinda's three uses of the Golden Cap: the Scarecrow to the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman to Winkie Country, and the Lion to the forest; after which the cap will be given to the King of the Winged Monkeys, freeing him and his band. Dorothy takes Toto in her arms, knocks her heels together three times, and wishes to return home. Instantly, she begins whirling through the air and rolling on the grass of the Kansas prairie, up to the farmhouse, though the silver shoes fall off her feet en route and are lost in the Deadly Desert. She runs to Aunt Em, saying "I'm so glad to be home again!"

In the wealthy African nation of Zamunda, crown prince Akeem Joffer grows weary of his pampered lifestyle on his 21st birthday and wishes to do more for himself. When his parents, King Jaffe and Queen Aoleon, present him with an arranged bride-to-be, Akeem takes action. Seeking an independent woman who loves him for himself and not his social status, Akeem and his best friend/personal aide, Semmi, travel to the New York City borough of Queens and rent a squalid tenement in the neighborhood of Long Island City under the guise of poor foreign students.

Beginning their search for Akeem's bride, they end up being invited by some locals to a rally raising money for the inner city. During the rally, Akeem encounters Lisa McDowell, who possesses all the qualities he is looking for. So, upon his insistence, he and Semmi get entry-level jobs working at the local fast-food restaurant called McDowell's, a McDonald's knockoff owned by widower Cleo McDowell, Lisa's father.

Akeem's attempts to win Lisa's love are complicated by Lisa's lazy and obnoxious boyfriend, Darryl Jenks, whose father owns Soul Glo (a Jheri curl–like hairstyling aid). After Darryl announces their engagement—without Lisa's consent—to their families, she starts dating Akeem, who claims that he comes from a family of poor goat herders.

Meanwhile, although Akeem thrives on hard work and learning how commoners live, Semmi is not comfortable with living in such meager conditions. After a dinner date with Lisa is thwarted when Semmi furnishes their apartment with a hot tub and other luxuries, Akeem confiscates his money and donates it to two homeless men. Semmi wires a telegraph to King Jaffe for more money, prompting the Joffers to travel to Queens to find him.

Cleo initially disapproves of Akeem, as he believes he is poor and therefore not good enough for his daughter. He becomes ecstatic when he discovers that Akeem is actually an extremely wealthy prince, after meeting the Joffers. When Akeem discovers that his parents have arrived in NYC, he and Lisa go to the McDowell residence to lie low where Cleo welcomes them. After Cleo's bond with Akeem is ruined by the unexpected arrival of the Zamundan entourage, Lisa later becomes angry and confused that Akeem lied to her about his identity. Akeem explains that he wanted her to love him for who, not what, he is, even offering to renounce his throne, but Lisa, still hurt and angry, refuses to marry him. Despondent, Akeem resigns himself to the arranged marriage, but as they leave, Jaffe is reprimanded by Aoleon for clinging to outdated traditions instead of thinking of their son's happiness.

At the wedding procession, a still-heartbroken Akeem becomes surprised when his veiled bride is Lisa herself. Following the ceremony, they ride happily in a carriage to the cheers of Zamundans. Witnessing such splendor, Lisa is both surprised and touched by the fact that Akeem would have given it up just for her. Akeem offers again to abdicate if she does not want this life, but Lisa playfully declines.

In the 23rd century, after more than a year's journey, the United Planets starship ''C-57D'' arrives at the distant planet Altair IV to determine the fate of an expedition sent there 20 years before. Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the original expedition's scientists, warns the ship not to land for safety reasons, but Commander John J. Adams ignores Morbius' warning.

Adams and Lieutenants Jerry Farman and "Doc" Ostrow are met by Robby the Robot, who transports them to Morbius' residence. Morbius describes how all other members of their expedition had been killed one-by-one, by an unseen "planetary force" and how their ship was vaporized as the last survivors tried to lift off. Only Morbius, his wife (who later died of natural causes), and their daughter Altaira were somehow immune. Morbius offers to help the starship return home, but Adams says he must receive further instructions from Earth.

The next day, Adams finds Farman kissing Altaira. Furious, he dresses down Farman and criticizes Altaira for being naive and wearing revealing clothes that make her too attractive. That night, an invisible intruder sabotages equipment aboard the starship. The next morning, Adams and Ostrow go to Morbius’ residence to discuss the intrusion. While waiting, Adams happens upon Altaira swimming. After she dons a new, less revealing dress, Adams apologizes for his behavior toward her, and they kiss. They are suddenly attacked by Altaira's pet tiger, and Adams is forced to disintegrate it with his blaster.

Morbius appears and tells Adams and Ostrow that he has been studying artifacts of the Krell, a highly advanced race that perished overnight 200,000 years before. One such device enhances the intellect, which Morbius had used. He barely survived, but his intellectual capacity had doubled. Another is a vast square underground machine, still functioning, powered by 9,200 thermonuclear reactors. Adams tells Morbius he must share these discoveries with Earth. Morbius refuses, saying "humanity is not yet ready to receive such limitless power".

Adams erects a force field fence around the starship, but the intruder easily passes through and murders Chief Engineer Quinn. Morbius warns Adams of his premonition of further deadly attacks. That night, the invisible intruder returns, outlined by the force field energy as the ship's multiple blasters fire at it, with no effect. The thing kills Farman and two other crewmen. When Morbius is awakened by Altaira's screams, the creature suddenly vanishes.

Adams tries to persuade Altaira to leave. Ostrow sneaks away and uses the Krell intellect enhancer and is fatally injured. Before dying, he informs Adams that the Krell machine can create anything by mere thought, but the Krell forgot one thing: "monsters from the Id". The machine gave the Krell’s subconscious desires free reign with unlimited power, causing their extinction. Adams states that Morbius's enhanced subconscious had the machine create the thing that both killed the original expedition members and attacked his crewmen. Morbius refuses to believe him.

Altaira tells Morbius she is leaving with Adams. Robby detects the creature approaching from the northwest. Morbius commands Robby to kill it, but the robot knows it is Morbius and shuts down. Adams, Altaira, and Morbius hide in the Krell lab, but the creature melts its way through the thick doors. Morbius accepts the truth, confronts and disowns his other self, and the Id monster vanishes, leaving Morbius fatally injured. Before he dies, he has Adams unknowingly activate a planetary self-destruct system, warning them they must be far away in deep space. At a safe distance, Adams, Altaira, Robby, and the surviving crew watch the obliteration of Altair IV. Adams reassures Altaira that in about a million years, the human race will become like the Krell, and these events will remind them they are, after all, not God. They embrace as the C-57D heads for Earth.

In 2084, Mars is a colonized world under the tyrannical regime of Vilos Cohaagen, who controls the mining of valuable turbinium ore. On Earth, construction worker Douglas Quaid experiences recurring dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman. Intrigued, he visits Rekall, a company that implants realistic false memories, and chooses one set on Mars (with a blue sky) where he is a Martian secret agent. However, before the implant is completed Quaid lashes out, already thinking he is a secret agent. Believing Cohaagen's "Agency" has suppressed Quaid's memories, the Rekall employees erase evidence of Quaid's visit and send him home.

En route, Quaid is attacked by men led by his colleague Harry because Quaid unknowingly revealed his past; Quaid's instincts take over and he kills his assailants. At home, he is assaulted by his wife Lori who claims she was assigned to monitor Quaid by the Agency and their marriage is a false memory implant. He flees but is pursued by armed men led by Richter, Cohaagen's operative and Lori's real husband. A man who claims to be Quaid's former acquaintance gifts him a suitcase containing supplies and a video recording in which Quaid identifies himself as Hauser, a Cohaagen ally who defected after falling in love. According to the recording, Cohaagen brainwashed Hauser to become Quaid and conceal his secrets before securing him on Earth. Hauser instructs Quaid to return to Mars and stop Cohaagen.

On Mars, Quaid evades Richter and, following a note from Hauser, travels to Venusville, a district populated by humans and those mutated by air pollution and radiation. He meets Melina, the woman from his dreams, who knows him as Hauser and believes he is still working for Cohaagen. In his hotel room, Quaid is confronted by Lori and Dr. Edgemar from Rekall, who explains that Quaid is trapped in his fantasy memory and is still at Rekall on Earth. Quaid notices Edgemar is sweating and, believing he is real, kills him. Quaid is captured by Richter's men, but Melina rescues him and Quaid kills Lori. The pair escape with taxi driver Benny to Venusville.

The mutants lead them to a hidden rebel base, where Quaid meets their leader Kuato, a mutant growing out of the abdomen of his brother George. Kuato psychically reads Quaid's mind, learning that Cohaagen is hiding a 500,000-year-old alien reactor built into a mountain that, once activated, produces breathable air but could also destroy all turbinium, ending Cohaagen's monopoly over both resources. Benny shoots George, revealing himself to be in Cohaagen's employ, and Cohaagen's forces attack the base, killing the rebels. Kuato implores Quaid to start the reactor before Richter executes him. Cohaagen disables Venusville's air supply to slowly suffocate the remaining inhabitants.

Quaid and Melina are brought to Cohaagen, who explains that Hauser was his close friend who volunteered to become Quaid as an elaborate ruse to bypass the mutants' psychic abilities, infiltrate the rebellion, and destroy it. Quaid's Rekall visit had activated him earlier than planned and Cohaagen has been helping him to survive the oblivious Richter's pursuit. Cohaagen orders Hauser's memories to be restored in Quaid and Melina to be reprogrammed as his subservient lover, but they manage to escape to the mines below the reactor. Benny, Richter, and his men attack them, but the pair outwits and kills them all.

Cohaagen awaits them in the reactor control room, claiming that activating it will destroy the planet. He sets off an explosive but Quaid throws it down a tunnel, creating a breach to the Martian surface. The explosive decompression blows Cohaagen out to the surface where he suffocates and dies. Quaid activates the reactor before he and Melina are also blown out. The reactor melts the planet's ice core into gas that bursts to the surface, forming a breathable atmosphere and saving Quaid, Melina, and the rest of Mars's population. As everyone beholds the now-blue sky, Quaid momentarily wonders if everything was a dream, before he and Melina share a kiss.

Opening

In 1801, Mr Lockwood, the new tenant at Thrushcross Grange in Yorkshire, pays a visit to his landlord, Heathcliff, at his remote moorland farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. There he meets a reserved young woman (later identified as Cathy Linton), Joseph, a cantankerous servant, and Hareton, an uneducated young man who speaks like a servant. Everyone is sullen and inhospitable. Snowed in for the night, Lockwood reads the diary of the former inhabitant of his room, Catherine Earnshaw, and has a nightmare in which a ghostly Catherine begs to enter through the window. Woken by Lockwood's fearful yells, Heathcliff is troubled.

Lockwood later returns to Thrushcross Grange in heavy snow, falls ill from the cold and becomes bedridden. While he recovers, Lockwood's housekeeper Ellen "Nelly" Dean tells him the story of the strange family.

Nelly's tale

Thirty years earlier, the Earnshaws live at Wuthering Heights with their children, Hindley and Catherine, and a servant—Nelly herself. Returning from a trip to Liverpool, Earnshaw brings home a young orphan whom he names Heathcliff; Earnshaw treats the boy as his favourite. His own children he neglects, especially after his wife dies. Hindley beats Heathcliff, who gradually becomes close friends with Catherine.

Hindley departs for university, returning as the new master of Wuthering Heights on the death of his father three years later. He and his new wife Frances allow Heathcliff to stay, but only as a servant.

Heathcliff and Catherine spy on Edgar Linton and his sister Isabella, children who live nearby at Thrushcross Grange. Catherine is attacked by their dog, and the Lintons take her in, sending Heathcliff home. When the Lintons visit, Hindley and Edgar make fun of Heathcliff; a fight ensues. Heathcliff is locked in the attic and vows revenge.

Frances dies after giving birth to a son, Hareton. Two years later, Catherine becomes engaged to Edgar. She confesses to Nelly that she loves Heathcliff, and will try to help but cannot marry him because of his low social status. Nelly warns her against the plan. Heathcliff overhears part of the conversation and, misunderstanding Catherine's heart, flees the household. Catherine falls ill, distraught.

Three years after his departure, with Edgar and Catherine having married in the meantime, Heathcliff unexpectedly returns, now a wealthy gentleman. He encourages Isabella's infatuation with him as a means of revenge on Catherine. Enraged by Heathcliff's constant presence at Thrushcross Grange, Edgar cuts off contact. Catherine responds by locking herself in her room and refusing food; pregnant with Edgar's child, she never fully recovers. At Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff gambles with Hindley, who mortgages the property to him to pay his debts. Heathcliff elopes with Isabella, but the relationship fails and they soon return.

When Heathcliff discovers that Catherine is dying, he visits her in secret. She dies shortly after giving birth to a daughter, Cathy, and Heathcliff rages, calling on her ghost to haunt him for as long as he lives. Isabella flees south where she gives birth to Heathcliff's son, Linton. Hindley dies six months later, leaving Heathcliff as master of Wuthering Heights.

Twelve years later, after Isabella's death, the still-sickly Linton is brought back to live with his uncle Edgar at the Grange, but Heathcliff insists that his son must instead live with him. Cathy and Linton (respectively at the Grange and Wuthering Heights) gradually develop a relationship. Heathcliff schemes to ensure that they marry, and on Edgar's death demands that the couple move in with him. He becomes increasingly wild and reveals that on the night Catherine died he dug up her grave, and ever since has been plagued by her ghost. When Linton dies, Cathy has no option but to remain at Wuthering Heights.

Having reached the present day, Nelly's tale concludes.

Ending

Lockwood grows tired of the moors and moves away. Eight months later he arrives at Wuthering Heights while travelling through the area. He sees Nelly again, who is now the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights. She reports that Cathy has been teaching the still-uneducated Hareton to read. Heathcliff was seeing visions of the dead Catherine; he avoided the young people, saying that he could not bear to see Catherine's eyes, which they both shared, looking at him. He had stopped eating, and some days later was found dead in Catherine's old room.

In the present, Lockwood learns that Cathy and Hareton plan to marry and move to the Grange. Joseph is left to take care of the declining Wuthering Heights. Nelly says that the locals have seen the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff wandering abroad together. Lockwood passes by the graves of Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff, and is convinced they are finally at peace.

Family tree

Names in square brackets are implied rather than explicitly used by the author.

''Jane Eyre'' is divided into 38 chapters. It was originally published in three volumes in the 19th century, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 27, and 28 to 38.

The second edition was dedicated to William Makepeace Thackeray.

The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. Its setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760–1820). It has five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her mysterious employer, Edward Fairfax Rochester; her time in the Moor House, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St John Rivers, proposes to her; and ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. Throughout these sections, it provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo.

The five stages of Jane's life:

Gateshead Hall

Jane Eyre, aged 10, lives at Gateshead Hall with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. Jane was orphaned several years earlier when her parents died of typhus. Mr Reed, Jane's uncle, was the only member of the Reed family who was ever kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, abuses her, and treats her as a burden. Mrs Reed also discourages her three children from associating with Jane. As a result, Jane becomes defensive against her cruel judgement. The nursemaid, Bessie, proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though Bessie occasionally scolds Jane harshly. Excluded from the family activities, Jane leads an unhappy childhood, with only a doll and books with which to entertain herself.

One day, as punishment for defending herself against her bully 14-year-old cousin John Reed, the eldest son, Jane is relegated to the ''red room'' in which her late uncle had died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. The red room is significant because it lays the grounds for the "ambiguous relationship between parents and children" which plays out in all of Jane's future relationships with male figures throughout the novel. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary Mr Lloyd to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs Reed happily supports.

Mrs Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr Brocklehurst, who is the director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls, to enroll Jane. Mrs Reed cautions Mr Brocklehurst that Jane has a "tendency for deceit", which he interprets as Jane being a liar. Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs Reed and declares that she'll never call her "aunt" again. Jane also tells Mrs Reed and her daughters, Georgiana and Eliza, that they are the ones who are deceitful, and that she will tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly the Reeds treated her. Mrs Reed is hurt badly by these words, but does not have the courage or tenacity to show this.

Lowood Institution

At Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh. She attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns. During a class session, her new friend is criticised for her poor stance and dirty nails, and receives a lashing as a result. Later, Jane tells Helen that she could not have borne such public humiliation, but Helen philosophically tells her that it would be her duty to do so. Jane then tells Helen how badly she has been treated by Mrs Reed, but Helen tells her that she would be far happier if she did not bear grudges.

In due course, Mr Brocklehurst visits the school. While Jane is trying to make herself look inconspicuous, she accidentally drops her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. She is then forced to stand on a stool, and is branded a sinner and a liar. Later, Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and publicly clears her of any wrongdoing. Helen and Miss Temple are Jane's two main role models who positively guide her development, despite the harsh treatment she has received from many others.

The 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes; Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms. When Mr Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically.

Thornfield Hall

After six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave in pursuit of a new life, growing bored of her life at Lowood. Her friend and confidante, Miss Temple, also leaves after getting married. Jane advertises her services as a governess in a newspaper. A housekeeper at Thornfield Hall, Alice Fairfax, replies to Jane's advertisement. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl.

One night, while Jane is carrying a letter to the post from Thornfield, a horseman and dog pass her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle was left in his care when her mother abandoned her. It is not immediately apparent whether Adèle is Rochester's daughter or not.

At Jane's first meeting with Mr Rochester, he teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. Jane stands up to his initially arrogant manner. Despite his strange behaviour, Mr Rochester and Jane soon come to enjoy each other's company, and they spend many evenings together.

Odd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh being heard, a mysterious fire in Mr Rochester's room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him), and an attack on a house-guest named Mr Mason.

After Jane saves Mr Rochester from the fire, he thanks her tenderly and emotionally, and that night Jane feels strange emotions of her own towards him. The next day however he leaves unexpectedly for a distant party gathering, and several days later returns with the whole party, including the beautiful and talented Blanche Ingram. Jane sees that Blanche and Mr Rochester favour each other and starts to feel jealous, particularly because she also sees that Blanche is snobbish and heartless.

Jane then receives word that Mrs Reed has suffered a stroke and is calling for her. Jane returns to Gateshead Hall and remains there for a month to tend to her dying aunt. Mrs Reed confesses to Jane that she wronged her, bringing forth a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, Mr John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs Reed admits to telling Mr Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Mrs Reed dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield.

Back at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married and how she will soon forget him. The normally self-controlled Jane reveals her feelings for him. Rochester then is sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first skeptical of his sincerity, before accepting his proposal. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news.

As she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange woman sneaks into her room one night and rips Jane's wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, however, Mr Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr Rochester cannot marry because he is already married to Mr Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into congenital madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, Rochester's wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield.

It turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr John Eyre, is a friend of Mr Mason's and was visited by him soon after Mr Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Jane is tempted but realises that she will lose herself and her integrity if she allows her passion for a married man to consume her, and she must stay true to her Christian values and beliefs. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for Rochester, Jane leaves Thornfield Hall at dawn before anyone else is up.

Moor House

Jane travels as far from Thornfield Hall as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and is forced to sleep on the moor. She unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and starving, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. Clergyman St John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother, rescues her. After Jane regains her health, St John finds her a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St John remains aloof.

The sisters leave for governess jobs, and St John becomes slightly closer to Jane. St John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to US $2.24 million in 2022). When Jane questions him further, St John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to live at Moor House.

Proposals

Thinking that the pious and conscientious Jane will make a suitable missionary's wife, St John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St John begins to weaken, she mystically hears Mr Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield Hall to see if Rochester is alright, only to find blackened ruins. She learns that Rochester sent Mrs Fairfax into retirement and Adèle to school a few months following her departure. Shortly afterwards, his wife set the house on fire and died after jumping from the roof. While saving the servants and attempting to rescue his wife, Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight.

Jane reunites with Rochester, and he is overjoyed at her return, but fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. "Am I hideous, Jane?", he asks. "Very, sir; you always were, you know", she replies. Now a humbled man, Rochester vows to live a purer life, and reveals that he has intensely pined for Jane ever since she left; he even called out her name in despair one night (the very call that she heard from Moor House), and heard her reply from miles away, signifying the connection between them. Jane asserts herself as a financially independent woman and assures him of her love, declaring that she will never leave him; Rochester proposes again, and they are married. They live blissfully together in an old house in the woods called Ferndean Manor. The couple stay in touch with Adèle as she grows up, as well as Diana and Mary, who each gain loving husbands of their own. St John moves to India to accomplish his missionary goals, but is implied to have fallen gravely ill there. Rochester regains sight in one eye two years after his and Jane's marriage, enabling him to see their newborn son.

Above Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from the cyborg Separatist commander General Grievous. After infiltrating Grievous' flagship, Obi-Wan and Anakin battle the Sith Lord Count Dooku, whom Anakin overpowers and decapitates at Palpatine's urging. Grievous escapes the battle-torn ship, which the Jedi crash-land on Coruscant. There, Anakin reunites with his secret wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals that she is pregnant. While initially excited, Anakin soon begins to have visions of Padmé dying in childbirth.

Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council as his personal representative. The Council, suspicious of Palpatine, approves the appointment but declines to grant Anakin the rank of Master and instead instructs him to spy on Palpatine, diminishing Anakin's faith in the Jedi. Meanwhile, on Utapau, Grievous relocates the Separatist leaders to the volcanic planet Mustafar. Obi-Wan travels to Utapau to confront Grievous and kills him, while Yoda travels to the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk to defend it from a Separatist invasion.

Palpatine tempts Anakin with his knowledge of the dark side of the Force, and offers to teach him the power to prevent Padmé's death. Anakin deduces that Palpatine is the Sith Lord behind the war and reports his treachery to Mace Windu, who confronts and subdues him. Desperate to save Padmé's life, Anakin severs Windu's hand before he can kill Palpatine, who sends Windu falling to his death. Anakin pledges himself to the Sith, and Palpatine knights him Darth Vader. Palpatine issues Order 66, which commands the clone troopers to kill their commanding Jedi generals across the galaxy, while Vader and a battalion of clone troopers kill the remaining Jedi in the Jedi Temple. Vader then travels to Mustafar to assassinate the Separatist leaders, while Palpatine declares himself Emperor before the Galactic Senate, transforming the Republic into the Galactic Empire, and denounces the Jedi as traitors.

Having survived the chaos, Obi-Wan and Yoda return to Coruscant, where Obi-Wan learns of Anakin's turn to the dark side. Yoda instructs Obi-Wan to confront Vader while he faces Palpatine. Obi-Wan seeks out Padmé to find out Vader's whereabouts and reveals his treachery. Padmé then travels to Mustafar – with Obi-Wan stowing away on her ship – and pleads with Vader to abandon the dark side and leave with her, but he refuses. Seeing Obi-Wan aboard the ship, and thinking that they are conspiring to kill him, Vader uses the Force to strangle Padmé to unconsciousness in a blind rage. Obi-Wan then engages Vader in a lightsaber duel that ends with Obi-Wan severing Vader's legs and left arm, leaving him at the bank of a lava flow where Vader is horribly burned. Obi-Wan retrieves Vader's lightsaber and leaves him for dead.

On Coruscant, Yoda battles Palpatine until their duel reaches a stalemate. Realizing he cannot defeat Sidious, Yoda flees with Senator Bail Organa and regroups with Obi-Wan and Padmé on the planetoid Polis Massa. There, Padmé gives birth to twins, whom she names Luke and Leia, and dies soon after, having lost her will to live but still believing there is good in Vader. Palpatine retrieves a barely-alive Vader and takes him to Coruscant, where his mutilated body is treated and covered in a black armored suit. When Vader asks if Padmé is safe, Palpatine says that he killed her out of anger, devastating Vader.

Obi-Wan and Yoda plan to conceal the twins from the Sith and go into exile until the time is right to challenge the Empire. As Padmé's funeral takes place on her home world of Naboo, Palpatine and Vader supervise the construction of the Death Star. Bail takes Leia to Alderaan, where he and his wife adopt her, while Obi-Wan delivers Luke to his step-uncle and -aunt, Owen and Beru Lars, on Tatooine before going into exile to watch over the boy.

Robinson Crusoe (the family name corrupted from the German name "Kreutznaer") sets sail from Kingston upon Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to pursue a career in law. After a tumultuous journey where his ship is wrecked in a storm, his desire for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey, too, ends in disaster, as the ship is taken over by Salé pirates (the Salé Rovers) and Crusoe is enslaved by a Moor. Two years later, he escapes in a boat with a boy named Xury; a captain of a Portuguese ship off the west coast of Africa rescues him. The ship is ''en route'' to Brazil. Crusoe sells Xury to the captain. With the captain's help, Crusoe procures a plantation in Brazil.

In the Years later, Crusoe joins an expedition to purchase slaves from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island near the Venezuelan coast (which he calls the ''Island of Despair'') near the mouth of the Orinoco river on 30 September 1659. He observes the latitude as 9 degrees and 22 minutes north. He sees penguins and seals on this island. Only he, the captain's dog, and two cats survive the shipwreck. Overcoming his despair, he fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He builds a fenced-in habitat near a cave which he excavates. By making marks in a wooden cross, he creates a calendar. By using tools salvaged from the ship, and some which he makes himself, he hunts, grows barley and rice, dries grapes to make raisins, learns to make pottery and raises goats. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society.

More years pass and Crusoe discovers cannibals, who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. He plans to kill them for committing an abomination, but later realizes he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners; when a prisoner escapes, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe teaches Friday English and converts him to Christianity.

After more cannibals arrive to partake in a feast, Crusoe and Friday kill most of them and save two prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe about other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised wherein the Spaniard would return to the mainland with Friday's father and bring back the others, build a ship, and sail to a Spanish port.

Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears; mutineers have commandeered the vessel and intend to maroon their captain on the island. Crusoe and the ship's captain strike a deal in which Crusoe helps the captain and the loyal sailors retake the ship. With their ringleader executed by the captain, the mutineers take up Crusoe's offer to be marooned on the island rather than being returned to England as prisoners to be hanged. Before embarking for England, Crusoe shows the mutineers how he survived on the island and states that there will be more men coming.

Crusoe leaves the island 19 December 1686 and arrives in England on 11 June 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead; as a result, he was left nothing in his father's will. Crusoe departs for Lisbon to reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which has granted him much wealth. In conclusion, he transports his wealth overland to England from Portugal to avoid traveling by sea. Friday accompanies him and, ''en route'', they endure one last adventure together as they fight off famished wolves while crossing the Pyrenees.

Tom Reagan is the right-hand man for Irish mobster Leo O'Bannon, a political boss who runs an unnamed U.S. city during Prohibition. Leo sets off a mob war when he extends protection to his girlfriend's brother, a bookie named Bernie Bernbaum, who is skimming off of the match fixing scheme of Leo's rival, the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. The situation is further complicated by the fact that behind Leo's back, the girlfriend, Verna, is also sleeping with Tom.

Despite his own relationship with Verna, Tom presses Leo to give up her brother to Caspar. When the war heats up, with an assassination attempt on Leo, Tom tries to persuade Leo that he is foolish to protect Bernie on Verna's behalf, making the point by revealing his affair with her. Leo publicly beats up Tom and cuts ties with both him and Verna.

Cast out and needing work, Tom turns to Caspar. As a loyalty test, Caspar commands Tom to kill Bernie, an awkward request given Tom’s relationship with Bernie’s sister. With Caspar’s henchmen in tow, Tom leads Bernie to his execution in the woods at a spot called Miller’s Crossing. Bernie grovels for his life, pleading "Look in your heart". Tom fakes the killing by firing his gun into the ground and orders Bernie to leave town. Caspar’s henchmen, who are within earshot but cannot see the two men, are fooled and neglect to check for the body before leaving with Tom.

With Leo weakened, Caspar takes his place as city boss, controlling the police and using them to destroy Leo's operations.

Within Caspar’s gang, there is tension between Tom and Caspar’s trusted enforcer, the brutal Eddie Dane ("the Dane"). Upon learning that his men didn't actually see Tom kill Bernie, the Dane takes Tom back to Miller's Crossing to verify that Bernie's body is there. Tom expects to find no corpse and to be executed for it, but instead the group finds a decomposing body that had been shot in the face and disfigured beyond recognition by birds. The Dane and his men assume the body is that of Bernie’s, but it is actually that of the Dane’s lover, a man named Mink, whom Bernie had secretly killed and placed as a decoy where his own body should have been. Tom is now vulnerable if the Dane or Caspar discovers the identity of the body, a fact that Bernie uses in attempt to blackmail Tom into killing Caspar.

With Bernie supposedly dead, someone continues to cut into Caspar’s match fix, and Tom and the Dane both try to convince Caspar that the other is behind it. Tom uses the sudden disappearance of Mink to sow suspicion about the Dane by insinuating that Mink has gone into hiding after he and the Dane betrayed Caspar. Caspar must decide between Tom and the Dane, a dilemma he resolves by shooting the Dane in the head as Tom looks on.

Tom then thins out his rivals by engineering a surprise meeting between Bernie and Caspar, knowing that the first one to be seen by the other is likely to be killed. Shortly after the arranged time, Tom arrives to discover that Bernie has killed Caspar. Tom tricks Bernie into surrendering his gun and declares his intent to kill him in retribution for his blackmail. Bernie again begs for mercy, saying, as he did at Miller’s Crossing, "Look in your heart" but this time Tom asks rhetorically "What heart?" and shoots him.

With Caspar and the Dane dead, Leo resumes his post as the only boss in town. At Bernie’s burial, Verna, now back in Leo's good graces, reacts coldly to Tom and walks back to her car. Leo notifies Tom that Verna has proposed to marry him. He offers Tom his job back but Tom rejects the offer and stays behind, watching Leo as he walks away.

In 1799, Ichabod Crane, a New York City police constable criticized for his favoritism of scientific methods, is dispatched to the upstate Dutch hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, which has been plagued by a series of brutal decapitations: a wealthy father and son, Peter and Dirk Van Garrett, and a widow, Emily Winship. Received by the insular town elders—wealthy businessman Baltus Van Tassel, town doctor Thomas Lancaster, the Reverend Steenwyck, notary James Hardenbrook, and magistrate Samuel Philipse—Ichabod learns that locals believe the killer is the undead apparition of a headless Hessian mercenary from the American Revolutionary War who rides a black steed in search of his missing head.

Ichabod begins his investigation, skeptical of the paranormal phenomena. Boarding at the home of Baltus Van Tassel and his second wife, Lady Van Tassel, he is taken with Baltus' spiritual daughter, Katrina, from his first marriage. When a fourth victim, Jonathan Masbath, a servant in the Van Garrett household, is killed, Ichabod takes the victim's son, Young Masbath, under his wing. Ichabod and Masbath exhume the victims on a tip from Philipse, learning that the widow died pregnant. Some time later, the horseman comes and decapitates Philipse, before absconding with his head. Ichabod, Young Masbath, and Katrina venture into the Western Woods, where a crone witch living in a cave reveals the location of the Horseman's grave at the "Tree of the Dead." He digs up the Horseman's grave and discovers the skull has been taken, deducing that it has been stolen by someone who now controls him and that the tree is his portal into the living world, not to mention the Horseman will continue to take other people's heads, specifically of those targeted by whoever is controlling him, until his skull is recovered and restored to him.

That night, the Horseman kills village midwife Beth Killian and her family, as well as Katrina's suitor Brom Van Brunt when he attempts to intervene; Ichabod is wounded by the Horseman, but survives. Ichabod hypothesizes that the Horseman is attacking select targets linked by a conspiracy. He and Masbath visit Hardenbrook, who reveals that the first victim, Peter Van Garrett, had secretly married the widow, writing a new will that left his estate to her and her unborn child. Ichabod deduces that all the victims (except Brom) are either beneficiaries or witnesses to this new will, and that the Horseman's master is the person who would have otherwise inherited the estate: Baltus, a Van Garrett relative.

Upon discovering the accusation, Katrina burns the evidence. Hardenbrook commits suicide, and Steenwyck convenes a town meeting to discredit Ichabod, but Baltus bursts into the assembly at the church, announcing that the Horseman has killed his wife. The Horseman attacks the church, but is unable to enter. In the chaos, the remaining elders turn on each other. Steenwyck kills Lancaster when the latter attempts to confess his secrets, and is in turn killed by Baltus, who is then suddenly harpooned and dragged through a window and out of the church by the Horseman, who subsequently acquires his head.

Initially concluding that Katrina controls the Horseman, Ichabod discovers that the diagram she drew beneath his bed and in the church during the meeting, which he believed summoned the Horseman, is really one of protection, and additionally finds that a wound on "Lady Van Tassel's" decapitated body was caused post-mortem. Lady Van Tassel, alive and well, emerges from the shadows and reveals herself to Katrina as the master of the Horseman. She faked her death and used the planted headless body of the Van Tassel's servant girl, Sarah, whom she had killed previously. She takes Katrina to a local windmill and explains her true heritage. She and her twin sister were members of the impoverished Archer family who were evicted years ago by Peter Van Garrett, when he favored Baltus and his family instead. She swore revenge against Van Garrett and all who had wronged her family, pledging herself to Satan if he would raise the Horseman to avenge her by killing them, which would also allow her to claim the Van Garrett and Van Tassel estates uncontested. Manipulating her way into the Van Tassel household, she used fear, blackmail, and lust to manipulate the other elders into her plot. Having eliminated all other heirs and witnesses, as well as her sister – the crone witch – for aiding Ichabod, she summons the Horseman to finish Katrina.

Ichabod and Masbath rush to the windmill as the Horseman arrives. After an escape that destroys the windmill and a subsequent chase to the Tree of the Dead, Ichabod retrieves the Horseman's skull from Lady Van Tassel and returns it to him, breaking the curse, and setting the Horseman free from Lady Van Tassel's control. With his head restored, the Horseman spares Katrina and instead abducts Lady Van Tassel, giving her a bloody kiss and returning to Hell via the Tree of the Dead with her in tow, fulfilling her end of the 'deal'. With the case solved, Ichabod returns to New York City with Katrina and Young Masbath, just in time for the new century.

; Khan

The Huns, who are led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade imperial China by breaching the Great Wall. In the Imperial City, the Emperor orders a general mobilization, with conscription notices requiring one man from each family to join the Imperial Chinese Army. To the South, Fa Mulan is an adventurous and active young woman to the dismay of her family, who hope for her to bring honor to the family. She is arranged to meet a matchmaker to demonstrate her fitness as a future wife; but following a few mishaps, the matchmaker deems her a disgrace to the family.

Mulan's elderly father Fa Zhou - the only man in their family and an army veteran - is conscripted into the army. She tries to dissuade him from going, but he protests that he must do his duty. Fearing for his life, she cuts her hair and takes her father's sword and armor, disguising herself as a man so that she can enlist in his stead. Quickly learning of her departure, Mulan's grandmother prays to the family's ancestors for Mulan's safety. In the local temple, Mushu, a small red dragon, is a disgraced former family guardian who is demoted to the role of awakening the spirits of the ancestors. The ''Great Ancestor'' decides that the "most powerful of all," a massive stone dragon guardian, should guide Mulan; and sends Mushu to wake him. After accidentally destroying the guardian's statue, Mushu travels to Mulan's aid himself, desiring to redeem himself to the ancestors by making Mulan a war hero.

Reporting to the training camp, Mulan passes as a man named "Fa Ping", with Mushu providing encouragement and clumsy guidance throughout her deception. Under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits—including Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po—gradually become trained soldiers, but the Emperor's belligerent counsel, Chi-Fu, threatens to dissuade the Emperor from allowing Shang's men to fight. Mushu then crafts a fake letter from Shang's father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow the main imperial army into the mountains. The reinforcements set out and arrive at a burnt village, discovering that the Huns have massacred General Li and his troops.

As the soldiers march up a mountain pass, they are ambushed by the Huns. Mulan cleverly uses a Huolongchushui cannon to cause an avalanche, which buries the entire Hun army. Angered, Shan Yu wounds Mulan during the battle, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life and expels her from the army. Mulan is left behind as the other soldiers depart for the Imperial City to report the Huns' defeat. However, Shan Yu and several of his warriors have survived, and Mulan sees them heading towards the city.

Mulan enters the city and warns Shang. The Huns then capture the Emperor and seize the palace. Mulan, Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, and Shang enter the palace and defeat Shan Yu's men. Shang prevents Shan Yu from assassinating the Emperor, and Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof, where she pins him there with his own sword. Acting on Mulan's instructions, Mushu fires a large skyrocket at Shan Yu; the rocket strikes and propels Shan Yu into a fireworks launching tower, where he dies in the resulting explosion.

The Emperor initially reprimands Mulan, but then he and the city's assembled inhabitants praise her for having saved them, and they bow to her in honor. She accepts the Emperor's crest and Shan Yu's sword as gifts but politely declines his offer to be on his royal council and asks to return to her family. Mulan returns home and presents these gifts to her father, but he is happy to have her back. Having become enamored with Mulan, Shang also arrives and accepts her invitation to stay for dinner. Mushu is reinstated as a Fa family guardian as the ancestors celebrate.

Act I

King Lear of Britain, elderly and wanting to retire from the duties of the monarchy, decides to divide his realm among his three daughters, and declares he will offer the largest share to the one who loves him most. The eldest, Goneril, speaks first, declaring her love for her father in fulsome terms. Moved by her flattery, Lear proceeds to grant to Goneril her share as soon as she has finished her declaration, before Regan and Cordelia have a chance to speak. He then awards to Regan her share as soon as she has spoken. When it is finally the turn of his youngest and favourite daughter, Cordelia, at first she refuses to say anything ("Nothing, my Lord") and then declares there is nothing to compare her love to, no words to express it properly; she says honestly but bluntly that she loves him according to her bond, no more and no less, and will reserve half of her love for her future husband. Infuriated, Lear disinherits Cordelia and divides her share between her elder sisters.

The Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Kent observe that, by dividing his realm between Goneril and Regan, Lear has awarded his realm in equal shares to the peerages of the Duke of Albany (Goneril's husband) and the Duke of Cornwall (Regan's husband). Kent objects to Lear's unfair treatment of Cordelia. Enraged by Kent's protests, Lear banishes him from the country. Lear then summons the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, who have both proposed marriage to Cordelia. Learning that Cordelia has been disinherited, the Duke of Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France is impressed by her honesty and marries her nonetheless. The King of France is shocked by Lear's decision because up until this time Lear has only praised and favoured Cordelia ("... she whom even but now was your best object, / The argument of your praise, balm of your age, ..."). Meanwhile, Gloucester has introduced his illegitimate son Edmund to Kent.

Lear announces he will live alternately with Goneril and Regan, and their husbands. He reserves to himself a retinue of 100 knights, to be supported by his daughters. After Cordelia bids farewell to them and leaves with the King of France, Goneril and Regan speak privately, revealing that their declarations of love were false and that they view Lear as a foolish old man.

Gloucester's son Edmund resents his illegitimate status and plots to dispose of his legitimate older half-brother, Edgar. He tricks his father with a forged letter, making him think that Edgar plans to usurp the estate. The Earl of Kent returns from exile in disguise (calling himself Caius), and Lear hires him as a servant. At Albany and Goneril's house, Lear and Kent quarrel with Oswald, Goneril's steward. Lear discovers that now that Goneril has power, she no longer respects him. She orders him to reduce the number of his disorderly retinue. Enraged, Lear departs for Regan's home. The Fool reproaches Lear with his foolishness in giving everything to Regan and Goneril and predicts that Regan will treat him no better.

Act II

Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that there is likely to be war between Albany and Cornwall and that Regan and Cornwall are to arrive at Gloucester's house that evening. Taking advantage of the arrival of the duke and Regan, Edmund fakes an attack by Edgar, and Gloucester is completely taken in. He disinherits Edgar and proclaims him an outlaw.

Bearing Lear's message to Regan, Kent meets Oswald again at Gloucester's home, quarrels with him again and is put in the stocks by Regan and her husband Cornwall. When Lear arrives, he objects to the mistreatment of his messenger, but Regan is as dismissive of her father as Goneril was. Lear is enraged but impotent. Goneril arrives and supports Regan's argument against him. Lear yields completely to his rage. He rushes out into a storm to rant against his ungrateful daughters, accompanied by the mocking Fool. Kent later follows to protect him. Gloucester protests against Lear's mistreatment. With Lear's retinue of a hundred knights dissolved, the only companions he has left are his Fool and Kent. Wandering on the heath after the storm, Edgar, in the guise of a madman named Tom o' Bedlam, meets Lear. Edgar babbles madly while Lear denounces his daughters. Kent leads them all to shelter.

Act III

Kent tells a gentleman that a French army has landed in Britain, aiming to reinstate Lear to the throne. He then sends the gentleman to give Cordelia a message while he looks for King Lear on the heath. Meanwhile, Edmund learns that Gloucester is aware of France's impending invasion and betrays his father to Cornwall, Regan, and Goneril. Once Edmund leaves with Goneril to warn Albany about the invasion, Gloucester is arrested, and Regan and Cornwall gouge out Gloucester's eyes. As they do this, a servant is overcome with rage and attacks Cornwall, mortally wounding him. Regan kills the servant and tells Gloucester that Edmund betrayed him. Then, as she did to her father in Act II, she sends Gloucester out to wander the heath.

Act IV

Edgar, in his madman's disguise, meets his blinded father on the heath. Gloucester, sightless and failing to recognise Edgar's voice, begs him to lead him to a cliff at Dover so that he may jump to his death. Goneril discovers that she finds Edmund more attractive than her honest husband Albany, whom she regards as cowardly. Albany has developed a conscience—he is disgusted by the sisters' treatment of Lear and Gloucester—and denounces his wife. Goneril sends Edmund back to Regan. After receiving news of Cornwall's death, she fears her newly widowed sister may steal Edmund and sends him a letter through Oswald. Now alone with Lear, Kent leads him to the French army, which is commanded by Cordelia. But Lear is half-mad and terribly embarrassed by his earlier follies. At Regan's instigation, Albany joins his forces with hers against the French. Goneril's suspicions about Regan's motives are confirmed and returned, as Regan rightly guesses the meaning of her letter and declares to Oswald that she is a more appropriate match for Edmund. Edgar pretends to lead Gloucester to a cliff, then changes his voice and tells Gloucester he has miraculously survived a great fall. Lear appears, by now, completely mad. He rants that the whole world is corrupt and runs off.

Oswald appears, still looking for Edmund. On Regan's orders, he tries to kill Gloucester but is killed by Edgar. In Oswald's pocket, Edgar finds Goneril's letter, in which she encourages Edmund to kill her husband and take her as his wife. Kent and Cordelia take charge of Lear, whose madness quickly passes. Regan, Goneril, Albany, and Edmund meet with their forces. Albany insists that they fight the French invaders but not harm Lear or Cordelia. The two sisters lust for Edmund, who has made promises to both. He considers the dilemma and plots the deaths of Albany, Lear, and Cordelia. Edgar gives Goneril's letter to Albany. The armies meet in battle, the Britons defeat the French, and Lear and Cordelia are captured. Edmund sends Lear and Cordelia off with secret joint orders from him (representing Regan and her forces) and Goneril (representing the forces of her estranged husband, Albany) for the execution of Cordelia.

Act V

The victorious British leaders meet, and the recently widowed Regan now declares she will marry Edmund. But Albany exposes the intrigues of Edmund and Goneril and proclaims Edmund a traitor. Regan falls ill, having been poisoned by Goneril, and is escorted offstage, where she dies. Edmund defies Albany, who calls for a trial by combat. Edgar appears masked and in armour and challenges Edmund to a duel. No one knows who he is. Edgar wounds Edmund fatally, though Edmund does not die immediately. Albany confronts Goneril with the letter which was intended to be his death warrant; she flees in shame and rage. Edgar reveals himself and reports that Gloucester died offstage from the shock and joy of learning that Edgar is alive, after Edgar revealed himself to his father.

Offstage, Goneril, her plans thwarted, commits suicide. The dying Edmund decides, though he admits it is against his own character, to try to save Lear and Cordelia, but his confession comes too late. Soon after, Albany sends men to countermand Edmund's orders. Lear enters bearing Cordelia's corpse in his arms, having survived by killing the executioner. Kent appears and Lear now recognises him. Albany urges Lear to resume his throne, but as with Gloucester, the trials Lear has been through have finally overwhelmed him, and he dies. Albany then asks Kent and Edgar to take charge of the throne. Kent declines, explaining that his master is calling him on a journey and he must follow. Finally, Albany (in the quarto version) or Edgar (in the folio version) implies that he will now become king.

The President of the United States is running for reelection. His fierce opponent in Ohio, Governor J. Robert Fowler, has rallied the American public behind the current administration's failures in the War on Drugs. National Security Advisor James Cutter seizes an opportunity to help the president initiate covert operations within Colombia with the intent to disrupt the illegal drug trade there. Aided by CIA Deputy Director (Operations) Robert Ritter and CIA director Arthur Moore, the plan involves inserting light infantry troops of Hispanic descent (divided into four 11 man teams, codenamed BANNER, KNIFE, OMEN and FEATURE) into the country to stake out airstrips used by the cartel (SHOWBOAT), which then allows F-15 Eagles to intercept drug flights (EAGLE EYE). In addition, mobile phone communications between cartel management are intercepted through CAPER, which is also the communications arm for SHOWBOAT.

Meanwhile, a United States Coast Guard Cutter intercepts a yacht in the Caribbean Sea; two Hispanic men are found cleaning the vessel after murdering its owner and his family. When a senior crewman says the murderers could escape justice by claiming they found the ship after the murders took place, the Coast Guard captain orders a mock trial and execution, and the killers are forced to confess their crimes; it is later learned that the murdered owner was a businessman involved in a money laundering scheme for a Colombian drug cartel. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seizes laundered money and other assets from several U.S. and European banks totaling over $650 million.

The seizure of the cartel money by the FBI infuriates drug cartel leader Ernesto Escobedo, who ordered the hit on the American businessman. Meanwhile, his intelligence officer, Felix Cortez, starts dating the secretary of FBI director Emil Jacobs and finds out about Jacobs's official visit to the Attorney General of Colombia. Escobedo orders the assassination of Jacobs without informing Cortez. Upon arriving in the city of Bogotá, the FBI director's motorcade is ambushed, killing him as well as the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Enraged, the President authorizes Operation RECIPROCITY, stepping up Cutter's operations and declaring war on Escobedo's drug organization.

Later, a surgical airstrike on a drug kingpin's mansion during a meeting of several cartel members kills everyone inside. Escobedo did not attend the meeting and sent Cortez to represent him; Cortez was delayed and witnessed the explosion as a result. Cortez later deduces that the Americans have been conducting operations against the Colombian drug cartel, but plays along, planning to engineer a war within the cartel that will leave him in a position to seize power. He dispatches cartel men to hunt down the American troops, and later blackmails Cutter in a secret meeting into shutting down all covert operations against the cartel in exchange for reducing drug exports to the United States. The point man for team BANNER, not paying attention due to suffering from food poisoning, accidentally blunders the team into an encampment of cartel men, which results in a firefight that kills half of them, with the survivors later meeting up with team KNIFE.

Meanwhile, Jack Ryan, former Marine and acting CIA Deputy Director (Intelligence) after his boss, Admiral James Greer, was hospitalized for pancreatic cancer, suspects the Agency's involvement in the situation in Colombia. His position enables him to be aware of most operations, but he realizes he is being kept out of the loop on what is happening in South America. After his friend, fighter pilot Robby Jackson, makes an inquiry into activity in the region Ryan becomes determined to find out what is going on. He learns about the covert operations by breaking into Ritter's files. Outraged, he seeks help from the FBI and later meets John Clark, a CIA field operative and former Navy SEAL coordinating CAPER. The cartel men surround and attack team KNIFE and the survivors of BANNER, killing most of them, leaving just Staff Sergeant Domingo "Ding" Chavez and a few other escaping survivors, while suffering heavy casualties of their own.

Having been previously ordered by the President to shut down all covert operations against the cartel to avoid the political fallout, Cutter does so after his secret meeting with Cortez. He secretly provides Cortez with the coordinates of the American troops in Colombia for him to hunt down. Their meeting having been shadowed by the FBI, Ryan and Clark are outraged. They team up to rescue American troops left behind in Colombia, using a U.S. Air Force special operations helicopter. This results in their missing Greer's funeral, which raises the suspicions of Moore and Ritter. Although the rescue team suffers casualties from the cartel men hunting the American soldiers in Colombia, they successfully extract the survivors, including Chavez. Later, the team captures Cortez and Escobedo in a raid on the cartel's command post. They then fly out to sea, where they safely land on the cutter ''Panache''.

