• Alice Madness Returns Esrb
• Alice Madness Returns Nurse Witless Book

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/AliceMadnessReturns

Go To

Alice: Madness Returns Wilson and Cratchet in Alice's nightmare. A year later, though Alice did not physically return to Rutledge, she suffered from a hallucination of being back in the asylum after being swallowed by the Queen of Hearts.

• You'll probably scratch your head in bewilderment the first time you try to jump over a column of fire and get scorched to high hell. However, Alice was in a house fire and got burned badly. She'd know how Convection Schmonvection works and Wonderland reflects that.
  • You might wonder why the Hatter is so mad as to force a tea party when his realm is falling to pieces around him. Then you might rememeber Jabberwock's accusations against Alice in the first game, and it makes more sense.
  • Then there's the fact that the game dodges giving you a proper boss fight until the end. When you realize the game's arc words are 'What have you done?' and the answer is 'Nothing at all against the man that raped your sister, killed your family and pimps your bedmates' it begins to make sense. Alice finally gets a boss fight against the Dollmaker around the same time she actually physically stands up to and defeats its counterpart (Bumby). While all of the first game and most of the second take place in her mind as she battles demons of her own devising, this represents the first time we see Alice's determination and confidence from Wonderland bleed over into London. And bleed over it does, into Londonland. It's actually a fairly optimistic ending.

Advertisement:

• It may take a playthrough or two, but sharp-eyed players may notice that landscapes in the Victorian 'real world' seem to inspire the landscapes of Wonderland, some subtley, others blatantly: the horizon of smog-belching factory chimneys (as seen from the top of Nurse Witless' house) inspires the Mad Hatter's Domain; the ice-cold warehouse inspires Tundraful; the docks are a pretty obvious influence on the Deluded Depths, with the Mangled Mermaid's prostitutes becoming the dancers at the Carpenter's Theatre; Radcliffe's oriental themed house is downright blatant in shaping the Mysterious East; the police station almost automatically gives way to the dungeons of the Red Queen's palace. Of course, the last few levels surprise the player by reversing the whole equation; after being transformed into a doll in the Dollmaker's lair, Alice awakens to find herself right outside Dr Bumby's house, which inspired the Dollhouse. But, an interesting thing to notice is that Vale of Tears has no real equivalent in the real world; it's part of the original Wonderland, mostly uncorrupted by the Ruin and Dr Bumby's brainwashing, at least until it becomes the Vale of Doom.. and fittingly, when Alice finally destroys the Dollmaker and kills Bumby, the landscape of the Vale of Tears dominates the merged Wonderland and London.

Advertisement:

• The visual difference between Reality Alice and Wonderland Alice may initially be of how she chooses to perceive herself as, but in the case of her hair, once you've gone through the Madness Returns storybook prequel it reveals what happened to her hair anyway.
• The reason the Big Bad manifests itself as a train; it's actually a train of thought, specifically the one Dr. Bumby's implanting in Alice's head to Mind Wipe her and turn her into his corrupt whore.
• Why the Jabberwock isn't back for this game unlike the Queen? Because the Train made his presence useless, just like in the Queen's case.
  • The reason why the Queen is back despite The Dollmaker taking her role is because she doesn't represent Alice's madness but her repressed memories about Lizzie's rape and murder, which explains why Alice calls her '[her] Lizzie'. It would explain why she hates The Dollmaker: he's the man that killed the original Lizzie.
    • Also, the Train is trying to destroy Alice's memories of the fire. As it represents her guilt about the fire, the Jabberwock might have been killed by the Train before the game began.
    • On this point, the Jabberwock is dead before the train is 'built' in the Hatter's Domain, but the train's influence is felt before that, and the Mock Turtle went to sea before the game begins, but after the train replaced his. This may lead to another point of Fridge Brilliance: that the train was not spawned by something in Alice's mind.

  Advertisement:

  • In one of the first three trailers, Alice is talking to Dr. Bumby, and he says 'Alice, tell me of your Wonderland.' and then she opens her mouth and blood and teeth fall out. In dream interpretation, your teeth falling out indicate that the words you're saying should have stayed in your mouth.
  • The black sludge of the Ruined enemies and the Dollmaker could actually be coal tar: it can burn Alice, hardens in a brittle substance when the enemies are killed and it's related to trains.. and the story does take place in Industrial Revolution London.
    • It is hinted to be at least partially inspired by the flammable chemicals used in her father's photography, but it is more likely something a train would spew.
• May also double as something of a Shout-Out. The Hattress outfit, one of the DLC dresses, is the only outfit where Alice has short hair. Why? Because in the original book, the first thing the Mad Hatter says to Alice is 'Your hair wants cutting.'
• In Queensland, Alice's memories about Lizzie start to focus more and more about an squicky suitor. The Queen holds those memories now and wants Alice to realize the truth about her therapist.
• Queensland in the first game was a sprawling nightmare, covered in the fleshy growths of the Queen. In this game, Queensland has become a decaying wasteland full of dead Card soldiers, and the only part close to its old self is in a relatively small area where the Queen herself is residing. It reflects how close Bumby had gotten to making Alice forget about her past, with her memories of noticing Bumby visiting her sister being pushed further down into her mind. That's why the Queen is so insistent about Alice waking up and to actually look at what's around her, as both Alice and the Queen are far too close to being mentally dominated for good.
• Everything happening in Alice's head is a physical interpretation of all the mental instability occurring in the real world. For instance, the Dollmaker aka Wonderland Bumby kidnaps children and perverts them into dolls, things to be played with. In the real world, Bumby brainwashed children into prostitutes - things to be played with.
• May be reading too much into things, but the Geisha statues in Chapter 3 begin as beautiful topless women in sultry poses and crying. That they're crying blood (just like the previous Alice statues) does a damn good job of keeping the player from seeing them as sexy. Fast forward into a later part of the chapter and the statues now sport ant heads. They may still be weeping for all we know, but there's no way to tell and there's no way for them to express their own desperation. Which is exactly what Dr. Bumbly wants in his children. Exposed nubile nymphs who can't go screaming to the police about what he's doing. This is also the chapter where the Caterpillar very pointedly tells Alice that no she doesn't know what's real and 'You let others tell you what isn't!'
• Radcliffe's narration during the Scroll of Destiny segments in Chapter 3 makes it clear that the wasps' cruel treatment of the ants is supposed to be a metaphor for British Colonialism. One term for British people, or people of British ancestry, is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or WASP.

• It may take a moment to realise, but the children in Dr Bumby's Home For Wayward Children seem to be wearing bibs or aprons in the first London scene. Then you learn what they are. And then you never look at the level the same way. It's so obvious, in hindsight.
  • And while they might seem to be identification plaques so an uncaring guardian doesn't need to learn names, pay attention. There are several with the same number. Even close together, like they wanted you to notice.
  • In a similar vein, you know those plaques that people hang on their walls to bring comfort? The typical message on those is 'Home Sweet Home' or a similar sentiment. There are two at Houndsditch, but one says 'Home Safe Home' (which may be true, if only relative to the outside world) and, more disturbingly given what we learn, 'EARN YOUR KEEP'. Brrr.
  • A bunch of kids in a sidestreet actually discuss their 'work' quite directly and chat about Alice's place in it, yet manage to make it not too obvious for those that don't yet know the twist:
  Child A: She ever work?
  Child A: Too good for company? She don't get close.
  Child A: Who likes it then?
  • There is also the pimp in the first London that is trying to encourage her to join his group of whores, hinting on what the local people think she's meant to become.
  Jack Splatter: You could make someone happy. Save the world.. 10 minutes a time.
• The shrinking violets have hands that seem to grope Alice when she gets in them.
  • Granted, they also heal Alice while she's in them. A positive thing, so perhaps the violets represent positive physical contact, something Alice would have had little to none of. Even from family, given the time period. Humans are wired to be touched, and Alice is almost certainly touch starved. These violets might be an outlet for those feelings. After all, corrupted and rotten as it is, Wonderland was her dream world once.
• In the final chapter, it's increasingly difficult to tell just how much of it is happening in reality and how much is just in Alice's head, right up to the end where Alice seems to transform into her Wonderland self, pushes Bumby in front of an oncoming train, and steps out of the railway station to find London merged with a happier, cheerier Wonderland. For all we know, the entire final act may just be a fantasy, as Alice has finally lost all grip on reality, unable to ever leave Wonderland.
• In the earlier parts of the game Alice demonstrates a noted apathy towards the suffering of others in Wonderland, making her a bit of a jerkass hero. Much as she blocked out the suffering of her sister and did nothing to stop the suffering of the brainwashed children around her. As with all of Wonderland, her attitudes have a definite Reality Subtext.
• 'Lost? Shrink to reveal hidden paths.' Shrink. As in, therapy. Get it now?
• Notice how every time Alice goes down a slide, things seem to take a turn for the worst? Insanity is a Slippery Slope, as they say.
• The Dollmaker, in its entirety. Its hands constantly make lewd, innuenduous gestures; its attacks include slapping and pinching Alice and in order to defeat the Dollmaker properly, Alice has to hurt its tongue.. its long tongue made out of black, slimy, oozing ruin. Linger on that last one for as