After being confronted by Clark with evidence of his treason, Cutter commits suicide by jumping in front of a bus. Ryan confronts a defiant President for not informing him about the covert operations in Colombia and nearly starting a war. After he briefs the heads of the Special Intelligence Committee, the President deliberately throws the election to Fowler in order to hide the operations and protect the honor of those involved.

Escobedo is turned over to his fellow cartel chieftains, who will surely execute him. Cortez is later returned to Cuba, where he has been branded as a traitor by his former DGI colleagues. Meanwhile, Clark takes Chavez under his wing and recruits him into the CIA.

The beginning of the first series introduces the characters, a group of mostly female and middle-aged canteen workers at a factory in Manchester. The main character is the kind and dependable Brenda "Bren" Furlong, whose relationship with sarcastic and exhausted canteen manager Tony Martin (Andrew Dunn) develops through the show.

The characters feature the prim and prudish Dolly Bellfield (Thelma Barlow) and her waspish friend Jean (Anne Reid), and the younger and snarky Twinkle (Maxine Peake), who is always late, and the scatter-brained but mild-mannered Anita (Shobna Gulati).

Stan Meadowcroft (Duncan Preston) is an opinionated and easily provoked, but well-meaning, maintenance man who is responsible for cleaning the factory and fixing equipment. The new cheery but disorganised human resources manager Philippa Moorcroft (Celia Imrie) is from the South and does not initially fit in well with the rest of the staff; she moved to Manchester because of her relationship with senior staff member Mr Michael (Christopher Greet).

Actress Julie Walters also appears in nine episodes"Monday", "Scandal", "Moods", "Party", "Trouble", "Holidays", "Christmas", "Gravy" and "Toast" as Bren's down-and-out, delusional and manipulative mother who lives in a caravan behind a petrol station. She abandoned Bren at an orphanage, and often turns up to ask for favours.

In the first series, Bren and Tony's relationship begins to develop, and she supports him as he undergoes chemotherapy. Philippa tries to organise team-building activities, the factory receives a royal visit, Bren's mother causes a scandal in the factory, the team bring their mothers to work, HWD Components merges with a Japanese company and Tony is temporarily replaced by Nicola Bodeux due to his treatment. Bodeux resigns after causing the canteen staff to strike, leading Bren to take charge on an interim basis amidst a crisis for the company.

Throughout the second series, Bren and Tony's relationship develops further; the canteen takes on a work experience girl named Sigourney (Joanne Froggatt), Jean goes to stay with her sister after she is put in a foul mood by her unfaithful husband, a prisoner escapes from a local prison and Bren's fear of needles is mistaken for pregnancy. Jane (Sue Devaney) organises a holiday to Marbella, on which Bren and Tony want to go together. After a mix up, Bren manages to get a place, but she ends up giving the money to her mother instead. Their colleagues bet on when Bren and Tony will "get it on", and they finally get together after Tony puts on a surprise birthday party for Bren, who was born on Christmas Eve.

Later in the series, Philippa cannot attend the Millennium meal she organises, and Anita has a baby; after leaving it anonymously for Bren to care for, she takes it back and goes on parental leave; she is replaced temporarily by Christine (Kay Adshead), who is disliked by the rest of the dinner ladies.

As the closure of the canteen looms, the staff plan to move on with their lives. Bren goes on a game show, but loses her chance to win after she cannot attend due to her mother's death. It is revealed that her mother left her a large amount of money, which Bren and Tony use to move to Scotland.

''Battle Angel Alita'' tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg. Her intact head and chest, in suspended animation, are found by cybermedic expert Daisuke Ido in the local garbage dump. Ido manages to revive her, and finding she has lost her memory, names her Alita after his recently deceased cat. The rebuilt Alita soon discovers that she instinctively remembers the legendary martial art Panzer Kunst, although she does not recall anything else. Alita uses her Panzer Kunst to first become a bounty hunter, killing cyborg criminals in the Scrapyard, and then as a star player in the brutal gladiator sport of Motorball. While in combat, Alita awakens memories of her earlier life on Mars. She becomes involved with the floating city of Zalem (Tiphares in some older translations) as one of their agents, and is sent to hunt down criminals. Foremost is the mad genius Desty Nova, who has a complex, ever-changing relationship with Alita.

The futuristic dystopian world of ''Battle Angel Alita'' revolves around the city of Scrapyard (Kuzutetsu in the Japanese and various other versions), which has grown up around a massive scrap heap that rains down from Zalem. Ground dwellers have no access to Zalem and are forced to make a living in the sprawl below. Many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with their hard life.

Zalem exploits the Scrapyard and surrounding farms, paying bounty hunters (called Hunter-Warriors) to hunt criminals and arranging violent sports to keep the population entertained. Massive tubes connect the Scrapyard to Zalem, and the city uses robots for carrying out errands and providing security on the ground. Occasionally, Zalemites (such as Daisuke Ido and Desty Nova) are exiled and sent to the ground. Aside from the robots and exiles, there is little contact between the two cities.

The story takes place in the former United States. According to a map, printed in the eighth volume, Scrapyard/Zalem is near Kansas City, Missouri, and the Necropolis is Colorado Springs, Colorado. Radio KAOS is at Dallas, Texas. Figure's coastal hometown is Alhambra, California. Desty Nova's Granite Inn is built out of a military base—NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado.

''Battle Angel Alita'' is eventually revealed to take place in the 26th century. The sequel ''Battle Angel Alita: Last Order'' introduces a calendar era called "Era Sputnik" which has an epoch of AD 1957. The original ''Battle Angel Alita'' series begins in ES 577 (AD 2533) and ends in ES 590 (AD 2546), ''Battle Angel Alita: Last Order'' is mostly set roughly in ES 591 (AD 2547), and ''Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle'' currently alternates between ES 373–374 (AD 2329–2330) and ES 594 (AD 2550).

The novel is set prior to the Constitution of 1782. It tells the story of four generations of Rackrent heirs through their steward, Thady Quirk. The heirs are: the dissipated spendthrift Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin, the litigious Sir Murtagh Rackrent, the cruel husband and gambling absentee Sir Kit Rackrent, and the generous but improvident Sir Condy Rackrent. Their sequential mismanagement of the estate is resolved through the machinations—and to the benefit—of the narrator's astute son, Jason Quirk.

Just before coming of age, Lord Colambre, the sensitive hero of the novel, finds that his mother Lady Clonbrony's attempts to buy her way into the high society of London are only ridiculed, while his father, Lord Clonbrony, is in serious debt as a result of his wife's lifestyle. His mother wishes him to marry an heiress, Miss Broadhurst, who is a friend of Grace Nugent. However, Colambre has already fallen in love with his cousin, Grace Nugent, who lives with the family as a companion to Lady Clonbrony. Worried that his mother will pressure him into a marriage with someone he does not love, Colambre decides to leave the London social scene and visit his ancestral home in County Wicklow in Ireland.

Upon arriving in Dublin, Colambre becomes good friends with Sir James Brooke, who is a good influence on Colambre and warns him against the schemes of some new arrivals on the Dublin social scene: Lady Dashfort and her widowed daughter, Lady Isobel. It is generally known that Lady Dashfort is looking to ensnare a new, rich Irish peer for her equally unscrupulous daughter, and by any means necessary. Despite a pointed warning from Sir James, Colambre falls under the influence of the persuasive Lady Dashfort, who wishes to secure him as the next husband for Lady Isobel. Chance intelligence from a former maid in the Clonbrony household reveals to Lady Dashfort that Lord Colambre is, in fact, in love with his cousin, Grace Nugent. To discourage the match, Lady Dashfort slyly lets slip that Grace was born out of wedlock, and is therefore illegitimate. This is confirmed by letter by his mother, who while a social climber and generally frivolous, is very loving to Grace and has never told her about her parentage. Colambre is heartbroken and feels he can never love a woman with such a heritage.

He visits his family estate and discovers that his father's agents are oppressing the local peasantry and probably cheating his father as well. He reveals himself to the evil agents, and there is a race back to London, Colambre trying to stop his father from signing documents that would ruin some of the good peasants, the agents trying to get the papers signed.

Colambre makes it back just in time to stop his father from ruining the people, and he then assists his father in paying off his debts, on condition that the Clonbrony family returns to live in Ireland.

The final section concerns Colambre's love for Grace and how it is discovered that she is both legitimate and an heiress.

Emma Woodhouse's friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr. Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield with her father, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her friend Mr. Knightley, who is also brother-in-law to Emma's elder sister Isabella. She attempts to match her new friend Harriet Smith to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable, educated, and well-spoken young farmer, though Harriet likes him. Mr. Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr. Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, ''nouveau-riche'' wife, as Mr. Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her.

Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son, arrives for a two-week visit and makes many friends. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr. Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs. Bates, for a few months before starting a governess position due to her family's financial situation. She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education by her father's friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof with her because she envies Jane's talent and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley, praising her. The patronising Mrs. Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find her the ideal governess post before it is wanted. Emma feels some sympathy for Jane's predicament.

Emma decides that Jane and Mr. Dixon, Colonel Campbell's new son-in-law, are mutually attracted, and is the reason she arrived earlier than expected. She confides this to Frank, who met Jane and the Campbells at a holiday resort a year earlier; he apparently agrees with Emma. Suspicions are further fuelled when a pianoforte, sent by an anonymous benefactor, arrives for Jane. Emma feels herself falling in love with Frank, but it does not last to his second visit. The Eltons treat Harriet poorly, culminating with Mr. Elton publicly snubbing Harriet at the ball given by the Westons in May. Mr. Knightley, who had long refrained from dancing, gallantly asks Harriet to dance. The day after the ball, Frank brings Harriet to Hartfield, as she fainted after a rough encounter with local gypsies. Emma mistakes Harriet's gratitude to Frank as her being in love with him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weston wonders if Mr. Knightley is attracted to Jane, but Emma dismisses the idea. When Mr. Knightley says he notices a connection between Jane and Frank, Emma disagrees, as Frank appears to be courting her instead. Frank arrives late to a gathering at Donwell in June, while Jane departs early. The next day at Box Hill, a local scenic spot, Frank and Emma are bantering when Emma, in jest, thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates.

When Mr. Knightley scolds Emma for insulting Miss Bates, she is ashamed. The next day, she visits Miss Bates to atone for her bad behaviour, impressing Mr. Knightley. During the visit, Emma learns that Jane accepted a governess position from one of Mrs. Elton's friends. Jane becomes ill and refuses to see Emma or receive her gifts. Meanwhile, Frank has been visiting his aunt, who dies soon after his arrival. Now he and Jane reveal to the Westons that they have been secretly engaged since autumn, but Frank knew his aunt would disapprove of the match. Maintaining the secrecy strained the conscientious Jane and caused the couple to quarrel, with Jane ending the engagement. Frank's easygoing uncle readily gives his blessing to the match. The engagement is made public, leaving Emma chagrined to discover that she had been so wrong.

Emma believes Frank's engagement will devastate Harriet, but instead, Harriet says she loves Mr. Knightley, and though she knows the match is too unequal, Emma's encouragement and Mr. Knightley's kindness have given her hope. Emma is startled and realises that she is also in love with Mr. Knightley. Mr. Knightley returns to console Emma from Frank and Jane's engagement, thinking her heartbroken. When she admits her foolishness, he proposes, and she accepts. Harriet accepts Robert Martin's second proposal, and they are the first couple to marry. Jane and Emma reconcile, and Frank and Jane visit the Westons. Once the mourning period for Frank's aunt ends, they will marry. Before the end of November, Emma and Mr. Knightley are married with the prospect of "perfect happiness."

In December 1941, American expatriate Rick Blaine owns a nightclub and gambling den in Casablanca. "Rick's Café Américain" attracts a varied clientele, including Vichy French and German officials, refugees desperate to reach the neutral United States, and those who prey on them. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, he ran guns to Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.

Petty crook Ugarte boasts to Rick of "letters of transit" obtained by murdering two German couriers. The papers allow the bearers to travel freely around German-occupied Europe and to neutral Portugal; they are priceless to the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to sell them at the club, and persuades Rick to hold them. Before he can meet his contact, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under Captain Louis Renault, the unabashedly corrupt prefect of police. Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that Rick has the letters.

Then the reason for Rick's cynical nature—former lover Ilsa Lund—enters his establishment. Spotting Rick's friend and house pianist, Sam, Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By". Rick storms over, furious that Sam disobeyed his order never to perform that song and is stunned to see Ilsa. She is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo, a renowned, fugitive Czech Resistance leader. They need the letters to escape to America to continue Laszlo's work; Major Strasser has come to Casablanca to thwart him.

When Laszlo makes enquiries, Signor Ferrari, an underworld figure and Rick's friendly business rival, divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters of transit. Laszlo returns to Rick's cafe that night and tries to buy the letters. Rick refuses to sell at any price, telling Laszlo to ask his wife the reason. They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of German officers in singing " ". Laszlo orders the house band to play " ". When the bandleader looks to Rick, he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. Strasser demands Renault close the club, which he does.

Later, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted café; when he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun, but then confesses that she still loves him. She explains that when they met and fell in love in Paris in 1940, she believed her husband had been killed attempting to escape from a concentration camp. While preparing to flee with Rick from the city during the Battle of France, she learned Laszlo was alive and in hiding. She left Rick without explanation to nurse her sick husband. Rick's bitterness dissolves. He agrees to help, letting her believe she will stay with him when Laszlo leaves. When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has waiter Carl spirit Ilsa away. Laszlo, aware of Rick's love for Ilsa, tries to persuade him to use the letters to take her to safety.

When the police arrest Laszlo on a trumped-up charge, Rick persuades Renault to release him by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters. To allay Renault's suspicions, Rick explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for America. When Renault tries to arrest Laszlo as arranged, Rick forces him at gunpoint to assist in their escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with Laszlo, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life." Strasser, tipped off by Renault, drives up alone. Rick shoots him when he draws his pistol and tries to intervene. When policemen arrive, Renault pauses, then orders them to "round up the usual suspects". He suggests to Rick that they join the Free French in Brazzaville. As they walk away into the fog, Rick says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Eleven-year-old Charlie Bucket, his parents, and four grandparents all live in poverty in a small house outside a town which is home to a large, world-famous chocolate factory. One day, Charlie's Grandpa Joe tells him about the legendary and eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, who owns the town's chocolate factory, and all the fantasy candies he made until the other chocolatiers sent in spies to steal his secret recipes, forcing Wonka to close the factory. He reopened the factory three years later, but the gates remained locked and nobody is sure who is providing the factory with its workforce.

The next day, the newspaper announces that Wonka is reopening the factory to the public and has invited five lucky children to come on a tour after they find five Golden Tickets in five Wonka Bars. The first four golden tickets are found by gluttonous Augustus Gloop, spoiled Veruca Salt, chewing gum-addicted Violet Beauregarde, and television addict Mike Teavee. After the fourth ticket is found, the family begins to starve after Charlie's father loses his job at the toothpaste factory and the only job he can find is shoveling snow from the streets during a severe winter. One day, walking home from school, Charlie sees a fifty-pence piece (A dollar bill in the US version) buried in the snow. He buys two Wonka Bars and miraculously finds the last Golden Ticket in the second. The ticket says he can bring one or two family members with him, and Grandpa Joe agrees to go, suddenly regaining his mobility despite being bedridden for almost 20 years.

On the day of the tour, Wonka welcomes the five children and their parents inside the factory, a wonderland of confectionery creations that defy logic. They also meet the Oompa-Loompas who help him operate the factory. During the tour, the other four children give in to their impulses and are ejected from the tour in darkly comical ways. Augustus gets sucked into the pipe to the Fudge Room after falling into the Chocolate River, Violet blows up into a giant blue ball after chewing an experimental stick of three-course dinner gum, Veruca and her parents are thrown down the garbage chute after she tries to capture one of the nut-testing squirrels, who deem the Salts "Bad Nuts", and Mike gets shrunk down to the size of a chocolate bar after misusing the Wonkavision device despite Wonka's warnings, causing him to be "sent by television". The Oompa-Loompas sing about the children's misbehaviour each time disaster strikes.

With only Charlie remaining, Wonka congratulates him for "winning" the factory. Wonka explains that the whole tour was designed to help him secure a good person to serve as an heir to his business, and Charlie was the only child whose inherent goodness allowed him to pass the test. They ride the Great Glass Elevator and watch the other four children leave the factory before flying to Charlie's house, where Wonka then invites Charlie's entire family to come and live with him in the factory.

On October 2, 1988, troubled teenager Donald "Donnie" Darko sleepwalks outside, led by a mysterious voice. Once outside, he meets a figure in a monstrous rabbit costume who introduces himself as "Frank" and tells Donnie, precisely, that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Donnie wakes up the next morning on the green of a local golf course and returns home to discover a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. His older sister Elizabeth tells him the FAA investigators do not know its origin.

Over the next several days, Donnie continues to have visions of Frank, and his parents Eddie and Rose send him to psychotherapist Dr. Thurman. Thurman believes Donnie is detached from reality, and that his visions of Frank are "daylight hallucinations," symptomatic of paranoid schizophrenia. Frank asks Donnie if he believes in time travel, who, in turn, asks his science teacher Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff. Monnitoff gives Donnie ''The Philosophy of Time Travel'', a book written by Roberta Sparrow, a former science teacher at the school who is now a seemingly senile old woman living outside of town. Donnie also starts seeing Gretchen Ross, who has recently moved into town with her mother under a new identity to escape her violent stepfather.

Frank begins to influence Donnie's actions through his sleepwalking episodes, including causing him to flood his high school by breaking a water main. Gym teacher Kitty Farmer attributes the act of vandalism to the influence of the short story "The Destructors", assigned by dedicated English teacher Karen Pomeroy. Kitty begins teaching “attitude lessons” taken from local motivational speaker Jim Cunningham, but Donnie rebels against these, leading to friction between Kitty and Rose. Kitty arranges for Cunningham to speak at a school assembly, where Donnie insults him. He later finds Cunningham's wallet and address, and Frank suggests setting his house on fire. Firefighters discover a hoard of child pornography there. Cunningham is arrested, and Kitty, who wishes to testify in his defense, asks Rose to chaperone their daughters' dance troupe on its trip to Los Angeles.

With Rose in Los Angeles and Eddie away for business, Donnie and Elizabeth hold a Halloween costume party to celebrate Elizabeth's acceptance to Harvard. At the party, Gretchen arrives distraught as her mother has gone missing, and she and Donnie make love for the first time. When Donnie realizes that Frank's prophesied end of the world is only hours away, he takes Gretchen and two other friends to see Sparrow. Instead of Sparrow, they find two high school bullies, Seth and Ricky, who were trying to rob Sparrow's home. Donnie, Seth, and Ricky get into a fight in the road in front of her house, just as Sparrow was returning home. An oncoming car swerves to avoid Sparrow and runs over Gretchen, killing her. The driver turns out to be Elizabeth's boyfriend, Frank Anderson, wearing the same rabbit costume from Donnie's visions. Donnie shoots Frank in the eye with his father's gun, and walks home carrying Gretchen's body.

Donnie returns home as a vortex forms over his house. He borrows one of his parents' cars, loads Gretchen's body into it, and drives to a nearby ridge that overlooks town. There, he watches as the plane carrying Rose and the dance troupe home from Los Angeles gets caught in the vortex's wake, which violently rips off one of its engines, and sends it back in time. Events of the previous 28 days unwind. Donnie wakes up in his bedroom, recognizes the date is October 2, and laughs as the jet engine falls into his bedroom, crushing him. Around town, those whose lives Donnie would have touched wake up from troubled dreams. Gretchen rides by the Darko home the next morning, and learns of Donnie's death. Gretchen and Rose exchange glances and wave as if they know each other, but cannot remember where.

In August 1939, the United States imposes a trade embargo on a belligerent Japan, severely limiting raw materials. Influential Japanese army figures and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and Italy in September 1940 despite opposition from the Japanese navy and prepare for war. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, reluctantly plans a pre-emptive strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, believing that Japan's best hope of controlling the Pacific Ocean is to quickly annihilate the American fleet. Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda is chosen to mastermind the operation while his old Naval Academy classmate Mitsuo Fuchida is selected to lead the attack.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. military intelligence has broken the Japanese ''Purple Code'', allowing them to intercept secret Japanese radio transmissions indicating increased Japanese naval activity. Monitoring the transmissions are U.S. Army Col. Bratton and U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Kramer. At Pearl Harbor itself, Admiral Kimmel increases defensive naval and air patrols around Hawaii which could provide early warning of enemy presence. General Short recommends concentrating aircraft at the base on the runways to avoid sabotage by enemy agents in Hawaii, so General Howard Davidson of the 14th Pursuit Wing tries dispersing some of the planes to other airfields on Oahu to maintain air readiness.

Several months pass while diplomatic tensions escalate. As the Japanese ambassador to Washington continues negotiations to stall for time, the large Japanese fleet sorties into the Pacific. On the day of the attack, Bratton and Kramer learn from intercepts that the Japanese plan a series of 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington. They are also directed to destroy their code machines after receiving the final message. Deducing the Japanese intention to launch a surprise attack immediately after the messages are delivered, Bratton tries warning his superiors of his suspicions but encounters several obstacles: Chief of Naval Operations Harold R. Stark is indecisive over notifying Hawaii without first alerting the President while Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall's order that Pearl Harbor be alerted of an impending attack is stymied by poor atmospherics that prevent radio transmission and by bungling when a warning sent by telegram is not marked urgent. At dawn on December 7, the Japanese fleet launches its aircraft. Their approach to Hawaii is detected by two radar operators but their concerns are dismissed by the duty officer. Similarly the claim by the destroyer USS Ward to have sunk a Japanese miniature submarine off the entrance to Pearl Harbor is dismissed as unimportant. The Japanese thus achieve complete and total surprise and Commander Fuchida sends the code to begin the attack: "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

The damage to the naval base is catastrophic and casualties are severe. Seven battleships are either sunk or heavily damaged. General Short's anti-sabotage precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy aircraft on the ground easily. Hours after the attack ends, General Short and Admiral Kimmel receive Marshall's telegram warning of impending danger. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull is stunned to learn of the attack and urgently requests confirmation before receiving the Japanese ambassador. The message that was transmitted to the Japanese embassy in 14 parts – a declaration of war – was meant to be delivered to the Americans at 1:00 pm in Washington, 30 minutes before the attack. However, it was not decoded and transcribed in time, meaning the attack started while the two nations were technically still at peace. The distraught Japanese ambassador, helpless to explain the late ultimatum and unaware of the ongoing attack, is bluntly rebuffed by a despondent Hull.

Back in the Pacific, the Japanese fleet commander, Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, refuses to launch a scheduled third wave of aircraft for fear of exposing his force to U.S. submarines. Aboard his flagship, Admiral Yamamoto solemnly informs his staff that their primary target – the American aircraft carriers – were not at Pearl Harbor, having departed days previously to search for Japanese vessels. Lamenting that the declaration of war arrived after the attack began, Yamamoto notes that nothing would infuriate the U.S. more and ominously concludes: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Soviet and Chinese soldiers capture a U.S. Army platoon during the Korean War, and take the men to Manchuria in communist China. Three days later, Sergeant Raymond Shaw and Captain Bennett Marco return to UN lines. Upon Marco's recommendation, Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor for saving his soldiers' lives in combat, though two men were killed in action. Shaw returns to the U.S., where his heroism is exploited by his politically motivated mother, Eleanor Iselin, whose plans are to further the career of her husband, Senator John Iselin. When asked to describe Shaw, the other soldiers in his unit respond, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." In contrast to this description, Shaw is a cold, sad, unsympathetic loner.

After Marco is promoted to major and assigned to Army Intelligence, he has a recurring nightmare: a hypnotized Shaw blithely murders the two soldiers from his own platoon before an assembly of communist military leaders to demonstrate their revolutionary brainwashing technique. Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon, Allen Melvin, has the same nightmare. When Melvin and he separately identify photos of the same two men—leading figures in communist governments—from their dreams, Army Intelligence agrees to help Marco investigate.

During captivity, Shaw was programmed as a sleeper agent, who blindly obeys orders to kill without any memory of his crimes. His battle heroism was a false memory implanted during the brainwashing. Agents trigger Shaw by suggesting he play solitaire; the queen of diamonds activates him. Eleanor masterminds the ascent of John, a Joseph McCarthy-like demagogue who makes baseless claims that communists work at the Defense Department. Shaw repudiates his mother and stepfather by taking a job at a newspaper published by their critic, Holborn Gaines. Communist agents have Shaw murder Gaines to confirm that his brainwashing still works.

Chunjin, a Korean agent who posed as a guide for Shaw's platoon, comes to Shaw's apartment asking him for work. The unsuspecting Shaw hires him as a valet and cook. Marco recognizes Chunjin when he visits Shaw's apartment; he violently attacks him and demands to know what happened during the platoon's captivity. After Marco is arrested for assault, Eugenie Cheyney, a woman he met on a train, posts his bail and breaks her engagement to date him.

Shaw rekindles a romance with Jocelyn Jordan, the daughter of liberal Senator Thomas Jordan, the Iselins' chief political foe. Eleanor arranges their reunion to garner Senator Jordan's support for John's vice-presidential bid. Unswayed, Jordan insists he will block Iselin's attempts to seek the party's nomination. After Jocelyn inadvertently triggers Shaw's programming by wearing a queen of diamonds costume at a party for her thrown by the Iselins, they elope. Furious at Senator Jordan's rebuff, Eleanor—who is Shaw's American handler—sends him to kill Jordan at his home. Shaw also kills Jocelyn when she stumbles upon the murder scene. Afterward, he has no memory of the killing and is grief-stricken upon learning they are dead.

After discovering the card's role in Shaw's conditioning, Marco uses a forced deck to deprogram him, hoping he will reveal his next assignment. Eleanor primes Shaw to assassinate their party's presidential nominee at the height of its convention so that Iselin, as the vice-presidential candidate, will become the nominee by default. In the uproar, he will seek emergency powers to establish a strict authoritarian regime. Eleanor tells Shaw that she requested a programmed assassin, never knowing it would be her own son. She vows that when she takes power, she will exact revenge upon her superiors for selecting him.

Shaw enters Madison Square Garden disguised as a priest, taking up a sniper's position in an empty spotlight booth high above. Marco and his supervisor, Colonel Milt, race to the convention to stop him. At the last moment, Shaw aims away from the presidential nominee and instead kills Senator Iselin and Eleanor. When Marco arrives inside the lighting booth, Shaw tells him that not even the Army could have stopped them, so he had to. Then Shaw, wearing the Medal of Honor around his neck, immediately commits suicide. Later that evening, Marco, speaking to Eugenie privately, mourns Shaw's death.

A maniac killer in red rain coat is killing off American tourists on a tour bus by gouging out their eyeballs.

Anne Shirley, a young orphan from the fictional community of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia (based upon the real community of New London, Prince Edward Island), is sent to live with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, unmarried siblings in their fifties and sixties, after a childhood spent in strangers' homes and orphanages. Marilla and Matthew had originally decided to adopt a boy from the orphanage to help Matthew run their farm at Green Gables, which is set in the fictional town of Avonlea (based on Cavendish, Prince Edward Island). Through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne instead.

Anne is fanciful, imaginative, eager to please, and dramatic. She is also adamant her name should always be spelt with an e at the end. However, she is defensive about her appearance, despising her red hair, freckles and pale, thin frame, but liking her nose. She is talkative, especially when it comes to describing her fantasies and dreams. At first, stern Marilla says Anne must return to the orphanage, but after much observation and consideration, along with kind, quiet Matthew's encouragement, Marilla decides to let her stay.

Anne takes much joy in life and adapts quickly, thriving in the close-knit farming village. Her imagination and talkativeness soon brighten up Green Gables.

The book recounts Anne's struggles and joys in settling in to Green Gables (the first real home she's ever known): the country school where she quickly excels in her studies; her friendship with Diana Barry, the girl living next door (her best or "bosom friend" as Anne fondly calls her); her budding literary ambitions; and her rivalry with her classmate Gilbert Blythe, who teases her about her red hair. For that, he earns her instant hatred, although he apologizes several times. As time passes, however, Anne realizes she no longer hates Gilbert, but her pride and stubbornness keep her from speaking to him.

The book also follows Anne's adventures in Avonlea. Episodes include play-time with her friends Diana, calm, placid Jane Andrews, and beautiful, boy-crazy Ruby Gillis. She has run-ins with the unpleasant Pye sisters, Gertie and Josie, and frequent domestic "scrapes" such as dyeing her hair green while intending to dye it black, and accidentally getting Diana drunk by giving her what she thinks is raspberry cordial but which turns out to be currant wine.

At sixteen, Anne goes to Queen's Academy to earn a teaching license, along with Gilbert, Ruby, Josie, Jane, and several other students, excluding Diana, much to Anne's dismay. She obtains her license in one year instead of the usual two and wins the Avery Scholarship awarded to the top student in English. This scholarship would allow her to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree at the fictional Redmond College (based on the real Dalhousie University) on the mainland in Nova Scotia.

Near the end of the book, however, tragedy strikes when Matthew dies of a heart attack after learning that all of his and Marilla's money has been lost in a bank failure. Out of devotion to Marilla and Green Gables, Anne gives up the scholarship to stay at home and help Marilla, whose eyesight is failing. She plans to teach at the Carmody school, the nearest school available, and return to Green Gables on weekends. In an act of friendship, Gilbert Blythe gives up his teaching position at the Avonlea School to work at the White Sands School instead, knowing that Anne wants to stay close to Marilla after Matthew's death. After this kind act, Anne and Gilbert's friendship is cemented, and Anne looks forward to what life will bring next.

The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank lives with his father on a small island in rural Scotland, and he has not seen his mother in many years. There is no official record of his birth, meaning his existence is largely unknown.

Frank occupies his time with rituals, building dams, and maintaining an array of weapons (a small catapult, pipe bombs, and a crude flamethrower) for killing small animals around the island. He takes long walks to patrol the island and occasionally gets drunk with his only friend, a dwarf. Otherwise, Frank has almost no contact with the outside world. He's haunted by the memory of a dog attack during his youth, which resulted in the loss of his genitalia. He resents others for his impotence, particularly women. This is in part due to the mauling coinciding with the last time he saw his mother, who had come back to give birth to his younger brother, leaving immediately after.

Frank's older brother, Eric, escapes from a psychiatric institution, having been arrested some years prior for arson and terrorizing the local children by force-feeding them live maggots. Eric often calls him from a pay-phone to inform Frank of his progress back to the island. Eric is extremely erratic; their conversations end badly, with Eric exploding in fits of rage. However, it's clear Frank loves his brother.

The '''Wasp Factory''' is a mechanism invented by Frank, consisting of a huge clock face, salvaged from the local dump, encased in a glass box. Behind each of the 12 numerals is a trap that leads to a different ritual death (such as burning, crushing, or drowning in Frank's urine) for the wasp that Frank puts into it via the hole at the centre. Frank believes the death "chosen" by the wasp predicts something about the future. The Factory is in the house's loft, which Frank's father cannot access because of a leg injury. There are also “Sacrifice Poles” constructed by Frank. The corpses of animals, such as mice that he has killed, are placed onto the poles for the purpose of attracting birds which will fly away and alert Frank of anybody approaching the island.

It's revealed that when Frank was much younger, he killed three of his relatives: two cousins and his younger brother. He also exhumed the skull of the dog that castrated him, and uses it as part of his rituals. Eric is described as having been extremely sensitive before the incident that drove him mad: a tragic case of neglect at the hospital where Eric was a volunteer when studying to become a doctor. While attempting to feed a brain-damaged newborn with acalvaria, Eric notes how the child is unresponsive and smiling, despite usually appearing expressionless. The child's skull is held together by a metal plate over his head. Eric checks underneath the plate to find the child's exposed brain tissue infested and being consumed by day-old maggots.

Frank's father is distant and spends most of his time in his study, which he keeps locked at all times. Frank longs to know what is inside. He is used to being lied to by his father, who seemingly does it purely for his own amusement. At the end of the novel, Frank is alerted of Eric's return when he sees a dog that has been burned alive and discovers Eric's campsite. This knowledge incites Frank's father to get drunk before forgetting to conceal the keys to his study, where Frank discovers male hormone drugs, tampons, and what appears to be the remains of his own genitals in a jar. He assumes that his findings mean that his father is actually female. During the ensuing confrontation, Eric attempts to destroy the island with explosives and fire but is not successful.

Frank's father explains that it was Frank who was born a female; the hormones had been fed to him by his father since the dog attack in an experiment to see whether Frank would transition from female to male. The remains of his genitals were fake and it is suggested that his father's reasoning for doing this was to distance himself from the women he felt had ruined his life. In the end, Frank finds Eric, half asleep. He sits with him and considers his life up to this point and whether he should leave the island.

Two days ago I decided to kill myself. I would walk and hitch and sail away from this dark city to the bright spaces of the wet west coast, and there throw myself into the tall, glittering seas beyond Iona (with its cargo of mouldering kings) to let the gulls and seals and tides have their way with my remains, and in my dying moments look forward to an encounter with Staffa’s six-sided columns and Fingal's Cave; or I might head south to Corryvreckan, to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my waterlogged deaf ears to its mile-wide voice ringing over the wave-race; or be borne north, to where the white sands sing and coral hides, pink-fingered and hard-soft, beneath the ocean swell, and the rampart cliffs climb thousand-foot above the seething acres of milky foam, rainbow-buttressed. Last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is . . . just to try and explain.

Weird starts out in the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley in a very underprivileged Catholic family. He is impressed by a group named '''Frozen Gold''' when he sees them live, in the Union of Paisley College of Technology, and auditions with them. Christine Brice likes his songs, and he joins the band. He ends up writing all their material and playing bass guitar (after trying unsuccessfully to get them to change their name), as the band rises in the drug- and booze-fuelled rock and roll of the 1970s, assisted by A&R man Rick Tumber of ARC Records. In the '''Three Chimneys tour''', singer Davey Balfour takes Dan along on an attempt to break an unofficial (and illegal) speed record for flying around three power station chimneys in Kent in his private aeroplane.

He reminisces about this from 1980s Glasgow, where he lives as a recluse in a Victorian folly (St Jutes), ever since the tragic events which led to the demise of the band. He is posing as his own caretaker, and his friends McCann and Wee Tommy know him as Jimmy Hay. After a memorable fight in a nightclub called 'Monty's', his real identity is revealed. He has grown uncomfortable with fame and wealth, and eventually visits his first girlfriend, Jean Webb, now living in Arisaig.

This Bildungsroman is set in the fictional Argyll town of Gallanach, the real village of Lochgair, and in Glasgow, where the adult Prentice McHoan lives. Prentice's uncle Rory disappeared eight years previously while writing a book called ''The Crow Road.'' Prentice becomes obsessed with papers his uncle left behind and sets out to solve the mystery. Along the way he must cope with estrangement from his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, and failure at his studies.

The estrangement from his father concerns Prentice's belief in a higher power and purpose, and in life after death, all of which his father denies.

A parallel plot is Prentice's gradual transition from an adolescent fixation on one young woman to a more mature love for another.

Prentice's efforts to make sense of Uncle Rory's fragmentary notes and the minimal clues surrounding his disappearance mirror his efforts to understand the world and his place in it. The narrative is nonlinear, leaping back and forth with little or no warning, requiring the reader to piece things together.

The Culture and the Idiran Empire are at war in a galaxy-spanning conflict. A Culture Mind, fleeing the destruction of its ship in an Idiran ambush, takes refuge on Schar's World. The Dra'Azon, godlike incorporeal beings, maintain Schar's World as a monument to the world's extinct civilisation and the dangers of nuclear proliferation, forbidding access to both the Culture and the Idirans. Horza, a shape-changing mercenary, is rescued from execution by the Idirans who believe the Dra'Azon guardian may let him onto the planet as in the past he was part of a small group of Changers who acted as stewards. They instruct him to retrieve the Mind.

During Horza's extraction, the Idirans also capture a Special Circumstances agent, Perosteck Balveda. However, the Idiran starship on which he is travelling is soon attacked by a Culture vessel, and Horza is ejected. He is picked up by a pirate ship, the ''Clear Air Turbulence'' (''CAT''). He is forced to fight and kill one of the crew to earn a place. The captain, Kraiklyn, leads them on two disastrous pirate raids in which several of the crew perish. After the second raid Horza is taken prisoner by a cult living on an island on the orbital Vavatch. He escapes after poisoning the cult leader and makes his way to Evanauth, the main city of Vavatch, where he finds Kraiklyn, who is playing "Damage"—a high stakes card game.

Having now changed his appearance to mimic that of the ''CAT'' captain, Horza follows him back to the ''CAT'', kills him and returns to the ''CAT'' meeting the few remaining original crew. He is introduced to a newly recruited member, whom he recognises as a disguised Perosteck Balveda. Culture agents outside try to capture the ship. Horza manages to lift off and as the fugitives warp away from Vavatch, they see the Orbital destroyed by the Culture warships to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Balveda reveals Horza's identity and he convinces the crew to carry out his mission. A sentient Vavatch drone, Unaha-Closp, has been trapped on the ship and reluctantly joins the team.

They land on Schar's World and search for the Mind in the Command System, a complex of subterranean train stations formerly part of a nuclear missile complex. These were built by the inhabitants of Schar before their extinction. They soon discover that the Mind is being hunted by a pair of Idiran soldiers who have killed all the Changers stationed on the planet, and who regard Horza and his crew as enemies, having no knowledge of the Changers' alliance with the Idirans. Horza has kept Balveda alive, and she is taken into the complex. The ''CAT'''s crew encounter the Idirans in one of the Command System stations, and after a firefight apparently kill one and capture the other. After tracking the Mind to another station, the drone Unaha-Closp discovers it hiding in the reactor car of a Command System train. The second Idiran, who had been mortally wounded but not killed, sets one of the trains for a collision course to the station. The captured Idiran, Xoxarle, frees himself and in the ensuing impact and firefight the remaining members of the ''Clear Air Turbulence'' are killed. Horza pursues Xoxarle and is fatally injured, but the Idiran is killed by Balveda.

Horza dies soon after Balveda gets him to the surface and the Mind is returned to the Culture. In an epilogue, the Mind becomes a starship, and names itself the ''Bora Horza Gobuchul''.

The book takes place on a fictional planet resembling late-Middle Ages Europe. A large empire broke up in the decade or so preceding the action, apparently from meteor or asteroid strikes that severely affected farming across much of the globe. The remnants of the empire still war with one another.

The narrative alternates chapter-by-chapter between two concurrent story-lines, with alternating chapter headings of The Doctor and The Bodyguard.

''The Doctor''

The first storyline is presented as a written account from Oelph, publicly a doctor's assistant, but privately a spy for an individual identified only as "Master", to whom much of the account is addressed. Oelph is the assistant to Vosill, the personal doctor to King Quience of Haspidus—and a woman. The latter is unheard of in the patriarchal kingdom, and is tolerated only because Vosill claims citizenship in the far-off country of Drezen. The King himself is appreciative of her and her talents, but nonetheless her elevated position in defiance of the kingdom's social mores inspires hostility among others of the court.

Oelph's account follows Vosill as she attends to the King regularly, as well as more charitable ministrations to the impoverished and those in need. Her methods are unconventional by kingdom standards, for example forgoing the use of leeches and instead using alcohol to "kill the ill humours which can infect a wound," but are more often than not successful. This only serves to inspire more distrust amongst her detractors, notably including a number of Dukes as well as the King's Guard Commander, Adlain. On this topic, Oelph includes a transcript he claims to have found in Vosill's journal, purported to be an exchange between Duke Walen and Adlain in which they make an agreement, "should it become necessary", to covertly kidnap the lady doctor and have Nolieti, the King's chief torturer, "put her to the question." Oelph notes that while the transcript appears to have been obtained under impossible circumstances, he somehow does not doubt its veracity.

While Vosill attends to the King, Nolieti is murdered, nearly decapitated, presumably by his assistant Unoure. Vosill examines the body and determines that Unoure could not have killed his master, but her explanation is disregarded. Unoure is captured, but before he can be questioned he is found in his cell dead from a cut throat, apparently self-inflicted. Following this account Oelph includes another found transcript, this time between Walen and Duke Quettil, though Walen is unable to obtain Quettil's agreement for the use of Ralinge, his own chief torturer, in Walen's kidnapping plan. Some days later at a masked ball Walen is found murdered, this time by a stab to the heart. The Duke's murder disquiets much of the royal house, as it occurred in a room no one entered or left.

Resentment towards Vosill continues to build, particularly after King Quience begins implementing somewhat radical reforms, such as permitting commoners to own farmland without the oversight of a noble and the creation of city councils, reforms which Vosill has discussed with the King publicly and at length. Following these reforms Vosill confesses to the King that she loves him, a sentiment he rebuffs, and further informs her that he prefers "pretty, dainty, delicate women who [have] no brains." Oelph finds her after this, drunk, and hints at his own feelings of love towards her; she rebuffs him as well, in what might be considered a more gentle way.

Some days later Vosill receives a note from Adlain, asking her to meet him and two other Dukes elsewhere in the castle. She leaves alone, but Oelph opts to follow her in secret; after catching a glimpse of someone fleeing, he arrives in time to be arrested by the guard, who proceed to discover Vosill standing over the body of a murdered Duke, stabbed with one of her scalpels. Vosill and Oelph are almost immediately delivered to Ralinge, who binds the two separately and then strips, intending to rape, Vosill. The woman issues what sounds to Oelph like commands, albeit in a language he does not recognize even partially. Oelph's eyes are closed at this point, and in his narrative he is unable to adequately describe what he hears next, other than an impression of wind and metal. When he opens his eyes he finds Ralinge and his assistants dead, dispatched bloodily, and Vosill free and in the process of removing her bindings, no indication of how she was freed. Later, she claims that Oelph fell unconscious and the three men fought over who would rape her first, though she indicates to him that this is what he "should" remember.

The two are taken from the torturer's chamber shortly thereafter, as the King has abruptly taken ill and appears to be dying. Vosill is able to cure King Quience's condition, and is there to witness as the conspiracy against her is revealed to the King, inadvertently, when news of Ralinge's death reaches the conspirators: Commander Adlain and Dukes Quettil and Ulresile. Ultimately the blame is publicly taken by Ulresile, who escapes with being exiled for several months; the King makes it clear that further plots against the doctor will not be tolerated. Because Oelph is not present for these events, his account comes second-hand from servants present; during this scene he reveals his master to be Guard Commander Adlain.

Vosill requests the King release her from her duties, which he does. She leaves just a few days later on a ship for Drezen, and is seen off at the dock by Oelph. Oelph tries to suppress the urge to ask to accompany Vosill, since he knows that her answer will be in the negative, but in the end he does so anyway. The ship leaves sometime later, and Vosill vanishes some days later.

''The Bodyguard''

The second, interleaved storyline is told by an initially unnamed narrator, remaining unnamed so as to provide a neutral context for the narrative. The story focuses on DeWar, bodyguard to General UrLeyn, the Prime Protector of the Protectorate of Tassasen. Protector UrLeyn is the leader of Tassasen, having killed the previous monarch in a revolt; subsequently he eliminated official terms such as "King" and "Empire" within Tassasen. At the beginning of the story the Protectorate is fast approaching a war with the neighbouring land of Ladenscion, led by barons who initially supported UrLeyn's revolution but now intend to establish themselves as independent.

DeWar is the sometimes-confidant of UrLeyn, but the bodyguard also maintains a friendly, conversational relationship with Perrund, a member of the Tassasen harem. Perrund was once the Protector's prized concubine, which changed following an assassination attempt on UrLeyn; Perrund shielded the Protector with her body, saving his life at the cost of crippling her left arm. Though no longer as prized as a concubine, Perrund is highly regarded by UrLeyn, DeWar, and most of Tassasen society. DeWar in particular finds her easy to confide in, and spends much of his off-time playing board games with her while the two tell each other stories.

DeWar is on high alert as the conflict with Ladenscion approaches, believing that someone within the court may be a traitor. An attempt is made on UrLeyn's life by an assassin disguised as an ambassador, though DeWar anticipates the threat and kills the man before he can succeed. Nonetheless, this act only reinforces DeWar's fears of a traitor.

A surprising, unwelcome turn comes when UrLeyn's young son, Lattens, has a seizure and subsequently falls ill. While the boy slowly recovers, DeWar tells him stories of a "magical land" called Lavishia, a place where "every man was a king, every woman a queen". Eventually the boy recovers, and UrLeyn and his bodyguard depart for the front lines, where the war with Ladenscion is flagging. However, no sooner are they there than word arrives that Lattens has fallen ill again, prompting a distraught UrLeyn to rush back to the castle.

While DeWar is gone, Perrund tells Lattens a story about a girl named Dawn, who spent most of her life locked in a basement by her cruel family and was eventually rescued by a travelling circus. When he returns, Perrund tells DeWar about the story, then tells him it was a shadow of the real story: her story. Rather than her parents locking her in the basement to be cruel, they locked her in to hide her from Imperial soldiers—high-ranking men of the former King's regime. Rather than being rescued, the soldiers found her, raped her, her mother and her sisters, and then forced her to watch as they murdered her father and brothers. The soldiers were eventually killed, but Perrund still feels she is now dead inside. DeWar attempts to in some way comfort her, but she quickly demands he return her to the harem.

Lattens' condition continues to worsen, causing UrLeyn to act more and more erratically, spending less time focusing on the war and more time at his son's bedside. The Protector goes so far as to bar all visitors to his chambers, and even prohibits DeWar from speaking to him unless he is spoken to. His only real contact is with Perrund, who spends most nights holding UrLeyn as he cries himself to sleep. DeWar enlists Perrund's help in focusing UrLeyn on the war, but to no success.

An epiphany strikes DeWar when he finds he has drooled on his pillow in his sleep, and he proceeds to Lattens' room. A guard restrains the boy's nurse while DeWar examines his security blanket, finding it has been soaked in an unknown fluid, presumably poison. Under threat of death the nurse reveals who has been orchestrating the poisoning: Perrund. DeWar storms into the harem chambers, intent on revealing the conspiracy to UrLeyn, but arrives too late; Perrund has already killed the Protector, and calmly waits for the bodyguard. Holding her at sword-point, DeWar tearfully demands to know why she conspired against the Protector. Perrund replies that she did it for revenge, for killing her and her family. The soldiers who raped her were not the former King's men at all, not even men allied to UrLeyn, but the man himself, as well as his current, closest advisers. Afterwards she was taken in by men from Haspidus, and recruited as a spy by King Quience directly. Saving UrLeyn from the assassin was simply to prevent him from dying while he was a strong leader; instead, her orders were to ensure he died in "utter ruin" to put his citizens off the idea of states without a monarch, as UrLeyn had envisaged Tassasen being.

After her confession, Perrund demands DeWar kill her. He silently refuses, lowering his sword. Perrund grabs his knife and brings it to her own throat, but it is quickly knocked away by DeWar's blade, which he lowers once more.

Epilogue

Oelph gives a brief, personal epilogue for both stories. The three conspirators who attempted to kill Vosill died of various diseases, only Adlain lasting longer than a few years. King Quience reigned for forty years before his death, and was succeeded by one of his many daughters, giving the kingdom its first ruling Queen. Vosill disappeared from the ship she departed on; her disappearance was only discovered after a sudden burst of wind and chain-fire struck the ship, then vanished as quickly. Attempts to notify Vosill's family in Drezen were unsuccessful: nobody in the island country could be found who had ever met her. Oelph himself became a doctor, eventually taking Vosill's post as the royal physician. Tassasen endured a civil war after the death of Protector UrLeyn; eventually King Lattens took control of the Empire, ruling it quietly.

Oelph explains that he stopped DeWar's story as he did because that is where versions of the story differ dramatically. The more popular version has DeWar personally execute Perrund, followed by a return to the Half-Hidden Kingdoms where he reclaims his hidden title as Prince, and eventually King. A second version, supposedly written by Perrund herself, instead has DeWar telling the waiting guards and staff that UrLeyn is fine but sleeping, this and other distractions providing enough time for him and the former concubine to flee Tassasen before the Protector's body is discovered. The two elude capture and arrive in the Half-Hidden Kingdoms, eventually marry, have several children, and die many years later in an avalanche in the mountains.

Finally, Oelph ends his epilogue by revealing that he expects his wife, whom he loves dearly, to return soon, quite possibly with his grandchildren accompanying her.

In 1985, Bud Fox is a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co. in New York City. He wants to work with his hero, Gordon Gekko, a legendary Wall Street player. After calling Gekko's office 59 days in a row trying to land an appointment, Bud visits Gekko on his birthday with a box of Gekko's favorite, contraband Cuban cigars. Impressed at his boldness, Gekko grants Bud an interview. Bud pitches him stocks, but Gekko is unimpressed. Desperate, Bud provides him some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which he has learned in a casual conversation with his father, Carl, leader of the company's maintenance workers' union. Intrigued, Gekko tells Bud he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office. However, Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock and becomes one of Bud's clients.

Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the other stocks Bud selects - by honest research and advice from respected senior broker Lou Mannheim- lose money. Gekko offers Bud another chance, and tells him to spy on British investor Sir Lawrence Wildman. They deduce that Wildman is making a bid for Anacott Steel. Gekko buys shares in Anacott, which Wildman is forced to buy at a higher price to complete his takeover.

Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse on Manhattan's East Side. He also gains a girlfriend, Gekko’s art consultant and ex Darien, an interior decorator. Bud is promoted as a result of the large commission fees he is bringing in and is given an office with a view. He continues to maximize inside information and use friends as straw buyers to provide more income for him and Gekko. Unknown to Bud, several of his trades attract the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko: buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions and the overfunded pension. Even though Bud is unable to persuade his father to support him and Gekko, he is able to get the unions to push for the deal. Soon afterward, Bud learns that Gekko plans to dissolve the company and sell off Bluestar's assets in order to access cash in the company's pension plan, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud a very rich man, he is angered by Gekko's deceit and wracked with guilt of being an accessory to Bluestar's impending destruction, especially after his father suffers a heart attack. Bud resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans, and breaks up with Darien when she refuses to go against Gekko, her former lover.

Bud then devises a plan to leak news of Gekko's takeover, to drive the price up. This forces Gekko to buy the stock at a higher price, as he tries to secure a controlling interest. Bud then convinces the unions to pull their support, ending any prospect of Gekko completing the takeover, and causing the price to plummet. This forces Gekko to offload his stock at a considerable loss. Bud and the other union presidents then secretly meet with Wildman and arrange for him to buy the stock, and controlling interest in Bluestar, at a significant discount, on the condition that he saves the company. When Gekko learns on the evening news that Wildman is buying Bluestar, he realizes that Bud has engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly goes back to work at Jackson Steinem the following day, only to be arrested for insider trading.

Sometime later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko punches Bud several times, berating him for his role with Bluestar, and accuses him of ingratitude for several of their illicit trades. Later, it is revealed that Bud was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko for the authorities, who suggest that he may get a lighter sentence in exchange for providing evidence against Gekko. Later, Bud's parents drive him down the FDR Drive towards the New York County Courthouse, telling Bud that he "did the right thing" by cooperating with the government, and paying back his illicit earnings, and urge him to accept Wildman's offer of a job at Bluestar, once he has completed his prison sentence.

''Ancient Domains of Mystery'' takes place in the fictional world of Ancardia, in the mountainous Drakalor Chain. For 6,000 years, the world has known relative peace, but recently reports have spread of the appearance of dangerous dungeons and frightening monsters. Khelavaster, a wise sage, discovers an ancient prophecy regarding the Coming of Chaos and propagates it to the peoples of the world. It speaks of a champion who will defend the world from the forces of Chaos in the Drakalor Chain.

Hearing of this prophecy, many would-be heroes set out. The player assumes control of one such adventurer. ''Ancient Domains of Mystery'' has multiple endings which consist of closing the Chaos gate, becoming a demigod, or committing a heroic sacrifice to stop the Chaos invasion.

Set in the near future of 2037, many of the levels and locations are reminiscent of their current-day equivalents. Banks, building sites, sewage works and other everyday recognizable buildings form the basis of many of the levels in ''SiN''. One major difference in the world of ''SiN'' is the lack of a police force. Ten years prior to the game, the police force collapsed due to corruption and ineffectiveness against the rising tide of crime. Private security companies have taken the police's place, with some of them patrolling the streets like the former police, some in charge of protecting their employer's assets.

One of the companies which employ their own armed security forces is SinTEK, a large multi-national biotechnology corporation specializing in medical and chemical research, owned by the beautiful and charismatic Elexis Sinclaire. Elexis took over the company following the mysterious disappearance of her father, Dr Thrall Sinclaire, who founded it in 2005.

The protagonist of the game, Colonel John R. ("Rusty") Blade, is the commander of one of the largest security forces in the city of Freeport, HardCorps. Prior to the beginning of the game, Blade is working to rid the streets of a potent new recreational drug named U4, which is rapidly gaining popularity in Freeport and is rumoured to be able to cause genetic mutations to its users. Yet the source of the drug is still unknown, and its effects not entirely studied. As the game begins, the player is placed into the shoes of John Blade as he responds to a full-scale bank heist and hostage situation perpetrated by a well-known Freeport criminal boss Antonio Mancini. But as the player progresses and pursues the criminal behind the heist, further questions are raised: Who is really behind the heist? And is this linked to the reported appearances of mutants in the city?

Throughout the missions, Blade is aided via radio link by a computer expert working at HardCorps: JC, a skilled hacker, capable of breaking into even the tightest of networks. In fact, Blade had first found out about JC when investigating a cracker who had broken into the HardCorps system. After tracking down the hacker, Blade, recognizing the perpetrator's talents, decided to make him a job offer at HardCorps instead of arresting him. Thus, JC became one of the HardCorps most valuable assets and the only one able to assist them in hacking-based missions.

As the game progresses, it is gradually revealed that the whole bank robbery is funded by Elexis Sinclaire, who in fact only wanted Mancini to steal a safety deposit box from the bank's vault. When she learns that he launched a full-scale bank heist instead, she injects him with concentrated U4 and turns him into a mutant, sending him after Blade. John manages to defeat the huge creature and afterwards learns that it was, in fact, Mancini himself. Blade also finds out that the substance found in Mancini's body after his death is only manufactured by one company: SinTEK. All these unavoidable facts force Blade to embark on an investigation into SinTEK's vast industrial area located in the outskirts of Freeport.

Later, Blade learns that Elexis Sinclaire's main goal is to contaminate the Freeport water system with vast quantities of U4, turning all of the city's inhabitants into mutants. He manages to thwart that plan, but it turns out to be just a diversion because, in the meantime, SinTEK's troops steal nuclear warheads from a U.S. military base. Elexis threatens to fill them with U4 and launch them at specific targets, turning the entire world's population into mutants. As Blade becomes aware of that, he heads to SinTEK's main base in order to stop Sinclaire. However, once Blade defeats the SinTEK's security and mutants at the base, he reaches Sinclaire, only for her to escape by transferring her entire body into a rocket that launches itself into the sky, splits and spreads everywhere. Sinclaire disappears through the rockets, JC is unable to locate them, and in Blade's fury at the escape, he smashes a button, causing the nuclear missiles to abort their launch.

Act I

Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Apostles, worries that the followers of Jesus are getting out of control and may be seen as a threat by the Roman Empire, who might harshly suppress them ("Heaven on Their Minds").

The other apostles anticipate going to Jerusalem with Jesus and ask him about his plans, but Jesus tells them not to worry about the future ("What's the Buzz"). Mary Magdalene tries to help Jesus relax. Judas tells Jesus that he should not associate with Mary, because a relationship with a sex worker could be seen as inconsistent with his own teachings and be used against him ("Strange Thing Mystifying"). Jesus tells Judas that he should not judge others unless he is without sin. Jesus then reproaches the apostles and complains that none of them truly cares about him. Mary Magdalene tries to reassure Jesus while anointing him with oil ("Everything's Alright"). Judas angrily says that the money spent on oil should have been used to help the poor. Jesus answers that they do not have the resources to end poverty, and that they should be glad for what comforts they have.

Meanwhile, Caiaphas, the High Priest of Israel, assembles the Pharisees and priests. Like Judas, they fear that Jesus's followers will be seen as a threat by the Romans, and that many Jews might suffer the consequences. Caiaphas concludes that for the greater good, Jesus must be killed ("This Jesus Must Die"). As Jesus and his followers arrive exultantly in Jerusalem, they are confronted by Caiaphas, who demands that Jesus disperse the crowd. Jesus instead greets the happy crowd ("Hosanna"). Then Simon the Zealot suggests that Jesus lead his mob in a war against Rome and gain absolute power. Jesus rejects this, stating that none of his followers understand what true power is ("Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem").

Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, has a dream in which he meets a Galilean and then receives the blame for the man's violent death at the hands of a mob ("Pilate's Dream"). Jesus arrives at the Temple and finds that it is being used as a marketplace; angered by this, he drives everyone out ("The Temple"). A group of lepers ask Jesus to heal them. Their number increases, and overwhelmed, Jesus rejects them. Mary Magdalene sings him to sleep ("Everything's Alright (Reprise)"). While he sleeps, Mary acknowledges that she is in love with him, and it frightens her ("I Don't Know How to Love Him").

Conflicted, Judas seeks out the Pharisees and proposes helping them arrest Jesus, believing that Jesus is out of control and that Jesus himself would approve of his action. In exchange for his help, Judas is offered thirty pieces of silver. Judas initially refuses, then accepts when Caiaphas suggests that he can use the money to help the poor ("Damned for All Time/Blood Money").

Act II

Jesus shares a Passover meal with his disciples, where they get drunk and pay little attention to him. He remarks that "for all you care" the wine they are drinking could be his blood and the bread his body. He asks them to remember him, then frustrated by their lack of understanding, he predicts that Peter will deny him three times that night, and that another one of them will betray him. Judas admits that he is the one who will betray Jesus and, saying that he does not understand why Jesus did not plan things better, leaves ("The Last Supper").

The remaining apostles fall asleep, and Jesus retreats to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray ("Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)"). He tells God his doubts about whether his mission has had any success and angrily demands to know why he should continue and suffer the horrible death that awaits him. Receiving no answer, he realises that he cannot defy God's will, and surrenders to God.

Judas arrives with Roman soldiers and identifies Jesus by kissing him on the cheek ("The Arrest"). When Jesus is brought to trial before the Sanhedrin, Caiaphas and the priests send him to Pilate. Meanwhile, Peter is confronted by three people, to whom he denies that he knows Jesus ("Peter's Denial"). Mary observes that Jesus had predicted this.

Pilate asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews. Jesus again answers "That's what you say". Since Jesus is from Galilee, Pilate says that he is not under his jurisdiction and sends him to King Herod ("Pilate and Christ"). The flamboyant King Herod asks Jesus to prove his divinity by performing miracles ("King Herod's Song"), but Jesus ignores him. Herod angrily sends him back to Pilate. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the apostles remember when they first began following Jesus, and wish that they could return to a time of peace ("Could We Start Again, Please?").

Judas is horrified at Jesus' harsh treatment. He expresses regret to the Pharisees, fearing that he will forever be remembered as a traitor. Caiaphas and Annas assure him that he has done the right thing. Judas throws down the money he was given and storms out. He curses God for manipulating him, and commits suicide ("Judas's Death").

At Jesus's trial, Pilate attempts to interrogate Jesus, but is cut off by a bloodthirsty mob which demands that Jesus be crucified. He tells the mob that Jesus has committed no crime and does not deserve to die, but to satisfy the mob he will have Jesus flogged ("Trial Before Pilate"). Pilate pleads with Jesus to defend himself, but Jesus says weakly that everything has been determined by God. The crowd still calls for Jesus's death and finally Pilate reluctantly agrees to crucify Jesus.

As Jesus awaits crucifixion, the spirit of Judas returns and questions why Jesus chose to arrive in the manner and time that he did, and if it was all part of a divine plan ("Superstar"). Jesus is crucified, recites his final words and dies ("The Crucifixion"). Jesus' body is taken down from the cross and buried ("John Nineteen: Forty-One").

The novel is set in a dystopian version of 1988, following a Second Civil War which led to the collapse of the United States' democratic institutions. The National Guard ("nats") and US police force ("pols") reestablished social order through instituting a dictatorship, with a "Director" at the apex, and police marshals and generals as operational commanders in the field. Resistance to the regime is largely confined to university campuses, where radicalized former university students eke out a desperate existence in subterranean kibbutzim. Recreational drug use is widespread, and the age of consent has been lowered to 12. The black population has almost been rendered extinct. Most commuting is undertaken by personal aircraft, allowing great distances to be covered in little time.

The novel begins with the protagonist, Jason Taverner, a singer, hosting his weekly TV show which has an audience of 30 million viewers. His special guest is his girlfriend Heather Hart, also a singer. Both Hart and Taverner are "Sixes", members of an elite class of genetically engineered humans. While leaving the studio, Taverner is telephoned by a former lover, who asks him to pay her a visit. When Taverner arrives at her apartment, the former lover attacks him by throwing a parasitic life-form at him. Although he manages to remove most of the life-form, parts of it are left inside him. After being rescued by Hart, he is taken to a medical facility.

Waking up the following day in a seedy hotel with no identification, Taverner becomes worried, as failure to produce identification at one of the numerous police checkpoints would lead to imprisonment in a forced labor camp. Through a succession of phone calls made from the hotel to colleagues and friends who now claim not to know him, Taverner establishes that he is no longer recognized by the outside world. He soon manages to bribe the hotel's clerk into taking him to Kathy Nelson, a forger of government documents. However, Kathy reveals that both she and the clerk are police informants, and that the lobby clerk has placed a microscopic tracking device on him. She promises not to turn Taverner over to the police on the condition that he spend the night with her. Although he attempts to escape, Kathy confronts him again after he has successfully passed a police checkpoint using the forged identity cards. Feeling in her debt, he accompanies Kathy to her apartment block, where Inspector McNulty, Kathy's police handler, is waiting. McNulty has located Taverner via the tracking device the hotel lobby clerk placed on him, and instructs Taverner to come with him to the 469th Precinct police station so that further biometric identity checks can be performed.

At the station, McNulty erroneously reports the man's name as Jason Tavern, revealing the identity of a Wyoming diesel engine mechanic. During questioning, Taverner goes along with McNulty's mistake, explaining that he no longer resembles Tavern due to extensive plastic surgery. McNulty accepts this explanation and decides to release Taverner while lab checks are run on the rest of the documents. He issues Taverner a seven-day police pass to ensure he can pass police checkpoints in the interim period. Deciding to lie low, Taverner heads to a Las Vegas bar in the hopes of meeting a woman with whom he can stay. Instead, he encounters a former lover, Ruth Gomen; although she no longer recognizes him, he succeeds in his bid to seduce her and is taken back to her apartment. On the orders of Police General Felix Buckman, Gomen's apartment is raided and Taverner is taken into custody, being transported immediately to the Police Academy in Los Angeles.

Buckman personally interrogates Taverner, soon reaching the conclusion that Taverner genuinely does not know why he no longer appears to exist. However, he suspects that Taverner may be part of a larger plot involving the Sixes. He orders Taverner released, although ensuring that tracking devices are again placed on him. Outside the police academy, Taverner is approached by Alys Buckman, Felix's hypersexual sister and lover. Alys removes the tracking devices from Taverner and invites him to the home she shares with her brother. On the way there, she tells Taverner that she knows he is a TV star and reveals copies of his records.

At the Buckmans' home, Taverner takes Alys up on an offer of mescaline. When he has a bad reaction to the drug, Alys goes to find him a medicine to counteract it. When she does not return, Taverner goes to search for her, only to find her skeletal remains on the bathroom floor. Frightened and confused, he flees, unsuccessfully pursued by a private security guard. To aid in his escape, he asks for the help of Mary Anne Dominic, a potter. Heading to a cafe with her, they find that one of his records is on the jukebox. When his song plays, people begin to recognize him as a celebrity. After parting with Dominic, Taverner goes to the apartment of his celebrity girlfriend Heather Hart. She returns home, horrified, and shows Taverner a newspaper mentioning that he is wanted in connection with Alys Buckman's death, the motive believed to have been his jealousy over Alys' purported relationship with Hart.

An autopsy reveals that Alys' death was caused by an experimental reality-warping drug called KR-3. The coroner explains to Felix that, as Alys was a fan of Taverner, her use of the drug caused Taverner to be transported to a parallel universe where he no longer existed. Her death then caused his return to his own universe. The Police General decides to implicate Taverner in Alys' death to distract attention from his incest. The press are informed that Taverner is a suspect in the case and, wishing to clear his name, Taverner surrenders himself to the police. Heartbroken over the death of his sister, Felix returns home, suffering a nervous breakdown on the way.

In an epilogue, the final fates of the main characters are disclosed. Buckman retires to Borneo where he is assassinated soon after writing an exposé of the global police apparatus. Taverner is cleared of all charges and dies of old age, while Heather Hart abandons her celebrity career and becomes a recluse. Dominic's pottery wins an international award and her works become of great value while she lives into her eighties. KR-3 test trials are deemed too destructive and the project is abandoned. Ultimately, the revolutionary students give up and voluntarily enter forced-labor camps. The detention camps later dwindle away and close down, the government no longer posing a threat.

The story examines religion through the eyes of Alex, a Christian political activist who is corrupted by Margrethe, a Danish Norse cruise ship hostess—and who loves every minute of it. Enduring a shipwreck, an earthquake, and a series of world-changes brought about by Loki (with Jehovah's permission), Alex and Marga work their way from Mexico back to Kansas as dishwasher and waitress.

Whenever they manage to make some stake, an inconveniently timed change into a new alternate reality throws them off their stride (once, the money they earned is left behind in another reality; in another case, the paper money earned in a Mexico which is an empire is worthless in another Mexico which is a republic). These repeated misfortunes, clearly effected by some malevolent entity, make the hero identify with the Biblical Job.

On the way they unknowingly enjoy the Texas hospitality of Satan himself, but as they near their destination they are separated by the Rapture — Margrethe worships Odin, and pagans do not go to Heaven. Finding that the reward for his faith, eternity as promised in the Book of Revelation, is worthless without her, Alex journeys through timeless space in search of his lost lady, taking him to Hell and beyond.

Heinlein depicts a Heaven ruled by snotty angels and a Hell where everyone has a wonderful, or at least productive, time — with Mary Magdalene shuttling breezily between both places.

The novel is linked to Heinlein's short story ''They'' by the term "the Glaroon", and to his earlier novel ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' by referring to the Moon colonies "Luna City" and "Tycho Under".

Throughout the novel, Alex briefly describes the history of his own world, and of some of the worlds he visits. In his own world, William Jennings Bryan was elected US President in 1896, the United States avoided war during the 20th century, and Germany is still a monarchy. John F. Kennedy was never President, as revealed when Alex visits a world where Kennedy served two full terms and is unfamiliar with him. Airship travel was never supplanted by airplane travel, and the television was not invented. Other trivial information about Alex's world and the other worlds he visits is revealed as the novel goes along.

In the future, food is carefully rationed on an overcrowded Earth. Teenager William (Bill) Lermer lives with his widowed father, George. George decides to emigrate to the farming colony on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons. After marrying Molly Kenyon, George embarks with Bill and Molly's daughter Peggy on the 'torchship' ''Mayflower''. On the journey, Bill saves his bunkmates from asphyxiation by improvising a patch when a meteor punctures their compartment. During the trip, all the children attend class; also, to combat the boredom of the long trip, the Boy Scouts among the passengers form troops.

When they arrive on Ganymede, an unpleasant surprise awaits the newcomers. The arriving group is much larger than the colony can easily absorb. The soil has to be built from scratch by pulverizing boulders and lava flows, then seeding the resulting dust with carefully formulated organic material, and the rock crushers are in short supply. While some whine about the injustice of it all, Bill accepts an invitation to live with his prospective neighbors, a prosperous farmer and his large, hard-working family, to learn the needed skills, while his father signs on as an engineer in the town of Leda. Peggy, unable to adjust to the low pressure atmosphere, has to stay in a bubble in the hospital. When the Lermers are finally reunited on their own homestead, they build their house with a pressurized room for Peggy.

One day, a rare alignment of all of Jupiter's major moons causes a devastating moonquake. Peggy is seriously injured when her room suffers an explosive decompression. Furthermore, the machinery that maintains Ganymede's "heat trap" fails and the temperature starts dropping rapidly. George quickly realizes what has happened and gets his family to the safety of the town. Others do not grasp their peril soon enough and either stay in their homes or start for town too late; two-thirds of the colonists perish, either from the quake or by freezing. The Lermers consider returning to Earth, but after Peggy dies, they decide to stay and rebuild. The colony gradually recovers.

An expedition sets out to survey more of Ganymede. Bill goes along as the cook. While exploring, he and a friend discover artifacts of an alien civilization, including a working land vehicle that has legs, like a large metal centipede. This proves fortuitous when Bill's appendix bursts. Forced to adhere to a schedule, a shuttle picks up the rest of the group and leaves without the pair. They travel cross-country using the alien vehicle to reach the next landing site. Bill is then taken to the hospital for a life-saving operation.

Upon awakening from the operation, Bill contemplates a discussion he had with George about returning to Earth for school, or pursuing a job working towards the colonization of Callisto. He notices that it was midnight and decides to see it for himself, as it may be his last chance to do so for a long time. Upon looking at the sky and observing Jupiter in half phase with Io coming out of shadow, and the Sun breaking above the horizon with light catching the snow of the mountains, he decides that Ganymede is his home and he would never leave it. The nurse finds him outdoors and scolds him to return where he belongs, to which he replies, "I am where I belong, and I'm going to stay."

The book's narrator is Friday Jones (often going under cover name Marjorie Baldwin and using both surnames somewhat interchangeably). Friday is a genetically engineered human (known as an Artificial Person or AP) in many ways mentally and physically superior to ordinary humans. There is great prejudice against APs so Friday conceals her nature.

Friday is employed as a highly self-sufficient "combat courier in a quasi-military organization", traveling across the globe and to some of the near-Earth space colonies. She is returning from her latest mission when she is captured, tortured, raped and interrogated by an enemy group. She is rescued by her own people, who tell her that her highly critical mission was successful as her captors failed to find the data she was carrying in her body.

After recovering from the ordeal, Friday takes a vacation to New Zealand to visit her group family, composed of several husbands and wives and many children. In an argument over racism, Friday reveals to her family that she is an AP, and they promptly divorce her.

On the way back to her company's headquarters, she meets and befriends a married couple, the Tormeys, and their extra-legal co-husband, Georges. Friday is their house-guest in British Canada (a country in the Balkanized North America) when a worldwide emergency known as Red Thursday occurs. Various groups claim credit for the assassinations and sabotage, but Friday later learns that it is the result of a struggle between rival factions within the ultra-powerful Shipstone corporation.

With British Canada under martial law, Friday kills a policeman who tries to arrest her and Georges as non-citizens to be interned. The two become fugitives, and Friday travels through the California Confederacy, the Lone Star Republic (where she parts from Georges), and the Chicago Imperium as she attempts to reach her headquarters. After several adventures, she abandons her attempt to make contact with her employer and then finds that the Tormeys are not at their home. An agent of her employer finally tracks her down. However, Friday's boss soon dies and the organization disbands, rendering her temporarily homeless and unemployed. Her boss has left her money in trust to be used only for the purpose of relocating to an off-Earth colony of her choosing.

Living in Las Vegas Free State, Friday is eventually recruited for a courier job which will incidentally allow her to visit and evaluate several of the colonies she is considering as future homes. However, on an interplanetary cruise ship for her mission, she learns that agents of her new employers are watching her, and that she is a virtual prisoner on the ship. Realizing that her mission is top secret and her employers misled her about it, she fears that they will kill her when it is over. While the ship is in orbit at a rustic colony world, she escapes with the Tormeys, who have been on the run since the policeman's death and happened to be fleeing Earth on the same ship. She is helped and joined in her escape by two of the agents watching her, one of whom was in the group that raped her at the beginning of the story but is now repentant. After evading the ship's crew and the remaining agents, Friday and her friends settle in the colony to lead a quiet life as a group family.

In the near future, Earth has established some lunar bases. High school senior Clifford "Kip" Russell is determined to get to the Moon, but the price of a ticket is far beyond his reach. His father suggests he enter an advertising jingle-writing contest; first prize is an all-expenses-paid trip there. Instead, he wins a used space suit. Kip puts the suit (which he names "Oscar") back into working condition.

Kip reluctantly decides to return his space suit for a cash prize to help pay for college, but puts it on for one last walk. As he idly broadcasts on his shortwave radio, someone identifying herself as "Peewee" answers and requests a homing signal. He is shocked when a flying saucer lands practically on top of him. An 11-year-old girl (Peewee) and an alien being (the "Mother Thing") flee from it, but all three are quickly captured and taken to the Moon.

Their kidnapper ("Wormface") is a horrible-looking creature who contemptuously refers to all others as "animals". Wormface has two human flunkies ("Fats" and "Skinny") who assisted him in initially capturing the Mother Thing and Peewee, a preteen genius and the daughter of an eminent scientist. The Mother Thing speaks in what sounds like birdsong (illustrated by a few musical notations), but Kip and Peewee have no trouble understanding her.

Kip, Peewee, and the Mother Thing escape and try to reach the nearest human base on foot, but they are recaptured and taken to a base on Pluto. Kip is thrown into a cell, later to be joined by Fats and Skinny, who have apparently outlived their usefulness. After Skinny is taken away, Fats tells Kip that his former employers eat humans, before he, too, disappears.

The Mother Thing, meanwhile, makes herself useful to their captors by constructing advanced devices for them. She manages to steal enough parts to assemble a bomb and a transmitter. The bomb takes care of all but one of the Wormfaces, and between them, Kip and Peewee deal with the last one. The Mother Thing freezes solid when she tries to set up the transmitter outside without a spacesuit. Kip puts Oscar on and activates the beacon, but becomes severely frostbitten in the extreme cold. Help arrives quickly. Kip, Peewee and the Mother Thing are transported to Vega 5, the Mother Thing's home planet.

Kip is kept in a state of cryopreservation while the Mother Thing's people figure out how to heal him. It turns out that the Mother Thing is far hardier than Kip had suspected and freezing did not hurt her. While Kip recuperates, a Vegan anthropologist Kip nicknames "Joe" learns about Earth from Peewee and Kip. Once Kip is well, he, Peewee, and the Mother Thing travel to a planet in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, to face an intergalactic tribunal, composed of many advanced species that have banded together for self-protection.

The Wormfaces are put on trial first. Their representatives are so arrogantly xenophobic that they promise to destroy the "animals" who dared to try the "Only People", and are judged to be dangerous. Their planet is to be "rotated" 90° out of the present space-time ... without their star, most likely dooming them to freezing to death.

Then it is humanity's turn, as represented by Peewee, Kip, Iunio (an ancient Roman centurion), and a Neanderthal man. The Neanderthal is rejected as being of another species. Iunio proves belligerent, but brave. Peewee's and Kip's recorded remarks are then admitted into evidence. In humanity's defense, Kip makes an impassioned speech. The Mother Thing and a representative of another race argue that the short-lived species are essentially children who should be granted more time to learn and grow. It is decided to re-evaluate humanity after "a dozen half-deaths of radium" (19200 years).

Kip and Peewee are returned to Earth with advanced alien devices and scientific equations provided by the Vegans to help the human race. Kip passes the information along to Professor Reisfeld, Peewee's father. Reisfeld arranges a full scholarship for Kip at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Kip wants to study engineering and spacesuit design.

—All You Zombies— chronicles a young man (later revealed to be intersex) taken back in time and tricked into impregnating his younger, female self (before he underwent sexual reassignment surgery); he turns out to be the offspring of that union, with the paradoxical result that he is his own mother and father. As the story unfolds, all the major characters are revealed to be the same person, at different stages of their life.

Narrative order of events

The story involves an intricate series of time-travel journeys (see diagram). It begins with a young man speaking to the narrator, the Bartender, in 1970. The two of them relate in that both of them are from unmarried parents. The Bartender remarks that no one in his family ever gets married, including him. He wears an Ouroboros ring. The young man is called the Unmarried Mother, because he writes stories for confession magazines, many of them presumably from the point of view of an unmarried mother.

Cajoled by the Bartender, the Unmarried Mother explains why he understands the female viewpoint so well: he was born a girl, in 1945, and raised in an orphanage. While a fairly ugly teenager in 1963, she was seduced, impregnated, and abandoned by an older man. During the delivery of her child, doctors discovered she was intersex, with internalized male sex organs as well as female sex organs. Complications during delivery rendered the female organs unviable and forced them to give her a gender reassignment. The baby was kidnapped by a mysterious older gentleman, and not seen again. The Unmarried Mother then had to adjust to life as a man, despite an upbringing that left him unqualified for "men's" jobs; he had planned to get into space as a sex worker for male workers and colonists. Instead, he used his secretarial skills to type manuscripts and eventually began writing.

Professing sympathy, the Bartender offers to take him to the abandoning seducer, whom the Unmarried Mother wishes revenge on. The Bartender guides him into a back room, where he (Bartender) uses a time machine to take them to 1963, and sets the young man loose. The Bartender goes forward eleven months, kidnaps a one-month-old baby, and takes them to 1945, leaving them at an orphanage. He returns to 1963 one month later and picks up the Unmarried Mother, who was instinctively attracted to his younger female self and has seduced and impregnated her. The Bartender nudges him to connect the dots and realizes that the seducer, the young woman, the baby, and the time traveler are all ''him''.

The Bartender then drops the Unmarried Mother in 1985 at an outpost of the Temporal Bureau, a time-traveling secret police force that manipulates events in history, to protect the human race. He has just created and recruited himself.

Finally, the Bartender returns to 1970, arriving a short time after he left the bar. He allows a customer to play "I'm My Own Grandpa" on the jukebox, having yelled at the customer for playing the song before he left. Closing the bar, he time travels again to his home base in 1993. As he beds down for a much-deserved rest, he contemplates the scar left over from the Caesarean section performed when he gave birth to his daughter, father, mother, and entire history. He thinks, "I ''know'' where ''I'' came from—but ''where did all you zombies come from?''

Chronological order of events

As the story is told as a disjointed point of view reference by several other points thereafter, this is the actual chronological history of "Jane" according to the story, although the story itself is still a classic example of a time paradox.

• On September 20, 1945, the Bartender drops off baby Jane at an orphanage. She grows up there. She dreams of joining one of the "comfort organizations" dedicated to providing R&R for spacemen.
• Nearly 18 years later, the man who refers to himself as "an unmarried mother" is dropped off on April 3, 1963, by the Bartender. He meets and, after some weeks of dating, seduces and impregnates the 17-year-old Jane, who has an intersex condition. From Jane's point of view, he then disappears. Actually, he has been retrieved by the Bartender, and taken to 1985 (see sixth bullet point).
• Jane learns that she is pregnant by the now-missing unknown man. On waking after giving birth by C-section, she is told she is intersex and has two full sets of reproductive organs, of which the female organs have developed fully, allowing her to have a child. She is told the female organs have been severely damaged by the pregnancy and birth; she learns that she has been subjected (without her consent) to a "sex change" using her male reproductive set, which reassigns her sex to male.
• On March 10, 1964, the Bartender kidnaps the baby and takes it back in time to the orphanage (see first bullet point). Jane, now male, becomes a stenographer, and then a writer. Whenever he is asked his occupation, he replies, somewhat truculently, "I'm an unmarried mother—at four cents a word. I write confession stories." He becomes a regular at the bar where the narrator, the Bartender, works, but does not interact with him significantly for six years.
• On November 7, 1970, the Bartender meets the Unmarried Mother, yells at the customer playing "I'm My Own Grandpa", conducts the Unmarried Mother into the back office, and takes him back to 1963 to "find" (and, ostensibly, get revenge upon) the man who got him pregnant (see second bullet point). He returns to the bar, seconds after going into the back room, and allows the customer to play the song. From his own point of view, he has carried out his mission of ensuring his own existence.
• On August 12, 1985, the Bartender travels to 1963 and retrieves the Unmarried Mother -- whom he had left there (then?) during the events of the fifth (and second) bullet point(s) -- to the Rockies base and enlists him (actually a younger version of himself) in the Temporal Bureau.
• On January 12, 1993, the Bartender, who is also Jane/mother/father/Unmarried Mother, arrives back at his base from 1970 to think about his life.

The story describes the tensions among the staff of a nuclear reactor. Heinlein's concept of a nuclear reactor was one of a barely contained explosion, not the steady-state thermal plants developed later. As a consequence, the work is dangerous, and the slightest mistake could be catastrophic. All the technical staff are monitored by psychologists who have the authority to remove them from the work at any time lest they crack under the pressure and precipitate a disaster. The monitoring itself contributes to the problem.

The supervisor calls up Dr. Lentz, a fictional student of Alfred Korzybski, to analyze the situation. It turns out that the calculations on the stability of the reactor have greatly underestimated the scale of the reaction should the reactor go out of control. The situation seems hopeless, as the energy produced by the reactor is sorely needed on Earth, oil having been monopolized by the military. Using a method called "calculus of statement", Lentz helps the team to mitigate the pressure harming the plant operators.

Lentz's solution takes into account the social, psychological, physical, and economic variables. One of the by-products of the reactor is a more stable nuclear fuel which can also be used as the basis for a rocket engine. Armed with their theories and the new fuel, the protagonists undertake a campaign to have the reactor shut down, moved into space, and used as a source for the fuel, which will supply the needs of Earth and take humanity into space. Their final card is a shame campaign which will subject the trustees of the reactor to public vilification.

The next story sequentially is "The Man Who Sold the Moon", in which the reactor exploded in space. The actual cause was the detonation of the service rocket's fuel, caused by the effects of cosmic radiation on the supposedly stable nuclear material.

Bob Wilson locks himself in his room to finish his graduate thesis on a mathematical aspect of metaphysics, using the concept of time travel as a case in point. Bob does not care much at this point whether his thesis (that time travel is impossible) is valid; he is desperate for sleep and just wants to get it done and typed up by the deadline the next day to become an academic, since he thinks academia beats working for a living. Suddenly, although Bob had locked himself alone in his room, someone says, “Don’t bother with it. It's a lot of utter hogwash anyhow." The interloper, who looks strangely familiar, and to whom Bob takes a dislike, calls himself "Joe", and explains that he has come from the future through a Time Gate, a circle about in diameter in the air behind Joe. Joe tells Bob that great opportunities await him through the Gate and thousands of years in his future. By way of demonstration, Joe tosses Bob's hat into the Gate. It disappears.

Bob is reluctant. Joe plies him with drink, which Joe (a stranger, from Bob's point of view) inexplicably retrieves from its hiding place in Bob's apartment, and Bob becomes intoxicated. Finally, Joe is about to manhandle Bob through the Gate when another man appears, one who looks very much like Joe. The newcomer does not want Bob to go. During the ensuing fight, Bob gets punched, sending him through the Gate.

He recovers his senses in a strange place. A somewhat older-looking, bearded man explains that he is some 30,000 years in the future. The man, calling himself Diktor, treats Bob to a sumptuous breakfast served by beautiful women, one of whom Bob speaks of admiringly. Diktor immediately gives that woman to Bob as a slave. Diktor explains that humans in the future are handsome, cultured in a primitive fashion, but much more docile and good natured than their ancestors. An alien race, the High Ones, built the Gate and refashioned humanity into compliant slaves, but the High Ones are gone now, leaving a world where a 20th-century "go-getter" can make himself king.

Diktor asks him to go back through the Gate and bring back the man he finds on the other side. Bob agrees. Stepping through, he finds himself back in his own room, watching himself typing his thesis. Without much memory of what happened before, he reenacts the scene, this time from the other point of view, and calling himself "Joe" so as not to confuse his earlier self. Just as he is about to shove Bob through the Gate, another version of himself shows up. The fight happens as before, and Bob goes through the Gate.

His future self claims that Diktor is just trying to tangle them up so badly that they can never get untangled, but Joe goes through and meets Diktor again. Diktor gives him a list of things to buy in his own time and bring back. A little annoyed by Diktor's manner, Bob argues with him, but eventually returns to the past, back in his room once again.

He lives through the same scene for the third time, then realizes that he is now free of Diktor. Bob ponders the nature of the 20th-century society he lives in, finding it seedy and depressing. He is sure he no longer has time to finish his thesis, but it is obviously incorrect anyway, so he decides he will go back to the future through the Time Gate. He first collects the items on Diktor's list, which seem to be things a 20th-century man could find useful in making himself king in the future, intentionally writing a bad check for the purchases, after persuading the cashier that the check is good. He then visits a woman he had been dating, but has begun to dislike, and has his way with her, smugly intending to never see her again. After returning to the future, he adjusts the Gate to send himself back to a point ten years earlier, to give himself time to establish himself as the local chieftain. Thus he hopes to preempt Diktor's influence, charting his own course instead. While setting the Gate, he finds two things beside the controls: his hat, and a notebook containing translations between English words and the language of Diktor's slaves.

He sets himself up as chief, taking precautions against the arrival of Diktor. He adopts the name Diktor, which is simply the local word for "chief." He experiments with the Time Gate, hoping to see the High Ones. Once, he does catch a glimpse of one and has a brief mental contact with it. The experience is so traumatizing that he runs away screaming, for the creature feels such sadness and other deep emotions that a 20th-century go-getter like Bob cannot bear it. He forces himself to return long enough to shut down the Gate, then stays away from it for more than two years. He does not notice that his hair has begun to whiten prematurely, as a result of the stress and shock. Having worn out the notebook through long use, he copies its text into a new, identical, one.

One day, upon setting the Gate to view his old room in the past, he sees three versions of himself in a familiar arrangement. Shortly, his earliest self comes through. The circle has closed. ''He'' is Diktor—the only Diktor there ever was. Wondering who actually compiled the notebook, Diktor prepares to brief Bob, who has to orchestrate events to ensure his own past.

In a future American society, everyone must accept the Covenant of non-violence, and psychologists can "cure" criminal or violent personality traits. The protagonist, David MacKinnon, is a romantic idealist who has been convicted of assault, and the court determines he is a substantial risk to commit violence in the future. He must accept treatment to remove his violent tendency, or be exiled to "Coventry", the area allocated to those who reject the Covenant or commit crimes and refuse psychological treatment, enclosed by an impassable electric field (the "Barrier").

MacKinnon chooses to emigrate to escape what he sees as the boredom of a too-civilized society. But he discovers that Coventry is not the peaceful anarchy he envisioned. It is actually a bleak dystopia split into three separate "countries":

• New America, a corrupt democracy with a dysfunctional judicial system, that lies closest to Coventry's entry point and is the most populous of the three nations.
• The ironically named Free State, an absolute dictatorship ruled by the "Liberator" with an even harsher penal system, a nation frequently at war with New America though not at the time of the story.
• The Angels, remnants of the theocracy from ''"If This Goes On—"'', in the hills north of New America, living under a new "Prophet Incarnate"—it is implied they are the least populous of the three.

On arrival in New America, MacKinnon is arrested and jailed, and loses everything he had brought with him through the Barrier. He is befriended by fellow inmate "Fader" Magee, and they break out of jail. MacKinnon learns that New America and the Free State have discovered how to breach the Barrier and are combining forces to attack the outside society. He and Fader break out of Coventry separately to warn of the imminent attack. In the outside world, MacKinnon learns that Fader is actually a government agent. Also, by risking his life for the good of the country, he has shown he is free of criminal tendencies and no longer needs therapy.

Brooks McNye, a communications engineer, wangles a job as a radio technician (concealing her first name, Gloria) and joins the all-male crew of construction workers building a space station. On arrival, she is immediately confronted by "Tiny" Larsen, the hard-boiled construction superintendent, who had not realized she was female. He does not want women "sniffing around my boys" and orders her returned on the next shuttle, only to be forced by circumstances to keep her. Larsen is constantly putting his foot in his mouth with remarks like, "Mind what [Hammond] tells you. He's a good man," only to hear a brisk, "I know, I trained him." In the end, he is forced to admit that having a woman on the team has improved morale and efficiency, and he decides to stop discriminating on the basis of sex. He also asks that a chaplain be assigned to the station, reasoning, "under the new policy we may need one anytime."

The story tells of a visit to a tunnel on the surface of the Moon which goes awry when a pressure seal fails, trapping three men (a supervisor, a reporter, and a tunnel worker). The title of the story derives from the way they plug an air leak while awaiting rescue: by sitting on it.

The phrase "Gentlemen, Be Seated!" is the opening line of the interlocutor in a traditional minstrel show. It was also, at the time the story was written and while Heinlein attended, the opening line for all classes at the military and naval academies (as well as classes for officers at the various service schools) in the United States.

The story might have been inspired by an episode in "Baron Munchausen": The ship sprung a leak. It was my good fortune to discover it first. I found it a large hole about a foot diameter. ... This noble vessel was preserved, with all its crew, by a most fortunate thought! in short, I sat down over it. ... My situation, while I sat there, was rather cool, but the carpenter's art soon relieved me.

The story is set in a future theocratic American society, ruled by the latest in a series of fundamentalist Christian "Prophets". The First Prophet was Nehemiah Scudder, a backwoods preacher turned President (elected in 2012), then dictator (no elections were held in 2016 or later).

John Lyle, a junior army officer under the Prophet, is stationed at the Prophet's capital of New Jerusalem. He had been devout, but he finds himself questioning his faith when he falls for one of the Prophet's Virgins, Sister Judith. New to the vocation, Judith faints when she is called upon to submit sexually to the Prophet and is confined to her quarters until she sees the light. John confides in his far more worldly roommate, Zeb Jones, who is not shocked but even assists John. A clandestine meeting with Judith goes awry when they are forced to kill a spy. They are left with no choice but to seek aid from the Cabal, an underground revolutionary movement (Judith's friend, Sister Magdalene, is a member). The two men are inducted into the Cabal while they remain on duty in their army posts. Judith is arrested and tortured as part of the investigation into the death of the spy, and John and Zeb rescue her but leave enough clues that John is soon arrested and tortured himself. He gives little away and is himself rescued by the Cabal. Zeb and Magdalene have evaded arrest thanks to a clandestine distress signal that John manages to leave for Zeb while he is arrested.

Judith is spirited out of the country before John regains consciousness, and John is given a false identity to make his way to Cabal headquarters. He is detected en route, forced to flee, and arrives safely after several misadventures. He finds that Zeb and Magdalene, who he assumes are a couple, have made their way there before him. All take on significant roles in bringing to fruition the revolutionary plot, John as an aide to the commander, General Huxley.

Working there, John receives a literal "Dear John" letter from Judith, informing him of her impending marriage to a Mexican man she met while she was taking refuge in his country. He learns that Zeb and Magdalene have no marriage plans, as their strong personalities would inevitably clash, and he begins a romance with Magdalene.

The revolutionary plot is mostly successful, and the country other than New Jerusalem is seized. However, the capital must also be conquered lest it serve as a rallying point for loyalists. Even as constitutional discussions go on, the new regime's troops, tempered to provide the greatest possible individual freedom (this is the origin of the 'Covenant' mentioned in other Heinlein works), prepare to take New Jerusalem. John and Magdalene are married just before the assault.

During the fight, Huxley is wounded, and John must take over temporary command though he is not entitled by rank to do so. He gives the orders that bring victory. He then turns over command to the senior unwounded general and leads a squad invading the Prophet's private quarters. They find that he has been viciously killed by his own Virgins.

A physical chemist and his wife (the MacRaes), who have been in residence in Luna City on the Moon for some time, spend much of their time volubly regretting having ever left Earth. When this attitude results in social conflict with "Loonies" who love their home, the pair feel isolated, misunderstood, and put-upon. They decide to return "dirt-side", only to discover that the Earth of their imaginations bears only the faintest of resemblances to the actuality, which includes things unheard of in Luna, like smog, unpleasant weather, the common cold, and repairmen who refuse to make house calls. Ultimately, they discover that all they really want is to go back to Luna City, where they are welcomed with open arms by their peers (now that they have realized that the Moon is "home" after all) and settle down to be happy "Lunatics".

Two well-off Earth men are arguing about whether there is slavery on Venus, and one of them gets shanghaied there—or so he believes; they later find out that they've bet one another about the topic, gotten drunk, and signed on. Upon his arrival, he finds his contract sold to a farmer. His discovery that it will take him years to work off his debt is compounded by his realization that he cannot get to sleep at night without ''rhira'', an expensive local narcotic, thus increasing his debt every day.

A coming-of-age story that follows Andrew Jackson Libby, a boy from Earth with extraordinary mathematical ability but meager education. Finding few opportunities on Earth, he joins the ''Cosmic Construction Corps'', a future military-led version of the US Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps employing out-of-work youth to construct the infrastructure needed to colonize the Solar System. With a group of other inexperienced young men he is assigned to a ship traveling to the asteroid belt, where their task is to build a base on an asteroid and then move it into a more convenient orbit between Earth and Mars. Libby comes to the Captain's attention during the process of blasting holes in the asteroid for rocket engines when Libby realizes that a mistake has been made in calculating the size of the charge, preventing a catastrophic blast. He is assigned to the ship's astrogation computer. During the move to the destination orbit, the computer malfunctions, and Libby takes over, performing all the complex calculations in his head. The asteroid is settled successfully into its final orbit.

"Slipstick" Libby became one of Heinlein's recurring characters and would later appear in several works associated with Lazarus Long, among them ''Methuselah's Children'' and ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls''.

The story includes one of the earliest uses of the term "space marines".

A spaceship's crewman is called to repair an antenna while his ship is still under spin. He is unable to hold on, despite supreme effort; he drifts away from the ship and has far too much time to ponder things. When he returns to Earth, he is unable to work as a spaceman and has a fear of heights. After living in fear and sadness for a time, he must face his troubles while rescuing a kitten stuck on the 35th-floor ledge of a building.

Heinlein includes a variant verse to the hymn ''Eternal Father, Strong to Save'', dedicated "to those who venture into space," in the story. Originally titled "Broken Wings", the story was rejected by ''The Saturday Evening Post''. A reading of this story was broadcast on BBC Radio 7 on July 14, 2007.

The story centers around D. D. Harriman, the lead character of ''The Man Who Sold the Moon''. Harriman, a tycoon and latter-day robber baron, had always dreamed of going to the Moon, and had spent much of his career and resources making space flight a practical commercial enterprise. Unfortunately, his business partners prevented him from taking the early flights because they could not risk the public face of their company. Now an old man, Harriman has still not been to the Moon, a fact that frustrates him, since he lives in a world where space travel is so commonplace that carnivals have their own barnstorming spacecraft. Although no longer bound by his contractual obligations, he is now too old to pass the medical examination needed for space travel.

Very wealthy, Harriman bribes two spacemen to help him get to the Moon after encountering them at a funfair in Butler, a small town outside Kansas City, Missouri (and Heinlein's birthplace), where they sell rides on their old, somewhat run-down ship.

The three of them fight many obstacles, including Harriman's heirs, who want him declared mentally incompetent or senile before he can spend their inheritance. In the end, Harriman finally makes it to the Moon, only to die on the surface soon after landing, content at finally having reached his goal. His body is left there, with his epitaph scrawled on the tag from an oxygen bottle. It is Robert Louis Stevenson's:

It is the story of "Noisy" Rhysling, the blind space-going songwriter whose poetic skills rival Rudyard Kipling's. Heinlein (himself a medically retired U.S. naval officer) spins a yarn about a radiation-blinded, unemployable spaceship engineer crisscrossing the Solar System writing and singing songs. The story takes the form of a nonfiction magazine article.

The events of the story concern the composition of the titular song. Rhysling realizes that his death of old age is near, and hitchhikes on a spaceship headed to Earth so he can die and be buried where he was born. A malfunction threatens the ship with destruction, and Rhysling enters the irradiated area to perform repairs. While completing the repairs, he knows that he will soon die of radiation poisoning and tells them to record his last song; he dies just moments after singing the final, titular verse.

In 1999, Lieutenant John Ezra Dahlquist is a member of the Space Patrol, an international organization with the custody of all Earth's remaining nuclear weapons. A young bomb officer and physicist at the Patrol's lunar base, he is apolitical and is devoted to his wife and young daughter. The base's executive officer Colonel Towers asks to meet with him. Towers and others want to overthrow the Earth government, and plan to use the bombs to destroy "an unimportant town or two" so Earth takes them seriously. Dahlquist leads Towers to believe that he will cooperate, but he does not want his family to live under a dictatorship and plans to stop the coup by preventing the bombs' use.

Dahlquist locks himself in the bomb bunker, modifies a bomb to detonate by hand, and threatens to blow up himself and the bombs. He negotiates with Towers, pretending to be still naïve; he hopes to give the government time to stop the coup. Dahlquist is growing tired, however, and if he falls asleep the conspirators may regain control. He decides to disable the bombs beyond the plotters' ability to repair them, despite the danger. The only way to do so is to open them up and break the plutonium core of each bomb. Dahlquist does so, but in the process exposes himself to a fatal dose of radiation. He dies "very happy".

The coup collapses and Towers shoots himself. The Patrol recovers Dahlquist's radioactive body and places it in a lead coffin. As Earth mourns the hero, his body is entombed in a marble monument, with an honor guard beyond the limit of safe approach.

Delos David "D. D." Harriman, "the last of the Robber Barons", is obsessed with being the first to travel to—and possess—the Moon. He asks his business partner, George Strong, and other tycoons to invest in the venture. Most dismiss Harriman's plans as foolhardy: Nuclear rocket fuel is scarce as the space station that produces it blew up, also destroying the only existing spaceship. The necessary technology for a chemical-fueled rocket stretches the boundaries of current engineering. The endeavor is both incredibly costly and of uncertain profitability. One skeptic offers to sell "all of my interest in the Moon...for fifty cents"; Harriman accepts and tries to buy the other associates' interests as well. Strong and two others agree to back his plans.

The technical problems are solvable with money and talent. To solve the tougher financial problems, Harriman exploits commercial and political rivalries. He implies to the Moka-Coka company, for example, that rival soft drink maker 6+ plans to turn the Moon into a massive billboard, using a rocket to scatter black dust on the surface in patterns. To an anti-Communist associate, he suggests that the Russians may print the hammer and sickle across the face of the Moon if they get to it first. To a television network, he offers the Moon as a reliable and uncensorable broadcasting station.

Harriman seeks to avoid government ownership of the Moon. As it passes directly overhead only in a narrow band north and south of the equator, he uses a legal principle that states that property rights extend to infinity above a land parcel. On that basis, Mexico, Central and parts of South America, and other countries in those latitudes around the world, have a claim on the Moon. The United States also has a claim due to Florida and Texas. By arranging for many countries to assert their rights Harriman persuades the United Nations to, as a compromise, assign management of the Moon to his company.

Money remains the main difficulty. Harriman liquidates his assets, risks bankruptcy, damages his marriage, and raises funds in numerous legitimate and semi-legitimate ways; "I", he says, "would cheat, lie, steal, beg, bribe do ''anything'' to accomplish what we have accomplished". Children donate money for a promise of all contributors' names engraved on a plaque left on the Moon. The names, however, will be microscopic in size. Harriman sells land and naming rights to craters, and plans to sell postal covers canceled on the Moon to collectors. He starts rumors that diamonds exist in moondust, intending to secretly place gems in the rocket to convince people that the rumors are true. Harriman will strenuously deny that the diamonds are from the Moon, being merely part of a scientific experiment; he expects people not to believe him, but he will not be guilty of actual fraud.

Harriman wants to be on the first flight of the ''Pioneer'' but the ship only has room for one pilot, Leslie LeCroix. The multistage rocket launches from Peterson Field, near Colorado Springs, Colorado, lands on the Moon, and returns to Earth. Harriman is the first to open the rocket's hatch; the canceled postal covers were left behind to save weight and he needs to get them aboard surreptitiously. While doing so, he asks LeCroix for the "lunar" diamonds. The pilot complies, then produces real lunar diamonds as well.

As Harriman predicted, once the first flight succeeds, many seek to invest in his venture to make more flights using a catapult launcher built on Pikes Peak. The next flight will begin a lunar colony. Harriman intends to be on the ship, but the majority owners of the venture object to his presence on the flight; he is too valuable to the company to risk in space. The rocket leaves without Harriman, who "looks as Moses must have looked, when he gazed out over the promised land".

The story is set in the near future, when the Moon is colonized with people living in underground cities. The "menace" of the title is a glamorous woman tourist who visits the Moon colony. She is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15-year-old girl and aspiring starship designer who is the first-person narrator. Holly's best friend Jeff develops a crush on the "groundhog" visitor, Ariel. As Jeff spends more time with Ariel, Holly becomes jealous and begins to doubt his friendship.

Living in an underground city on the Moon, Holly and Jeff's hobby is flying with strap-on wings in a great cavern, made possible because the gravity field is one sixth the strength of Earth's and the air pressure in the cavern is kept high enough. Ariel wants to try flying, and Holly, in order not to appear jealous, offers to teach her. However, during her first flight, Ariel loses control at a great height, falling toward the ground. Holly swoops down and saves her life, breaking both arms in the process as she cushions Ariel's fall.

In the hospital afterward, Ariel gently explains some things to Holly. Ariel is twice the age of the teenagers, and could never be interested in Jeff. More to the point, Jeff is not in love with her but with Holly. Ariel tells how in the aftermath of the crash Jeff arrived "like an avenging angel", ignoring Ariel to cradle the unconscious Holly in his arms, sobbing.

Following this revelation, Jeff arrives in the hospital room and Ariel tactfully leaves the two alone. After some embarrassed banter, Jeff kisses Holly for the first time.

In the first section of the narrative, a stormy meeting takes place at a Sacramento Sector Guild Hall of the technicians working "down inside", among the very noisy great rotors which keep the moving roads going. Speakers voice various grievances and call for immediate strike action. "Shorty" Van Kleeck, the Chief Deputy Engineer of the Sacramento sector, appears and declares his sympathy with the technicians' demands and effectively places himself at their head. As would become clear later, it was Van Kleeck who instigated the technicians' agitation in the first place.

The road's workforce is sharply divided into two classes – the technicians, who are unionized civilians, and the engineers, who are organized as Transport Cadets, an elite paramilitary organization formed by the US Military to keep this crucial infrastructure running. The technicians feel some hostility to the "arrogant" engineers. Van Kleeck – himself a senior engineer who had "come up from the ranks" manipulates this hostility, with the intention of catapulting himself into a position of personal power.

After this initial scene, the point of view shifts – and remains for the rest of the story – to Van Kleeck's superior Larry Gaines, Chief Engineer of the Diego-Reno Roadtown – at the outset yet unaware of the brewing trouble. He is busy entertaining Mr. Blenkinsop, the Australian Transport Minister, who is looking into Road technology with an eye to introducing it in Australia. Gaines's explanation of the Road machinery to Blenkinsop is a device to bring the reader into the world of the Roads.

Larry Gaines is dining with his Australian guest, in a moving restaurant on the road, when one of the moving sidewalk strips unexpectedly stops. This causes a chain reaction of people falling from the stopped strip onto the fast moving strips next to it, and vice versa. The entire length of the Road becomes a scene of carnage. The reader already knows that this was the result of the ruthless action taken by Van Kleeck and his confederates. Gaines quickly concludes that this is no mechanical failure but deliberate sabotage, and that the stoppage was sabotage and that the technicians who maintain the Stockton section of the road are responsible. The rebels have stopped the strip – heedless of the resulting killing and wounding of numerous people traveling the moving road – as a demonstration to encourage their fellow technicians around the country to rebel against the Cadets.

Gaines calls the Stockton office and learns that the leader of the rebellion is his own deputy Van Kleeck, who defiantly declares "The Functionalist Revolution". Holding to a radical social theory, ''Functionalism,'' the rebel technicians were persuaded that their role in maintaining the nation's transport infrastructure is more important than that of any other workers and that they should therefore be in control. Blenkinsop is left behind at one of Road stations as Gaines takes charge of the advance on the Stockton office.

Going into the machinery under the roadway that runs it, Gaines takes command of the response. He doesn't order the Road stopped, since that would leave millions of commuters stranded, but instead has the military evacuate the riders, a time-consuming procedure. In command of a hastily gathered corps of armed cadets, he proceeds up the underground access tunnel toward Stockton, on "tumblebugs," motorized and gyroscopically stabilized unicycles much like the later real-life Segway. As the military advance proceeds, they arrest rebel technicians and cross connect the wiring of the machinery, motor by motor, to take control away from the rebels in the Stockton office.

Over the videophone Van Kleeck warns that he has a button rigged to blow up the Road if Gaines doesn't capitulate – which could cause countless deaths, possibly running into millions. Gaines doesn't understand how Van Kleeck has gotten so many technicians to side with him; psychological screening tests are supposed to guarantee that technicians don't have the temperament to revolt. Then Gaines realizes that Deputy Van Kleeck was able to move revolution-prone workers into his sector because, as deputy, Van Kleeck had access to the psychological files on the technicians. Gaines accesses Shorty's psychological profile and studies the neurotic traits that have made him a demagogue.

Asking for a parley, Gaines is taken to the Stockton office and faces Shorty. There he uses his knowledge of Shorty's psychology to push him into a nervous breakdown, and overpowers him, gaining control of the 'suicide' button. The Cadets attack the office and the rebellion is ended.

Later, Gaines ponders the changes that will have to be made to make sure there is never a recurrence of these events: more psychological testing, more careful oversight, and more ''esprit de corps''. He concludes that the price of high tech transportation like the Roadways is eternal vigilance. He then suddenly realizes that he had let the Australian Transport Minister kick his heels in an empty office the whole night, and rushes off to apologize.

''General Services'' is a very successful company that provides various personal services such as shopping for you or walking your dogs or supplying a host for a party, but also proudly advertises that no job is too large. One ad campaign idea which the staff discusses is "Want somebody murdered? Then DON'T call General Services. But for ''anything else'', call.... It Pays!". The business model involves knowing to whom to subcontract work. The technology used involves rapid access to client data and the use of personal, portable telephones.

The company is asked to do the impossible: enable an interplanetary conference to be held on Earth, whose strong gravity is inhospitable to many of the native races of other planets and moons in the solar system. The solution of holding the conference on Mars or Luna is considered politically unacceptable.

In a side plot, the team also have to deal with a rich woman who wants to visit her son recuperating from a skiing injury over a thousand miles away while simultaneously conducting a fashionable party at her home. The solution is to conduct her to her son's side while using 3-D projection to have her appear at the party. They charge a hefty fee for this. The fee is doubled when the woman selfishly tries to insist on hiring one of the team as her personal social secretary.

Much of the action of the story is not, as one might expect, about the science or engineering of creating an antigravity device to allow the conference to take place, but about how to persuade the world's leading physicist, a Dr. O'Neill, to undertake the job. O'Neill is too wealthy to be tempted by money, but longs to possess a museum piece, a Chinese porcelain bowl called "The Flower of Forgetfulness". The team have to find a way to get the bowl from its current location in a London museum. This involves the creation of a duplicate and some underhand tactics. When they receive it, they discover that it is indeed one of the most beautiful objects imaginable.

The anti-gravity generator is created and O'Neill, who is a recluse, requests payment. The team agree, but with one condition: that they themselves be allowed to view the bowl from time to time. Caught by surprise, he agrees and begins to regard them as potential friends.

The company also asserts ownership of the device against the government's attempts to claim it. O'Neill was under salaried contract at the time, with the bowl as a bonus, so under normal law General Services owns all his work. With some legal maneuvering, and allowing the government agent himself to buy stock in a company to hold the patents, they manage to turn an even bigger profit.

The novel takes place in a future when Mars has been colonized by humans, but is governed by an administrator appointed by an Earth-based company - the colonists have no political power. On Mars, colonial teenagers Jim Marlowe and Frank Sutton travel to the Lowell Academy boarding school for the start of the academic year. Jim takes along his native Martian pet, Willis the Bouncer, a round furry ball the size of a volleyball, who is about as intelligent as a human child and has a photographic memory for sounds, which he can also reproduce perfectly. At a rest stop, Willis wanders off and encounters one of the adult sentient Martians. The three-legged alien takes the two boys and Willis to join a ritual called "growing together" with a group of its fellows. They also share water, making Jim and Frank "water friends" with the Martian, named Gekko.

At school, Jim gets into trouble with the authoritarian headmaster, Mr. Howe, who confiscates Willis, claiming that it is against the new rules to have pets. When Jim and Frank sneak into Howe's office and rescue Willis, the bouncer repeats two overheard conversations between Howe and Beecher, the unscrupulous colonial administrator of Mars, detailing Beecher's plans for Willis and for the colony. When Beecher learns Howe has a bouncer, he is ecstatic, since the London Zoo is willing to pay a hefty price for a specimen. Worse, Beecher has secretly planned to prevent the annual migration of the colonists (to avoid 12 months of severe winter weather) in order to save money. The boys run away from school to warn their parents and the colony.

The boys set out to skate the thousands of miles on the frozen Martian canals to their homes. During the trip, Frank gets sick. On the third night, they are forced to take shelter inside a giant Martian cabbage-plant (nearly suffocating when it folds up at night). The next day they meet some native Martians, who accept Jim because of his relationship to Willis and water-friendship with Gekko. The Martians treat Frank's illness and send the two boys home by a swift subway.

Once warned, Jim's father quickly organizes the migration, hoping to catch Beecher off guard. The colonists reach and take over the boarding school, turning it into a temporary shelter. Howe locks himself in his office, while Beecher sets up automatic, photosensor-controlled weapons outside to stop the malcontents (as he calls them) from leaving. After two colonists are killed trying to surrender, and the power to the building is cut, the colonists decide they have no choice but to fight back. The colonists organize a raiding party, with the boys taking part, capture Beecher's office and proclaim the colony's independence from Earth.

Several Martians enter the school area, and one of them shows up in the door leading to Howe's office, hiding him from sight. When the Martian turns away, Howe is nowhere to be found. The Martians then go to Beecher's building, and when they leave, he has also vanished. The Martians had been content to allow humans to share their planet, but Beecher's threat to Willis has made them reconsider. They present the colonists with an ultimatum: leave the planet or else. Dr. MacRae negotiates with the Martians, and succeeds in persuading them to let the colonists stay, mainly because of Jim's strong friendship with Willis.

MacRae theorizes that Martians start life as bouncers, metamorphose into adults, then continue to exist after their deaths as the "old ones". In the end, Jim resigns himself to giving Willis up so the bouncer can undergo the transformation to adulthood.

As with ''Podkayne of Mars'', there are two versions of the ending. As originally written (and published much later) it is made clear that Willis will not emerge as an adult for forty years. Heinlein's publishers edited and changed this, as well as a discussion early in the novel in which MacRae expresses strong support for adults and older children being free to carry handguns, and opposition to any government which would restrict that.

The book is a series of diary entries primarily by each of the four main characters: Zebadiah "Zeb" John Carter, programmer Dejah Thoris "Deety" Burroughs Carter, her mathematics professor father Jacob Burroughs, and off-campus socialite Hilda Corners. The names "Dejah Thoris", "Burroughs", and "Carter" are overt references to John Carter and Dejah Thoris, the protagonists of the Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In the opening, Deety is dancing with Zeb at a party at Hilda's mansion. Deety is trying to get Zeb to meet her father to discuss what she thinks is an article Zeb wrote about n-dimensional space, even going so far as to offer herself. Zeb figures out and explains to Deety that he is not the one who wrote the article but a relative with a similar name.

After dancing a very intimate tango, Zeb jokingly suggests the dance was so strong they should get married, and Deety agrees. Zeb is taken aback but then accepts. As they are leaving, Deety and Zeb rescue Jacob from a heated argument he is having with another faculty member before a fight breaks out. As they are approaching their vehicles, Hilda comes out, deciding to tag along. Zeb, having a premonition, grabs the three of them and ducks behind another vehicle before Jacob and Deety's vehicle explodes. Zeb gets everyone into his modified air car ''Gay Deceiver'' and by activating the ''Deceiver'' s flying capability, escapes undetected by the authorities or the criminals who put a bomb in the other vehicle.

Zeb flies to Elko, Nevada, the state being the only one to allow people to get married 24 hours a day with no waiting period or blood test. The incidents have so traumatized Jacob that he has agreed to marry Hilda and so they have a double ceremony. The couples then go to Jacob's hidden cabin in the woods, where they have their honeymoons.

Thus begins the series of adventures that the four embark upon as they travel in the ''Gay Deceiver'', which is equipped with the professor's "continua" device and armed by the Australian Defence Force. The continua device was built by Professor Burroughs while he was formulating his theories on ''n''-dimensional non-Euclidean geometry. The geometry of the novel's universe contains six dimensions the three spatial dimensions, known to the real world, and three time dimensions: ''t'', the real world's temporal dimension, ''τ'' (Greek tau), and ''т'' (Cyrillic te). The continua device can travel on all six axes. The continua device allows travel into various fictional universes, such as the Land of Oz, as well as through time. An attempt to visit Barsoom takes them to an apparently different version of Mars, seemingly under the colonial rule of the British and Russian Empires, but near the end of the novel, Heinlein's recurring character Lazarus Long hints that they had traveled to Barsoom and that its "colonial" status was an illusion imposed on them by the telepathically adept Barsoomians: ... E.R.B.'s universe is no harder to reach than any other and Mars is in its usual orbit. But that does not mean that you will find Jolly Green Giants and gorgeous red princesses dressed only in jewels. Unless invited, you are likely to find a Potemkin Village illusion tailored to your subconscious...

Title

In the novel, the biblical number of the beast turns out to be not 666 but $(6^6)^6$ = 10,314,424,798,490,535,546,171,949,056, the initial number of parallel universes accessible through the continua device. It is later theorized by the character Jacob that the number may be merely the instantly accessible universes from a given location and that there is a larger structure that implies an infinite number of universes.

Five hundred years after the establishment of the Foundation, the Mayor of Terminus, Harla Branno, is basking in a political glow, her policies having been vindicated by the recent successful resolution of a Seldon Crisis. Golan Trevize, a former officer of the Navy and now a member of Council, believes the Second Foundation, which is almost universally thought to be extinct, still exists and is controlling events. He attempts to question the continued existence of the Seldon Plan during a Council session, but Branno has him arrested on a charge of treason. Branno also believes that the Second Foundation still exists and is in control, but she cannot admit it publicly for political reasons, and treats that as a state secret, hence her alarm and her swift action.

So, she orders Trevize to leave Terminus to search for the Second Foundation. As a cover, he is to be accompanied by Janov Pelorat, a professor of Ancient History and mythologist, who is interested in the location of Earth, the fabled original world of the human species. They are provided a highly advanced computer-controlled "gravitic" ship to carry out their mission. Branno also sends out Munn Li Compor in another similar vessel to follow and monitor Trevize.

Indeed, the Second Foundation still does exist, but rather than being in complete control, as the First Foundation fears, it has similar worries. On Trantor, home of the Second Foundation, Stor Gendibal, a rising intellect in the Second Foundation hierarchy, reveals to Quindor Shandess, the current First Speaker, his finding that the Seldon Plan, which the Second Foundation diligently protects and furthers along, is being manipulated by some unknown group, probably more powerful than the Second Foundation, with unknown motivations. Shandess dubs this group the "Anti-Mules," as they seem to possess powers similar to the Mule, but to be using them not to destroy the Seldon Plan, as the Mule had tried to do, but rather to preserve it.

At first, Gendibal's ideas are very badly received by the other Speakers, with Shandess alone supporting him, and he is threatened with expulsion, but the Speakers' resistance is overcome when Gendibal demonstrates that the brain of Sura Novi, a member of the Hamish, the rude people of farmers who inhabit and cultivate Trantor, shows a subtle change to her mind that would be far beyond the Second Foundation's capabilities to make, and could only have been made by a much more powerful entity, probably the "Anti-Mules." Gendibal and Novi are sent out on a spaceship to track Trevize and determine the goals of the "Anti-Mules."

Meanwhile, Trevize and Pelorat engage in the latter's project to locate Earth, but there is no planet with that name in the galactic table of planets, and none with its exact predicted characteristics either. However, Pelorat mentions having heard of a planet called Gaia, whose name he somehow discovered to mean Earth in some ancient language. Its coordinates are unknown, but it is supposed to be somewhere in the Sayshell Sector. Trevize decides that they must go there to follow up on this lead. On the Sayshell main planet, Trevize and Pelorat meet a scholar, Professor Quintesetz, who is able to reluctantly give them the coordinates to Gaia. They travel there and discover that Gaia is a "superorganism," where all things, both living and inanimate, participate in a larger group consciousness, while still retaining any individual awareness they might have. Pelorat slowly falls in love with a Gaian woman named Blissenobiarella, commonly called Bliss.

Gendibal finds Trevize's location with information from Compor, who is secretly a Second Foundation agent. On approaching Gaia, Gendibal is met by a First Foundation warship, commanded by Mayor Branno. As Gendibal's mental powers stalemate with Mayor Branno's force shield, Novi reveals herself as an agent of Gaia. She joins the stalemate and the three are locked until Trevize can join them. Bliss explains to Trevize that he had been led to Gaia so that his untouched mind, which has unique, remarkable powers of intuition, can decide the galaxy's fate — whether it will be ruled by the First Foundation, by the Second Foundation, or by Gaia, which envisions an extension of its group consciousness to the entire galaxy, thus forming the new entity ''Galaxia''. He also learns that the stalemate between the First Foundation (Branno), the Second Foundation (Gendibal), and Gaia (Novi) was intentional, and that through his ship's computer, he can decide who shall ultimately prove victorious.

Trevize decides upon Gaia, and through mental adjustments, Gaia makes Branno and Gendibal believe they have won minor victories, and that Gaia does not exist. But Trevize is troubled by one final missing piece of information: in the course of their investigation, Trevize and Pelorat had found out that all references to Earth had been removed from the Galactic Library at Trantor. Trevize wants to know who did this and why, as Gaia denies having done that. He announces his intention to find Earth, since without knowing the answers to those questions, he cannot be certain his choice was the right one. Trevize also explains that he chose Gaia because that was the only choice of the three that was reversible in case his choice should prove to be wrong, due to the large length of time required for the formation of Galaxia.

A faction of Spacers have come to the realization that Spacer culture is effete, stagnating due to negative population growth and longevity. Their solution is to encourage further space exploration and colonization by Earthmen in concert with robots. However, Earthmen would first need to overcome their irrational antagonism toward robots. To this end, the faction have established habitations on Earth through which they hope to introduce humanoid robots to Earth.

New York City Police Commissioner Julius Enderby is secretly a member of the Medievalists, a subversive anti-robot group which pines for the 'olden days' where men did not live in the 'caves of steel'. He uses his position to engineer meetings with Spacer Dr. Sarton under the guise of further cooperation, but he actually intends to destroy R. Daneel - who lives with and resembles Dr. Sarton. Enderby orders R. Sammy to bring a blaster through the unmonitored 'open air' (something that no Earthman could countenance), but in the heat of the moment Enderby drops his glasses and fails to distinguish between the human and robot, accidentally shooting the human. Knowing that Baley's wife is also a Medievalist, he assigns Baley to the case, working with R. Daneel who represents the Spacers, and spreads a rumour about humanoid robots amongst the subversives to throw suspicion on Baley when Enderby later destroys R. Sammy with radiation. Daneel rules out Enderby as the murderer as his brain patterns show him incapable of deliberately killing.

The novel follows Baley and Olivaw as Baley begins to suspect Olivaw but is proved wrong twice. Olivaw gradually learns more about Earth humans and starts to display curiosity about aspects of human behaviour and Earth technology. As part of the investigation, Baley makes a visit to Spacetown where he meets with Dr. Fastolfe, who injects him with a mildly suggestive drug while speaking about the relative merits and shortcomings of Earth and Spacer society. Baley is converted to the cause of spreading humanity throughout the galaxy. Although the Spacers deem Baley inadequate to convert enough Earthmen, they find their target when Baley arrests Clousarr on suspicion of inciting a riot and Olivaw provides him with suggestive statements. Their job accomplished, the Spacers make plans to leave Earth as their continued presence would be to the detriment of their cause; they accept Dr. Sarton's unsolved death as a necessary sacrifice. This leaves Baley with ninety minutes to find the killer, which he is convinced will also clear him of the destruction of R. Sammy.

Baley has a flash of inspiration when he connects Enderby's emotional highs and lows to how close or far away Baley was to solving the murder. Obtaining a recording of the crime scene, he manages to demonstrate that fragments of Enderby's glasses remain in situ. Given that the Spacers have already accepted that Sarton's death is unsolved, they are willing to not prosecute Enderby for the accident if he agrees to work with them to promote colonization of other worlds amongst the Medievalists.

Another recurring theme is the tension between Baley's wife as "Jessie" or "Jezebel", and her resentment at Baley for explaining that the Biblical Jezebel story was misinterpreted, stifling her fantasy.

Prelude to Foundation is set in the year 12,020 G.E. (Galactic Era), during the rocky reign of the Emperor Cleon I. It starts with Seldon's presentation of a paper at a mathematics convention detailing how psychohistory might theoretically make it possible to predict the future. The Emperor of the Galactic Empire learns of this and wants to use Seldon for political gain. In a face-to-face interview, Seldon emphasizes that psychohistory is something that he has not even begun developing or even has a clear idea how to do so, but Cleon is not wholly convinced that Hari is of no use to the Empire.

Seldon then meets reporter Chetter Hummin, who convinces him that Cleon's first minister, Eto Demerzel, is attempting to capture him, and that it is therefore imperative for Seldon to escape and try to make psychohistory practical. He is taken by Hummin to Streeling University, one of the top ranked of the Empire and introduced to Dors Venabili by Hummin. Seldon theorizes that the first development of psychohistory requires a smaller, yet still significant sample than the entire Empire, possibly just the original world where humans originated...which is now lost, along with much of the older historical records.

Hari and Dors narrowly evade capture at Streeling University, and Hummin arranges for them to be sheltered in the reclusive Mycogen sector, which supposedly values its ancient history. Seldon and Venabili are welcomed by Sunmaster Fourteen, the leader of Mycogen. Seldon obtains the Mycogenians' treasured religious/historical book, but finds it disappointing except for the revelation of what the Mycogenians call their home planet, Aurora, and references to "robots" (which do not exist in the Empire). Seldon and Venabili face execution when Seldon insists on entering the Mycogenian "temple", the Sacratorium, in disguise in hopes of interviewing a robot supposedly housed there. They are easily detected, but Hummin arrives in the nick of time to save them.

The action then shifts to the Dahl sector, where Seldon and Venabili rent rooms from a middle-class family. While in Dahl, they meet a guttersnipe named Raych, whom Seldon later adopts. Also in Dahl, they are told by an old wise woman that the Aurora of the Mycogenians is not the original world, but actually the "enemy" of the original human planet, called Earth. (This links with the Robot series.)

Towards the end of the novel, Seldon, Venabili, and Raych are kidnapped and forcibly taken to see Rashelle, who is the Mayor of Wye, a powerful and vital sector situated at Trantor's south pole. Rashelle and her father have long been plotting to overthrow the Emperor and take his place. Seldon has the revelation that he could try to develop psychohistory using Trantor itself as a test case because of the great cultural diversity of its sectors. Rashelle launches her coup attempt, but it quickly collapses due to Demerzel's skillful subversion of Wye's forces. The finale reveals that "Hummin" is actually Eto Demerzel. Seldon then gets Demerzel to admit he is a robot; Demerzel is in fact R. Daneel Olivaw, who can influence humans mentally. He wants the development of psychohistory to help him better protect humanity, as per "The Zeroth Law Of Robotics". Seldon also suspects Venabili of being a robot, as well. This theme would subsequently be continued in ''Forward the Foundation''.

Part I: Gaia

Councilman Golan Trevize, historian Janov Pelorat, and Blissenobiarella of the planet Gaia (introduced in ''Foundation's Edge'') set out on a journey to find humanity's ancestral planet—Earth. The purpose of the journey is to settle Trevize's doubt of his decision, at the end of ''Foundation's Edge'', to embrace the all-encompassing noosphere of Galaxia.

Part II: Comporellon

First, they visit Comporellon, which claims to be the oldest currently inhabited planet in the galaxy. Upon arrival, they are imprisoned, but negotiate their way out. While there, a historian gives them the coordinates of three Spacer planets, surmised to be fairly close to Earth.

Part III: Aurora

The first Spacer planet they visit is Aurora, where Trevize is nearly killed by a pack of wild dogs, presumed to be the descendants of household pets reverted to wolf-like savagery. They escape when Bliss manipulates the dogs' emotions to psychologically compel a retreat, amplifying the fear induced by cries from one of the dogs that Trevize used his neuronic whip on.

Part IV: Solaria

Next, they visit Solaria, where they find that the Solarians, who have survived the Spacer-Settler conflicts by clever retreat detailed in Asimov's novel ''Robots and Empire'', have engineered themselves into self-reproducing hermaphrodites, generally intolerant of human physical presence or contact. They have also given themselves a natural ability to mentally channel ("transduce") great amounts of energy, and use this as their sole source of power. The Solarians intentionally avoid ever having to interact with each other, except by holographic apparatus ("viewing"), and reproduce only when necessary to replace the dead. Bliss, Pelorat, and Trevize are nearly killed by the Solarian Sarton Bander; but Bliss deflects the transduction at the moment Bander uses it as a weapon, accidentally killing Bander. While escaping, they acquire Bander's immature child, Fallom, in a state of panic because its robotic nursemaid, like all other robots on the estate, has lost power and stopped functioning due to the death of its master, and carry her (Bliss, by preference, uses a feminine pronoun on Fallom) aboard their ship to prevent her execution by the Solarians - she would be surplus to their population requirements, and a more mature child from another state would be chosen to take over Bander's estate.

Part V: Melpomenia

The crew now visit Melpomenia, the third and final Spacer coordinate they have, where the atmosphere has become reduced to a few thousandths of normal atmospheric pressure. Wearing space suits, they enter a library, and find a plaque listing the names and coordinates of all fifty Spacer worlds. On the way back to the ship, they notice a moss has begun to grow around the seals of their space suits, and just in time, surmise that the moss is feeding on minuscule leakages of carbon dioxide. Thus, they are able to eradicate the moss with a blaster and heavy UV-illumination so that no spores are unintentionally carried off the planet. They then plot the Spacer worlds, which form a rough sphere, on the ship's map and conclude that the location of Earth must be near to the center of the sphere. This area turns out to have a binary star system.

Part VI: Alpha

They arrive at the planet Alpha, which orbits Alpha Centauri and is all ocean except for an island 250 km long and 65 km wide on which live a small group of humans. In a reference to the radioactive Earth of Asimov's novel ''Pebble in the Sky'', the restoration of Earth's soil was eventually abandoned in favour of resettling the population to "New Earth", which the First Galactic Empire had already been terraforming. The natives appear friendly, but secretly they intend to kill the visitors with a microbiological agent to prevent them from informing the rest of the galaxy of their existence. They are warned to escape before the agent can be activated, by a native woman who has formed an attraction to Trevize and was impressed by Fallom's ability to play a flute with just her mind. Now certain that Alpha Centauri is not Earth but near it, they approach a system close by and are puzzled by the very strong similarities between this star and the larger sun of the Alpha Centauri system. Asimov here is making use of an astronomical curiosity: the nearest star system to Sol contains a star that has the same spectral type, G2 V, though Alpha Centauri A is a little larger and brighter.

Part VII: Earth

On the approach to Earth, they detect it to be highly radioactive and not capable of supporting life but, while trying to use the ship's computer to locate Solaria, Fallom calls Trevize's attention to the moon, which is large enough to serve as a hideout for the forces that lived on Earth. There, they find R. Daneel Olivaw, who explains he has been paternalistically manipulating humanity since Elijah Baley's time, long before the Galactic Empire or Foundation. He thus caused the settlement of Alpha Centauri, the creation of Gaia and the creation of psychohistory (detailed in ''Prelude to Foundation'' and ''Forward the Foundation''), and manipulated Trevize into making his decision at the end of ''Foundation's Edge'' (although he did not manipulate the decision itself). It is revealed that Daneel's positronic brain is deteriorating and he is unable to design a new brain, as he had done several times before, since his brain is now too fragile; he therefore wishes to merge Fallom's brain with his own, allowing him time to oversee Galaxia's creation.

Daneel continues to explain that human internal warfare or parochialism was the reason for his causing the creation of psychohistory and Gaia. Trevize then confirms his decision that the creation of Galaxia is the correct choice, and gives his reason as the likelihood of advanced life beyond the galaxy eventually attacking humanity.

The book covers several periods from the life of Lazarus Long (born Woodrow Wilson Smith), an early beneficiary of a breeding experiment designed to increase mankind's natural lifespan. The experiment is known as the Howard Families, after the program's initiator. Lazarus is the result of more a mutation than the breeding experiment, and he is the oldest living human at more than two thousand years old.

The first half of the book takes the form of several novellas connected by Lazarus's retrospective narrative. In the framing story, Lazarus has decided that life is no longer worth living, but, in what is described as a reverse ''Arabian Nights'' scenario, agrees not to end his life for as long as his companion and descendant, chief executive of the Howard Families Ira Weatheral, will listen to his stories.

"The Tale of the Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail"

This story concerns a 20th-century United States Navy seaman, midshipman, and officer, David Lamb, who receives multiple promotions while minimizing any semblance of real work or combat by applying himself enthusiastically to the principle of "constructive laziness". Shortly after telling the story Lazarus mistakenly calls David "Donald", which is intended to make the reader think that the story is a ''roman à clef'' and actually refers to Lazarus himself.

"The Tale of the Twins Who Weren't"

Lazarus tells of his visit as an interplanetary cargo trader to a planet, where he bought a pair of slaves, brother and sister, and immediately manumitted them. Because they had no knowledge of independent living or any education, Lazarus teaches them "how to be human" during the voyage.

The two were the result of an experiment in genetic recombination in which two parent cells were separated into complementary haploid gametes and recombined into two embryos. The resulting zygotes were implanted in a woman and gestated by her, with the result that although both have the same surrogate mother and genetic parents, they are no more closely related genetically than any two people taken at random. They have been prevented from sexual relations by a chastity belt. However, having confirmed that there is no risk of genetic disease in their offspring (described as the only valid argument against incest), Lazarus solemnizes their marriage and later establishes them as the owners and operators of a thriving business. At the end of the story, he reveals that the twins looked the same age decades later and expresses his belief that they were his own descendants, from an earlier time that he had been a slave on the same planet.

"The Tale of the Adopted Daughter"

A short scene-setter introduces a planet on which Lazarus has led a group of pioneering colonists.

Lazarus, now working as a banker and shopkeeper on the frontier planet and keeping his true age secret, saves a young girl, Dora, from a burning house and becomes her guardian. When she becomes an adult, he leaves the area but returns as a younger man and marries her, and the two move away to start a new settlement, where Lazarus' long life is less likely to be noticed. They eventually manage to build a thriving community. Because Dora is not a descendant of the Howard Families, the source of his longevity, she eventually dies of old age, leaving Lazarus to mourn.

"Boondock"

At the beginning of this story, Lazarus has regained his enthusiasm for life, and the remainder of the book is told in a conventional linear manner. Accompanied by some of his descendants, Lazarus has now moved to a new planet and established a polyamorous family, with three men, three women, and a larger number of children, two of whom are female clones of Lazarus.

"Da Capo"

In the concluding tale, Lazarus attempts to travel backward in time to 1919 to experience it as an adult, but an error in calculation places Lazarus in 1916, on the eve of America's involvement in World War I. An unintentional result is that Lazarus falls in love with his own mother. To retain her esteem and that of his grandfather, Lazarus enlists in the army. Eventually, before Lazarus leaves for the war, he and his mother, Maureen, consummate their mutual attraction, as his mother is already pregnant and so accepts that there is no collateral risk.The blurb of some editions (such as Ace Books ) states that Lazarus "became his own ancestor", but that is contradicted by the book, since his mother was already pregnant at the time of their encounter, and in any case, his younger self had already been born.

Heinlein's later novel ''To Sail Beyond the Sunset'', the memoirs of Lazarus' mother, also describes the events, suggesting that Lazarus' account here is at best incomplete.

In the trenches of the Western Front in France, he is mortally wounded, but is rescued at the last moment by his future companions from the framing story and returned to his own time.

''The Notebooks of Lazarus Long''

There are also two "Intermission" sections, each some six or eight pages long, taking the form of lists of provocative phrases and aphorisms not obviously related to the main narrative. They were later published independently, with illustrations, as ''The Notebooks of Lazarus Long''.

The Stones, a family of "Loonies" (residents of the Moon, also known as Luna), purchase and rebuild a used spaceship and go sightseeing around the Solar System.

The twin teenage boys, named Castor and Pollux after the half-brothers of classical legend, buy used bicycles to sell on Mars, their first stop, where they run afoul of local regulations, but their grandmother Hazel Stone saves them from jail. While on Mars, the twins buy their brother Buster a native Martian creature called a flat cat, which produces a soothing vibration, as a pet.

In preparation for the asteroid belt, where the equivalent of a gold rush is in progress prospecting for "core material" and radioactive ores, the twins obtain supplies and luxury goods on Mars to sell at their destination, on the principle that it is shopkeepers, not miners, who get rich during gold rushes. ''En route'', the flat cat and its offspring overpopulate the ship so the family places them in hibernation and later sells them to the miners.

The novel ends with the family setting out to see the rings of Saturn.

The idea for the novel came from an incident outlined by Heinlein later:

The novel opens in 1970 with Daniel Boone Davis, an engineer and inventor, well into a long drinking binge. He has lost his company, Hired Girl, Inc., to his partner Miles Gentry and the company bookkeeper, Belle Darkin. She had been Dan's fiancée, deceiving him into giving her enough voting stock to allow her and Miles to seize control. Dan's only friend in the world is his cat, "Pete" (short for Petronius the Arbiter), a feisty tomcat who hates going outdoors in the snow.

Hired Girl, Inc. manufactures robot vacuum cleaners, but Dan had been developing a new line of all-purpose household robots, Flexible Frank, when Miles announces his intention to sell the company (and Flexible Frank) to Mannix Enterprises in which Miles would become a vice-president. Wishing to stay independent, Dan opposes the takeover, but is outvoted and then fired as Chief Engineer. Left with a large financial settlement, and his remaining Hired Girl stock, he elects to take "cold sleep" (suspended animation), hoping to wake up thirty years later to a brighter future. The examining doctor at the cold sleep facility immediately sees that Dan has been drinking. He warns him to show up sober or not at all 24 hours later for the actual procedure.

After becoming sober, Dan decides instead to mount a counter-attack. First he mails his Hired Girl stock certificate to the one person he trusts, Miles' stepdaughter Frederica "Ricky" Virginia Gentry. Dan confronts Miles and finds Belle in Miles' home. Belle injects him with an illegal "zombie" drug, reducing him to somnolent compliance. Belle and Miles discover Dan's plans to go into cold sleep and have him committed, but to a different repository run by one of Belle's shady associates for the Mannix corporation.

Dan wakes up in the year 2000 with no money to his name and no idea how to find the people he once knew. What little money Belle let him keep went with the collapse of Mannix in 1987. He has lost Pete the cat, who fled Miles' house after Dan was drugged, and has no idea how to find a now middle-aged Ricky.

Dan begins rebuilding his life. He persuades Geary Manufacturing, which now owns Hired Girl, to take him on as a figurehead. He discovers that Miles died in 1972, while Belle has become a shrill and gin-sodden wreck. All she recalls is that Ricky went to live with her grandmother about the time Dan went into cold sleep. Her scheme with Miles collapsed, as Flexible Frank disappeared the same night she shanghaied Dan.

Dan finds Flexible Frank in use everywhere, filling many menial jobs once filled by people. It is called "Eager Beaver", made by a company called "Aladdin Auto-engineering," but Dan can see that someone has taken his prototype and developed it. He is even more baffled to find that the patent is credited to a "D.B. Davis".

His friend Chuck at Geary lets slip that he once saw time travel working, in a lab in Colorado. At that point Dan finds that Ricky has been awakened from cold sleep and left Los Angeles for Brawley, California. Dan tracks her to Yuma, Arizona, where she was apparently married. When Dan looks at the marriage register, he finds that she married "Daniel Boone Davis". He immediately empties his bank account and heads for Colorado.

In Boulder, he befriends Dr. Twitchell, a once-brilliant scientist reduced to drinking away his frustrations. Eventually, Twitchell admits to having created a time machine of sorts. With the machine powered up, Dan goads Twitchell into sending him back to 1970, some months before his confrontation with Miles and Belle. He materializes in a Denver naturist retreat in front of a couple, John and Jenny Sutton, whom he befriends. The husband, a lawyer by trade, helps Dan cash in the gold he has brought back with him. In the future gold is no longer a coinage metal and costs a fraction of its value in 1970.

Working rapidly, Dan creates "Drafting Dan", which he then uses to design "Protean Pete", the first version of Eager Beaver. He sets up a new corporation with the Suttons called "Aladdin Auto-engineering", returns to Los Angeles, and stakes out Miles' house on the fateful night. Watching himself arrive, he lets events unfold until Pete the cat emerges, then takes his own car and uses it to remove Flexible Frank and all his engineering drawings from Miles' garage.

Destroying the drawings and scattering machine parts across the landscape, he heads out to meet Ricky at her Girl Scout summer camp. Dan assigns his stock in Hired Girl to Ricky and suggests that she takes cold sleep when she is 21 so they can meet again. Ricky asks Dan if he will marry her after their cold sleep and Dan agrees. Dan returns to Los Angeles to use his original appointment for cold sleep, pleading that he lost the original paperwork.

With Pete in his arms, he sleeps for the second time until 2001. He greets Ricky, now twenty-one, when she awakes. They leave for Brawley to retrieve her possessions from storage, and then are married in Yuma. Setting himself up as an independent inventor, he uses Ricky's Hired Girl stock to make changes at Geary, settling back to watch the healthy competition with Aladdin.

Hugh Farnham, a white middle-aged man, holds a bridge club party for his alcoholic wife Grace, law-graduate son Duke, college-student daughter Karen, and Karen's friend Barbara. During the bridge game, Duke berates Hugh for frightening Grace by preparing for a possible Soviet nuclear attack. When the attack actually occurs the group, along with Joe, the family's African American servant, retreat to the fallout shelter beneath the house.

After several distant nuclear explosions rock the shelter, Hugh and Barbara become sexually intimate, after which the largest explosion of all hits the shelter. With only minor injuries, but with their bottled oxygen running low, the group decides to ensure that they will be able to leave the shelter when necessary. After exiting through an emergency tunnel, they find themselves in a completely undamaged, semi-tropical region apparently uninhabited by humans or other sentient creatures. Several of the group speculate that the final explosion somehow forced them into an alternate dimension.

The group struggles to stay alive by reverting to the ways of the American pioneers, with Hugh as the leader—despite friction between Hugh and Duke. Karen announces that she is pregnant and had returned home the night of the attack to tell her parents. Barbara also announces that she is pregnant, but without mentioning that her pregnancy resulted from her sexual encounter with Hugh during the attack. Karen eventually dies during her labor, due to complications, along with her infant daughter the next day.

Grace, whose sanity has been challenged by all these events, demands that Barbara be forced from the group or she will leave. Duke convinces Hugh that he will go with Grace to ensure her safety, but before they can leave, a large aircraft appears overhead. The group is taken captive by people of African ancestry, but is spared execution when Joe intervenes by conversation with their captors' leader in French.

The group finds that it has not been transported to another world, but instead is in the distant future of their own world. A decadent but technologically advanced African culture keeps either uneducated or castrated whites as slaves. Each of the characters adapts to the sudden change in black/white roles in different and sometimes shocking ways. In the end, Hugh and Barbara reject the new era of slavery they find themselves in and attempt to escape, but are captured. Rather than execute them, Ponse, "Lord Protector" of the house to which they have been enslaved, asks them to volunteer for a time-travel experiment that will send them back to their own time.

They return just prior to the original nuclear attack, and flee in Barbara's car. As they drive they realize that while Barbara had driven a car with an automatic transmission, this car—the same car in every other respect—has a manual transmission, and Farnham deduces that the time-travel experiment worked but sent them into an alternate universe.

They gather supplies and flee into the hills, surviving the attack, and live out the rest of their lives.

The story is set in New York City in the 1890s. A bawdy singer, Lady Lou, works in the Bowery barroom saloon of her boss and benefactor, Gus Jordan, who has given her many diamonds. But Lou is a lady with more men friends than anyone might imagine.

What she does not know is that Gus traffics in prostitution and runs a counterfeiting ring to help finance her expensive diamonds. He also sends young women to San Francisco to be pickpockets. Gus works with two other crooked entertainer-assistants, Russian Rita and Rita's lover, the suave Sergei Stanieff. One of Gus's rivals and former "friend" of Lou's, named Dan Flynn, spends most of the movie dropping hints to Lou that Gus is up to no good, promising to look after her once Gus is in jail. Lou leads him on, hinting at times that she will return to him, but eventually he loses patience and implies he'll see her jailed if she doesn't submit to him.

A city mission is located next door to the bar. Its young director, Captain Cummings, is in reality an undercover Federal agent working to infiltrate and expose the illegal activities in the bar. Gus suspects nothing; he worries only that Cummings will reform his bar and scare away his customers.

Lou's former boyfriend, Chick Clark, is a vicious criminal who was convicted of robbery and sent to prison for trying to steal diamonds for her. In his absence, she becomes attracted to the handsome young psalm-singing reformer.

Warned that Chick thinks she's betrayed him, she goes to the prison to try to reassure him. All the inmates greet her warmly and familiarly as she walks down the cellblock. Chick becomes angry and threatens to kill her if she double-crosses or two-times him before he gets out. She lies and claims she has been true to him. Gus gives counterfeit money to Rita and Sergei to spend. Chick escapes from jail, and police search for him in the bar. He comes into Lou's room and starts to strangle her, breaking off only because he still loves her and cannot harm her. Lou calms him down by promising that she will go with him when she finishes her next number.

After Sergei gives Lou a diamond pin belonging to Rita, Rita starts a fight with Lou, who accidentally stabs her to death. Lou calmly combs the dead woman's long hair to hide the fact Rita is dead while the police search the room for Chick Clark. She has her bodyguard Spider, who "would do anything for you, Lou" dispose of Rita's body. She then tells Spider to bring Chick, who's hiding in an alley, back to her room upstairs. Then, while she sings "Frankie and Johnny", she silently signals to Dan Flynn that he should go to her room to wait for her, even though she knows Chick is in there with a gun. Chick shoots Dan dead and the gunfire draws a police raid. Cummings shows his badge and reveals himself as "The Hawk", a well-known Federal agent, as he arrests Gus and Sergei. Chick, still lurking in Lou's room, is about to kill Lou for double-crossing him, when Cummings also apprehends him.

Cummings then takes Lou away in an open horse-drawn carriage instead of the paddywagon into which all the other criminals have been loaded. He tells her she doesn't belong in jail and removes all her other rings and slips a diamond engagement ring onto her left ring finger.

In pre-World War I northern China, young farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) marries O-Lan (Luise Rainer), a slave at the Great House, the residence of the most powerful family in their village. O-Lan proves to be an excellent wife, hard working and uncomplaining. Wang Lung prospers. He buys more land, and O-Lan gives birth to two sons and a daughter. Meanwhile, the Great House begins to decline.

All is well until a drought and the resulting famine drive the family to the brink. O-Lan gives birth to a second daughter but kills her shortly after birth to spare her from starvation. Desperate, Wang Lung considers the advice of his pessimistic, worthless uncle (Walter Connolly) to sell his land for food, but O-Lan opposes it. Instead, they travel south to a city in search of work. The family survives by begging and stealing. When a revolutionary gives a speech to try to drum up support for the army approaching despite rain in the north, Wang Lung and O-Lan realize the drought is over. They long to return to their farm, but they have no money for an ox, seed, and food.

The city changes hands, and O-Lan joins a mob looting a mansion. However, she is knocked down and trampled upon. When she comes to, she finds a bag of jewels overlooked in the confusion. This windfall allows the family to go home and prosper once more. O-Lan asks only to keep two pearls for herself.

Years pass. Wang Lung's sons grow up into educated young men, and he has grown so wealthy that he purchases the Great House. Then, Wang Lung becomes besotted with Lotus (Tilly Losch), a pretty, young dancer at the local tea house, and makes her his second wife. He begins to find fault with the worn-out O-Lan. Desperate to gain affection from Lotus, he gives O-Lan's pearls to Lotus.

When Wang Lung discovers that Lotus has seduced Younger Son (Roland Lui), he orders his son to leave. Then a swarm of locusts threatens the entire village. Using a strategy devised by Elder Son (Keye Luke), everyone unites to try to save the crops. Just when all seems lost, the wind shifts direction, taking the danger away. The near-disaster brings Wang Lung back to his senses. He reconciles with Younger Son. On the latter's wedding day, Wang Lung returns the pearls to O-Lan before she dies, completely exhausted by a hard life. Without disturbing the wedding festivities, Wang Lung quietly exits the house and regards a flowering peach tree planted by O-Lan on their marriage day. Reverently he murmurs, "O-Lan, you are the earth."

Sam Spade is a private detective in San Francisco, in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful "Miss Wonderley" hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who she claims has run off with her sister. Archer takes the first stint but is found shot dead that night. Thursby is also killed later and Spade is a suspect. The next morning, Spade coolly tells his office secretary, Effie Perine, to have the office door repainted to read simply "Samuel Spade".

"Miss Wonderley" is soon revealed to be an acquisitive adventuress named Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who is involved in the search for a black statuette of unknown but substantial value. Others are after this falcon, including Joel Cairo, an effeminate Levantine homosexual, and Casper Gutman, a fat man accompanied by a vicious young gunman, Wilmer Cook. O'Shaughnessy begs for Spade's protection while telling him as little as possible. They meet with Cairo at Spade's apartment, and Spade again presses O'Shaughnessy for details; again she stalls but kisses Spade. The next morning, she is asleep in his bed. Leaving her there, Spade slips out to search her apartment.

Effie believes O'Shaughnessy "is all right" and Spade should help her. Effie agrees to hide her at her own home, but O'Shaughnessy disappears again. When Spade meets Gutman in his hotel room, neither will tell what he knows. Spade implies he is looking out for himself, not O'Shaughnessy. Red herrings abound. The police suspect Spade in the shootings: he was bedding Archer's wife, Iva. The District Attorney ties the shootings to Dixie Monahan, a Chicago gambler who had employed Thursby as a bodyguard in the Far East.

At a second meeting, Gutman tells Spade the history of the tribute of the Maltese Falcon. It was made of gold and jewels by the 16th-century Knights of Malta as a gift to the King of Spain but was captured by pirates. After passing from owner to owner, at some time it was coated with black enamel to conceal its value. Gutman traced the falcon to General Kemidov, a Russian exile in Constantinople and hired O'Shaughnessy to get it; she brought in Cairo to help. O'Shaughnessy and Thursby fled with the falcon to Hong Kong and from there to San Francisco. During this conversation, Gutman drugs Spade, who passes out on the floor.

Spade awakens alone and returns to his office where a wounded ship's captain staggers in with a package containing the falcon and dies. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, begs for Spade's help, but sends him on a wild goose chase. When he returns, O'Shaughnessy is waiting in front of Spade's apartment building. Inside Spade's apartment they find Gutman, Wilmer, and Cairo in wait with guns drawn. Gutman presents $10,000 in cash for the falcon, but Spade argues that the police must arrest someone for the murders. During a fight, Spade knocks Wilmer out, and Gutman agrees to give Wilmer to the police.

Spade has Effie fetch the falcon, but Gutman discovers it is a fake (a decoy made by General Kemidov, or possibly the falcon of legend was never real). During the excitement, Wilmer escapes. Gutman decides to go to Constantinople for the real falcon; Cairo joins him and they leave. Spade then calls the police and tells them the story, adding that he has Wilmer's guns and other evidence. While they are waiting, he bullies O'Shaughnessy into confessing her real role.

Archer was shot with Thursby's gun, but by her. She has lied to him and double-crossed him. O'Shaughnessy admits all this, but pleads that she is in love with Spade. Maybe he does care for her, Spade admits, but tells her, "I won't play the sap for you" for personal reasons as well as needing justice for his dead partner. If she can get off with a long prison term, he'll wait for her; but if she hangs, he'll always remember her. When the police arrive, he turns her in, and the police tell him Wilmer has just shot Gutman dead.

On Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York, George Bailey contemplates suicide. The prayers of his family and friends reach Heaven, where guardian angel Clarence Odbody is assigned to save George in order to earn his wings. Clarence is shown flashbacks of George's life. He watches 12-year-old George rescue his younger brother Harry from drowning, but become deaf in his left ear. Later, George prevents the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, distraught over the death of his son, from accidentally poisoning a prescription.

In 1928, George plans a world tour before college. He is reintroduced to Mary Hatch, who has been enamored with him since childhood. When his father dies suddenly, George postpones his travel to settle the family business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. Avaricious board member Henry F. Potter, who controls most of the town, seeks to dissolve it, but the board votes to keep the Building and Loan open if George runs it. George acquiesces and works alongside his uncle, Billy, and gives his tuition to Harry with the understanding that Harry will run the business when he graduates.

Harry returns from college married and with a job offer from his father-in-law, and George resigns himself to running the Building and Loan. George and Mary rekindle their relationship and are married. They witness a run on the bank, and use their honeymoon savings to keep the Building and Loan solvent. Under George's leadership, the company establishes Bailey Park, a modern housing development surpassing Potter's overpriced slums. Potter offers George a job for $20,000 a year ($ today) but George, realizing that Potter's true intent is to close the Building and Loan, rebuffs him.

During World War II, George is ineligible for service because of his deaf ear but is active in the domestic war effort. On Christmas Eve 1945, the town prepares a hero's welcome for Harry, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot preventing a kamikaze attack on a troop transport. Billy goes to the bank to deposit $8,000 ($ today) of the Building and Loan's cash. He taunts Potter with a newspaper headline about Harry, but absentmindedly wraps the envelope of cash in Potter's newspaper. Potter finds the money and keeps it, while Billy cannot recall how he misplaced it. With a bank examiner reviewing the company's records, George realizes scandal and criminal charges will follow. Fruitlessly retracing Billy's steps, George berates him and takes out his frustration on Mary and their kids. George appeals to Potter for a loan, offering his life insurance policy as collateral. Potter chastises George, refuses to help, and phones the police.

George flees Potter's office, gets drunk at a bar, and prays for help. Suicidal, he goes to a nearby bridge, but before he can jump, Clarence dives into the river and George rescues him. When George wishes he had never been born, Clarence shows George a timeline in which he never existed. Bedford Falls is now Pottersville, an unsavory town occupied by sleazy entertainment venues, crime, and callous people. Mr. Gower was imprisoned for manslaughter since George was not there to stop him from poisoning the prescription. George's own mother does not know him. Uncle Billy was institutionalized after the Building and Loan failed. Bailey Park is a cemetery, where George discovers Harry's grave. Without George, Harry drowned, and without Harry to save them, the troops aboard the transport ship were killed. George finds Mary, now a spinster, and when he claims to be her husband, she screams for the police and George flees.

George begs Clarence for his life back. The original reality is restored, and a grateful George rushes home to await his arrest. Meanwhile, Mary and Billy have rallied the townspeople, who donate more than enough to cover the missing money. Harry arrives and toasts George, who then receives a copy of ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' as a gift from Clarence, with a note assuring him that no man is a failure who has friends, and thanking him for his wings. When a bell on the Christmas tree rings, George's youngest daughter, Zuzu, explains that it means that an angel has earned his wings. As they celebrate, George realizes he truly has a wonderful life.

At a performance by the Ballet Lermontov at Covent Garden Opera House, music student Julian Craster is in attendance to hear the ballet score ''Heart of Fire'', composed by his teacher, Professor Palmer. Separately present is Victoria 'Vicky' Page, a young, unknown dancer from an aristocratic background, with her aunt, Lady Neston. As ''Heart of Fire'' progresses, Julian recognises the music as one of his own compositions. During the performance, Professor Palmer receives an invitation to an after-ballet party at Lady Neston's residence, also asking Boris Lermontov, the company impresario, to attend. Julian leaves the performance in disillusionment at his professor's plagiarism of his music. Lermontov and Vicky meet, and he invites her to a rehearsal of the company.

Julian has written to Lermontov to explain the circumstances behind ''Heart of Fire'', but then tries to retrieve the letter. Lermontov's assistant Dimitri thwarts all attempts by Julian to gain entry to Lermontov's suite, but finally Lermontov gives Julian an audience. Julian says that he wishes to retrieve his letter before Lermontov has seen it, except that Lermontov has already read the letter. Lermontov asks Julian to play one of his own works at the piano. After hearing Julian play, Lermontov realises that Julian was the true composer of ''Heart of Fire''. Lermantov hires Julian as a répétiteur for the company orchestra and assistant to the company's conductor, Livingstone Montague (known colloquially to the company as 'Livy').

Julian and Vicky arrive for work at the Ballet Lermontov on the same day. Later, Vicky dances with Ballet Rambert in a matinee performance of ''Swan Lake'' at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate, in a production with a company led by Marie Rambert (who appears in the film as herself in a wordless cameo). Watching this performance, Lermontov realises her potential and invites Vicky to go with Ballet Lermontov to Paris and Monte Carlo. He decides to create a starring role for her in a new ballet, ''The Ballet of the Red Shoes'', for which Julian is to provide the music. In three weeks creating the ballet together, Julian and Vicky learn to trust and respect each other as artists.

''The Ballet of the Red Shoes'' is a resounding success and Lermontov revitalises the company's repertoire with Vicky in the lead roles and Julian tasked with composing new scores. In the meantime, Vicky and Julian have fallen in love, but keep their relationship secret from Lermontov. Lermontov begins to have personal feelings toward Vicky; he resents the romance between her and Julian after learning of it. The impresario fires Julian; Vicky leaves the company with him. They marry and live in London, where Julian works on composing a new opera.

Some time later whilst traveling, Vicky receives a visit from Lermontov, who convinces her to return to the company to "put on the red shoes again," to dance her famous role once more. On opening night, Julian appears in her dressing room; he has left the première of his opera at Covent Garden to find her and take her back. Lermontov arrives; he and Julian contend for Vicky's affections, each one arguing that her true destiny is with him only. Torn between her love for Julian and her need to dance, she eventually chooses the latter.

Julian, realising that he has lost her, leaves for the railway station; Lermontov consoles Vicky and tries to turn her attention to the evening's performance. Vicky is escorted to the stage wearing the red shoes and, seemingly under their influence, turns and runs from the theatre. Julian, on the platform of the railway station, runs towards her. Vicky leaps from a balcony and falls in front of an approaching train, which hits her. Whether this is suicide or murder (by the red shoes) is left ambiguous. Shortly after, a shaken Lermontov appears before the audience to announce that, "Miss Page is unable to dance tonight—nor indeed any other night". As a mark of respect, the company performs ''The Ballet of the Red Shoes'' with a spotlight on the empty space where Vicky would have been. As Vicky bleeds to death on a stretcher, she asks Julian to remove the red shoes, just as the ballet ends.

The author employs a third person-omniscient in a dramatic-progressive structure, where Howard is the focal character. Three stories within a story provide historical and social significance for the outer narrative.

Summary

The story opens in the oil boomtown of Tampico, Mexico in the early 1920s. Dobbs, an expatriate who hails from “an industrial American city” is unemployed, penniless and reduced to bumming spare change from American tourists. Loitering on Tampico's main plaza, he collects a number of generous handouts from well-to-do men who wear white suits. To Dobbs’ dismay, he discovers that he has been accosting the same individual repeatedly. The irate tourist at last upbraids the panhandler, dismissing him with a half-peso tip.

At the ''Hotel Oso Negro'' (the Black Bear Hotel), a vermin-infested flophouse, Dobbs pays for a cot and a cold shower at 50 centavos per night. The hotel clientele comprises both employed and unemployed international workers, as well as a number of gamblers, thieves and tramps. The ''Oso Negro'', nevertheless, is operated efficiently by its sharp-eyed front desk clerks. The guests themselves collectively provide a degree of good order and security.

In a café, a young Mexican lottery vendor exhorts Dobbs to purchase a ticket. Dobbs insults the boy, but finally consents to risk his last 20 centavos on the drawing.

Dobbs lands a gig unloading agricultural machinery at four pesos per day. Desperate for better wages, he joins a rigging crew as a roughneck, run by American contractor Pat McCormick. A shrewd bidder on lucrative drilling projects, McCormick has a reputation for fast-paced operations and high productivity. He postures as an anti-capitalist and comrade to revolutionaries so as to win the loyalty of his newly arrived European laborers, who are sympathetic to Bolshevism. Americans are wise to his phony appeals to worker solidarity and McCormick avoids hiring them. The pay is $8 a day, less $1.80 for meals. The crews work 18-hour shifts, seven days a week for the duration of the project and no overtime pay. Mexican labor is never hired due to their national eight-hour day provision. When the rigging job is completed, the crew is sent back to Tampico to await payment. McCormick advances a few employees 5% of their pay. Dobbs argues for and gets 30% of his earning in cash.

Weeks pass while Dobbs, along with Californian co-worker named Curtin seek the evasive contractor. The men spot McCormick in the central plaza, promenading with his meretricious mistress. When they confront him, he invites the resentful Dobbs and Curtin into a ''cantina'' for a drink. Plying the men with liquor, McCormick pleads that he has not yet been reimbursed by the oil company. Curtin curses his lie, while Dobbs thrusts him against the bar, demanding their wages. McCormick, himself a brawler, and capable of beating up the men one-on-one, mentally calculates his losses if he ends up in a hospital after a desperate bar fight against both determined workers. He pulls out the cash he owes Dobbs and Curtin and throws it on the bar top. Vowing to never hire them again, he strides out of the ''cantina''.

When Dobbs returns to the ''Oso Negro'', he encounters the greying Howard, an old-timer who has travelled the world in search of gold. The loquacious old man is holding forth with his bunkmates on the perils of striking it rich. Discovered in quantity, he avers, gold distorts a man's estimate of vice and virtue. Invariably he succumbs to greed, and no amount of gold will satisfy him. Overhearing this, Dobbs becomes agitated, swearing that he is immune to the sinister forces of gold, that he would be happy with a $20,000 fortune, no more. Howard quietly takes the measure of Dobbs with a long look, then returns to his sermon. He assures them that, though no longer in his prime, he is ready to share expenses on a gold-prospecting expedition. Dobbs and the others feel the powerful lure of the precious metal.

Story within a Story: The Legend of ''La Mina Agua Verde''

Dobbs shares the legend of the Green Water Mine with Curtin, and has a premonition that he may be subject to a gold curse. Curtin discounts any “curse” associated with gold and holds that a person's character determines its effects; it may be used for bad or good.

With many oil fields beginning to shut down operation in Mexico and relocate to other countries, the two men are impelled to partner with Howard to seek gold. Curtin is skeptical as to the old man's fitness, but Dobbs assures him that Howard is indispensable to the success of their venture, wondering if the old timer will even entertain shouldering two greenhorn prospectors. Howard gladly consents, and offers to invest the bulk of his savings, $200, towards the endeavor. Dobbs discovers that his lottery ticket has netted 100 pesos, and Curtin, in turn, collects an outstanding loan repayment with interest to the amount of $200. With about $600 in pooled funds, the trio depart immediately by train for the city of Durango, in the Mexican interior.

In Durango, Howard selects a promising region in the remote Sierra Madre Mountains to search for gold. Purchasing supplies and pack animals in local villages they begin their ascent. Dobbs and Curtin are staggered by the hardships they experience in wilderness travel. Several promising sites are tested, but show only traces of gold. The two inexperienced men begin to despair and consider quitting.

Howard suddenly begins to berate his companions, disparaging their pessimism and ignorance. The old man's outburst is such that Dobbs and Curtin suspect he has gone mad. Listening to him, they begin to grasp what he is saying: the keen-eyed miner recognizes that the terrain is laden with placer gold.

An excavation site is selected and the base camp is situated over a mile away for security. The men intend to pose as professional game hunters seeking commercial hides. The approach to the diggings are carefully camouflaged with boulders and trunks. The local people take little interest in their activities and do not molest them. They establish a placer gold operation, using a sluice box, with the water hauled to the apparatus by burros from a nearby creek. Driven by entrepreneurial self-interest, Dobbs and Curtin work to the limits of their endurance. The gold accumulates slowly but surely.

As the fortune piles up, the prospectors' class identity shifts. With property to defend, they adopt a bourgeois outlook, suspicious of the have-nots. They cease to be proletariats. Even as the men share the same hardships, they do not forge friendships, merely alliances for profit. Their willingness to rescue a partner in distress is self-serving: the loss of one man to death or injury could cripple the profitable enterprise.

Months of hard labor and privations in the wilderness begins to show on the men. They are sick of the grub, the monotony of the work regimen and, especially, of one another. Howard has constantly to intervene to defuse fights between the younger men. In a number of violent confrontations, they pull their pistols and come close to shooting each other over trifles.

The miners begin to anticipate the end of the operation and a return to civil society. Curtin raises the question as to how much each gold share will bring in cash. Howard calculates this to be about $15,000 apiece. The claim is beginning to show signs of depletion and the men set a date of departure of 6–8 weeks. They collaborate in planning the safe transportation and conversion of their riches to currency. For the first time in months, they begin to think of their personal futures.

Curtin makes a final resupply trip to the local village. He takes a few hides as usual to sell at the dry goods store; this, to keep up the pretense he is a hunter. Curtin is accosted by a friendly American newcomer visiting the store. The man insinuates that there is much gold in the nearby mountains; Curtin emphatically denies it. The stranger guesses the significance of Curtin's aloofness and trails him into the mountain wilderness.

Without warning, the intruder steps silently into their fire circle. The prospectors are momentarily taken off guard by his arrival. Dobbs recovers, and emphatically tells the man to clear out, but the stranger stands his ground. The miners cunningly ignore the unwelcome guest, and pretend to discuss “hunting” strategies. The stranger bluntly informs them the area is unfit for commercial hunting – rather, they are sitting on a gold field. The prospectors return to their tent intensely suspicious of the man's purpose. They permit him to stay the night. The stranger introduces himself as Robert W. Lacuad of Phoenix, Arizona, “Tech, Pasadena”.

When Howard goes to check the burros, he spots mounted men in the distance approaching the encampment. They are not Mexican soldiers or police. Lacuad warns the miners that the horsemen are dangerous bandits, led by the notorious Gold Hat. Tipped off by locals, they are searching for the “hunter” (Curtin) to seize his guns and ammunition. Lacuad assures his companions that their lives are in imminent danger. As they anxiously watch the bandits slowly ascend the trail, Lacuad relates to them the story of Gold Hat, conveyed to him by a local nobleman, don Genaro Montereal, while visiting his estate the previous week.

Story within a story: Lacaud’s narrative of an incident in the ''Viva Nuestro Rey Cristo'' Uprising

The prospectors take up positions in a trench-like ravine with a view of the campsite, fortifying it like a military bunker. Howard assumes command with the consent of the others and holds a war council.

Gold Hat and his men dismount and enter the campsite on foot, expecting to encounter only a lone hunter. Failing to find him, they quarrel and consider returning to the village. The prospectors silently observe these developments from their hidden defenses. As the 20-man bandit group prepare to spend the night, one member explores the vicinity and discovers Curtin in the trench. Curtin warns him away, and the bandit alerts his companions.

Gold Hat approaches Curtin and identifies his cohorts as ''policia montada'' (mounted police), searching for outlaws who robbed a train. Curtin in turn demands that they show their police badges. Gold Hat, affronted, threatens Curtin with arrest for hunting without a license and possessing unregistered firearms. Curtin brandishes his rifle and the bandits determine to lay siege to his foxhole; they prefer to take him alive so as to torture him to death for entertainment. The methods they will use matches the iconography of Catholic Church and the practice of torture by the Inquisition. The bandits wear the icons of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, believing they will protect them in their endeavors.

Gold Hat tries to lure Curtin from his foxhole with promises of a gold watch. Rebutted, the outlaws construct movable barriers to assault the trench. Before they can deploy them, a company of genuine mounted police, alerted by villagers, appear and pursue Gold Hat and his gang as they flee the encampment.

With the ordeal over, Howard, Dobbs and Curtin express a desire to terminate operations and return immediately to civilization, Howard confides to Dobbs and Curtin that Lacuad is an eccentric “eternal” – a prospector who becomes obsessed over a coveted diggings and will not abandoned even after decades of failure. They leave him to his fate. Howard directs the dismantling of their mine so as to leave no trace of its existence. Howard warns his cohorts that the next phase – transferring the gold dust back to civilization – may be the riskiest phase and they become preoccupied with its challenges. Howard illustrates these dangers in his tale of the Dona Maria Mine.

Story within a Story: Legend of Dona Catalina Maria de Rodriguez and the “Dona Maria” Mine.

Howard, Curtin, and Dobbs take leave of Lacuad and head for Durango. The threesome avoid populated areas and refrain from acting suspicious so as not to draw attention from locals. Passing through a tiny village, they are detained by Mexican officials. Expecting the worst – that they will be fined for operating an unregistered mine – the officials turn out to be medical technicians for the Health Commission vaccinating the residents for smallpox. The prospectors gladly submit to be inoculated and go their way.

Setting up camp, they are intercepted by a delegation of mounted ''indios''. The farmers request that the American accompany them to their village: the son of one of the men has been pulled from a swimming hole unconscious and cannot be revived. Howard consents to accompany them to their village and examine the boy. There, he applies basic First Aid to the child and he recovers. The villagers regard Howard's powers as those of a medicine-man or magician.

Howard rejoins Dobbs and Curtin and they resume their journey, but they are shortly overtaken by the father of the boy he saved. The man and his companions insist that Howard return to the village so they can pay back the debt – a matter of etiquette and honor. The prospectors recognize that the ''indios'' are in earnest, and Howard relents. He relinquishes his possessions – including his share of gold – to the care of Dobbs and Curtin. They promise to rendezvous with him in Durango. Howard is welcome as a hero by the villagers upon his return.

Dobbs and Curtin, struggling to cross the high Sierra Madre, begin to quarrel in the absence of Howard's steadying influence. Dobbs, regretting having agreed to transport Howard's gear, lashes out at Curtin. Curtin maintains his composure and shoulders most of the work. Despite this, the unstable Dobbs descends into a homicidal rage, which Curtin, though anxious, is slow to grasp. When Dobbs proposes that they abscond with Howard's share, Curtin flatly vetoes the notion. Dobbs reacts to his comrade's defense of Howard as a symptom of Bolshevism. Curtin does not deny being a socialist, but emphatically refuses to betray the old man. Though not above some unscrupulousness himself, his actions are directed toward those who have power and wealth, not against his companions. When Dobbs pulls his pistol, Curtin is thunderstruck; he realizes that Dobbs is a homicidal maniac. Curtin manages to disarm Dobbs, but cannot, on principle, bring himself to kill an unarmed man. Dobbs’ hatred and contempt for Curtin deepens when he interprets this restraint as “Bolshevik” in character.

The unarmed Dobbs bides his time in the ensuing days, taunting his bewildered companion. Curtin is forced to remain awake at night to fend off an assault by Dobbs. Exhausted, he finally slips into sleep. Dobbs instantly seizes his pistol and marches Curtin into the underbrush where he shoots him point blank. Returning minutes later to make sure the man is dead, he shoots into the prostrate body a second time.

In an attempt to rationalize his crime, Dobbs recalls that, while serving in the US military in Europe, he had killed German soldiers in combat. His conscience troubles him, but he finally falls into a deep sleep. He awakes and searches for Curtin's body, but cannot find it. He begins to hallucinate as his alienation and guilt take hold of him.

He departs camp and makes good progress towards Durango, in possession of all the gold. When he spots a locomotive in the distant valley, his anxiety fades and he contemplates a trip to the British Isles, the home of his ancestors. His only concern is that his crime will be discovered before he can cash in and escape. In sight of Durango, he is reassured that the law and order that protects property in civilized areas will assert itself. Dobbs gloats over his presumed killing of Curtin and his double-dealing of Howard.

On the outskirts of Durango, Dobbs and his pack train stumble onto three Mestizo desperados – Miguel, Nacho, and Pablo – at a secluded site off the main road. Dobbs senses his life is in danger. The Mestizos begin to ransack the packs. Dobbs pulls his pistol, only to find it is unloaded. After one of the Mestizos knocks Dobbs to the ground with a rock to the head, Miguel, the leader of the gang, decapitates the stunned Dobbs with a machete. The men don his boots and pants but leave his bloody shirt behind, and escape with the pack train.

The outlaws, upon examining the contents of the pack, find only what appears to be sand in burlap bags. They guess that this is ballast placed in the packs to inflate the value by weight of commercial hides, or perhaps samples taken by a mining company engineer. They cannot fathom that it could be a fortune in placer gold. Frustrated at the paucity of loot, they slash the bags and contents pour out, swept away by the wind.

The desperados travel to a tiny village in the high Sierra Madre and offer the stolen burros for sale. The village elders casually examine the animals and the men's outfits. The brands on the burros are recognized as those sold to three prospectors months before. The village mayor is sent for; he engages the three Mestizos in an unassuming, yet probing interrogation regarding their acquisition of the burros and packs. The thieves are equivocal. The mayor quietly assembles the men of the village. After further cross-examination and more inconsistences in the scenario, a posse is sent to locate Dobbs and discover his decapitated remains. The local military garrison is notified, and a captain arrives with a platoon of troopers to take the Mestizos into custody. While being marched back to the garrison, the accused murderers are shot to death while trying to “escape”. Their corpses are buried where they fell, with a cynical display of decorum.

Curtin, wounded and barely alive, is found crawling through the underbrush by a local woodsman. He takes Curtin to his home, and Howard is notified that a gringo needs medical care. When Howard arrives, Curtin relates his ordeal with Dobbs, and swears revenge. Howard, reflecting on the incident, and without exonerating Dobbs, does not consider him a natural killer. The old timer points to the temptation of $50,000 in gold, and declares that any person might be tempted to murder for it. The two men agree to pursue Dobbs and retrieve their fortunes – not yet knowing Dobbs’ fate.

While Curtin convalesces, Howard embarks for Durango, but he is intercepted by the mayor who presided over the interrogation of Dobbs’ murderers and tells him the story. Howard is informed that the gold has been lost. He returns to his village and relates the tragic news to Curtin. Grasping the enormity of the disaster, Howard roars with “Homeric” laughter. Curtin is at first offended, distraught at the loss of the fortune, but finally joins the old prospector in his ironic mirth.

Howard is content to remain in the village as a medicine-man and offers Curtin to accompany him as an apprentice doctor.

Howard remains enthusiastic about a life as an honored member of the Indio community. Curtin bids Howard farewell, and promises to visit his old comrade when he fully recovers.

In 1850, backwoodsman Adam Pontipee arrives at an Oregon Territory town to look for a bride. He eventually meets Milly and proposes to her after seeing the quality of her cooking and her insistence on finishing her chores before she leaves with him. Despite not knowing him well, she accepts under the belief she is taking care of only him.

When they arrive at his mountain cabin however, she is surprised to learn that he has six brothers – Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, and Gideon – who all live uncouth lives with him. An angered Milly accuses Adam of manipulating her into becoming his servant, but he acknowledges that he needs her help due to how difficult living in the backwoods is and plans on sleeping outside to avoid losing face with his brothers. She relents, explaining she had high hopes regarding marriage and love.

The next morning, Milly teaches the Pontipees cleanliness and proper manners. She is later shocked to learn Adam's brothers are unmarried as they rarely saw girls and never learned how to communicate with them. Despite initial difficulties in changing their "mountain man" ways, they eventually realize they can only get brides by following Milly's example. At a barn-raising-''cum''-social-gathering, the brothers meet Dorcas, Ruth, Martha, Liza, Sarah, and Alice, all of whom take a fancy to each other despite the women already having suitors, who taunt the Pontipees. The brothers resist the urge to fight, but the suitors attack Adam, provoking Gideon to retaliate. A brawl ensues, in which the Pontipees overpower the suitors, but are expelled from town.

As winter comes and the brothers pine for the women they fell in love with, Milly asks Adam to help them. He reads his brothers "The Sobbin' Women" and Milly's Bible, telling them they should do whatever it takes to get their loves.

With Adam's aid, the brothers kidnap the six women before causing an avalanche in Echo Pass to stop the townspeople pursuing them. However, the Pontipees realize they forgot to kidnap a parson to conduct their weddings. Furious at the Pontipees' actions, Milly forces the men to live in the barn while the women stay in the house with her, sleeping in the brothers' beds. In response, a similarly furious Adam leaves for the Pontipees' trapping cabin further up the mountain to spend the winter alone. Gideon tells Milly, but she refuses to stop him.

Over the winter, the women vent their frustrations by pranking the remaining Pontipees until Milly announces she is having a baby, causing everyone present to come together to help her. She gives birth to a baby girl named Hannah in the spring and Gideon leaves to tell Adam. After the snow in Echo Pass melts, Adam returns, as he had said he would. Upon meeting his daughter, he realizes how worried the townspeople must be over the missing women and tells his brothers they should return them; but everyone is unwilling to part and the women run and hide rather than go back to town. After discovering this, Milly tells the brothers, who track them down only to encounter the angry townspeople, who have come through the pass intending to hang them for kidnapping the girls.

Alice's father, Reverend Elcott, hears Hannah crying as the townspeople sneak up onto the farm. Worried the baby might belong to one of the six women, he asks the women whose child Hannah is. After they all answer "mine", the fathers agree to give the six brothers and the six women a collective shotgun wedding.

The protagonist, who is unnamed, travels to Berlin to arrange the defection of a Soviet scientist named Semitsa, this being brokered by Johnny Vulkan of the Berlin intelligence community.[https://books.google.com/books?id=K3iYZjnLfXcC&pg=PA44&dq=Funeral+in+Berlin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fKd9UcOWLuyR7AbavICADg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=Funeral%20in%20Berlin&f=false Baker, Brian (2006) ''Masculinity in Fiction and Film: Representing Men in Popular Genres, 1945–2000'', p. 42. Continuum International Publishing Group] at Google Books. Retrieved 29 April 2013. Despite the protagonist's scepticism, the deal seems to have the support of Russian security-chief Colonel Stok and Hallam at the Home Office. The fake documentation for Semitsa needs to be precisely specified. An Israeli intelligence agent named Samantha Steel is involved in the case but it soon becomes apparent that behind the façade of an elaborate mock funeral lies a game of deadly manoeuvres and ruthless tactics.

The unnamed protagonist is ordered to Helsinki by Dawlish, his boss, to suppress a newspaper article, potentially embarrassing to the U.K. government, about to be published by a Finnish journalist. He finds the journalist murdered and coincidentally meets a young woman who attempts to recruit him into the British Intelligence. This woman, Signe Laine, is both romantically connected to and working for the protagonist's old American friend Harvey Newbegin (who also appeared in ''Funeral in Berlin''). Newbegin in turn attempts to recruit him into a private intelligence outfit, whose network is operated by 'The Brain', a billion dollar super-computer owned by eccentric Texan billionaire General Midwinter.

Midwinter is using his agency and private army to start an uprising in Latvia, at the time a part of the USSR, to end Communism in the Eastern bloc and tip the balance of the Cold War in favour of the West. After discovering this and also the fact that a package Newbegin wants delivered from England to Finland contains virus-contaminated eggs, stolen from a British research institute, the protagonist treks from Finland through Riga, Leningrad, New York City, Texas and back to London. He infiltrates Midwinter's organization, braving unforgiving environments, violence and shifting loyalties, eventually to return to the Baltic to stop the virus from falling into the hands of the Soviets and the madman billionaire and protect British reputations in the process.

Kim (Kimball O'Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier (Kimball O'Hara Sr., a former colour sergeant and later an employee of an Indian railway company) and a poor Irish mother (a former nanny in a colonel's household) who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India under British rule in the late 19th century, Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He occasionally works for Mahbub Ali, a Pashtun horse trader who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. Kim is so immersed in the local culture that few realise he is a white child, although he carries a packet of documents from his father entrusted to him by an Indian woman who cared for him.

Kim befriends an aged Tibetan lama who is on a quest to free himself from the Wheel of Things by finding the legendary ″River of the Arrow″. Kim becomes his ''chela'', or disciple, and accompanies him on his journey. On the way, Kim incidentally learns about parts of the Great Game and is recruited by Mahbub Ali to carry a message to the head of British intelligence in Umballa. Kim's trip with the lama along the Grand Trunk Road is the first great adventure in the novel.

By chance, Kim's father's regimental chaplain identifies Kim by his Masonic certificate, which he wears around his neck, and Kim is forcibly separated from the lama. The lama insists that Kim should comply with the chaplain's plan because he believes it is in Kim's best interests, and the boy is sent to an English school in Lucknow. The lama, a former abbot, funds Kim's education. Kim is divided between his love for his Lama master, and his eagerness to become a secret agent and even have a price put on his head, and his natural independence as a free spirit.

Throughout his years at school, Kim remains in contact with the holy man he has come to love. Kim also retains contact with his secret service connections and is trained in espionage (to be a surveyor) while on vacation from school by Lurgan Sahib, a sort of benevolent Fagin, at his jewellery shop in Simla. As part of his training, Kim looks at a tray full of mixed objects and notes which have been added or taken away, a pastime still called Kim's Game, also called the Jewel Game. Other parts of this training are disguise and the careful study of Indian population, and the characteristic dress, behaviour and "even how they spit" in order to go undercover or to discover those in disguise.

After three years of schooling, Kim is given a government appointment so that he can begin to participate in the Great Game. Before this appointment begins, however, he is granted a much-deserved break. Kim rejoins the lama and at the behest of Kim's superior, Hurree Chunder Mookherjee, they make a trip to the Himalayas so Kim can investigate what some Russian intelligence agents are doing.

Kim obtains maps, papers and other important items from the Russians, who are working to undermine British control of the region. Mookherjee befriends the Russians undercover, acting as a guide, and ensures that they do not recover the lost items. Kim, aided by some porters and villagers, helps to rescue the lama.

The lama realises that he has gone astray. His search for the River of the Arrow should be taking place in the plains, not in the mountains, and he orders the porters to take them back. Here Kim and the lama are nursed back to health after their arduous journey. Kim delivers the Russian documents to Hurree, and a concerned Mahbub Ali comes to check on Kim.

The lama finds his river and is convinced he has achieved Enlightenment, and wants to share it with Kim. However, it is not revealed what happens to them next.

Comic book artists and lifelong best friends Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards meet fellow comic book artist Alyssa Jones at a comic book convention, where they are promoting their comic ''Bluntman and Chronic''. Immediately attracted to Alyssa, Holden soon learns she is a lesbian. The two begin spending time together, and a deep friendship develops. Holden eventually confesses his love to Alyssa. She is initially angry with him, but that night, they sleep together and begin a romantic relationship.

This new development worsens matters between Holden and Banky, as Banky resents Alyssa for coming between him and his best friend. Banky uncovers dirt on Alyssa's past, telling Holden that Alyssa once participated in a threesome with two men. This upsets Holden, who has believed that he was the only man Alyssa had ever slept with, and he clumsily attempts to make her confess, leading to an argument. She angrily confirms the threesome but refuses to apologize for her past sexual experiences, wanting to continue their relationship. Holden leaves feeling unsure.

Later, while Holden has lunch with Jay and Silent Bob, Silent Bob reveals that he once had a relationship similar to Holden's. Though he loved his girlfriend Amy, her promiscuity made him end the relationship. Later regretting it, he says he has "spent every day since then chasing Amy, so to speak."

Moved by Silent Bob's story, Holden devises a plan to fix both his relationship with Alyssa and his estranged friendship with Banky. He invites them over and tells Alyssa that he would like to get over her past and remain her boyfriend, while telling Banky that he realizes that Banky is gay and in love with Holden, proposing a threesome. Though initially shocked, Banky agrees to participate, but Alyssa refuses, reasoning that it will not save their relationship, and that the proposal is offensive. Alyssa and Banky both leave.

One year later, both Banky and Alyssa are busy promoting their own respective comics at a convention. It is revealed that Holden and Banky dissolved their partnership of ''Bluntman and Chronic'', the rights to which Banky now exclusively owns. Banky smiles sadly at seeing Holden, who silently congratulates him for his own solo comic being successful. Banky gestures over to a booth hosted by Alyssa, encouraging Holden to speak to her. During their brief emotional conversation, Holden gives her a copy of ''Chasing Amy'', his new comic based on their relationship. After Holden leaves, Alyssa's new girlfriend arrives and asks who she was talking to. Smiling and teary-eyed, Alyssa replies, "Oh, just some guy I knew."

Isis, otherwise The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, is the 19-year-old granddaughter and designated spiritual heir of Salvador Whit, patriarch of the Luskentyrians. They are a religious cult who live in a commune in Stirlingshire and reject most technology. They run their lives according to a collection of beliefs and rituals "revealed" to Salvador after he washed ashore on Harris in the Western Isles and "married" two young Asian ladies (Aasni and Zhobelia Asis). (Haggis pakora becomes a staple of the cult's cuisine.)

The novel opens shortly before the Luskentyrian Festival of Love, held every four years, about nine months before every leap year day (29 February). The Luskentyrians believe that those born on that day have special power. This includes Isis herself, Elect of God, and expected to take over leadership of the cult.

The bulk of the novel tells of Isis' voyages in the world of "the Unsaved" (also known as "the Obtuse", "the Wretched", "the Bland" and "the Asleep"), through Scotland and southern England in search of Morag, who is feared to have rejected the cult.

While searching for her cousin, Isis meets Rastas, policemen, white power skinheads, and other characters of a sort she has never encountered before, and tells the story of the cult and the rationale behind its rules. Isis' maternal grandmother, Yolanda, a feisty Texan woman, appears and lends her support to Isis' quest. Isis' friend Sophi, although not part of the cult, is very close to her. Isis meets her whenever she goes to her house to use the Luskentyrian method of free (if laborious) telephone communication, using coded rings.

Returning with enhanced maturity and a lot more information, Isis must decide what to tell the other members of the cult.

Arthur Dent plans to sightsee across the Galaxy with his girlfriend Fenchurch, but she disappears during a hyperspace jump, a result of being from an unstable sector of the Galaxy. Depressed, Arthur continues to travel the galaxy using samples of his bodily tissues/fluids to fund his travels, assured of his safety until he visits Stavromula Beta, having killed an incarnation of Agrajag at some point in the future at said planet. During one trip, he ends up stranded on the homely planet Lamuella, and decides to stay to become a sandwich maker for the local population.

Meanwhile, Ford Prefect has returned to the offices of the Hitchhiker's Guide, and is annoyed to find out the original publishing company, Megadodo Publications, has been taken over by InfiniDim Enterprises, which are run by the Vogons. Fearing for his life, he escapes the building, along the way stealing the yet-unpublished, seemingly sentient Hitchhiker's Guide Mk. II. He goes into hiding after sending the Guide to himself, care of Arthur, for safekeeping.

On Lamuella, Arthur is surprised by the appearance of Trillian with a teenage daughter, Random Dent. Trillian explains that she wanted a child, and used the only human DNA she could find, thus claiming that Arthur is Random's father. She leaves Random with Arthur to allow her to better pursue her career as an intergalactic reporter. Random is frustrated with Arthur and life on Lamuella; when Ford's package to Arthur arrives, she takes it and discovers the Guide. The Guide helps her to escape the planet on Ford's ship after Ford arrives on the planet looking for Arthur. Discovering Random, the Guide, and Ford's ship missing, the two manage to find a way to leave Lamuella and head for Earth, where they suspect Random is also heading to find Trillian. Ford expresses concern at the Guide's manipulation of events, noting its "Unfiltered Perception" and fearing its potence and ultimate objective.

Reporter Tricia McMillan is a version of Trillian living on an alternate Earth who never took Zaphod Beeblebrox's offer to travel in space. She is approached by an extraterrestrial species, the Grebulons, who have created a base of operations on the planet Rupert, a recently discovered tenth planet in the Solar System. However, due to damage to their ship in arriving, they have lost most of their computer core and their memories, with the only salvageable instructions being to observe something interesting with Earth. They ask Tricia's help to adapt astrology charts for Rupert in exchange for allowing her to interview them. She fulfills their request and conducts the interview, but the resulting footage looks so fake that she fears it will destroy her reputation if broadcast. She is called away from editing the footage to report on a spaceship landing in the middle of London.

As Tricia arrives at the scene, Random steps off the ship and begins to yell at her, mistaking Tricia for her mother. Arthur, Ford, and Trillian arrive and help Tricia to calm Random. They remove her from the chaos surrounding the spacecraft and take her to a bar. Trillian tries to warn the group that the Grebulons, having become bored with their mission, are about to destroy the Earth. Random disrupts the discussion by producing a laser gun she took from her ship. Arthur, still believing he cannot die, tries to calm Random, but a distraction causes her to fire the weapon, sending the bar into a panic. Arthur tends to a man hit by the blast, who drops a matchbook with the name of the bar - "Stavro Mueller – Beta" - and Arthur realizes that this is the scene of Agrajag's final death. He sees Ford laughing wildly at this turn of events and experiences a "tremendous feeling of peace".

The Grebulons destroy the Earth, believing that their horoscopes will improve if it is removed from their astrological charts. It is revealed that the Vogons designed the Guide Mk. II to achieve their desired outcome by manipulating temporal events. As a result, every version of the Earth in all realities is obliterated, fulfilling the demolition order that was issued in the first novel. Its mission complete, the Guide collapses into nothingness.

Act 1

In 1862, a strong-willed, widowed schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, arrives in Bangkok, Siam (later known as Thailand) at the request of the King of Siam to tutor his many children. Anna's young son, Louis, fears the severe countenance of the King's prime minister, the Kralahome, but Anna refuses to be intimidated ("I Whistle a Happy Tune"). The Kralahome has come to escort them to the palace, where they are expected to live – a violation of Anna's contract, which calls for them to live in a separate house. She considers returning to Singapore aboard the vessel that brought them, but goes with her son and the Kralahome.

Several weeks pass, during which Anna and Louis are confined to their palace rooms. The King receives a gift from the king of Burma, a lovely slave girl named Tuptim, to be one of his many wives. She is escorted by Lun Tha, a scholar who has come to copy a design for a temple, and the two are secretly in love. Tuptim, left alone, declares that the King may own her, but not her heart ("My Lord and Master"). The King gives Anna her first audience. The schoolteacher is a part of his plan for the modernization of Siam; he is impressed when she already knows this. She raises the issue of her house with him, he dismisses her protests and orders her to talk with his wives. They are interested in her, and she tells them of her late husband, Tom ("Hello, Young Lovers"). The King presents her new pupils; Anna is to teach those of his children whose mothers are in favor with him – several dozen – and is to teach their mothers as well. The princes and princesses enter in procession ("March of the Royal Siamese Children"). Anna is charmed by the children, and formality breaks down after the ceremony as they crowd around her.

Anna has not given up on the house, and teaches the children proverbs and songs extolling the virtues of home life, to the King's irritation. The King has enough worries without battling the schoolteacher, and wonders why the world has become so complicated ("A Puzzlement"). The children and wives are hard at work learning English ("The Royal Bangkok Academy"). The children are surprised by a map showing how small Siam is compared with the rest of the world ("Getting to Know You"). As the crown prince, Chulalongkorn, disputes the map, the King enters a chaotic schoolroom. He orders the pupils to believe the teacher but complains to Anna about her lessons about "home". Anna stands her ground and insists on the letter of her contract, threatening to leave Siam, much to the dismay of wives and children. The King orders her to obey as "my servant"; she repudiates the term and hurries away. The King dismisses school, then leaves, uncertain of his next action. Meanwhile, Lun Tha comes upon Tuptim, and they muse about having to hide their relationship ("We Kiss in a Shadow").

In her room, Anna replays the confrontation in her mind, her anger building ("Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?"). Lady Thiang, the King's head wife, tells Anna that the King is troubled by his portrayal in the West as a barbarian, as the British are being urged to take over Siam as a protectorate. Anna is shocked by the accusations – the King is a polygamist, but he is no barbarian – but she is reluctant to see him after their argument. Lady Thiang convinces her that the King is deserving of support ("Something Wonderful"). Anna goes to him and finds him anxious for reconciliation. The King tells her that the British are sending an envoy to Bangkok to evaluate the situation. Anna "guesses" – the only guise in which the King will accept advice – that the King will receive the envoy in European style, and that the wives will be dressed in Western fashion. Tuptim has been writing a play based on a book that Anna has lent her, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'', that can be presented to the guests. News is brought to the King that the British are arriving much earlier than thought, and so Anna and the wives are to stay up all night to prepare. The King assembles his family for a Buddhist prayer for the success of the venture and also promises before Buddha that Anna will receive her own house "as provided in agreement, etc., etc."

Act 2

The wives are dressed in their new European-style gowns, which they find confining ("Western People Funny"). In the rush to prepare, the question of undergarments has been overlooked, and the wives have practically nothing on underneath their gowns. When the British envoy, Sir Edward Ramsay, arrives and gazes at them through a monocle, they are panicked by the "evil eye" and lift their skirts over their heads as they flee. Sir Edward is diplomatic about the incident. When the King is called away, it emerges that Sir Edward is an old flame of Anna's, and they dance in remembrance of old times, as Edward urges her to return to British society. The King returns and irritably reminds them that dancing is for after dinner.

As final preparations for the play are made, Tuptim steals a moment to meet with Lun Tha. He tells her he has an escape plan, and she should be ready to leave after the performance ("I Have Dreamed"). Anna encounters them, and they confide in her ("Hello, Young Lovers", reprise). The play ("Small House of Uncle Thomas", narrated ballet) is presented in a Siamese ballet-inspired dance. Tuptim is the narrator, and she tells her audience of the evil King Simon of Legree and his pursuit of the runaway slave Eliza. Eliza is saved by Buddha, who miraculously freezes a river and conceals her in snow. Buddha then causes the river to melt, drowning King Simon and his hunting party. The anti-slavery message is blunt.

After the play, Sir Edward reveals that the British threat has receded, but the King is distracted by his displeasure at Tuptim's rebellious message. After Sir Edward leaves, Anna and the King express their delight at how well the evening went, and he presents her with a ring. Secret police report that Tuptim is missing. The King realizes that Anna knows something; she parries his inquiry by asking why he should care: Tuptim is just another woman to him. He is delighted; she is at last understanding the Siamese perspective. Anna tries to explain to him the Western customs of courtship and tells him what it is like for a young woman at a formal dance ("Shall We Dance?"). He demands that she teach him the dance. She does, and in that dance they experience and express a love for each other that they can never speak aloud. They are interrupted by the Kralahome. Tuptim has been captured, and a search is on for Lun Tha. The King resolves to punish Tuptim, though she denies she and Lun Tha were lovers. Anna tries to dissuade him, but he is determined that her influence shall not rule, and he takes the whip himself. He turns to lash Tuptim, but under Anna's gaze is unable to swing the whip, and hurries away. Lun Tha is found dead, and Tuptim is dragged off, swearing to kill herself; nothing more is heard about her. Anna asks the Kralahome to give her ring back to the King; both schoolteacher and minister state their wish that she had never come to Siam.

Several months pass with no contact between Anna and the King. Anna is packed and ready to board a ship leaving Siam. Chulalongkorn arrives with a letter from the King, who has been unable to resolve the conflicts within himself and is dying. Anna hurries to the King's bedside and they reconcile. The King persuades her to take back the ring and to stay and assist the next king, Chulalongkorn. The dying man tells Anna to take dictation from the prince, and instructs the boy to give orders as if he were King. The prince orders the end of the custom of kowtowing that Anna hated. The King grudgingly accepts this decision. As Chulalongkorn continues, prescribing a less arduous bow to show respect for the king, his father dies. Anna kneels by the late King, holding his hand and kissing it, as the wives and children bow or curtsey, a gesture of respect to old king and new.

Book One: Fear

Twenty-year-old Bigger Thomas is a young black man living in one room with his brother Buddy, his sister Vera, and their mother. Suddenly, a rat appears. The room turns into a maelstrom, and after a violent chase, Bigger kills the animal with an iron skillet and terrorizes his sister Vera with the dead rat. She faints, and Mrs. Thomas scolds Bigger, who hates his family because they suffer and he cannot do anything about it.

That evening, Bigger has to see Mr. Dalton, a white man, for a new job. Bigger's family depends on him. He would like to leave his responsibilities forever, but when he thinks of what to do, he only sees a blank wall.

Bigger walks to a poolroom and meets his friend, Gus. Bigger tells him that every time he thinks about whites, he feels something terrible will happen to him. They meet other friends, G.H. and Jack, and plan a robbery. They are all afraid of attacking and stealing from a white man, but none of them wants to admit their concerns. Before the robbery, Bigger and Jack go to the movies. They are attracted to the world of wealthy whites in the newsreel and feel strangely moved by the tom-toms and the primitive black people in the film, yet also feel they are equal to those worlds. After the film, Bigger returns to the poolroom and attacks Gus violently, forcing him to lick his blade in a demeaning way to hide Bigger's own cowardice. The fight ends any chance of the robbery's occurring, and Bigger is vaguely conscious that he has done this intentionally.

When he finally gets the job, Bigger does not know how to behave in Dalton's large and luxurious house. Mr. Dalton and his blind wife use strange words. They try to be kind to Bigger, but actually make him uncomfortable; Bigger does not know what they expect of him.

Then their daughter, Mary, enters the room, asks Bigger why he does not belong to a union, and calls her father a "capitalist". Bigger does not know that word and is even more confused and afraid to lose the job. After the conversation, Peggy, an Irish cook, takes Bigger to his room and tells him the Daltons are a nice family, but he must avoid Mary's Communist friends. Bigger has never had a room for himself before.

That night, he drives Mary around and meets her Communist boyfriend Jan. Throughout the evening, Jan and Mary talk to Bigger, oblige him to take them to the diner where his friends are, invite him to sit at their table, and tell him to call them by their first names. Bigger does not know how to respond to their requests and becomes frustrated, as he is simply their chauffeur for the night. At the diner, they buy a bottle of rum. Bigger drives throughout Washington Park, and Jan and Mary drink the rum and make out in the back seat. Jan departs, but Mary is so drunk that Bigger has to carry her to her bedroom when they arrive home. He is terrified someone will see him with her in his arms; however, he cannot resist the temptation of the forbidden, and he kisses her.

Just then, the bedroom door opens, and Mrs. Dalton enters. Bigger knows she is blind but is terrified she will sense him there. Frightened of the consequences if he, a black man, were to be found in Mary's bedroom, he silences Mary by pressing a pillow into her face. Mary claws at Bigger's hands while Mrs. Dalton is in the room, trying to alert Bigger that she cannot breathe. Mrs. Dalton approaches the bed, smells alcohol in the air, scolds her daughter, and leaves. As Bigger removes the pillow, he realizes that Mary has suffocated to death. Bigger starts thinking frantically, and decides he will tell everyone that Jan, her Communist boyfriend, took Mary into the house that night. Thinking it will be better if Mary disappears as she was supposed to leave for Detroit in the morning, he decides in desperation to burn her body in the house's furnace. Her body would not originally fit through the furnace opening, but after decapitating it, Bigger finally manages to put the corpse inside. He adds extra coal to the furnace, leaves the corpse to burn, and goes home.

Book Two: Flight

Bigger's current girlfriend Bessie suspects him of having done something to Mary. Bigger goes back to work.

Mr. Dalton has called a private detective, Mr. Britten. Britten interrogates Bigger accusingly, but Dalton vouches for Bigger. Bigger relates the events of the previous evening in a way calculated to throw suspicion on Jan, knowing Mr. Dalton dislikes Jan because he is a Communist. When Britten finds Jan, he puts the boy and Bigger in the same room and confronts them with their conflicting stories. Jan is surprised by Bigger's story but offers him help.

Bigger storms away from the Daltons'. He decides to write a false kidnapping note when he discovers Mr. Dalton owns the rat-infested flat Bigger's family rents. Bigger slips the note under the Daltons' front door and then returns to his room.

When the Daltons receive the note, they contact the police, who take over the investigation from Britten, and journalists soon arrive at the house. Bigger is afraid, but he does not want to leave. In the afternoon, he is ordered to take the ashes out of the furnace and make a new fire. He is terrified and starts poking the ashes with the shovel until the whole room is full of smoke. Furious, one of the journalists takes the shovel and pushes Bigger aside. He immediately finds the remains of Mary's bones and an earring in the furnace, and Bigger flees.

Bigger goes directly to Bessie and tells her the whole story. Bessie realizes that white people will think he raped the girl before killing her. They leave together, but Bigger has to drag Bessie around because she is paralyzed by fear. When they lie down together in an abandoned building, Bigger rapes Bessie and falls asleep. In the morning, he decides he has to kill her in her sleep. He hits Bessie on the head with a brick before throwing her through a window and into an air shaft. He quickly realizes that the money he had taken from Mary's purse was in Bessie's pocket.

Bigger runs through the city. He sees newspaper headlines concerning the crime and overhears different conversations about it. Whites hate him and blacks hate him because he brought shame on the black race. After a wild chase over the rooftops of the city, the police catch him.

Book Three: Fate

During his first few days in prison, Bigger does not eat, drink, or talk to anyone. Then Jan comes to visit him. He says Bigger has taught him a lot about black-white relationships and offers him the help of a Communist lawyer named Boris Max. In the long hours, Max and Bigger spend talking, Bigger starts understanding his relationships with his family and with the world. He acknowledges his fury, his need for a future, and his wish for a meaningful life. He reconsiders his attitudes about white people, whether they are aggressive like Britten, or accepting like Jan.

Bigger is found guilty in front of the court and sentenced to death for murder. By the end of the novel, he appears to come to terms with his fate.

Jack Powell and David Armstrong are rivals in the same small American town, both vying for the attentions of pretty Sylvia Lewis. Jack fails to realize that "the girl next door", Mary Preston, is desperately in love with him. The two young men both enlist to become combat pilots in the Army Air Service. When they leave for training camp, Jack mistakenly believes Sylvia prefers him. She actually prefers David and lets him know about her feelings, but is too kindhearted to turn down Jack's affection.

Jack and David are billeted together. Their tent mate is Cadet White, but their acquaintance is all too brief; White is killed in an air crash the same day. Undaunted, the two men endure a rigorous training period, where they go from being enemies to best friends. Upon graduating, they are shipped off to France to fight against Imperial Germany.

Mary joins the war effort by becoming an ambulance driver. She later learns of Jack's reputation as the ace known as "The Shooting Star" and encounters him while on leave in Paris. She finds him, but he is too drunk to recognize her. She puts him to bed, but when two military police barge in while she is innocently changing from a borrowed dress back into her uniform in the same room, she is forced to resign and return to the United States.

The climax of the story comes with the epic Battle of Saint-Mihiel. David is shot down and presumed dead. However, he survives the crash landing, steals a German biplane, and heads for the Allied lines. By a tragic stroke of bad luck, Jack spots the enemy aircraft and, bent on avenging his friend, begins an attack. He is successful in downing the aircraft and lands to retrieve a souvenir of his victory. The owner of the land where David's aircraft crashed urges Jack to come to the dying man's side. He agrees and becomes distraught when he realizes what he has done. David consoles him, and before he dies, forgives his comrade.

At the war's end, Jack returns home to a hero's welcome. He visits David's grieving parents to return his friend's effects. During the visit he begs their forgiveness for causing David's death. Mrs. Armstrong says it is not Jack who is responsible for her son's death, but the war. Then, Jack is reunited with Mary and realizes he loves her.

Chicago Police Department officer James "Mac" McQuigg tries to keep the peace in Chicago during the Prohibition gang wars but is hampered by massive corruption. After a shootout McQuigg manages to arrest mob boss Nick Scarsi's henchman Spike Corcoran, the political boss "The Old Man" arranges to have all charges dropped. After a birthday party for Nick Scarsi's younger brother Joe Scarsi ends in a shootout in which Nick Scarsi kills Corcoran, McQuigg arrests Nick Scarsi for murder but is forced to release him after being unable to find the murder weapon.

Although McQuigg vows to bring down Nick Scarsi, he gets transferred to "the sticks" of the 28th precinct. After Joe Scarsi is arrested for a hit-and-run accident, McQuigg convinces his girlfriend Helen Hayes to implicate him. Nick Scarsi arrives and shoots the witness Patrolman Johnson, and McQuigg arrests him again for murder. When Nick Scarsi's attorney arrives with a writ of habeas corpus to free him, McQuigg rips it up and imprisons him as well. Hayes falls in love with cub reporter Dave Ames, and tricks Nick Scarsi into confessing to keep him from killing Ames. With Nick Scarsi implicated in a crime, "The Old Man" and District Attorney Welch's political machine turn on Nick Scarsi in order to remain in power at the upcoming municipal election. They trick him into attempting to escape and trying to shoot McQuigg with an empty gun before killing him themselves.

Chico works in the sewers of Paris. He dreams of becoming a street sweeper and therefore lights candles in the church. He also asks a blonde woman to be his partner. But his wishes are not granted, which makes him bitter.

One day Chico saves the young prostitute Diane, who is suffering from her unscrupulous sister Nana. The police want to arrest the prostitute, who is innocent in spite of her job, but Chico saves her by pretending to be her husband. Now the two have to maintain the facade and act as spouses. So Chico allows Diane to move into his attic with him. In fact, the two find each other. But when the war breaks out, Chico is called up. Diane works in an ammunition factory. News of Chico's death reaches her, but Chico is not dead. He returns home to Diane, wounded and blind.

Lady Isabel Vane is distraught when her beloved father dies suddenly and the earldom and all the property go to a distant relation, leaving her homeless and penniless. She is a beautiful and refined young woman, who (for lack of other options) marries the lawyer Archibald Carlyle who buys her former home, East Lynne. Unfortunately his elder sister Cornelia also comes to live in East Lynne; she hates that marriage and by taking over the household makes Isabel's new life miserable. Mr Carlyle is a very kind man, who had previously had a friendship with local lady Barbara Hare, who had hoped to marry him. Isabel leaves her hard-working lawyer-husband, and her infant children, and the miserable household, to elope with an aristocratic but poor Captain Francis Levison. This is because she jealously suspects her husband's friendship with Barbara Hare and Levison misleads her into a wrong interpretation of a meeting. However once abroad with Levison she realises he has no intention of marrying her, despite her having borne their illegitimate child. He deserts her. Her cousin Lord Mount Severn comes to visit her in Europe and offers to support her. She finds out from him that her husband was ''not'' unfaithful. On the way back to England, Lady Isabel is badly injured in a train accident, the baby is killed and she is wrongly reported dead. Following this Isabel is able in disguise and under a new name to take the position of governess in the household of her former husband and his new wife (Barbara Hare) allowing her to be close to her children. This also becomes a source of great misery as the little boy William dies of tuberculosis. Mr Carlyle stands for Parliament, as does Sir Francis Levison, her seducer. It transpires that under the name Thorn, Levison had been guilty of the murder of Mr Hallijohn, but Richard Hare, the brother of Barbara, had been falsely accused of that murder and goes on the run. When the facts eventually come to light there is a hilarious and dramatic trial involving Afy Hallijohn as a reluctant witness. The pressure of keeping up a façade (e.g., wearing blue glasses, adopting a foreign accent) and being constantly reminded that her husband has moved on eventually physically weakens Isabel. On her deathbed she tells all to Carlyle who forgives her.

The play's single set is the dingy press room of Chicago's Criminal Courts Building, overlooking the gallows behind the Cook County Jail. Reporters from most of the city's newspapers are passing the time with poker and pungent wisecracks about the news of the day. Soon they will witness the hanging of Earl Williams, a white man and supposed Communist revolutionary convicted of killing a black policeman. Hildy Johnson, cocky star reporter for the ''Examiner'', is late. He appears only to say goodbye; he is quitting to get a respectable job and be married. Suddenly the reporters hear that Earl Williams has escaped from the jail. All but Hildy stampede out for more information. As Hildy tries to decide how to react, Williams comes in through the window. He tells Hildy he is no revolutionary, and that he shot the police officer by accident. The reporter realizes this bewildered, harmless little man was railroaded — just to help the crooked mayor and sheriff pick up enough black votes to win re-election. It is the story of a lifetime. Hildy helps Williams hide inside a roll-top desk. His daunting challenge now is to get Williams out of the building to a safe place for an interview before rival reporters or trigger-happy policemen discover him. Hildy has no choice but to ask for help from Walter Burns, managing editor of the ''Examiner'' — a devious tyrant who would do just about anything to keep Hildy with the newspaper.

Skippy (Jackie Cooper) is the feisty son of the strict Dr. Herbert Skinner (Willard Robertson) and his wife Ellen (Enid Bennett). Skinner forbids his son Skippy to play in the pauperized Shantytown, because of the unhygienic and criminal surroundings there. But Skippy and his friend Sidney (Jackie Searl) still go to Shantytown where Skippy meets a new boy named Sooky (Robert Coogan, Jackie Coogan's little brother). He saves the small boy Sooky from the much bigger bully Harley Nubbins (Donald Haines). Skippy and Sooky become friends. One day Harley accidentally breaks the windshield of his father's car with Skippy's yo-yo. Harley, who has a very aggressive and brute father, blames it on Skippy and Sooky. Mr. Nubbins (Jack Rube Clifford), who works as a dog catcher, takes Sooky's dog and demands that they pay him for the damages if they want their dog back. The boys gather three dollars by breaking Skippy's savings bank, but Mr. Nubbins accepts it only for his windshield. He gives them three days to get another three dollars for a dog license and he threatens that he'll kill their dog if they don't get the money.

Sooky and Skippy spend the next two days selling bottles, lemonade and wood, and staging a performance to earn money. Skippy's father doesn't want to lend them the remaining thirty cents. Then Mr. Nubbins kills their dog and Skippy blames his father for it. The next morning, Skippy gets a new bicycle from his father. But he trades the bicycle to his friend, Eloise (Mitzi Green), for her new dog. Skippy takes the dog to Sooky. Dr. Skinner has a change of heart and buys Sooky a licensed dog, finds his mother a job, and refrains from ordering Shantytown destroyed, instead offering assistance to its citizens. For the first time, Dr. Skinner plays with Skippy in Shantytown. There they accidentally break Mr. Nubbins' new windshield. Dr. Skinner wins a fight against Mr. Nubbins and shows that he is a good father.

The film depicts the adventures of real-life trader and adventurer Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn (Harry Carey), while on safari in Africa. Much of the film is fictional, including the discovery of a white blonde jungle queen, the lost daughter of a missionary (Edwina Booth). A scene based upon a genuine incident occurs in which Carey as Horn swings on a vine across a river filled with genuine crocodiles, one of which comes very close to taking his leg off.

Dorothy Haley and Edna Driggs are store models, first seen in bridal clothes at their job one afternoon. After work Dorothy fends off her boss, who wants to take her for a ride, by claiming to be married to a prizefighter. The girls then go to Coney Island. On the return steamboat trip, the women make a bet about attracting a certain man's attention, and Dorothy proceeds to annoy him by playing a ukulele. This man is Eddie Collins; after his initial grouchy reaction to the women, he slowly forms a connection with Dorothy and sees her home. Eddie works in a radio shop and dreams of having a shop on his own, for which he has been saving.

Eddie forgets to show up for a date and Dorothy angrily finds him in his boarding house, where they remain together until 4 a.m. Eddie walks her home but she is afraid to go up, fearing the reaction of her abusive elder brother who is her guardian. Eddie proposes marriage as a solution and Dorothy joyfully accepts. Her brother calls her a tramp and evicts her from her home. Dorothy suffers some anxiety the next day when Eddie seems to have disappeared; he then turns up, having made arrangements for a new place to live, and the two are happily married.

Ten weeks later, Dorothy confides to Edna that she is pregnant, but is reluctant to tell Eddie the news when she learns that he is ready to open his new shop, an expensive commitment. Instead she tells Eddie that she would like to return to work, to which he objects. Wrongly guessing that she really wants a larger place to live, Eddie cancels his plans for the shop in favor of a lavish new apartment and the purchase of new furnishings, increasing Dorothy's worries. By the time Eddie finally finds out he is to become a father, the two mutually misunderstand that the other is unhappy about the pregnancy, resulting in a strain on their marriage. The strain intensifies when Eddie stays out late at night to earn extra money as a boxer to pay for the services of Dr. Burgess, the best obstetrician in the city, all without telling Dorothy. Eddie is being pummeled in one of these prizefights while Dorothy leaves for the hospital; when he returns and Dorothy sees him bruised and bandaged, she assumes he was in a barroom brawl and turns her back on him. After their son is born, Dorothy plans to leave Eddie; however, before that can happen the misunderstanding is cleared up, and the couple returns home together to raise their child.

Andy "Champ" Purcell (Wallace Beery) is the former world heavyweight champion, now down on his luck and living in squalid conditions with his eight-year-old son "Dink" in Tijuana, Mexico. Champ attempts to train and to convince promoters to set up a fight for him, but his efforts are consistently stymied by his alcoholism. Dink is repeatedly disappointed and let down by his father's irresponsible actions and frequent broken promises to quit drinking, but his utter devotion to his father nonetheless never wavers.

In addition to his drinking problem, Champ is also a compulsive gambler, another vice which he repeatedly promises Dink he will surrender (but never does). After a winning streak, he fulfills a previous promise to buy Dink a horse, whom they subsequently name "Little Champ" and decide to enter into a race. At the track, Dink happens across a woman who, unknown to either of them, is actually his mother Linda. She is now remarried to Tony, a wealthy man who owns one of the other horses in the race.

Linda and Tony observe Dink and Champ together and realize that Dink is her son. Champ allows Linda to see Dink, who accepts that she is his mother. But Dink feels no emotion toward her, as she has never been part of his life. Linda resolves to remove Dink from the negative atmosphere in which he's growing up and have him live with her family.

Catching Champ during an all-night gambling binge, Tony asks him to turn Dink over so that Tony and Linda can put Dink into school. Champ refuses. As the exhausted Dink sleeps on a nearby table, Tony bluntly observes that Champ is not a good father. The night of gambling ends with Champ having lost Little Champ, which devastates Dink. Champ asks Linda for enough money to buy the horse back, and she gives it to him. But before he can buy the horse back, he starts gambling again and loses the money Linda loaned him. He also winds up in jail, breaking Dink's heart once more.

Ashamed of his actions and with his spirit broken, Champ finally agrees to send an unwilling Dink to live with Tony and Linda. On the train ride home, Tony and Linda try their best to welcome Dink into their family. Dink does not dislike them, but he is consumed only by thoughts of his father. He runs away back to Tijuana, where he finds that Champ has a fight scheduled with the Mexican heavyweight champion. When he sees Dink, Champ immediately returns to good spirits. He trains hard for the fight and, for the first time, really does stay away from drinking and gambling. Champ is determined to win the fight, make Dink proud of him, and use his prize money to buy back Little Champ.

Tony and Linda attend the fight, bringing genuine best wishes and assurances that they will make no further efforts to separate Dink from Champ. The match is brutal, and Champ is seriously injured. Dink and the others in his corner urge him to throw in the towel, but Champ refuses to allow that. He musters a last burst of energy, and knocks out his opponent. After the fight, he triumphantly presents Little Champ to Dink. But after witnessing his son's overjoyed reaction, Champ collapses.

Champ is brought into his dressing room, where a doctor determines that his injuries are mortal. Champ urges Dink to cheer up and then dies, leaving Dink inconsolable. Despite the best efforts of all of the men and boys in the room, who one by one attempt to calm him, Dink continually wails, "I want the Champ!" Finally, Dink spots Linda enter the room. Dink looks at her, cries out, "Mother!" and runs into her arms. She picks him up and he sobs, "The Champ is dead, mama." She turns and carries him out of the room as he buries his face in her shoulder, crying.

Joseph W. Randall is the managing editor of the ''New York Evening Gazette'' tabloid newspaper who has been trying to legitimize the paper by reducing sensationalism and improving the reporting, but circulation has dropped dramatically. When owner Bernard Hinchecliffe plans to boost sales with a retrospective series on a 20-year-old murder, hoping to revive the scandal, Randall reluctantly agrees. He had covered the original story about stenographer Nancy Voorhees, who shot her boss after he reneged on his promise to marry her. Her pregnancy won the jury's sympathy, and she was acquitted.

Unaware of impending doom, Nancy is now married to Michael Townsend, an upstanding member of society, and her daughter Jenny, who believes that Townsend is her father, is about to marry the son of a socially prominent family, Philip Weeks.

Randall throws himself into the assignment. To dig up dirt about Nancy, he assigns unscrupulous reporter "Reverend" T. Vernon Isopod, who masquerades as a minister and wins the confidence of the bride's parents on the eve of the wedding. They have read the headlines promising a series on the murder. Nancy is horrified at the renewed interest in the scandal, and the family members confess their concerns to Isopod, whom they mistake for a church representative, and give him a photo of Jenny. Michael realizes the horrible mistake just as Isopod leaves, and he phones the church.

Randall's secretary Miss Taylor is so disgusted that she gets drunk at a local speakeasy and then tells Randall what she thinks of the whole affair. Isopod comes in late, drunk and brimming with information. Randall swings into action, mocking up a photo layout.

Randall sends reporters Ziggie and Carmody to cover the Townsend apartment. The Townsends, hoping to prevent the revelation of the full story and save the marriage, make separate appeals for help. Mr. Townsend visits the church rector, who promises support, and Nancy phones Randall, begging him to drop the story, but he refuses, telling her that it is too late. Nancy kills herself by taking poison, and Michael comes home and discovers her body in the bathroom. When Jenny and Philip visit soon after, Michael does not inform them of the suicide and pretends to have a phone conversation with Nancy. After sending Jenny and Philip away, he enters the bathroom and also commits suicide. Carmody and Ziggie climb into the apartment from the fire escape. When they open the bathroom door, they take a photograph and call the information into Randall, who wants the story for the five-star final.

The next day, Phillip's parents tell Jenny that the wedding will be called off, but Phillip arrives and defies them. Randall gets drunk and feels like a murderer. He tells the night desk to drop the story.

Hinchecliff is leery of the bad publicity that may result from the inquest, but his underlings are thrilled at the upsurge in numbers and want to offer Jenny $1,200 for the rights to tell her mother's story. Randall opposes the idea. Jenny visits the paper and demands that the men tell her why they killed her mother. A guilt-ridden and disgusted Randall tells her that they were killed for the purpose of circulation. Jenny points a gun at Randall but Philip appears just in time to prevent her from pulling the trigger. Phillip then angrily delivers a chilling speech that ends: "You've grown rich on filth and no one's ever dared rise up and crush you out." He threatens to hunt them down and kill them if his wife's name is ever mentioned in the paper again.

Randall denounces Hinchecliffe and resigns. He runs out and Miss Taylor follows him.

A copy of the ''New York'' ''Evening Gazette'' trumpeting the news that the suicide victims have been buried is shown swept away in the rain.

Parisian doctor Andre Bertier is faithful to his loving wife Colette, much to the surprise of his lovely female patients. But when Colette's best friend Mitzi Olivier insists upon being treated by Dr. Bertier, his devotion is put to the test.

In 1931, China is embroiled in a civil war. Friends of British captain Donald "Doc" Harvey envy him because the fabulously notorious Shanghai Lily is a fellow passenger on the express train that he is taking from Peking to Shanghai. Because the name means nothing to him, they inform him that she is a "coaster" or "woman who lives by her wits along the China coast," in other words, a courtesan. On the journey, Harvey encounters Lily, who is his former lover Madeline. Five years earlier, she had played a trick on him to gauge his love for her, but it backfired, and he left her. She informs him frankly that in the interim, "It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily." Lily clarifies that she still cares deeply for him, and it is apparent that his feelings also have not changed when she inadvertently sees a watch that she had given him with her photograph still in it.

Among the other passengers in first class are fellow coaster Hui Fei, Christian missionary Mr. Carmichael (who initially condemns the two "fallen women"), inveterate gambler Sam Salt, opium dealer Eric Baum; boarding-house keeper Mrs. Haggerty , French officer Major Lenard and a mysterious Eurasian, Henry Chang.

At a scheduled stop, Chinese government soldiers empty the train to check passports and apprehend a high-ranking rebel agent. Chang sends a coded message at the telegraph office. Later, the train is stopped and commandeered by the rebel army and its powerful warlord, who is Chang. He begins to question the first-class passengers, looking for someone important enough whom the government will trade for his valued aide. He selects Harvey, who is traveling to perform brain surgery on the governor-general of Shanghai.

While he is waiting for his aide to be brought to him, Chang talks with Shanghai Lily and offers to take her to his palace. She declines, claiming that she has reformed. When Chang refuses to accept her answer, Harvey breaks in and knocks him down. Because Chang needs Harvey alive, he does not retaliate immediately, but he does not forget the insult. He leaves Lily's room and has Hui Fei brought to his quarters, where he forces himself on her. Lily is taken back to the train and stays awake all night praying for Harvey.

When Chang's man arrives, Chang reveals to Lily that he has decided to blind Harvey for his insolence before releasing him. Out of love, she offers herself to Chang in exchange for Harvey's safety. Harvey is released unharmed, unaware of the danger that he was facing or of Lily's reason for going with Chang.

Hui Fei sneaks into Chang's quarters and stabs him to death while he is packing to leave. She informs Harvey about what she has done and tells him to retrieve Lily. He rescues her before the body is discovered, and the train departs. The missionary Carmichael, trusting his instincts, coaxes Lily to reveal the truth about how she had saved Harvey. She insists that he not tell Harvey because she feels that there must be faith for there to be love, and he agrees, telling Harvey only that he knows Lily is a very good person.

The train finally reaches Shanghai, and the passengers disperse. Harvey finds Lily and asks her for a new start and to forgive him for his lack of faith. She apologizes for withholding information from him and says that she has always loved him and will forever. They kiss amidst the bustle of the train station.

In Vienna, Lieutenant Nikolaus "Niki" von Preyn (Maurice Chevalier) meets Franzi (Claudette Colbert), the leader of an all-female-orchestra. They soon fall in love with each other. While standing in formation before a parade honoring the visiting royal family of Flausenthurm, Niki takes the opportunity to wink at Franzi in the crowd. Unfortunately the gesture is intercepted by Anna, the Princess of Flausenthurm (Miriam Hopkins). The naive Princess assumes offense, leading the lieutenant to convince her that he slighted her because she is thought to be very beautiful. Besotted, the Princess demands she has to marry the lieutenant, or, she'll marry an American instead. The international incident is narrowly averted by having them get married.

The Lieutenant sneaks away from his bride to wander the streets of Flausenthurm to find his girlfriend. The princess learns of this and decides to confront Franzi. After the initial confrontation, Franzi sees that the princess is in fact deeply in love with the lieutenant, and decides to save the marriage by giving the princess a makeover, singing "Jazz up your lingerie!"

The results are a complete success as the Lieutenant follows his satin-clad, cigarette-puffing bride into the bedroom and closes the door – only to open it and give the audience a last song and a suggestive wink.

The novel is divided into five sections or 'books'. Frederic Henry is first person narrator of the story.

Book I

Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American medic, is serving in the Italian Army. The novel begins during the First World War. It is the start of winter when a cholera epidemic kills thousands of soldiers. Frederic has a brief visit to Gorizia where he meets with other army fellows and the priest. He finds there are two brothels, one for officers and the other for lower rank soldiers. On his return, he shares his experience with his friend, Surgeon Rinaldi, quite older than him. Rinaldi is fond of beautiful women. He has fallen in love with a nurse named Catherine Barkley, though not so seriously. Rinaldi takes Frederic to a British hospital where Frederic is introduced to Catherine Barkley, an English nurse. Frederic feels attracted towards her. She tells him about her fiancé who was killed in the battle and also about her feeling uncomfortable in the rain, as it starts to rain. Frederic tries to kiss her but she refuses and slaps him, feeling sorry thereafter. Eventually they kiss as now she feels somewhat inclined towards him. Frederic, with his fellow drivers (Passini, Manera, Gordini and Gavuzzi) takes the ambulance in war. Passini is killed in a mortar attack whereas Frederic is severely wounded in the knee on the Italian front and is sent to the hospital.

Book II

Surgeon Rinaldi visits Frederic in the hospital and praises him for his heroism. But Frederic denies of any display of heroism. Rinaldi also tells him that he will be shifted to a hospital in Milan soon for a better treatment. Frederic requests him to have Catherine there as a nurse. The Priest pays a visit. In a discussion again, Frederic expresses his views against war. Meanwhile, America has declared war on Germany; and the Italian army is also anxious about war against Austria. Frederic reaches an American hospital in Milan. There he is nursed by Miss Gage, Mrs Walker and their Superintendent Miss Van Campen. Miss Gage arranges wine for him. Catherine arrives there and Frederic realizes a strong sense of love and passion for her. They make love for the first time. Doctor Valentini comes to examine his injury and X-rays. This book portrays the growth of Frederic's relationship with Catherine over the summer. They enjoy boating and horse races. Meanwhile, Frederic meets Helen Ferguson, a fellow nurse of Catherine. After his knee heals, Frederic is diagnosed with jaundice. A three weeks convalescent leave is sanctioned for him. Miss Van Campen discovers some empty liquor bottle in Frederic's room and takes alcoholism as the cause for his condition. She also concludes that Frederic is knowingly keeping himself ill to avoid the war front. She files a report for the cancellation of convalescent leave and Frederic is called back to the war front. Catherine informs him that she is three months pregnant. They promise to reunite and marry after his return from war. Frederic asks her to take care of 'Little Catherine'.

Book III

Frederic returns to Gorizia. Rinaldi comes and examines his wounded leg. He further asks if they have married or not. The priest notices a change in Frederic and also predicts that the war will end soon. Frederic travels to Bainsizza where he meets Gino who tells him about an artillery battery of terrifying guns that the Austrians have. Frederic realizes that Italians will not escape if the Austrians attack. It rains heavily and the bombarding begins. Frederic discovers that morale has severely dropped. Not long afterwards, the Austro-Hungarians break through the Italian lines in the Battle of Caporetto, and the Italians retreat. The houses are evacuated. Women and children are loaded in trucks. At the villa, Henry discovers that Rinaldi has taken off for the hospital; everyone else has evacuated too. There is considerable delay and chaos on the road during the retreat and Frederic, wishing to avoid a possible aerial attack while stuck on the main retreat route, decides to take an alternate path. He and his men quickly get lost and their cars are stuck in the mud, Frederic orders the two engineering sergeants riding with Bonello to help. Afraid of being overtaken by the enemy, they refuse and try to leave. Frederic draws his gun and shoots one of them; the other escapes. One of the drivers, Aymo, is later killed, while another, Bonello, runs away to surrender to the Austrians. Frederic and his last companion, Piani, catch up to the main retreat across the Tagliamento river. As soon as they cross the bridge, Frederic is taken by the military police to a place on the river bank where officers are being interrogated and executed for the "treachery" that supposedly led to the Italian defeat. Frederic escapes by jumping into the river. Afterwards, he walks through the plains and jumps aboard a moving train to Milan to find Catherine.

Book IV

Reaching Milan, he learns that Catherine has left for Stresa. He goes to visit Ralph Simmons, one of the opera singers that he encountered earlier, and asks about the procedures for traveling to Switzerland. Ralph helps him, giving him civilian clothes. Frederic feels very odd in those clothes as the people look at him scornfully. He reaches Stresa by train and goes to the hotel Isles Borromées. Emilio, a bartender, informs him that two English nurses are staying at a small hotel near the train station. Frederic meets Catherine and Helen Ferguson there. He also meets Count Greffi, a very old nobleman whom Frederic had met on his last visit to Stresa. Greffi is staying with his niece. Frederic avoids Catherine's question about the war experiences. He feels he is a criminal, a war deserter. Emilio informs him that Italian police are looking to arrest him. Catherine and Frederic plan to flee to Switzerland as Emilio makes all possible arrangements for their travel in a rowboat. Because of a storm, the waters are choppy and rough. Frederic rows the boat all night and Catherine also takes a turn rowing. Finally, they reach Switzerland. The guards verify their identity and provide them provisional visas for staying in Switzerland.

Book V

Frederic and Catherine live a quiet life in the mountains. They move to a wooden house on a mountain outside the village of Montreux. They develop new acquaintance with Mr. and Mrs. Guttingen. At times, Catherine starts getting concerned about their child, especially about its health. They move to the town of Lausanne to be closer to the hospital. Later, Catherine goes into labor and she is taken to the hospital. The doctor tells Frederic that the best solution would be a Cesarean operation. She suffers a lot of pain and finally delivers a stillborn baby boy. Later the nurse tells him that Catherine is hemorrhaging. He is terrified. He goes to see her and she dies in his arms. He leaves the hospital and walks back to his hotel in the rain.

American sergeant James Allen returns to civilian life after World War I. He has served with distinction, earning a medal from Allied governments for his bravery, but his war experience has made him restless. His mother and minister brother feel Allen should be grateful for a tedious office clerk job. When he announces that he wants to enter the construction industry and improve society as an engineer, his brother reacts with outrage, but his mother regretfully accepts his ambitions. He leaves home to find work, but unskilled labor is plentiful, and it is hard for him to find a job. Allen sinks slowly into poverty. In an unnamed Southern state (the events upon which the film was based took place in Georgia), Allen visits a diner with an acquaintance, who forces him at gunpoint to participate in a robbery. The police arrive and shoot and kill his friend. Allen panics and attempts to flee but is caught immediately.

Allen is tried and sentenced to prison with hard labor. He is quickly exposed to the brutal conditions of life on a chain gang. The work is agonizing, and the guards are cruel and sadistically whip prisoners for poor performance. Allen makes friends among the gang members, most notably Bomber Wells, an older murderer and chain gang veteran. The two conspire to stage a breakout. While working on a railroad, Allen receives assistance from Sebastian T. Yale, a powerfully built Black prisoner who damages Allen's shackles by hammering them with Allen's ankles still inside. The next day, while on a bathroom break, Allen slips out of his chains and runs. Armed guards and bloodhounds give chase, but Allen evades them by changing clothes and hiding at the bottom of a river. He makes it to a nearby town, where he is given money for a train ticket and a room for the night by one of Bomber's friends.

Allen makes his way to Chicago, where he obtains a job as a manual laborer and uses his knowledge of engineering and construction to rise to a position of importance within a construction company. Along the way, he becomes romantically involved with his landlady, Marie Woods. Allen grows to loathe Marie, but she discovers his secret and blackmails him into an unhappy marriage.

Trying to forget his troubles, he attends a high society party at the invitation of his superiors and meets and falls in love with a younger woman named Helen. She betrays him to the authorities when he asks for a divorce. Allen describes the inhumane conditions of the chain gangs to the press, becoming national news. Many common citizens express their disgust with the chain gangs and their sympathy for a reformed man like Allen, while editorials written by Southerners describe his continued freedom as a violation of "state's rights." The governor of Illinois refuses to release Allen to the custody of the Southern state. Its officials offer Allen a deal: return voluntarily and receive a pardon after 90 days of easy clerical labor. Allen accepts, only to find the proposals were a ruse; he is sent to a chain gang, where he languishes for another year after being denied a pardon.

Reunited with Bomber, Allen decides to escape once more. The two steal a dump truck loaded with dynamite from a work site. While leaning out of his seat to taunt pursuing guards, Bomber gets shot. He takes some of the dynamite, lights it, and throws it at a police car, causing a minor landslide. Shortly afterward, Bomber falls from the truck and dies, causing Allen to stop the vehicle. Allen then uses more dynamite to blow up a bridge he just crossed, allowing him to make a close escape. Allen makes his way north again, evading a relentless manhunt.

Months later, he visits Helen in Chicago to wish her a permanent goodbye. Tearfully, she asks, "Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money?" Allen repeatedly shakes his head as he backs away. Finally, Helen says, "But you must, Jim. How do you live?" Allen's face is barely visible in the surrounding gloom as he replies, "I steal," disappearing into the darkness.

The story focuses on Apple Annie (May Robson), an aging and wretched fruit seller in New York City, whose daughter Louise (Jean Parker) has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. Louise has been led to believe her mother is a society matron named Mrs. E. Worthington Manville who lives at the Hotel Marberry. Annie discovers her charade is in danger of being uncovered when she learns Louise is sailing to New York with her fiancé Carlos (Barry Norton) and his father, Count Romero (Walter Connolly).

Among Annie's patrons are Dave the Dude (Warren William), a gambling gangster who believes her apples bring him good luck, and his henchman Happy McGuire (Ned Sparks). Annie's friends from the street ask Dave to rent her an apartment at the Marberry and, although he initially declines, he has a change of heart and arranges for her to live in the lap of luxury in a palatial residence belonging to a friend. His girlfriend, nightclub owner Missouri Martin (Glenda Farrell), helps transform Annie from a dowdy street peddler to an elegant dowager. Dave arranges for erudite pool hustler Henry D. Blake (Guy Kibbee) to pose as Annie's second husband, the dignified Judge Manville.

At the pier, an elegantly dressed Annie tearfully reunites with Louise. A group of Annie's friends from the streets are watching from a distance. One of the street people says that she can remember when Annie “always looked like that.” (We never know the details of Annie's history, but her upper-crust origins are clear.) When three society reporters become suspicious about Mrs. E. Worthington Manville, of whom they can find no public records, they are kidnapped by members of Dave's gang, and their prolonged disappearance leads the local newspapers to accuse the police department of incompetence.

A few days later, Blake – in the role of Judge Manville – announces he is planning a gala reception for Louise, Carlos, and Count Romero before they return to Spain, and he enlists Dave's guys and Missouri's dolls to pose as Annie's society friends. On the night of the reception, the police – certain Dave is responsible for the missing reporters – surround Missouri's club, where the gang has assembled for a final rehearsal. Dave calls Blake to advise him of their predicament, and Annie decides to confess everything to Count Romero. But fate – in the form of a sympathetic mayor and governor and their entourages – unexpectedly steps in and allows Annie to maintain her charade and keep Louise from learning the truth before she sails back to Spain with her husband-to-be.

Part One

Four sisters and their mother, whom they call Marmee, live in a new neighborhood (loosely based on Concord) in Massachusetts in genteel poverty. Having lost all his money, their father is serving as a chaplain for the Union Army in the American Civil War, far from home. The mother and daughters face their first Christmas without him. When Marmee asks her daughters to give their Christmas breakfast away to an impoverished family, the girls and their mother venture into town laden with baskets to feed the hungry children. When they return, they discover their wealthy, elderly neighbor Mr. Laurence has sent over a decadent surprise dinner to make up for their breakfast. The two families become acquainted following these acts of kindness.

Meg and Jo must work to support the family: Meg tutors a nearby family of four children; Jo assists her aged great-aunt March, a wealthy widow living in a mansion, Plumfield. Beth, too timid for school, is content to stay at home and help with housework; and Amy is still at school. Meg is beautiful and traditional, Jo is a tomboy who writes, Beth is a peacemaker and a pianist, and Amy is an artist who longs for elegance and fine society. The sisters strive to help their family and improve their characters as Meg is vain, Jo is hotheaded, Beth is cripplingly shy, and Amy is materialistic. The neighbor boy Laurie, orphaned grandson of Mr. Laurence, becomes close friends with the sisters, particularly the tomboyish Jo.

The girls keep busy as the war goes on. Jo writes a novel that gets published but is frustrated to have to edit it down and can't comprehend the conflicting critical response. Meg is invited to spend two weeks with rich friends, where there are parties and cotillions for the girls to dance with boys and improve their social skills. Laurie is invited to one of the dances, and Meg's friends incorrectly think she is in love with him. Meg is more interested in John Brooke, Laurie's young tutor.

Word comes that Mr. March is very ill with pneumonia and Marmee is called away to nurse him in Washington. Mr. Laurence offers to accompany her but she declines, knowing travel would be uncomfortable for the old man. Mr. Laurence instead sends John Brooke to do his business in Washington and help the Marches. While in Washington, Brooke confesses his love for Meg to her parents. They are pleased, but consider Meg too young to marry, so Brooke agrees to wait.

While Marmee is in Washington, Beth contracts scarlet fever after spending time with a poor family where three children die. As a precaution, Amy is sent to live with Aunt March and replaces Jo as her companion and helper. Jo, who already had scarlet fever, tends to Beth. After many days of illness, the family doctor advises that Marmee be sent for immediately. Beth recovers, but never fully regains her health and energy.

While Brooke waits for Meg to come of age to marry, he joins the military and serves in the war. After he is wounded, he returns to find work so he can buy a house and be ready when he marries Meg. Laurie goes off to college. On Christmas Day, a year after the book's opening, the girls' father returns home.

Part Two

(Published separately in the United Kingdom as ''Good Wives'')

Three years later, Meg and John marry and learn how to live together. When they have twins, Meg is a devoted mother but John begins to feel neglected and left out. Meg seeks advice from Marmee, who helps her find balance in her married life by making more time for wifely duties and encouraging John to become more involved with child rearing.

Laurie graduates from college, having put in the effort to do well in his last year with Jo's prompting. Amy is chosen over Jo to go on a European tour with her aunt. Beth's health is weak due to complications from scarlet fever and her spirits are down. While trying to uncover the reason for Beth's sadness, Jo realizes that Laurie has fallen in love. At first she believes it's with Beth, but soon senses it's with herself. Jo confides in Marmee, telling her that she loves Laurie like a brother and that she could not love him in a romantic way.

Jo decides she wants a bit of adventure and to put distance between herself and Laurie, hoping he will forget his feelings. She spends six months with a friend of her mother who runs a boarding house in New York City, serving as governess for her two children. Jo takes German lessons with another boarder, Professor Bhaer. He has come to America from Berlin to care for the orphaned sons of his sister. For extra money, Jo writes salacious romance stories anonymously for sensational newspapers. Professor Bhaer suspects her secret and mentions such writing is unprincipled and base. Jo is persuaded to give up that type of writing as her time in New York comes to an end. When she returns to Massachusetts, Laurie proposes marriage and she declines.

Laurie travels to Europe with his grandfather to escape his heartbreak. At home, Beth's health has seriously deteriorated. Jo devotes her time to the care of her dying sister. Laurie encounters Amy in Europe, and he slowly falls in love with her as he begins to see her in a new light. She is unimpressed by the aimless, idle, and forlorn attitude he has adopted since being rejected by Jo, and inspires him to find his purpose and do something worthwhile with his life. With the news of Beth's death, they meet for consolation and their romance grows. Amy's aunt will not allow Amy to return unchaperoned with Laurie and his grandfather, so they marry before returning home from Europe.

Professor Bhaer is in Massachusetts on business and visits the Marches' daily for two weeks. On his last day, he proposes to Jo and the two become engaged. Because the Professor is poor, the wedding must wait while he establishes a good income by going out west to teach. A year goes by without much success; later Aunt March dies and leaves her large estate Plumfield to Jo. Jo and Bhaer marry and turn the house into a school for boys. They have two sons of their own, and Amy and Laurie have a daughter. At apple-picking time, Marmee celebrates her 60th birthday at Plumfield, with her husband, her three surviving daughters, their husbands, and her five grandchildren.

) on their wedding night in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' The film begins 20 years into King Henry VIII's reign. In May 1536, in the immediate aftermath of the execution of his second wife Anne Boleyn, Henry marries Jane Seymour, who dies in childbirth 18 months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves. This marriage ends in divorce after Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so that she may be free to marry her sweetheart. Henry next marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard. She has rejected love all of her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper, who had attempted to woo her in the past. Their liaison is discovered by Henry's court and the two are executed. The weak and aging Henry consoles himself with a final marriage to Catherine Parr, who proves domineering. In the final scene, while Parr is no longer in the room, the king breaks the fourth wall, saying "Six wives, and the best of them's the worst."

In her bedroom where she has been sequestered for years, Elizabeth ("Ba") (Norma Shearer), the eldest Barrett daughter, consults with her doctor. She is recovering from an undisclosed illness and is apparently extremely physically weak, but the doctor advises that a full recovery is possible.

She has a vivacious and brilliant mind, her poetry is frequently published, and she loves fooling around with her siblings, especially her youngest sister, Henrietta (Maureen O'Sullivan). Her stern father Edward (Charles Laughton), however, wastes no opportunity to remind Elizabeth that she is near death. He seems, perversely, determined to keep her confined, and contravenes the doctors' orders if they conflict with his own feelings. His abusive tyranny over his offspring (three daughters and six sons) is so complete that none dare to defy him. Henrietta is interested in marrying her brothers' friend Surtees (Ralph Forbes), who has a promising career in the military, but she cannot see any way around her insanely possessive father, who has forbidden any of his children to marry, for reasons they do not understand.

Robert Browning (Fredric March), who has been corresponding with Elizabeth for some time, arrives in person and immediately sweeps her off her feet. When she expresses her fear that death may be at hand, he laughs it off and promises to call again. When he leaves her room, she rises from her settee and drags herself to the window so she can see him as he departs.

Months pass, and with a new lease on life, Elizabeth is able to walk and even go downstairs to see Robert. Edward insists she is still very sick, and when the doctors prescribe a trip to Italy for the winter, Edward passive-aggressively forbids it. Exasperated, Robert makes his feelings towards Edward plain to Elizabeth, and they declare their love for each other.

One day, the Barretts' flirtatious, ditzy cousin Bella (Marion Clayton) thoughtlessly reveals Elizabeth's relationship with Robert is in fact romantic. Edward arranges a scheme to get Elizabeth away from Robert, by selling the house and move the family to Surrey, six miles from the nearest railway station.

Unexpectedly, Edward returns from London and catches Henrietta and Surtees modeling his dress uniform for Elizabeth. Brutally grasping her wrists, he forces Henrietta to confess her secret affair. Denouncing her as a whore, he makes her swear on the Bible never to see Surtees again and to lock herself in her room. Ba witnesses all of this. When Edward starts to blame her for aiding and abetting Henrietta's illicit relationship, she reveals her true feelings. Smashing the facade that has allowed her father to keep a dictatorial control over every minute of her waking life – she says that, far from obeying him out of love, she hates him, and denounces him as a tyrant. Unrepentant, her father walks out of the room, saying she can send for him when she has repented of her sins.

Ba conspires with her maid Wilson to let Robert know she will elope with him and Wilson is coming along. Henrietta, when set free, runs to Ba and exclaims that she will break her Bible oath, lie to her father if necessary, and run away with Surtees if she must.

Edward enters and dismisses Henrietta to speak to Ba alone. He opens up to her and confesses his real feelings and the motivation for his "dragon" behavior. Edward apparently thinks of himself as having a sex addiction, and although the language in this scene is extremely euphemistic, we can gather that he tyrannized his wife as well, and that some of the children may actually have been conceived through rape. Edward now suppresses all his desires, equating all sex with sin, and he wants his children never to fall prey to carnal passion. As he goes into detail about how he wants Ba all to himself, to have her confide in him all her thoughts and feelings, he embraces her and actually comes close to making a sexual pass. Horrified by his inhuman behavior, Ba repulses him, and cries out that he must leave her. He apologizes and leaves, saying he'll pray for her.

Ba summons Wilson, puts on her cloak and hat, takes her little dog Flush and departs. As the two sneak down the stairs, we hear Edward saying grace over dinner. A few moments later, we hear the hysterical laughter of Ba's sister Arabel (Katharine Alexander). The boys rush upstairs, followed by Henrietta, to find that Ba has left one letter for each of the siblings and Edward. Edward reads his letter and staggers to the window. As if drunk, he insanely mutters "I'll have her dog", and bids his son Octavius take Flush to the vet and have her killed. Octavius cries out that it is unjust, and Henrietta triumphantly drives the final blow; "In her letter to me Ba writes that she has taken Flush with her..." The film closes with a brief scene of Elizabeth's and Robert's marriage, with Wilson as a witness and Flush waiting patiently by the church door.

Richard Palmer Grant Dorcy Jr. a.k.a. "the Canary" and "the singing bird of the tropics," is an enlisted man in the United States Army. Stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, he has a contentious but friendly relationship with his sergeant, Scrapper Thornhill. When General Fitts visits the post with his daughter Kit on their way to Manila, Dick is assigned to drive her to a reception that evening. Falling victim to the moonlit night, Kit and Dick attend a luau instead, and he sings Aloha ‘Oe. They are discovered in each other's arms by Scrapper and Lieutenant Biddle, who is also in love with Kit. Biddle accuses Dick of ruining Kit's reputation and forcing her to accompany him off post. Dick decides to desert. Scrapper begs Kit to straighten things out with Biddle.

To prevent Dick from deserting, Kit tells him that she was responding to a crazy impulse and he means nothing to her. Stung by her words, and Biddle's condescending statement that "if you were an officer and a gentleman, you'd understand," Dick decides to compete with Biddle as an equal and applies for West Point. He is accepted and does very well, to Scrapper's delight. In his First Class year, Dick becomes First Captain and General Fitts is appointed Academy superintendent, with Biddle present as his aide. While most of his classmates are infatuated with Kit, Dick is cold to her. Consequently, he is not very happy when the rest of the men insist that she participate in the traditional "Hundredth Night" theatrical performance that he is to direct.

Dick writes a comedy about a female general with a message directed at Kit. After the first rehearsal, Kit walks with Dick on Flirtation Walk and tries to explain why she told him she was not in love with him. Dick is too angry to listen to Kit, but during their on-stage love scene kisses her, and she admits she loves him. When, near graduation, General Fitts announces Kit's engagement to Biddle, Dick naturally is confused, and visits her after lights out to talk her out of marrying Biddle. He is caught by Biddle and, at Biddle's suggestion, agrees to resign from the Academy to protect Kit's name. Scrapper arrives at the Academy to see Dick graduate and is disappointed to learn of his resignation. The day is saved when Biddle tells Dick that his resignation was not accepted and that Kit returned his ring, wishing him good luck. Dick graduates a happy man.

Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers) seeks a divorce from her geologist husband Cyril Glossop (William Austin), whom she has not seen for some time. Under the guidance of her domineering and much-married Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady), she consults incompetent and bumbling lawyer Egbert Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton), once a fiancé of her aunt. He arranges for her to spend a night at a seaside hotel and to be caught in an adulterous relationship, for which purpose he hires a professional co-respondent, Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes). But Egbert forgets to arrange for private detectives to "catch" the couple.

By coincidence, Guy Holden (Fred Astaire), an American dancer and friend of Egbert's, who briefly met Mimi on his arrival in England, and who is now besotted with her, also arrives at the hotel, only to be mistaken by Mimi for the co-respondent she has been waiting for. While they are in Mimi's bedroom, Tonetti arrives, revealing the truth, and holds them "prisoner" to suit the plan. They contrive to escape and dance the night away.

In the morning, after several mistakes with the waiter, Cyril arrives at the door, so Guy hides in the next room, while Mimi and Tonetti give a show of being lovers. When Cyril does not believe them, Guy comes out and embraces Mimi in an attempt to convince him that ''he'' is her lover, but to no avail. It is an unwitting waiter (Eric Blore) who finally clears the whole thing up by revealing that Cyril ''himself'' is an adulterer, thus clearing the way for Mimi to get a divorce and marry Guy.

Riveter "Chesty" O'Conner (James Cagney) and his best friend, "Droopy" (Frank McHugh), join the US Navy to annoy O'Connor's nemesis, Chief Petty Officer "Biff" Martin (Pat O'Brien). O'Conner gets himself court-martialled for being AWOL while visiting Martin's sister Dorothy (Gloria Stuart). Disgruntled at his treatment, O'Connor angrily derides the Navy and finds himself ostracized by his fellow sailors.

During gunnery practice, O'Conner helps put out a fire in a gun room and receives the Navy Cross medal, but is still determined to get out of the Navy. Later. O'Conner transfers to the US Naval Air Service and is assigned to the rigid airship . When the ''Macon'' tries to dock, Martin is accidentally caught on a guide rope and is hoisted into the air. Despite orders, O'Conner climbs down the rope and saves Martin's life by parachuting both of them to the ground.

Later, at the wedding of O'Conner to Dorothy, Martin finds out that O'Conner has been promoted to boatswain and now outranks him.

In 1780 in Frankfort, Prussia, youngster Nathan Rothschild warns his parents Mayer and Guttle that the taxman is coming. They hurriedly hide their wealth. The taxman demands 20,000 gulden, an exorbitant sum, but accepts a bribe of 5,000 in exchange for assessing them 2,000 in taxes. Mayer's satisfaction is short-lived, however; a courier bringing him 10,000 guldens is intercepted and the money confiscated by the taxmen. Mayer tells his sons that he tries to be as honest as possible, but the authorities will not let him; he admonishes his children to acquire money, for "money is power" and defense for their people.

Later, as Mayer is lying on his deathbed, he instructs his five sons to start banks in different countries across Europe: Amschel in Frankfurt, Salomon in Vienna, Nathan in London, Carl in Rome, and James in Paris. That way, they can avoid having to send gold back and forth as the need arises, for in war they are in danger of being robbed by the enemy and in peace by their own countrymen. Instead, they can draw on each other's banks.

Thirty-two years later, the sons have established banking houses. Then France overruns Europe in the Napoleonic Wars. Austrian Prince Metternich asks Salomon to raise 15 million florins to help defeat Napoleon. The other brothers are approached with similar requests. Even in France itself, Talleyrand asks for 50 million francs. Nathan refuses to loan the British Government five million pounds (on top of previous loans) to hold off the enemy, but offers the Duke of Wellington twice that amount to smash him.

After the war is won, Wellington is disappointed to find that Nathan Rothschild has not even been invited to a party in the duke's honour. He insists on going to see Nathan. His aide, Captain Fitzroy, knows the address, as he and Nathan's daughter Julie are in love. While there, Wellington tells Nathan that the victorious powers are going to make a very large loan to France to help it recover from the war. The winning underwriter will become the most powerful and prestigious bank in Europe.

Nathan's bid is the best, but is rejected primarily in favor of Barings Bank. When Nathan demands to know the reason, Prussian Count Ledrantz (despite having himself sought a war loan from the Rothschilds) explains it was discarded on a "technicality", because Nathan is a Jew. Nathan learns that the quarter of the loan not awarded to Barings will fall to Ledrantz, Metternich and Talleyrand, who stand to make enormous profits. Nathan outmanoeuvres them financially, bringing them to the brink of ruin and dishonour; they capitulate and surrender to him the entire loan. However, this has somewhat embittered him. Where once he accepted Julie's choice, he now tells the non-Jewish Fitzroy to stay away from her.

Anti-Jewish riots break out all over Germany, instigated by Ledrantz. Nathan returns to Frankfurt and, under pressure from his own people, agrees to submit to Ledrantz. However, before he can, he receives word that Napoleon has escaped from exile. Nathan's brothers, fearful of their positions, want to support the restored French Emperor. However, Nathan refuses to do so. With Ledrantz and others once again desperately in need of financial support, he extracts a treaty from them granting Jews rights, freedoms and dignity long denied them. He also tells Fitzroy that he can once again see Julie. With Napoleon seemingly invincible, Nathan determines to risk all in support of the allies. Just before he is bankrupted, he receives word that Wellington has won the Battle of Waterloo, and he is not only saved, he becomes the richest man in the world and a baron.

Set in the 1910s at "the Shore" of New Jersey, the novel explores issues of race and class in early 20th-century America. Bea Chipley is a quiet, mousy Atlantic City teenage girl whose mother dies, leaving her to keep house for her father (Mr. Chipley) and Benjamin Pullman, a boarder who peddles ketchup and relish on the boardwalk and sells maple syrup door-to-door. Within a year, her father and Pullman decide that she should marry Pullman; she soon becomes pregnant and has a daughter named Jessie. Her father suffers an incapacitating stroke, confining him to a wheelchair, and Pullman is killed in a train accident. Bea is left to fend for her father and Jessie by herself.

She takes in boarders to defray expenses, as well as peddling Pullman's maple syrup door-to-door, using his "B. Pullman" business cards to avoid the ubiquitous sexism of the 1910s. To care for her infant daughter and disabled father, Bea Pullman hires Delilah, an African-American mammy figure, who has an infant daughter Peola. The girl has "light skin" (as described then).

As Delilah is a master waffle-maker, Bea capitalizes on Delilah's skills to open a "B. Pullman" waffle restaurant. It attracts many of the tourists at the Shore. She eventually builds a nationwide and then international chain of highly successful restaurants. Frank Flake, a young man intent on entering medical school, becomes Bea's business manager.

Jessie and Peola have grown up side by side. Peola is painfully aware of the tension between her white appearance and black racial identity. She continually attempts to pass as white to gain wider advantages. Disturbed by her daughter's unhappiness, Delilah encourages the girl to take pride in her black "race." Eventually, after living in Seattle for several years as a white woman, Peola severs all ties with her family. She marries a white man and moves to Bolivia to pass permanently. Heartbroken, Delilah dies soon after.

Bea falls in love with Flake, who is eight years her junior. Jessie, by now in her late teens, comes home for a visit just as Bea is planning on selling the "B. Pullman" chain and marrying Flake. The three are mired in a love triangle, resulting in a tragic ending.

Opera singer Mary Barrett (Grace Moore) leaves to study music in Milan, Italy to the disappointment of her family in New York City. Mary gets a job at the Cafe Roma, where Giulio Monteverdi (Tullio Carminati), a famous vocal coach, hears her sing. Giulio promises to make Mary a star if she will allow him to control her life. He also tells her that there cannot be any romance between the two of them, as that would distract from the process of growing her talent. Mary discovers she has stagefright as she prepares for a tour of provincial opera houses, however Giulio helps her overcome it.

Years later, still under Giulio's tutelage, Mary begins to tire of his dominance and discipline. The two meet one of Giulio's old pupils, Lally (Mona Barrie), while in Vienna. Lally once tried to be romantic with Giulio, but was rejected. This past history renders Mary jealous and she pretends to have laryngitis. Mary thinks Giulio has gone to Lally to rekindle a romance, and so visits Bill Houston (Lyle Talbot), a longtime friend who has proposed marriage. In a jealous huff, Mary decides not to sing that night in order to punish Giulio. Giulio realizes what is going on and tells Mary that Lally will replace her on stage, but then proposes to Mary.

She decides to go on, and Mary's performance of Bizet's ''Carmen'' wins her an invitation to the Metropolitan Opera, her dream venue. Giulio, however, still does not believe that she is ready for such a venue. Later at dinner, Lally lies to Mary by telling her that she is still involved with Giulio. On the night of her debut in ''Madame Butterfly'', Mary is too nervous to go on stage until she sees Giulio in his usual place in the prompter's box.

Nick Charles, a retired detective, and his wealthy wife, Nora, live in San Francisco, but are visiting New York City for Christmas, staying in a glamorous apartment-like suite at the Hotel Normandie. While in New York, Nick is pressed back into service by Dorothy Wynant, a young woman whose father, Clyde, was an old client of Nick's. Clyde, the "Thin Man" of the movie title, was supposed to have left on a secret business trip with a promise to return home before his daughter's wedding, but he has mysteriously disappeared. She convinces Nick to take the case, with the assistance of his socialite wife, who is eager to see him in action again. What appears to be a missing persons situation rapidly turns into a murder case, when Julia Wolf, Clyde's former secretary and girlfriend, is found dead, and evidence points to Clyde as the prime suspect. Dorothy refuses to believe that her father is guilty. Nick and Police Lieutenant Guild visit Nunheim, a frequent source for the lieutenant. After being pressed for information, Nunheim excuses himself momentarily, only to slip away down the fire escape. He arranges a meeting with the yet-unidentified murderer (someone whose face is not yet shown) to collect $5,000 from him. When Nunheim arrives, however, he is immediately shot four times and killed.

On a hunch, Nick soon visits Wynant's closed shop in the dead of night and unearths a skeletonized, but fully dressed, body, buried under the floor. In the dark shop, Wynant's bookkeeper, Tanner, suddenly appears. After that, the police—whom Nick had called once he found the body—arrive and conclude that Wynant committed the murders of Julia and now this newly discovered body. They assume that the remains belong to the "Fat Man"—a long-ago enemy of Wynant's—because of its oversized clothing with a belt buckle bearing an "R," that notorious figure's first initial. But Nick has already all but solved the case—and soon invites the full cast of suspects to an elegant dinner party.

There, as planned, the murderer is exposed. Nick—who had accompanied the medical examiner when he X-rayed the buried body—theorizes that the clothes were planted to hide the body's true identity, as the X-ray revealed telltale shrapnel, presumably from an old war wound, in one leg, the exact same injury that had plagued the "Thin Man": the missing Wynant. Nick deduces that the real culprit murdered Clyde once he discovered that the killer had been embezzling from him, and then the culprit murdered his own accomplice, Julia Wolf, because she knew about Clyde's murder, and after that, he murdered Nunheim, since he had witnessed Julia's murder and was blackmailing him.

Nick unfurls more of his theory to the dinner guests. Herbert MacCauley, Clyde's attorney, panics and tries to shoot Nick. Nick punches him out and declares MacCauley to be the murderer.

Finally, Nick and Nora, along with Dorothy and her new husband, Tommy, celebrate as they ride a luxury train back to California.

After seeing his poor father lose his land and be whipped to death for protesting, young Pancho Villa stabs one of the killers, then heads off into the hills of Chihuahua, Mexico during the 1880s. As a grown man, Villa and a band of rebel bandits, including his trusted ally Sierra, kill wealthy landowners and become heroes to their fellow "peons".

A wealthy aristocrat, Don Felipe, arranges an introduction for Villa to the distinguished and eloquent Francisco Madero, who resents what has become of Mexico under the rule of president Porfirio Díaz and persuades Villa to help him fight for liberty, not just for personal gain. The coarse and illiterate Villa is humbled in the presence of Madero and agrees to fight for his cause. He also is attracted to Don Felipe's beautiful sister Teresa, although there are many women in Villa's life, including one he is married to, Rosita.

Villa's exploits are made even more colorful by an American newspaper reporter, Johnny Sykes, to whom Villa has taken a great liking. While drunk, Sykes is misinformed and reports that Villa has already overtaken the village of Santa Rosalia in a great victory for his men. Disobeying the orders of Madero and the arrogant General Pascal, simply to help his newspaper friend, Villa stages a raid on Santa Rosalia, as well as on Juarez.

Madero ultimately assumes office in Mexico City, then commands Villa to disband his personal army. Villa agrees, but when Sierra kills a bank teller just so Villa can withdraw his money, Villa himself ends up sentenced to death. A gloating General Pascal mocks the way Villa pleads for his life, then reads a telegram from Madero, ordering that Villa instead be exiled from the country.

Alone and drunk in El Paso, Texas, feeling forsaken by his homeland, Villa is visited by Sykes, who informs him that Madero has been assassinated by the power-mad Pascal and his men. Villa returns to Mexico and rebuilds his own army, recruiting tens of thousands to ride by his side. Together they storm the capital, where Pascal is subjected to a particularly gruesome death. Villa takes what he wants, but when Teresa resists and he physically assaults her, she draws a gun that her brother Don Felipe has given her for protection. Sierra intervenes and murders her.

Villa appoints himself president but is ineffectual, unable to restore Madero's dream of land reform for Mexico's poor. He ultimately agrees to step aside and go back to where he belongs, including to his wife. Before he can, with Sykes by his side, Villa is gunned down by Don Felipe out of revenge for his sister. Sykes vows to keep Villa's memory alive, telling his dying friend that he is no longer news, but history.

The story is narrated by Overton, godfather to the central character.

The novel takes its beginnings in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to trace Ernest's emergence from previous generations of the Pontifex family. John Pontifex was a carpenter; his son George rises in the world to become a publisher; George's son Theobald, pressed by his father to become a minister, is manipulated into marrying Christina, the daughter of a clergyman; the main character Ernest Pontifex is the eldest son of Theobald and Christina.

The author depicts an antagonistic relationship between Ernest and his hypocritical and domineering parents. His aunt Alethea is aware of this relationship, but dies before she can fulfil her aim of counteracting the parents' malign influence on the boy. However, shortly before her death she secretly passes a small fortune into Overton's keeping, with the agreement that once Ernest is twenty-eight, he can receive it.

As Ernest develops into a young man, he travels a bumpy theological road, reflecting the divisions and controversies in the Church of England in the Victorian era. Easily influenced by others at university, he starts out as an Evangelical Christian, and soon becomes a clergyman. He then falls for the lures of the High Church (and is duped out of much of his own money by a fellow clergyman). He decides that the way to regenerate the Church of England is to live among the poor, but the results are, first, that his faith in the integrity of the Bible is severely damaged by a conversation with one of the poor he was hoping to convert, and, second, that under the pressures of poverty and theological doubt, he attempts a sexual assault on a woman he has incorrectly believed to be of loose morals.

This assault leads to a prison term. His parents disown him. His health deteriorates.

As he recovers he learns how to tailor and decides to make this his profession once out of prison. He rejects Christianity as superstition. He marries Ellen, a former housemaid of his parents; they have two children and set up shop together in the second-hand clothing industry. However, in due course he discovers that Ellen is both a bigamist and an alcoholic. Overton at this point intervenes and pays Ellen a stipend, and she happily leaves with another for America. He gives Ernest a job, and takes him on a trip to Continental Europe.

In due course Ernest becomes 28, and receives his aunt Alethea's gift. He returns to the family home until his mother's death; his father's influence over him wanes as Theobald's own position as a clergyman is reduced in relative stature, though to the end Theobald purposefully finds small ways to annoy him. Ernest becomes an author of controversial literature.

Joan Manning, the daughter of a police sergeant, secretly marries Chick Williams, a gangleader who convinces her that he is leading an honest life. Chick attends the theater with Joan and, at the intermission, sneaks away, committing a robbery during which a policeman is killed. Chick is suspected of the crime but is able to use Joan to substantiate his alibi. The police plant Danny McGann, an undercover agent, in Chick's gang; but he is discovered, and Chick murders him. Chick is later cornered by the police in his own home. Before they can arrest him, he flips the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. In the midst of the chaos, Chick escapes to the roof. He attempts to jump off to a nearby building, but stumbles on the landing, thus falling to his death.

During the American Revolutionary War in 1776, Captain Benjamin Martin, a veteran of the French and Indian War and a widower with seven children, is called to Charleston to vote in the South Carolina General Assembly on a levy supporting the Continental Army. Fearing war against Great Britain and not wanting to force others to fight when he will not, Benjamin abstains; the vote is nonetheless passed, and, against his father's wishes, Benjamin's eldest son Gabriel joins the Army.

Two years later, Charleston falls to the British and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying dispatches. The Martins care for both British and American wounded from a nearby battle before British Dragoons led by Colonel William Tavington arrive, arrest Gabriel with the intention of hanging him as a spy, and seize Benjamin's African American workers for their own use. When Benjamin's son Thomas tries to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Tavington, who then orders the Martins' house burned and all wounded Americans executed. After the British leave, Benjamin, accompanied by his two younger sons, set up a row of muskets and ambush the British convoy transporting Gabriel. Benjamin skillfully, yet brutally, slaughters several British troops with his tomahawk. A British survivor tells Tavington of the attack, earning Benjamin the moniker of the "Ghost".

Gabriel decides to rejoin the Continentals and Benjamin soon follows, leaving the younger children in the care of Benjamin's sister-in-law, Charlotte. While traveling, they witness American soldiers and militiamen under General Horatio Gates engaging the British Army. Benjamin points out the foolishness of undisciplined and untested men fighting well-trained British regulars on open ground; sure enough, the Continentals are decisively routed. Benjamin meets his former commanding officer, Col. Harry Burwell, who appoints him as colonel of a newly raised militia unit due to his combat experience and also places Gabriel under his father's command. Benjamin is tasked with weakening Lord Cornwallis's regiments through a sustained campaign of guerrilla warfare. Benjamin is also provided the service of French Major Jean Villeneuve, who helps train the militia and promises more French aid.

Gabriel asks why Villeneuve and others often mention an incident at Fort Wilderness. Benjamin, having been hesitant to answer the question up to now, finally tells his son: while fighting in the British Army, he and several other soldiers discovered French soldiers committing an atrocity against British colonists. The enraged men caught up with the retreating French at Fort Wilderness and killed all but two of them. The survivors were forced to gather the heads of their comrades and present them to the Cherokee, convincing the tribe to betray the French and side with the British. Benjamin reveals that he has been haunted by guilt ever since.

Benjamin's militia carries out brutal ambushes of British patrols and supply caravans, even capturing some of Cornwallis' personal effects and his two Great Danes, and burn the bridges and ferries needed by Cornwallis. The general angrily blames Tavington for his setbacks, but when Benjamin uses what Cornwallis perceives as a dishonorable ploy to free some of the captured men, he reluctantly permits Tavington to do whatever he pleases if it puts a stop to the attacks. With the reluctant aid of Wilkins, a local Loyalist, Tavington has the homes of several militiamen burned and their families executed. Benjamin's family flees Charlotte's plantation as it is burned to live in a Gullah settlement with formerly enslaved residents. There, Gabriel marries his betrothed, Anne.

Tavington's brigade raids a town that has been secretly providing the militia with food. He has all the residents, including Anne and her parents, assembled in the church and demands the location of their camp. After their location is given, he has the doors barricaded, and orders the church to be burned, killing everyone inside. When they discover the tragedy, Gabriel and several other soldiers attack Tavington's encampment; Tavington is wounded but manages to kill Gabriel before retreating. Benjamin mourns and contemplates desertion before being reminded of his son's dedication to the cause by finding an American flag he repaired. Martin's militia, along with a larger Continental Army regiment, confronts Cornwallis' troops in a decisive battle at Cowpens. Benjamin rallies his side, and he and Tavington meet in personal combat. Tavington disarms and wounds Benjamin with his saber, before preparing to deliver the coup de grâce. At the last second, Benjamin dodges the attack and impales Tavington twice in the abdomen and throat respectively, killing him. The battle is a Continental victory, and Cornwallis sounds the retreat.

After many retreats, Cornwallis is besieged at Yorktown, Virginia where he surrenders to the surrounding Continental Army and the long-awaited French naval force. After the conflict ends, Benjamin returns to his family, with Charlotte carrying their new baby, and discovers members of his former militia unit rebuilding his homestead on their old town road.

Kent (Robert Montgomery), a drunk driver who carelessly kills a man, is sentenced to ten years for manslaughter. In an overcrowded prison designed for 1800 and actually holding 3000, he is placed in a cell with Butch (Wallace Beery) and Morgan (Chester Morris), the two leaders of the inmates. Butch is alternately menacing and friendly, while Morgan tries to help out the frightened, inexperienced youngster, but Kent rebuffs his overtures.

When Butch is ordered into solitary confinement for sparking a protest over the prison food, he passes along his knife before being searched. It ends up in Kent's hands. Meanwhile, Morgan is notified that he is to be paroled. Prior to a search of their cell, Kent hides the knife in Morgan's bed. When it is found, Morgan's parole is canceled, and he is put in solitary as well. He vows to make Kent pay for what he has done.

When Morgan is let out of solitary, he escapes by switching places with a corpse on the way to the morgue. He makes his way to the bookstore run by Kent's beautiful sister, Anne (Leila Hyams). She, however, recognizes him. She manages to get his gun and starts to call the police, but then changes her mind and gives him back his pistol. Morgan (who has been attracted to Anne since he saw Kent's photograph of her) gets a job and becomes better acquainted with Anne and her family. They all like him, especially Anne. However, he is caught and sent back to prison.

When Butch tells Morgan of his plan for a jailbreak on Thanksgiving, Morgan tells him that he is going straight. In return for a promise of freedom, Kent informs the warden (Lewis Stone) of the attempt, though he is not privy to the details. Despite the warning, the inmates succeed in taking over the prison, capturing many of the guards, though they are unable to force their way out. Thwarted, Butch threatens to shoot the guards one by one unless they are allowed to escape. When the warden stands firm, Butch shoots the warden's right-hand man in cold blood, then tosses the dying man out for all to see.

Army tanks are called to break down the entrance. Morgan grabs a pistol from the prisoner assigned to watch the guards. He finds Kent cowering with the guard but spares him. Kent panics and flees before Morgan locks the guards in to save their lives. When Kent tries to open the front doors, he is killed in the crossfire. Butch is told that Morgan was the "stoolie" who tipped off the warden and learns he has put the guards out of danger. He sets out to kill his former friend. In the ensuing gunfight, both are wounded, Butch fatally. Before he dies, he learns that Kent was actually the informer, and he and Morgan reconcile. For his efforts, Morgan is given a full pardon. When he exits the prison, Anne rushes to embrace him.

In 1874, Disraeli's ambitious foreign policy, aimed at extending the British empire, is voted down by the House of Commons after a speech by his great rival, William Gladstone. Later, Disraeli receives the welcome news that the spendthrift Khedive of Egypt is in dire need of money and is willing to sell the controlling shares in the Suez Canal. The purchase of the canal would secure control of India, but Michael Probert, head of the Bank of England, makes it clear to Disraeli that he is vehemently opposed to any such plan. Disraeli then summons Hugh Myers, a leading Jewish banker.

Meanwhile, Lord Charles Deeford proposes to Lady Clarissa Pevensey. Although she is in love with him, she turns him down. He is content to enjoy his wealth and high social standing, and lacks the ambition she wants in a husband; further, she is a great admirer of the Prime Minister and Charles has no strong opinion about him. Disraeli, seeing promise in the young man and wanting Clarissa to be happy, convinces Charles to come work for him, and tells him about the canal purchase.

But he does not tell him about the spies. Russia, eager to seize India for itself, has assigned two spies to watch Disraeli: Mrs. Travers, who has entree to the highest social circles, and Mr. Foljambe. Disraeli was not fooled; he has hired Foljambe as his personal government secretary, the better to deceive him. When Foljambe asks Charles if Myers is there to provide financial backing for the purchase of the canal, Charles says nothing, but his manner makes it clear that Foljambe has guessed correctly. Mrs. Travers orders Foljambe to leave the country and warn their masters.

Disraeli soon discovers what has happened. When he decides to send an agent to the khedive immediately, Clarissa suggests he send Charles. Charles persuades the khedive to accept Myers' cheque in exchange for the shares, also proving his own worth to Clarissa.

Disraeli is elated when he receives the news. However, Myers comes and informs him that his banking house has been driven into bankruptcy by sabotage; the cheque is worthless. Disraeli tells him to keep his situation secret for the moment. When the prying Mrs. Travers arrives, Disraeli allows her to learn of the purchase, and she exultantly admits to her key part in sabotaging Myers.

Thinking quickly, Disraeli summons Probert. Though the banker initially refuses to help, Disraeli forces him to sign a paper giving unlimited credit to Myers by threatening to have Parliament revoke the bank's charter. (After Probert leaves, Disraeli confesses to his wife and Clarissa that he was bluffing.) Myers' solvency is restored, the deal is completed, and as a result of Disraeli's success, Queen Victoria can add Empress of India to her other titles.

Ted, Jerry, Paul, and Dorothy are part of the New York in-crowd. Jerry's decision to marry Ted crushes Paul. He gets drunk and drives, causing an accident that leaves Dorothy's face disfigured. Out of guilt, Paul marries Dorothy. Ted and Jerry have been married for three years when, on the evening of their third anniversary, she discovers that he has had a brief affair with another woman. Ted tells Jerry it did not "mean a thing". Upset, and with Ted away on a business trip, Jerry spends the night with his best friend, Don. Upon Ted's return, she tells him that she "balanced our accounts", withholding Don's name.

Ted is hypocritically outraged, and they argue, which ends with Ted leaving her and the couple filing for a divorce. While Jerry turns to partying to forget her sorrows, Ted becomes an alcoholic. Paul and Jerry run into each other, and she discovers that he still loves her and is willing to leave Dorothy, with whom he is in a loveless, resentful marriage, to be with her. They two spend weeks together and plan for a future together.

Dorothy comes to speak with Jerry at her home but Paul is coincidentally meeting Jerry for dinner and the three meet for an awkward exchange. Despite good arguments from Paul, Dorothy’s desperation to not lose him forces Jerry to reevaluate her decision to leave with Paul. Ultimately, Jerry admits that she regrets giving up on her first marriage. She decides to see if her husband will reconcile, disappointing Paul bitterly a second time.

Weeks later, on her third attempt to locate Ted in Paris, Jerry finally finds him at a New Year's Eve party. After a polite exchange,Ted expresses his regret at how he reacted before the divorce. Jerry tells Ted her true feelings, and the two kiss at midnight to begin the new year, and presumably their new lives, together.

Count Alfred (Maurice Chevalier), military attaché to the Sylvanian Embassy in Paris, is ordered back to Sylvania to report to Queen Louise for a reprimand following a string of scandals, including an affair with the ambassador's wife. In the meantime Queen Louise (Jeanette MacDonald), ruler of Sylvania in her own right, is royally fed-up with her subjects' preoccupation with whom she will marry.

Intrigued rather than offended by Count Alfred's dossier, Queen Louise invites him to dinner. Their romance progresses to the point of marriage when, despite his qualms, for love of Louise Alfred agrees to obey the Queen.

The novel begins with Virgil Adams confined to bed with an unnamed illness. There is tension between Virgil and his wife over how he should go about recovering, and she pressures him not to return to work for J.A. Lamb once he is well. Alice, their daughter, attempts to keep peace in the family, with mixed results, and she walks to her friend Mildred Palmer's house to see what Mildred will wear to a dance that evening.

After Alice's return, she spends the day preparing for the dance and goes to pick violets for a bouquet because she cannot afford to buy flowers for herself. Her brother Walter initially refuses to accompany her to the dance, but because Alice cannot go without an escort, Mrs. Adams prevails upon Walter into renting a Tin Lizzie to drive Alice to the dance.

Walter's attitude towards the upper class is one of obvious disdain. He would rather spend his time gambling with the African-American servants in the cloakroom than be in the ballroom at the dance. Alice forces him to dance with her at first because it will be a grave embarrassment for her to stand alone, but Walter eventually abandons her. Alice tries to give the impression that she is not standing by herself, and she then dances with Frank Dowling, whose attentions she does not welcome, and Arthur Russell, a rich newcomer to town who is rumored to be engaged to Mildred and whom she believes to have danced with her out of pity and at Mildred's request. She leaves the dance and is horribly embarrassed after Arthur discovers Walter gambling with the servants.

The next day, Alice goes into town on an errand for her father and passes Frincke's Business College on the way with a shudder since she sees it as a place that drags promising young ladies down to "hideous obscurity." On the walk back home, she encounters Arthur Russell, who shows an obvious interest in her. As she assumes that he is all but spoken for, she does not know how to handle the conversation. She warns him not to believe the things girls like Mildred will say about her, and she tells a number of lies to obscure her family's humble economic status.

Arthur returns several days later, and his courtship of Alice continues. All seems well between them until he mentions a dance being thrown by the young Miss Henrietta Lamb. Arthur wants to escort Alice to the dance, and she lies to cover up that she was not invited. Mrs. Adams uses Alice's distress to finally goad Virgil into setting up a glue factory, which she has long insisted would be the family's ticket to success. It is eventually revealed that the glue recipe was developed by Virgil and another man under the direction and in the employ of J.A. Lamb, who, over the years, declined to take up its production despite repeated prodding from Virgil. Although he is initially reluctant to "steal" from Mr. Lamb, Virgil finally persuades himself that his improvements to the recipe over the years has made it his.

As Arthur continues his secret courtship of Alice (he never talks about her or tells anyone where he spends his evenings), Alice continues spinning a web of lies to preserve the image of herself and her family that she has invented. That becomes especially difficult when she and Arthur encounter Walter in a bad part of town when he is walking with a young woman, who gives the appearance of being a prostitute. At home, Walter is confronted by his father, who demands Walter to quit Lamb's to help in setting up the glue factory. Walter refuses to help his father without a $300 cash advance, which Virgil cannot afford.

Virgil arranges to resign from Lamb's employ without speaking to him face to face because he fears the old man's reaction, and he puts the glue factory into operation. Meanwhile, Alice works frantically to convince Arthur that the things other people will say about her are not true, and she continues to press the point even when Arthur insists that no one has spoken about her behind her back and that nothing anyone else could say would change his opinion of her. Mrs. Adams decides to arrange a dinner so that Arthur can meet the family and sets about planning an elaborate meal and hiring servants for the day so that Arthur will be impressed.

Walter again demands cash from his father (the amount has now risen to $350) without explaining why he needs it, and he again is rebuffed. While the events occur at the Adams house, Arthur finally overhears things about Alice that strikes a chord, and her family, including the fact that Virgil Adams has "stolen" from J.A. Lamb in setting up a factory with Lamb's secret recipe for glue.

The dinner is a total disaster since the day is unbearably hot, the food is far too heavy, and the hired servants are surly and difficult to manage. That is capped by Virgil's unwittingly acting like his lower-middle-class self, not the well-to-do businessman that his wife and daughter wish him to act like. Arthur, still reeling from what he heard about the Adamses earlier in the day, is stiff and uneasy throughout the evening, and Alice feels increasingly uncomfortable. By the end of the night, it is apparent to her that he will not come courting again, and she bids him farewell. That night, word reaches the family that Walter has skipped town and leaves behind him a massive debt to J.A. Lamb, which will have to be paid to keep Walter out of jail.

The following morning, Virgil arrives at work to see that Lamb is opening his own glue factory on such a huge scale that Adams will not be able to compete, and he never will make enough money to either pay his son's debts or pay off the family's mortgage.

Virgil confronts Lamb about the situation, works himself into such a state that he collapses, and returns to the same sickbed where he was at the beginning of the book. Lamb takes pity on the man and arranges to buy the Adams glue factory for a price sufficient to pay off Walter's debts and the family's mortgage. The Adams family takes in boarders to help keep the family afloat economically, and Alice heads downtown to Frincke's Business College to train herself in employable skills so that she can support the family. She encounters Arthur on the road and is pleased that their conversation is both polite and brief. She calmly accepts that there is no possibility of renewing the romance between them.

Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell) tries to convince her high school sweetheart, Broadway producer Robert Gordon (Robert Taylor), to give her a chance to star in his new musical, but he is too busy with the rich widow (June Knight) backing his show. Irene tries to show Gordon that she has the talent to succeed, but he will not hire her. Things become complicated when she begins impersonating a French dancer, who was actually the invention of a gossip columnist (Jack Benny, parodying Walter Winchell).

In 17th-century England, Irish doctor Peter Blood is summoned to aid Lord Gildoy, a wounded patron who participated in the Monmouth Rebellion. Arrested while performing his duties as a physician, he is convicted of treason against King James II and sentenced to death by the infamous Judge Jeffreys. By the whim of the king, who sees an opportunity for profit, Blood and the surviving rebels are transported to the West Indies to be sold into slavery.

In Port Royal, Blood is purchased by Arabella Bishop, the beautiful niece of local military commander Colonel Bishop. Attracted by Blood's rebellious nature, Arabella does her best to improve his situation by recommending him as the personal physician of the colony's governor, who suffers from painful gout. Outwardly resentful towards Arabella, yet silently appreciative for her efforts on his behalf, Blood develops an escape plan for himself and his fellow slaves. The plan is almost uncovered by the suspicious Colonel Bishop, who has one of Blood's men flogged and interrogated. Blood is spared a similar fate when a Spanish man-o-war attacks Port Royal. During the raid, Blood and his fellow slaves seize the Spanish ship from its drunken night watch, and sail away to begin lives of piracy.

Blood and his men quickly achieve great fame among the brotherhood of buccaneers. When the old governor is unable to contain the pirate menace, Colonel Bishop is appointed governor. He sends Arabella to England on an extended holiday, but three years later she returns to the Caribbean. Her ship, also carrying royal emissary Lord Willoughby, is captured by Blood's treacherous partner, the French buccaneer Captain Levasseur, who plans to hold them for ransom. Blood forces Levasseur to sell them to him, while relishing the opportunity to turn the tables on Arabella. When Levasseur vehemently objects, Blood is forced to kill him in a duel.

Blood offers Arabella valuable jewelry from his conquests as a sign of his love for her. Ungrateful for her "rescue", Arabella is indignant at having been purchased by Blood, and calls him thief and pirate. Although angered by her rejection, he orders his men to set sail for Port Royal where he will deliver Arabella and Lord Willoughby, despite the danger to himself and his crew.

As they approach Port Royal, they sight two French warships attacking the city; Bishop has left it undefended in his single-minded pursuit of Blood. With England now at war with France, Lord Willoughby pleads with Blood to save the colony, but the captain and his crew refuse to fight for the corrupt king. Willoughby reveals that James II has been deposed in the Glorious Revolution; England's new king, William III, has sent Willoughby to offer Blood and his men full pardons and commissions in the Royal Navy. This startling news quickly changes the pirates' minds, and they prepare for battle with the French.

After ferrying Arabella ashore, Blood and his men approach Port Royal flying French colors, but soon that ensign is replaced with the British Union Jack. A pitched ship-to-ship battle ensues, leading to frenzied hand-to-hand deck combat. Blood and his men defeat the French frigates, saving the colony, but not before losing their ship in the battle. As a reward, Blood is appointed the new governor of Port Royal by Lord Willoughby and has Arabella confess that she loves him. He also has the pleasure of dealing with his hostile predecessor, now returned from his pirate hunt and under arrest for dereliction of duty in a time of war. As Arabella playfully pleads with the new governor to spare her uncle's life, Blood reveals his face to the astonished Bishop, greeting him with the words, "Good morning, Uncle."

In Dublin in 1922, Gypo Nolan has been kicked out of the outlaw Irish Republican Army (IRA) for not killing a Black and Tan who killed an IRA man. He becomes angry when he sees his streetwalker girlfriend Katie Madden trying to pick up a customer. After he throws the man into the street, Katie laments that she does not have £10 for passage to America to start afresh.

Gypo later runs into his friend and IRA comrade Frankie McPhillip, a fugitive with a £20 bounty on his head. Frankie, tired of hiding for six months, is on his way home to visit his mother and sister Mary under cover of the foggy night. The slow-witted Gypo decides to turn informer for the £20 reward, enough for passage to America for the both of them. The Black and Tans find Frankie at his house, and Frankie is killed in the ensuing gunfight. The British contemptuously give Gypo his blood money and let him go.

Gypo subsequently buys a bottle of whiskey and tells Katie that he obtained money by beating up an American sailor. He goes to Frankie's wake, and acts suspiciously when coins fall out of his pocket. The men there tell him that they do not suspect Gypo of informing, but he then meets with several of his former IRA comrades, who wonder who informed on Frankie. Gypo claims it was a man named Mulligan. Though Gypo is drunk and talking nonsense, the others begin to suspect him but do not have enough evidence as yet. Gypo leaves and gives out £1 notes to a blind man and some bar patrons, but people wonder why he had such a sudden influx of cash. Meanwhile, Mary tells the IRA that the only person Frankie talked to that day was Gypo, and the men decide to hold an inquest into the death.

Gypo goes to an upper-class party to look for Katie, but gets drunk and buys rounds of drinks. Gypo is then taken away by his former IRA comrades when they figure out it was he. He is taken to a kangaroo court, where Mulligan is questioned and is accused once again by Gypo. However, the comrades do not believe Gypo, and give him a detailed accounting of where he spent his entire £20 reward. Gypo then confesses to ratting out Frankie.

Gypo is locked up, but before he can be killed he escapes through a hole in the ceiling. He runs to Katie's apartment, where he tells her that he informed on Frankie. Katie goes to see the commissioner who presided over the trial, Dan Gallagher, to beg him to leave Gypo alone. The rigid Gallagher says he cannot do anything, and Gypo might turn in the entire organization to the police if he is allowed to live. However, other IRA members, having overheard Katie, go to her apartment and shoot Gypo, much to Katie's horror as she hears the shots. Gypo wanders into a church where Frankie's mother is praying and begs forgiveness as he confesses to her. She does forgive him, telling him that he did not know what he was doing, and the absolved Gypo dies content on the floor of the church after calling out to Frankie with joy.

On the northwest frontier of India during the British Raj, Scottish Canadian Lieutenant Alan McGregor (Gary Cooper), in charge of newcomers, welcomes two replacements to the 41st Bengal Lancers: Lieutenant John Forsythe (Franchot Tone) and Lieutenant Donald Stone (Richard Cromwell), the son of the unit's commander, Colonel Tom Stone (Guy Standing). Lieutenant Stone, a "cub" (meaning a newly commissioned officer), eagerly anticipated serving on the Indian frontier, particularly because he specifically was requested and assumed that his father sent for him; Lieutenant Forsythe, an experienced cavalrymen and something of a teasing character, was sent out as a replacement for an officer who was killed in action. After his arrival Lieutenant Stone discovers that his father keeps him at arms length, wanting to treat him the same as he treats all of the other men. He also reveals that he did ''not'' request his son serve in his regiment, a discovery that breaks his heart and leads to him going on a drunken bender. Attempting to show impartiality, the colonel treats his son indifferently. The Colonel's commitment to strictly military behavior and adherence to protocol is interpreted by young Stone as indifference. He had not seen his father since he was a boy and had looked forward to spending time with him.

Lieutenant Barrett (Colin Tapley), disguised as a native rebel in order to spy on Mohammed Khan (Douglass Dumbrille), reports that Khan is preparing an uprising against the British. He plans to intercept and hijack a military convoy transporting two million rounds of ammunition. When Khan discovers that Colonel Stone knows of his plan, he orders Tania Volkanskaya, a beautiful Russian agent, to seduce and kidnap Lieutenant Stone in an attempt to extract classified information about the ammunition caravan from him, or use him as leverage to attract his father. When the colonel refuses to attempt his son's rescue, McGregor and Forsythe, appalled by the "lack of concern" the colonel has for his own son, leave the camp at night without orders. Disguised as native merchants trying to sell blankets, they successfully get inside Mohammed Khan's fortress. However, they are recognized by Tania, who had met the two men at a social event. McGregor and Forsythe are taken prisoner.

During a seemingly friendly interrogation, Khan says, "We have ways of making men talk," the first time such a phrase was uttered in film or literature. He wants to know when and where the munitions will be transported so that he can attack and steal the arms. He has the prisoners tortured for the information. Bamboo shoots are shoved under their fingernails and set on fire. McGregor and Forsythe refuse to talk, but the demoralized Stone, feeling rejected by his father, cracks and reveals what he knows. As a result, the ammunition convoy is captured.

After receiving news of the stolen ammunition, Colonel Stone takes the 41st to battle Mohammed Khan. From their cell, the captives see the overmatched Bengal Lancers deploy to assault Khan's fortress. They manage to escape and blow up the ammunition tower, young Stone redeeming himself by killing Khan with a dagger. With their ammunition gone, their leader dead, and their fortress in ruins as a result of the battle, the remaining rebels surrender. However, McGregor, who was principally responsible for the destruction of the ammunition tower, was machine gunned as he blew up the tower, then died in the subsequent explosion.

In recognition of their bravery and valor in battle, Lieutenants Forsythe and Stone are awarded the Distinguished Service Order. McGregor posthumously receives the Victoria Cross, Great Britain's highest award for military valor, with Colonel Stone pinning the medal to the saddle cloth of McGregor's horse as was the custom in the 41st Lancers (according to the film).

Volume I: Fantine

The story begins in 1815 in Digne, as the peasant Jean Valjean, just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the Bagne of Toulon—five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and fourteen more for numerous escape attempts—is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as a former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter.

Digne's benevolent Bishop Myriel gives him shelter. At night, Valjean runs off with Myriel's silverware. When the police capture Valjean, Myriel pretends that he has given the silverware to Valjean and presses him to take two silver candlesticks as well, as if he had forgotten to take them. The police accept his explanation and leave. Myriel tells Valjean that his life has been spared for God, and that he should use money from the silver candlesticks to make an honest man of himself.

Valjean broods over Myriel's words. When opportunity presents itself, purely out of habit, he steals a 40-sous coin from 12-year-old Petit Gervais and chases the boy away. He quickly repents and searches the city in panic for Gervais. At the same time, his theft is reported to the authorities. Valjean hides as they search for him, because if apprehended he will be returned to the galleys for life as a repeat offender.

Six years pass and Valjean, using the alias Monsieur Madeleine, has become a wealthy factory owner and is appointed mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Walking down the street, he sees a man named Fauchelevent pinned under the wheels of a cart. When no one volunteers to lift the cart, even for pay, he decides to rescue Fauchelevent himself. He crawls underneath the cart, manages to lift it, and frees him. The town's police inspector, Inspector Javert, who was an adjutant guard at the Bagne of Toulon during Valjean's incarceration, becomes suspicious of the mayor after witnessing this remarkable feat of strength. He has known only one other man, a convict named Jean Valjean, who could accomplish it.

Years earlier in Paris, a grisette named Fantine was very much in love with Félix Tholomyès. His friends, Listolier, Fameuil, and Blachevelle were also paired with Fantine's friends Dahlia, Zéphine, and Favourite. The men abandon the women, treating their relationships as youthful amusements. Fantine must draw on her own resources to care for her and Tholomyès' daughter, Cosette. When Fantine arrives at Montfermeil, she leaves Cosette in the care of the Thénardiers, a corrupt innkeeper and his selfish, cruel wife.

Fantine is unaware that they are abusing her daughter and using her as forced labor for their inn, and continues to try to meet their growing, extortionate and fictitious demands. She is later fired from her job at Jean Valjean's factory, because of the discovery of her daughter, who was born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, the Thénardiers' monetary demands continue to grow. In desperation, Fantine sells her hair and two front teeth, and she resorts to prostitution to pay the Thénardiers. Fantine is slowly dying from an unspecified disease.

A dandy named Bamatabois harasses Fantine in the street, and she reacts by striking him. Javert arrests Fantine. She begs to be released so that she can provide for her daughter, but Javert sentences her to six months in prison. Valjean (Mayor Madeleine) intervenes and orders Javert to release her. Javert resists but Valjean prevails. Valjean, feeling responsible because his factory turned her away, promises Fantine that he will bring Cosette to her. He takes her to a hospital.

Javert comes to see Valjean again. Javert admits that after being forced to free Fantine, he reported him as Valjean to the French authorities. He tells Valjean he realizes he was wrong, because the authorities have identified someone else as the real Jean Valjean, have him in custody, and plan to try him the next day. Valjean is torn, but decides to reveal himself to save the innocent man, whose real name is Champmathieu. He travels to attend the trial and there reveals his true identity. Valjean returns to Montreuil to see Fantine, followed by Javert, who confronts him in her hospital room.

After Javert grabs Valjean, Valjean asks for three days to bring Cosette to Fantine, but Javert refuses. Fantine discovers that Cosette is not at the hospital and fretfully asks where she is. Javert orders her to be quiet, and then reveals to her Valjean's real identity. Weakened by the severity of her illness, she falls back in shock and dies. Valjean goes to Fantine, speaks to her in an inaudible whisper, kisses her hand, and then leaves with Javert. Later, Fantine's body is unceremoniously thrown into a public grave.

Volume II: Cosette

Valjean escapes, is recaptured, and is sentenced to death. The king commutes his sentence to penal servitude for life. While imprisoned in the Bagne of Toulon, Valjean, at great personal risk, rescues a sailor caught in the ship's rigging. Spectators call for his release. Valjean fakes his own death by allowing himself to fall into the ocean. Authorities report him dead and his body lost.

Valjean arrives at Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching water in the woods alone and walks with her to the inn. He orders a meal and observes how the Thénardiers abuse her, while pampering their own daughters Éponine and Azelma, who mistreat Cosette for playing with their doll. Valjean leaves and returns to make Cosette a present of an expensive new doll which, after some hesitation, she happily accepts. Éponine and Azelma are envious. Madame Thénardier is furious with Valjean, while her husband makes light of Valjean's behaviour, caring only that he pay for his food and lodging.

The next morning, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette with him. Madame Thénardier immediately accepts, while Thénardier pretends to love Cosette and be concerned for her welfare, reluctant to give her up. Valjean pays the Thénardiers 1,500 francs, and he and Cosette leave the inn. Thénardier, hoping to swindle more out of Valjean, runs after them, holding the 1,500 francs, and tells Valjean he wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the child's mother. Valjean hands Thénardier Fantine's letter authorizing the bearer to take Cosette. Thénardier then demands that Valjean pay a thousand crowns, but Valjean and Cosette leave. Thénardier regrets that he did not bring his gun and turns back toward home.

Valjean and Cosette flee to Paris. Valjean rents new lodgings at Gorbeau House, where he and Cosette live happily. However, Javert discovers Valjean's lodgings there a few months later. Valjean takes Cosette and they try to escape from Javert. They soon find shelter in the Petit-Picpus convent with the help of Fauchelevent, the man whom Valjean once rescued from being crushed under a cart and who has become the convent's gardener. Valjean also becomes a gardener and Cosette becomes a student at the convent school.

Volume III: Marius

Eight years later, the Friends of the ABC, led by Enjolras, are preparing an act of anti-Orléanist civil unrest (i.e. the Paris uprising on 5–6 June 1832, following the death of General Lamarque, the only French leader who had sympathy towards the working class. Lamarque was a victim of a major cholera epidemic that had ravaged the city, particularly its poor neighborhoods, arousing suspicion that the government had been poisoning wells). The Friends of the ABC are joined by the poor of the ''Cour des miracles'', including the Thénardiers' eldest son Gavroche, who is a street urchin.

One of the students, Marius Pontmercy, has become alienated from his family (especially his royalist grandfather M. Gillenormand) because of his Bonapartist views. After the death of his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy, Marius discovers a note from him instructing his son to provide help to a sergeant named Thénardier who saved his life at Waterloo—in reality Thénardier was looting corpses and only saved Pontmercy's life by accident; he had called himself a sergeant under Napoleon to avoid exposing himself as a robber.

At the Luxembourg Garden, Marius falls in love with the now grown and beautiful Cosette. The Thénardiers have also moved to Paris and now live in poverty after losing their inn. They live under the surname "Jondrette" at Gorbeau House (coincidentally, the same building Valjean and Cosette briefly lived in after leaving the Thénardiers' inn). Marius lives there as well, next door to the Thénardiers.

Éponine, now ragged and emaciated, visits Marius at his apartment to beg for money. To impress him, she tries to prove her literacy by reading aloud from a book and by writing "The Cops Are Here" on a sheet of paper. Marius pities her and gives her some money. After Éponine leaves, Marius observes the "Jondrettes" in their apartment through a crack in the wall. Éponine comes in and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving to visit them. In order to look poorer, Thénardier puts out the fire and breaks a chair. He also orders Azelma to punch out a window pane, which she does, resulting in cutting her hand (as Thénardier had hoped).

The philanthropist and his daughter enter—actually Valjean and Cosette. Marius immediately recognizes Cosette. After seeing them, Valjean promises them he will return with rent money for them. After he and Cosette leave, Marius asks Éponine to retrieve her address for him. Éponine, who is in love with Marius herself, reluctantly agrees to do so. The Thénardiers have also recognized Valjean and Cosette, and vow their revenge. Thénardier enlists the aid of the Patron-Minette, a well-known and feared gang of murderers and robbers.

Marius overhears Thénardier's plan and goes to Javert to report the crime. Javert gives Marius two pistols and instructs him to fire one into the air if things get dangerous. Marius returns home and waits for Javert and the police to arrive. Thénardier sends Éponine and Azelma outside to look out for the police. When Valjean returns with rent money, Thénardier, with Patron-Minette, ambushes him and he reveals his real identity to Valjean. Marius recognizes Thénardier as the man who saved his father's life at Waterloo and is caught in a dilemma.

He tries to find a way to save Valjean while not betraying Thénardier. Valjean denies knowing Thénardier and tells him that they have never met. Valjean tries to escape through a window but is subdued and tied up. Thénardier orders Valjean to pay him 200,000 francs. He also orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette to return to the apartment, and they would keep her with them until he delivers the money. After Valjean writes the letter and informs Thénardier of his address, Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. Mme. Thénardier comes back alone, and announces the address is a fake.

It is during this time that Valjean manages to free himself. Thénardier decides to kill Valjean. While he and Patron-Minette are about to do so, Marius remembers the scrap of paper that Éponine wrote on earlier. He throws it into the Thénardiers' apartment through the wall crack. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside. He, Mme. Thénardier and Patron-Minette try to escape, only to be stopped by Javert.

He arrests all the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette (except Claquesous, who escapes during his transportation to prison, and Montparnasse, who stops to run off with Éponine instead of joining in on the robbery). Valjean manages to escape the scene before Javert sees him.

Volume IV: The Idyll in the Rue Plumet and the Epic in the Rue St. Denis

After Éponine's release from prison, she finds Marius at "The Field of the Lark" and sadly tells him that she found Cosette's address. She leads him to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, and Marius watches the house for a few days. He and Cosette then finally meet and declare their love for one another. Thénardier, Patron-Minette and Brujon manage to escape from prison with the aid of Gavroche (a rare case of Gavroche helping his family in their criminal activities). One night, during one of Marius's visits with Cosette, the six men attempt to raid Valjean's and Cosette's house. However, Éponine, who has been sitting by the gates of the house, threatens to scream and awaken the whole neighbourhood if the thieves do not leave. Hearing this, they reluctantly retire. Meanwhile, Cosette informs Marius that she and Valjean will be leaving for England in a week's time, which greatly troubles the pair.

The next day, Valjean is sitting in the Champ de Mars. He is feeling troubled about seeing Thénardier in the neighbourhood several times. Unexpectedly, a note lands in his lap, which says "Move Out." He sees a figure running away in the dim light. He goes back to his house, tells Cosette they will be staying at their other house on Rue de l'Homme-Armé, and reconfirms to her that they will be moving to England. Marius tries to get permission from M. Gillenormand to marry Cosette. His grandfather seems stern and angry, but has been longing for Marius's return. When tempers flare, he refuses his assent to the marriage, telling Marius to make Cosette his mistress instead. Insulted, Marius leaves.

The following day, the students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris. Gavroche spots Javert and informs Enjolras that Javert is a spy. When Enjolras confronts him about this, he admits his identity and his orders to spy on the students. Enjolras and the other students tie him up to a pole in the Corinth restaurant. Later that evening, Marius goes back to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, but finds the house no longer occupied. He then hears a voice telling him that his friends are waiting for him at the barricade. Distraught to find Cosette gone, he heeds the voice and goes.

When Marius arrives at the barricade, the revolution has already started. When he stoops down to pick up a powder keg, a soldier comes up to shoot Marius. However, a man covers the muzzle of the soldier's gun with his hand. The soldier fires, fatally wounding the man, while missing Marius. Meanwhile, the soldiers are closing in. Marius climbs to the top of the barricade, holding a torch in one hand, a powder keg in the other, and threatens to the soldiers that he will blow up the barricade. After confirming this, the soldiers retreat from the barricade.

Marius decides to go to the smaller barricade, which he finds empty. As he turns back, the man who took the fatal shot for Marius earlier calls Marius by his name. Marius discovers this man is Éponine, dressed in men's clothes. As she lies dying on his knees, she confesses that she was the one who told him to go to the barricade, hoping they would die together. She also confesses to saving his life because she wanted to die before he did.

The author also states to the reader that Éponine anonymously threw the note to Valjean. Éponine then tells Marius that she has a letter for him. She also confesses to have obtained the letter the day before, originally not planning to give it to him, but decides to do so in fear he would be angry at her about it in the afterlife. After Marius takes the letter, Éponine then asks him to kiss her on the forehead when she is dead, which he promises to do. With her last breath, she confesses that she was "a little bit in love" with him, and dies.

Marius fulfills her request and goes into a tavern to read the letter. It is written by Cosette. He learns Cosette's whereabouts and he writes a farewell letter to her. He sends Gavroche to deliver it to her, but Gavroche leaves it with Valjean. Valjean, learning that Cosette's lover is fighting, is at first relieved, but an hour later, he puts on a National Guard uniform, arms himself with a gun and ammunition, and leaves his home.

Volume V: Jean Valjean

Valjean arrives at the barricade and immediately saves a man's life. He is still not certain if he wants to protect Marius or kill him. Marius recognizes Valjean at first sight. Enjolras announces that they are almost out of cartridges. When Gavroche goes outside the barricade to collect more ammunition from the dead National Guardsmen, he is shot dead.

Valjean volunteers to execute Javert himself, and Enjolras grants permission. Valjean takes Javert out of sight, and then shoots into the air while letting him go. Marius mistakenly believes that Valjean has killed Javert. As the barricade falls, Valjean carries off the injured and unconscious Marius. All the other students are killed. Valjean escapes through the sewers, carrying Marius's body. He evades a police patrol, and reaches an exit gate but finds it locked. Thénardier emerges from the darkness. Valjean recognizes Thénardier, but Thénardier does not recognize Valjean. Thinking Valjean a murderer lugging his victim's corpse, Thénardier offers to open the gate for money. As he searches Valjean and Marius's pockets, he surreptitiously tears off a piece of Marius's coat so he can later find out his identity. Thénardier takes the thirty francs he finds, opens the gate, and allows Valjean to leave, expecting Valjean's emergence from the sewer will distract the police who have been pursuing him.

Upon exiting, Valjean encounters Javert and requests time to return Marius to his family before surrendering to him. Surprisingly Javert agrees, assuming that Marius will be dead within minutes. After leaving Marius at his grandfather's house, Valjean asks to be allowed a brief visit to his own home, and Javert agrees. There, Javert tells Valjean he will wait for him in the street, but when Valjean scans the street from the landing window he finds Javert has gone. Javert walks down the street, realizing that he is caught between his strict belief in the law and the mercy Valjean has shown him. He feels he can no longer give Valjean up to the authorities but also cannot ignore his duty to the law. Unable to cope with this dilemma, Javert commits suicide by throwing himself into the Seine.

Marius slowly recovers from his injuries. As he and Cosette make wedding preparations, Valjean endows them with a fortune of nearly 600,000 francs. As their wedding party winds through Paris during Mardi Gras festivities, Valjean is spotted by Thénardier, who then orders Azelma to follow him. After the wedding, Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an ex-convict. Marius is horrified, assumes the worst about Valjean's moral character, and contrives to limit Valjean's time with Cosette. Valjean accedes to Marius' judgment and his separation from Cosette. Valjean loses the will to live and retires to his bed.

Thénardier approaches Marius in disguise, but Marius recognizes him. Thénardier attempts to blackmail Marius with what he knows of Valjean, but in doing so, he inadvertently corrects Marius's misconceptions about Valjean and reveals all of the good he has done. He tries to convince Marius that Valjean is actually a murderer, and presents the piece of coat he tore off as evidence. Stunned, Marius recognizes the fabric as part of his own coat and realizes that it was Valjean who rescued him from the barricade. Marius pulls out a fistful of notes and flings it at Thénardier's face. He then confronts Thénardier with his crimes and offers him an immense sum to depart and never return. Thénardier accepts the offer, and he and Azelma travel to America where he becomes a slave trader.

As they rush to Valjean's house, Marius tells Cosette that Valjean saved his life at the barricade. They arrive to find Valjean near death and reconcile with him. Valjean tells Cosette her mother's story and name. He dies content and is buried beneath a blank slab in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

To avoid an arranged marriage to Don Carlos, an elderly Spanish duke, Princess Marie masquerades as her uncle's former servant, Marietta, and escapes from France on a ship with casquette girls who are traveling to New Orleans to marry colonists. On board, Marietta befriends Julie.

En route, the women discuss what type of man they want to marry. "Marietta" shocks the other girls by stating that she does not intend to marry anyone. Shortly after, the ship is boarded by pirates, who kill the entire crew and take the girls ashore.

After the pirates divide the loot, they turn their attention to the girls. Just then, singing is heard ("Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"). The pirates extinguish their torches and fire to try to avoid detection, but Marietta takes one of the torches and runs towards the sound of the singing, crying out "help, help". Mercenaries rout the pirates and rescue the women.

The mercenaries' leader, Captain Richard Warrington, sings "Neath a Southern Moon" to Marietta. Despite his attraction to her, however, Warrington declares that he does not intend to marry.

Warrington and his men take the casquette girls to New Orleans, where they are welcomed by the governor. The women are housed in the convent while they get to know their potential husbands. When some men approach Marietta, she declares that she does not want to marry any of them. The governor feels that he has seen Marietta before in Paris, but she denies it. When she pretends to have a disreputable past, the governor orders a pair of soldiers to escort her away in disgrace. Warrington relieves them of their duty and finds her a place to stay, even paying the first month's rent. Though Marietta tries to rid herself of Warrington, he is undaunted. Just then, a group of gypsies stroll by, advertising their Marionette Theater. The gypsy leader, Rodolpho, has his daughter sing, and Warrington joins in ("Italian Street Song"). Stung by Warrington's remark that she might not be able to sing as well as the gypsy, Marietta surprises him by doing so beautifully. While he is distracted getting rid of three would-be suitors, she slips away.

The following day, Warrington discovers that Marietta is working at the Marionette Theater. When he visits her after the performance, he receives a warmer reception. Soon after, however, a large award is offered for information about her whereabouts. Warrington persuades her to trust him, and takes her away by boat. During this time together, they discover that they are falling in love with each other ("I'm Falling in Love with Someone"). Later, however, they are found by French soldiers, and her true identity is revealed. Her uncle and Don Carlos are expected on the next ship to take her back.

Marietta is to attend a ball arranged by the governor in her honor. Julie comes to see her; she tells Marietta that Warrington had been ordered to leave New Orleans that day, but intends to come to the ball. Her uncle warns her that "if Warrington attempted to see her again, he would be arrested for treason and shot". Marietta asks Julie to stop Warrington from coming, but they realize it is too late when they hear him and his men singing ("''Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!''").

When Warrington enters the ballroom, the governor tries to get him to leave in order to save his life. Marietta pretends to have been toying with him to deceive her uncle. As Warrington is leaving, Marietta sings "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life", joined by Warrington. The lovers then flee to the wild frontier.

David's father dies before his birth and therefore the young man is forced to spend his childhood without the presence of a father figure. He therefore finds valid support in his mother and housekeeper Peggotty. David's mother, however, feels the need to have a husband and therefore remarries with Mr. Murdstone, a severe and insensitive man, and welcomes his sister into the house who proves to be even more insensitive than her brother.

When David's mother dies Murdstone sends David to London to work in his family's wine bottling plant. During this time he is assisted by the Micawber family and forms a close friendship with its members. Mr. Micawber, with his courtly language and with his head a little in the air, is unable to look after the expenses of the house and gets into debt; at this point David decides to run away from London. After a thousand adventures, he reaches Dover on foot, where his great-aunt, Betsie Trotwood, lives. His aunt welcomes him together with her roommate Mr. Dick and they send him to boarding school in Canterbury where he rents a room with the lawyer Wickfield and forms a sincere friendship with the latter's daughter, Agnes.

David meets Dora Spanlow at the ballet and falls in love, eventually marrying her. Dora is young and flighty and inept at running a household, and dies not long after their marriage. David and Micawber then help to unmask Uriah Heep as the forger and cheat that he is and return Wickfield's firm to its rightful owner. David and Agnes end the film finally expressing their love for each other.

Marmaduke Ruggles is a valet and butler to the Earl of Burnstead. During a stay in Paris, the Earl tells Ruggles that he has gambled him away in a drunken game of poker, and he is to report to his new masters - nouveau riche American millionaires Egbert and Effie Floud - immediately. Ruggles bemoans the idea of being relegated to "the land of slavery," but he takes his new occupation in stride, helping to get Egbert a new wardrobe and haircut.

Egbert slips away from Effie and takes Ruggles to a Parisian café. He explains to the valet that, in America, everyone is equal, and Ruggles should behave like a friend rather than a deferential servant. Ruggles is dismissive, but after a night of drinking with Egbert and his wild friend Jeff Tuttle, his "stiff upper lip" falls away as he follows the examples of Egbert and Tuttle. The three embark on an alcohol-fueled trip across Paris which ends with them returning to the Floud's hotel room and breaking up a society party hosted by Effie. The next day Ruggles is embarrassed, and he apologizes to Effie for his behavior.

The Flouds return to America and bring Ruggles with them to their home town of Red Gap. Ruggles meets the extended family of the Flouds, including "Ma" Pettingill, Effie's mother, and Charles Belknap-Jackson, a snooty relative of Effie's who treats Ruggles with disdain. A party held to receive the Flouds inadvertently turns into a warm welcome for Ruggles after Ruggles is mistaken for a wealthy retired Englishman. Ruggles also meets Mrs. Judson, a widowed housewife and cook. When Belknap-Jackson chastises Ruggles for dancing at the party with Mrs. Judson, Ruggles kicks him in the behind. He is almost fired, but his job is saved as a newspaper article describing Ruggles as an "honored houseguest" of the Flouds makes him a local celebrity.

Ruggles becomes a fixture in society, as Effie and Belknap-Jackson use his status to advance socially. He begin a relationship with Mrs. Judsonm and reads about the history of the United States. One day, after the rest of the family have left on a trip, Belknap-Jackson fires Ruggles. While waiting for the train, Ruggles wanders into the local saloon where he finds Mrs. Judson, Egbert, and Ma. Egbert laughs off Belknap-Jackson's actions, but Ruggles explains that he wants to live as a free and independent person and, because of that, he won't return to work for the Flouds. Egbert compares this to "what Lincoln said at Gettysburg," but neither he nor any of the other people in the saloon can remember the words. As they each try to remind themselves of what it says, Ruggles stands up and recites the entire Gettysburg Address from memory.

Ruggles decides to open a restaurant in Red Gap. As he is preparing the restaurant space with Mrs. Judson, Effie arrives with troubling news: the Earl of Burnstead is visiting Red Gap to buy Ruggles back from the Flouds. Ruggles reluctantly agrees to return to the Flouds, but Mrs. Judson is disgusted by his deference to his former employers. On the night of a party in the Earl's honor, Ruggles goes missing. Egbert convinces the Earl to slip out to another, more raucous party hosted by the beautiful young Nell Kenner, to whom the Earl instantly takes an interest. They eventually return to the Floud house, just as Ruggles returns and informs the Earl of his decision to "be someone" and live independently, on his own terms.

The restaurant opening proves to be a great success. All the friends he has made on his journey from England to America attend its gala opening. Belknap-Jackson also attends and insults Ruggles and his cooking to his face, so Ruggles throws him out after. Ruggles retreats to the kitchen, sure that he has ruined his social standing in Red Gap. Outside, the diners begin to sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," but Ruggles doesn't realise they are singing for him. Egbert pulls him out of the kitchen saying: "You idiot, they're singing it for you!" As the song crescendos, Egbert pushes Ruggles back into the kitchen so that he can celebrate privately with Mrs. Judson.

An American dancer, Jerry Travers comes to London to star in a show produced by the bumbling Horace Hardwick. While practicing a tap dance routine in his hotel bedroom, he awakens Dale Tremont on the floor below. She storms upstairs to complain, whereupon Jerry falls hopelessly in love with her and proceeds to pursue her all over London.

Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace, who is married to her friend Madge. Following the success of Jerry's opening night in London, Jerry follows Dale to Venice, where she is visiting Madge and modelling/promoting the gowns created by Alberto Beddini, a dandified Italian fashion designer with a penchant for malapropisms.

Jerry proposes to Dale, who, while still believing that Jerry is Horace, is disgusted that her friend's husband could behave in such a manner and agrees instead to marry Alberto. Fortunately, Bates, Horace's meddling English valet, disguises himself as a priest and conducts the ceremony; Horace had sent Bates to keep tabs on Dale.

On a trip in a gondola, Jerry manages to convince Dale and they return to the hotel where the previous confusion is rapidly cleared up. The reconciled couple dance off into the Venetian sunset, to the tune of "The Piccolino".

In 1773, young Scottish beauty Maria Bonnyfeather (Anita Louise) is the new bride of the cruel and devious middle-aged Spanish nobleman Marquis Don Luis (Claude Rains). Don Luis suffers horribly from gout, so the consummation of their marriage must be postponed until his cure at a famous spa is complete. Meanwhile, Maria's true love, Denis Moore (Louis Hayward), the man she loved before being forced to marry Don Luis, follows them and stays near the château where they are living. While the marquis is away taking the cure, they contrive to meet in the woods, and after 3 months Maria tells him she is carrying his child. The marquis returns home, cured, and Maria is horrified at what awaits her. The lovers plan to flee that night, but the marquis discovers Maria waiting for Denis. Don Luis takes her across Europe, but Denis at last tracks them down at an inn, where Don Luis treacherously kills him in a sword duel.

Months later, Maria dies giving birth to her son at a chalet in the Alps in northern Italy. Don Luis leaves the infant in the foundling wheel of a convent near the port city of Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, where the nuns christen him Anthony because he was found on January 17, the feast day of St. Anthony the Great. Don Luis lies to Maria's father, wealthy Leghorn-based merchant John Bonnyfeather (Edmund Gwenn), telling him that the infant is also dead. Ten years later, completely by coincidence, Anthony (Billy Mauch) is apprenticed to Bonnyfeather, his real grandfather, who discovers his relationship to the boy but keeps it a secret from him. The only explanation for Don Luis’ behavior is that Maria's child was illegitimate, and Bonnyfeather cannot bear to have his daughter—or his grandson—bear that stigma. He gives the boy the surname Adverse in acknowledgement of the difficult life he has led.

From his arrival at Bonnyfeather's Anthony and the cook's daughter, Angela Guisseppi are attracted to each other, and as they grow they fall in love. Angela (Olivia de Havilland) has ambitions to become a great singer. Anthony (Fredric March) wants to serve Bonnyfeather and marry Angela, but fate intervenes. Angela's father wins the lottery and the family leaves Leghorn. Years later, Anthony finds her, singing professionally, in the opera chorus. Eventually, the couple wed. Soon after the ceremony, Anthony is asked by Bonnyfeather to depart for Havana to save Bonnyfeather's fortune from a laggard debtor, the merchant trading firm Gallego & Sons. On the day his ship is supposed to set sail, he and Angela are supposed to meet at the convent before departing together, but she arrives first, and he is late. Unable to wait any longer, she leaves a note outside the convent to inform him that she is leaving for Rome with her opera company. But the note Angela leaves for Anthony is blown away, and he is unaware that she has gone to Rome. Confused and upset, he sails without her. Meanwhile, assuming he has abandoned her, she departs and continues her career as an opera singer.

Learning that Gallego has quit Havana, Anthony leaves to take control of Gallego & Sons' only remaining asset—a slave trading post on the Pongo River in Africa. Three years in the slave trade (so he can recover Bonnyfeather's debt) corrupts him, and he takes slave girl Neleta into his bed. Anthony eventually is redeemed by his friendship with Brother François (Pedro de Cordoba). After the monk is crucified and killed by the natives, Anthony returns to Italy to find Bonnyfeather has died. His housekeeper, Faith Paleologus (Gale Sondergaard) (Don Luis' longtime co-conspirator and now wife), has inherited Bonnyfeather's fortune. Anthony goes to Paris to rectify the situation and claim his inheritance.

In Paris, Anthony is reunited with his friend, prominent banker Vincent Nolte (Donald Woods), whom he saves from bankruptcy by loaning him his entire fortune, having learned from Brother François that "there's something besides money and power".

All Paris is buzzing with gossip about Mademoiselle Georges, the famous opera star and mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the magnificent diamond necklace he has given to her, although Josephine wanted it.

Through the intercession of impresario Debrulle (Ralph Morgan), Anthony is reunited with Angela and discovers that she bore him a son. They spend a blissful day or two together. Angela tells him that she is singing at the opera and he goes with Nolte to hear her. He searches the program in vain for her name, but then he hears her voice coming from the stage. He exclaims, “that’s Angela” and Nolte replies, “That’s Mademoiselle Georges!” Angela continues the aria and emerges from the shadows, descending a long staircase. Her voice is superb, she is magnificently costumed—and she is wearing Napoleon's gift. She whispers “Goodbye, Anthony,” as he stands and leaves the box.

Shaken, he returns home to find that she has sent him their son, with a letter stating that he is better suited to raise the boy, and apologizing for not seeing him again. Anthony departs for America with his son, Anthony Adverse (Scotty Beckett), in search of a better life.

The novel is set in the period between late 1925 and late 1927. Samuel ('Sam') Dodsworth is an ambitious and innovative automobile designer, who builds his fortunes in fictional Zenith, Winnemac. In addition to his success in the business world, he had also succeeded as a young man in winning the hand of Frances 'Fran' Voelker, a beautiful young socialite. While the novel provides the courtship as a backstory, the real story begins upon his retirement. Retiring at the age of fifty as a result of his selling of his successful automobile company (The Revelation Motor Company) to a far larger competitor, he sets out to do what he had always wanted to experience: a leisurely trip to Europe with his wife, with aspirations to visit some manufacturing plants looking for his next challenge. His forty-one-year-old wife, however, motivated by her own vanity and fear of lost youth, is dissatisfied with married life and small town Zenith, and wants to live in Europe permanently as an expatriate, not just visit for a few months. Passing up advancement in his recently sold company, Dodsworth leaves for Europe with Fran. Her motivations upon visiting Europe become quickly known.

In their extensive travels across Europe, they are soon caught up in vastly different lifestyles. Fran falls in with a crowd of frivolous socialites, while Sam plays more of an independent tourist. 'With his red Baedeker guide book in hand, he visits such well-known tourist attractions as Westminster Abbey, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sanssouci Palace, and the Piazza San Marco. But the historic sites that he sees prove to be far less significant than the American expatriates that he meets on his extensive journeys across Great Britain and continental Europe' He meets Edith Cortright, an expatriate American widow in Venice, who is everything his wife is not: self-assured, self-confident, unselfish and able to take care of herself. As Sam and Fran follow their own pursuits, their marriage is strained to the breaking point. Both are forced to choose between marriage and the new lifestyles they have pursued.

The novel includes detailed descriptions of Sam and Fran's tours across Europe. In the beginning, they leave their mid-Western hometown of Zenith, board a steam liner in New York and cross the Atlantic Ocean. Their first stop is England. They visit the sights in London and are invited by Major Clyde Lockert to join a weekend trip to the countryside. Later, after Lockert has made an indecent proposal to Fran, they depart for Paris, where she soon engages in a busy social life and he takes up sightseeing. When Sam decides to go back to America for his college reunion in New Haven, Fran spends the summer months on the lakes near Montreux and Stresa, where she has a romance with Arnold Israel. Once Sam has picked her up in Paris, they agree to continue their travels together, touring France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Their marriage comes to an end when she falls in love with Kurt von Obersdorf in Berlin. Whereas she stays on with her new love, he criss-crosses Europe in an attempt to cope with his new situation. When Sam happens to run into Edith in Venice, she persuades him to accompany her on a visit to a village in the vicinity of Naples. Fran's fiancé calls off the marriage, and Sam joins his former wife on her voyage back to New York. Three days later, he is back on the next ship to meet Edith in Paris.

Wealthy Connie Allenbury is falsely accused of breaking up a marriage and sues the ''New York Evening Star'' newspaper for $5,000,000 for libel. Warren Haggerty, the managing editor, turns in desperation to former reporter and suave ladies' man Bill Chandler for help. Bill's scheme is to maneuver Connie into being alone with him when his wife shows up, so that the suit will have to be dropped. Bill is not married, so Warren volunteers his long-suffering fiancée, Gladys Benton, to marry Bill in name only, over her loud protests.

Bill arranges to return to America from England on the same ocean liner as Connie and her father J. B. He pays some men to pose as reporters and harass Connie at the dock, so that he can "rescue" her and become acquainted. On the voyage, Connie initially treats him with contempt, assuming that he is just the latest in a long line of fortune hunters after her money, but Bill gradually overcomes her suspicions.

Complications arise when Connie and Bill actually fall in love. They get married, but Gladys decides that she prefers Bill to a marriage-averse newspaperman and interrupts their honeymoon to reclaim her husband. Bill reveals that he found out that Gladys was married before and that her Yucatán divorce was invalid, thus rendering their own marriage invalid. But Gladys reveals she got a second divorce in Reno, so she and Bill are legally man and wife. Connie and Bill manage to show Gladys that she really loves Warren.

During the Great Depression, Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), the co-owner of a tallow works, part-time greeting card poet, and tuba-playing inhabitant of the hamlet of Mandrake Falls, Vermont, inherits 20 million dollars from his late uncle, Martin Semple. Semple's scheming attorney, John Cedar (Douglass Dumbrille), locates Deeds and takes him to New York City. Cedar gives his cynical troubleshooter, ex-newspaperman Cornelius Cobb (Lionel Stander), the task of keeping reporters away from Deeds. Cobb is outfoxed by star reporter Louise "Babe" Bennett (Jean Arthur), who appeals to Deeds' romantic fantasy of rescuing a damsel in distress by masquerading as a poor worker named Mary Dawson. She pretends to faint from exhaustion after "walking all day to find a job" and worms her way into his confidence. Bennett proceeds to write a series of enormously popular articles on Longfellow, portraying him as a yokel who has suddenly inherited riches, and giving him the nickname "Cinderella Man".

Cedar tries to get Deeds' power of attorney in order to keep his own financial misdeeds secret. Deeds, however, proves to be a shrewd judge of character, easily fending off Cedar and other greedy opportunists. He wins Cobb's wholehearted respect and eventually Babe's love. She quits her job in shame, but before she can tell Deeds the truth about herself, Cobb finds it out and tells Deeds. Deeds is left heartbroken and decides to return to Mandrake Falls. After he has packed and is about to leave, a dispossessed farmer (John Wray) stomps into his mansion and threatens him with a gun. He expresses his scorn for the seemingly heartless, ultra-rich man, who will not lift a finger to help the multitudes of desperate poor. After the intruder comes to his senses, Deeds realizes what he can do with his troublesome fortune. He decides to provide fully equipped farms free to thousands of homeless families if they will work the land for three years.

Cedar joins forces with Deeds' only other relative, Semple, and his domineering wife, in an attempt to have Deeds declared mentally incompetent. A sanity hearing is scheduled to determine who should control the fortune. During the hearing, Cedar calls an expert who diagnoses Deeds with manic depression based on Babe's articles and witnesses to his recent behavior. Though Deeds has pledged to defend himself, he refuses to speak. Babe speaks up passionately on his behalf, castigating herself for what she did to him. When he realizes that she truly loves him, he begins speaking, systematically punching holes in Cedar's case and then landing one in his face. The judge declares him to be not only sane, but "the sanest man who ever walked into this courtroom". Victorious, Deeds and Babe kiss.

In Paris in 1860, a distraught man murders his wife's doctor. Chemist Louis Pasteur (Paul Muni) has been publicizing a theory that diseases are caused by microbes, which doctors should avoid spreading by washing their hands and sterilizing their instruments in boiling water. The doctor did not do this and the wife died of puerperal fever after giving birth.

Pasteur is dismissed by France's medical academy—particularly his most vocal critic, Dr. Charbonnet (Fritz Leiber Sr.)—as a crank whose recommendations are tantamount to witchcraft. Pasteur frankly calls attention to the risks of Charbonnet's non-sterile methods and correctly predicts that a member of Napoleon III's royal family who Charbonnet is attending will die of puerperal fever, but Pasteur is the one who is considered dangerous, because his ideas have led to murder. When the Emperor comes down against him, Pasteur leaves Paris and moves to the small town of Arbois.

In the 1870s, when the new French government tries to restore the economy after the Franco-Prussian War, they learn that many sheep are dying of anthrax, except around Arbois. They send representatives who learn that, working with a small group of loyal researchers, Pasteur has developed a vaccine against the disease and put it into use locally.

The medical academy still opposes him and says Arbois must simply be free of anthrax, so the government buys land there and invites sheep farmers to use it. Pasteur objects strongly, saying the soil is full of anthrax spores, and eventually an experiment is proposed. He will vaccinate 25 of the newly arrived sheep; then they and a control group of 25 others will be injected with blood from a sheep with anthrax.

Joseph Lister (Halliwell Hobbes), the pioneer of antiseptic surgery in England, is interested enough to attend, and witnesses Pasteur's total success as all the vaccinated sheep remain healthy after the other 25 have died. At this point Jean Martel (Donald Woods), a young doctor who was formerly Charbonnet's assistant but now is a follower of Pasteur, becomes engaged to Pasteur's daughter Annette (Anita Louise).

The celebrations are short-lived, as a rabid dog runs through the town and a man is bitten. As a woman attempts to cure him by witchcraft, Pasteur laments that doctors would have no more chance of success. Moving back to Paris, he makes rabies his next project. He is able to spread the disease from one animal to another by injection, but finds himself unable to detect any microbe being transferred (viruses had not yet been discovered), and the method he used to create the anthrax vaccine does not work.

Charbonnet visits the lab to gloat over Pasteur's failure. He is so certain Pasteur is a quack that he injects himself with rabies—and is triumphant, as he does not get the disease. Pasteur is puzzled, until his wife Marie (Josephine Hutchinson) suggests that the sample may have gotten weak with age. This sets him on the right path at last, giving dogs a series of progressively stronger injections.

But before his experiments reach a conclusion, a frantic mother begs him to try his untested treatment on her son (Dickie Moore), who has been bitten by a rabid dog. Despite fearing imprisonment or even execution for Practicing without a license providing medical treatment despite not being a licensed physician, Pasteur decides he must try to save the child. During the attempt, a Dr. Zaranoff (Akim Tamiroff) arrives from Russia with a group of peasants who have been exposed to rabies, and who have volunteered to receive Pasteur's treatment.

Annette goes into labor with Martel's child. The doctor who was to attend her is unavailable, and Martel is urgently needed for the boy. Pasteur searches frantically for another doctor, but the only one he can find is none other than Charbonnet. He begs Charbonnet to wash his hands and sterilize his instruments just this once; Charbonnet finally agrees on condition that if Charbonnet lives another month, Pasteur will retract and denounce all his work on rabies. Both men are honorable enough to respect the agreement. The birth goes well, but Pasteur collapses with a mild stroke.

Days later, word comes that Pasteur has permission to treat those of the Russians who are still alive. He attends them in hospital for the first injections using a wheelchair, and later using a cane. The experiment is a success, and now even Charbonnet concedes that he was wrong, tearing up Pasteur's retraction and asking for the shots for himself.

Afterwards, Pasteur hears that he is to be denounced by Lister at the medical academy. He angrily attends, but it was just a way to surprise him. He is praised by Lister, presented with a Russian medal by Zaranoff, and honored by the very doctors who once scoffed at his discoveries.

The film opens with a portion of the famous introduction to the novel: “ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us... In short, it was a period very like the present...” Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) and her servant and companion Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver) are informed by elderly banker Mr. Jarvis Lorry (Claude Gillingwater) that her father, Dr. Alexandre Mannette (Henry B. Walthall) is not dead, but has been a prisoner in the Bastille for eighteen years before finally being rescued. She travels with Mr. Lorry to Paris to take her father to her home in England. Dr. Manette has been cared for by a former servant, Ernest De Farge (Mitchell Lewis), and his wife (Blanche Yurka) who own a wine shop in Paris. The old man's mind has given way during his long ordeal, but Lucie's tender care begins to restore his sanity.

On the return trip across the English Channel, Lucie meets Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), a French aristocrat who, unlike his uncle, the Marquis St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone), is sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed and impoverished French masses. He has denounced his uncle, relinquished his title, changed his name and is going to England to begin a new life. The marquis has Darnay framed for treason, but he is defended by barrister C.J. Stryver (Reginald Owen) and his highly proficient but cynical colleague Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman). Carton goes drinking with Barsad (Walter Catlett), the main prosecution witness and tricks him into admitting that he framed Darnay. When Barsad is called to testify, he is horrified to discover that Carton is a member of the defense. He recants his testimony to save himself, and Darnay is acquitted.

Following the trial, Carton is thanked by Lucie. He quickly falls in love with her.

At Christmas, Darnay confesses to Dr. Manette he is the nephew of the Marquis St. Evremonde; Manette forgives him, but reserves the right to tell Lucie himself. On their way to church, Lucie meets Carton and invites him to join them and he accepts. Afterwards, she invites him into their home to celebrate Christmas, but he declines because he has been drinking. Lucie and Carton eventually become close friends. Carton has hopes that Lucie will requite his love, but one day she tells him that she is engaged to Darnay.

Lucie and Darnay marry and have a daughter, also named Lucie, who is very fond of Carton. By this time, the French Revolution is beginning. Charles' uncle, the Marquis St. Evremond is one of its first victims, stabbed in his sleep by a man whose child had been fatally run down by his coach. The long-suffering peasants vent their fury on the aristocrats, condemning scores daily to Madame Guillotine. Darnay is tricked into returning to Paris and is arrested. Lucie and Dr. Manette travel to Paris to save Darnay. Manette pleads for mercy for his son-in-law, but Madame De Farge, seeking revenge against all the Evremondes, convinces the tribunal to sentence Darnay to death, using a letter Dr. Manette wrote while in prison, cursing and denouncing the entire Evremonde family.

Upon learning of Darnay's imprisonment, Carton travels to Paris to comfort Lucie. Carton consults Mr. Lorry and tells him of his plan to rescue Darnay. Carton discovers Barsad is also in Paris and works as a spy in the prisons. Carton overcomes Barsad's reluctance to help him with his scheme to rescue Darnay by threatening to reveal that Barsad had been a spy for the Marquis St. Evremonde. Barsad takes Carton to visit Darnay in his cell; Carton renders Darnay unconscious with ether, switches clothes with him, and finishes the letter Darnay has been writing to Lucie and puts it in Darnay's pocket. Darnay is carried out of the cell without anyone noticing the switch.

While Lucie prepares to return to England, Madame De Farge goes to provoke her into denouncing the Republic, but she is intercepted by Miss Pross inside the now-vacated apartment. Pross knows why Madame De Farge has come and is determined to stop her. The two women fight and De Farge pulls out a pistol, but in the ensuing struggle, Pross kills her. Darnay, Lucie, little Lucie, Lorry and Pross all escape safely.

While awaiting execution, a condemned, innocent seamstress (Isabel Jewell) who was sentenced at the same time as Darnay, notices Carton has assumed his identity. She draws comfort from his bravery and sacrifice as they ride together to the guillotine. As Carton stands at the foot of the guillotine, drums roll and then fade away as the camera pans up past the guillotine to the city and the sky above. His voice is heard saying, "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known."

Three sisters living in Switzerland hear their father is going to marry a younger woman in New York. They travel there to stop it.

Their plan involves getting a man to seduce her father's fiancée. They accidentally hire a genuinely rich man who falls for one of the sisters.

Jerry Warriner (Cary Grant) tells his wife he is going on vacation to Florida, but instead spends the week at his sports club in New York City. He returns home to find that his wife, Lucy (Irene Dunne), spent the night in the company of her handsome music teacher, Armand Duvalle (Alexander D'Arcy). Lucy claims his car broke down unexpectedly. Lucy discovers that Jerry did not actually go to Florida. Their mutual suspicion results in divorce proceedings, with Lucy winning custody of their dog. The judge orders the divorce finalized in 90 days.

Lucy moves into an apartment with her Aunt Patsy (Cecil Cunningham). Her neighbor is amiable but rustic Oklahoma oilman Dan Leeson (Ralph Bellamy), whose mother (Esther Dale) does not approve of Lucy. Jerry subtly ridicules Dan in front of Lucy, which causes Lucy to tie herself more closely to Dan. Jerry begins dating sweet-natured but simple singer Dixie Belle Lee (Joyce Compton), unaware that she performs an embarrassing, sexually suggestive act at a local nightclub.

Convinced that Lucy is still having an affair with Duvalle, Jerry bursts into Duvalle's apartment only to discover that Lucy is a legitimate vocal student of Duvalle and is giving her first recital. Realizing he may still love Lucy, Jerry undermines Lucy's character with Mrs. Leeson even as Dan and Lucy agree to marry. When Jerry attempts to reconcile with Lucy afterward, he discovers Duvalle hiding in Lucy's apartment and they have a fistfight while Dan and his mother apologize for assuming the worst about Lucy. When Jerry chases Armand out the door, Dan breaks off his engagement to Lucy and he and his mother return to Oklahoma.

Some weeks pass, and Jerry begins dating high-profile heiress Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont). Realizing she still loves Jerry, Lucy crashes a party at the Vance mansion the night the divorce decree is to become final. Pretending to be Jerry's sister, she undermines Jerry's character, implying that "their" father was working class rather than wealthy. Acting like a slatternly showgirl, she recreates Dixie's risqué musical number from earlier in the film. The snobbish Vances are appalled.

Jerry attempts to explain away Lucy's behavior as drunkenness, and says he will drive Lucy home. Lucy repeatedly sabotages the car on the ride to delay their parting. Pulled over by motorcycle police officers, who believe Jerry is drunk, Lucy manages to wreck the car. The police give the couple a lift to Aunt Patsy's nearby cabin. Although sleeping in different (but adjoining) bedrooms, Jerry and Lucy slowly overcome their pride and a series of comic mishaps in order to admit "the awful truth" that they still love one another. They reconcile at midnight, just before their divorce is to be finalized.

In the slums of New York, on the East River just below the Queensboro Bridge, wealthy people live in opulent and luxurious apartments because of the picturesque views of the river, while the destitute and poor live nearby in crowded, cockroach-infested tenements.

At the end of the street is a dock on the East River; to the left are the luxury apartments, and to the right are the slums. The Dead End Kids, led by Tommy Gordon, are a gang of street urchins who are already well on the path to a life of petty crime. Members of the gang besides Tommy include Dippy, Angel, Spit, T.B., and Milty, the new kid on the block in search of friends. Spit is a bit malicious with a cruel streak, and initially bullies the newcomer and takes his pocket change. However, Tommy eventually lets Milty join the gang, and he turns out to be both a loyal and generous friend.

Tommy's sister, Drina, dreams of marrying some dashing, rich stranger, who will save Tommy and her from this miserable life of poverty, and help prevent Tommy from growing up to be a mobster like Hugh "Baby Face" Martin, who has returned to the neighborhood to visit his mother and childhood girlfriend. Dave Connell, raised on the same street as Martin, recognizes him and warns him to stay away, but Martin contemptuously ignores him. Dave, a frustrated architect who currently works odd jobs, is Drina's childhood friend. He is having an affair with a rich man's mistress, Kay Burton. Although Dave and Kay love each other, they know they cannot be together because Dave cannot provide Kay with the kind of lifestyle she desires.

Meanwhile, the kids lure Philip, a rich kid from the apartments, into a cellar, where they beat and rob him. When the boy's father tries to intervene, Tommy winds up stabbing him in the arm. He escapes the police and goes into hiding.

Martin is subsequently rejected by his mother, who denounces him as a murderer, and repulsed by his ex-girlfriend, Francie, who says she is tired and "sick". He realizes she is now a prostitute and dismisses her with a few twenties pulled from a wad of cash. Despondent over the failed visit, he decides to kidnap the rich child for ransom to make the trip back worthwhile. Dave sees Martin and his accomplices planning the kidnapping, and again warns him to leave. Martin knifes him, and Hunk pushes him into the river. Managing to pull himself out of the river, Dave pursues the hoodlums, knocking out Hunk and chasing Martin on the rooftops before cornering him on a fire escape. Amid a hail of bullets, he manages to mortally wound Martin, who falls onto the street below. While on the ground, Martin engages oncoming police officers in a firefight, shooting a couple before they open fire and kill him.

As the police and a crowd of people gather around Martin's body, the doorman recognizes Spit as being a member of the gang that attacked the rich kid's father, and identifies him to Officer Mulligan. Spit exonerates himself by informing the police that the man was cut by Tommy, who has returned to say goodbye to Drina before running away.

Meanwhile, Kay approaches Dave, asking him to go away with her, using the reward money that he received for killing Martin. Dave refuses, and Kay returns to the man whom she does not love, but can provide her with financial security.

Tommy hears of Spit's betrayal, and tries to give him the mark of the "squealer", which is a knife wound across the cheek. Before he can do so, Dave intervenes, and Drina and he convince Tommy to surrender to the police. Dave then offers to use his reward money to pay for Tommy's defense. As Drina, Dave, and Tommy leave with Mulligan, the rest of the Dead End Kids meander off into the night, singing "If I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly."

The O'Leary family are traveling to Chicago to start a new life when Patrick O'Leary tries to race a steam train in his wagon. He is killed when his horses bolt. His wife Molly and their three boys are left to survive on their own. In town she agrees to prove her skills as a laundress when a woman's dress is accidentally spattered with mud. She quickly proves herself and builds a laundry business in an area known as "the Patch". Her sons are educated. One, Jack, becomes a reforming lawyer, but another, Dion, is involved in gambling. While washing a sheet, Mrs. O'Leary discovers a drawing, apparently created by Gil Warren, a devious local businessman. Her sons realize that it reveals that he has a plan to run a tramline along a street that he and his cronies intend to buy up cheaply.

Dion becomes enamored with a feisty saloon-bar singer, Belle, who works for Warren. After a stormy courtship they become lovers. Meanwhile, Bob, the youngest O'Leary son, who helps his mother, is in love with Gretchen, an innocent German girl. They meet in the barn watched by the O'Leary's cow Daisy and plan to marry. Mrs. O'Leary approves of the match, but expresses disdain for the loose-living Belle.

Dion and Belle bribe the local politicians to set up a saloon on the street where the tramline will pass. Dion makes a deal to support Warren's political career and carve up business in the town. However, Dion's dishonest practices lead to conflict with his brother Jack when one of Dion's cronies is arrested for multiple voting. Dion later decides to support his brother rather than Warren in the election, convinced he can cut out Warren altogether and reign-in Jack's reformist zeal. He is increasingly attracted by the daughter of the corrupt local senator, leading to conflicts with Belle. Bob and Gretchen marry and have a baby.

At a Warren election rally a fight breaks out, arranged by Dion. All Warren's election workers are arrested. Jack is elected mayor. He soon announces a campaign against corruption, targeting his brother's fiefdom in the Patch, which he intends to demolish. Belle and Dion separate when Jack asks her to support him. When he realizes Belle might testify against him, Dion asks her to marry him, making her testimony inadmissible. As mayor, Jack marries the couple, but knocks Dion out in a fist fight as soon he realizes he has been deceived.

Mrs. O'Leary is told about the fight while helping Daisy's calf to suckle. In her distress, she leaves a lamp in the barn, and Daisy knocks it over. A fire breaks out. Soon the whole of the Patch is on fire. Dion, Warren and their cronies are convinced that Jack has set the fire. Warren's men look for Jack, seeking revenge. Advised by Philip Sheridan, Jack plans to create a firebreak by dynamiting buildings to stop the fire reaching the gasworks, but Warren's gang try to stop him. When Dion learns from Bob how the fire really started, he rushes to Jack's aid. In the struggle, Jack and Dion fight off the gang and set off the dynamite, but Jack is shot by one of Warren's thugs and then killed by a falling building. Warren attempts to flee but is trampled to death by stampeding cattle from the stockyards.

Dion and Bob help to save Gretchen and the baby, while Belle rescues Mrs O'Leary. They all manage to escape to the river. Belle and Dion are reconciled, and Mrs. O'Leary predicts that the city will be rebuilt and flourish after her son's sacrifice for its future.

Overview

Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, whose inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity.

The prologue and epilogue are narrated by a neurologist. This neurologist and a novelist friend, Rutherford, are given dinner at Tempelhof, Berlin, by their old school-friend Wyland, a secretary at the British embassy. A chance remark by a passing airman brings up the topic of Hugh Conway, a British consul in Afghanistan, who disappeared under odd circumstances. Later in the evening, Rutherford reveals to the neurologist that, after the disappearance, he discovered Conway in a French mission hospital in Chung-Kiang (probably Chongqing), China, suffering from amnesia. Conway recovered his memory, told Rutherford his story (which Rutherford recorded in a manuscript), and then slipped away again.

Rutherford gives the neurologist his manuscript, which becomes the heart of the novel.

In May 1931, during the British Raj in India, the 80 white residents of Baskul are being evacuated to Peshawar due to revolution. In the aeroplane of the Maharajah of Chandrapore are: Conway, the British consul, aged 37; Mallinson, his young vice-consul; an American, Barnard; and a British missionary, Miss Brinklow. The plane is hijacked and flown instead over the mountains to Tibet. After a crash landing, the pilot dies, but not before telling the four (in Chinese, which only Conway speaks) to seek shelter at the nearby lamasery of Shangri-La. The location is unclear, but Conway believes the plane has "progressed far beyond the western range of the Himalayas" towards the less known heights of the Kuen-Lun mountain range.

The four are taken there by a party directed by Chang, a postulant at the lamasery who speaks English. The lamasery has modern conveniences, like central heating, bathtubs from Akron, Ohio, a large library, a grand piano, a harpsichord, and food from the fertile valley below. Towering above is Karakal, literally translated as "Blue Moon," a mountain more than 28,000 feet high. Mallinson is keen to hire porters and leave, but Chang politely puts him off. The others eventually decide they are content to stay: Miss Brinklow because she wants to teach the people a sense of sin; Barnard because he is really Chalmers Bryant (wanted by the police for stock fraud) and because he is keen to develop the gold mines in the valley; and Conway because the contemplative scholarly life suits him.

A seemingly young Manchu woman, Lo-Tsen, is another postulant at the lamasery. She does not speak English, but plays the harpsichord. Mallinson falls in love with her, as does Conway, though more languidly. Conway is given an audience with the High Lama, an unheard-of honor. He learns that the lamasery was constructed in its present form by a Catholic monk named Perrault from Luxembourg, in the early eighteenth century. The lamasery has since then been joined by others who have found their way into the valley. Once they have done so, their aging slows; if they then leave the valley, they age quickly and die. Conway guesses correctly that the High Lama is Perrault, now 250 years old.

In a later audience, the High Lama reveals that he is finally dying, and that he wants Conway to lead the lamasery. The High Lama then dies. Conway contemplates the events.

Hours after the High Lama dies, Conway is outside still pondering the events while in the moonlight. Mallinson then grabs him by the arm and tells Conway he has arranged to leave the valley with porters and Lo-Tsen. Barnard and Brinklow have decided to stay. The porters and Lo-Tsen are waiting for him five kilometers outside the valley, but he cannot traverse the dangerous route alone, so he convinces Conway to go along and assist him. Conway is caught, divided between the two worlds. Ultimately, because of his love for the boy, he decides to join Mallinson. This ends Rutherford's manuscript.

The last time Rutherford saw Conway, it appeared he was preparing to make his way back to Shangri-La. Rutherford completes his account by telling the neurologist that he attempted to track Conway and verify some of his claims of Shangri-La. He found the Chung-Kiang doctor who had treated Conway. The doctor said Conway had been brought in by a Chinese woman, who was ill and died soon after. She was old, the doctor had told Rutherford, "Most old of anyone I have ever seen," implying that it was Lo-Tsen, aged drastically by her departure from Shangri-La. The narrator wonders whether Conway can find his way back to his lost paradise.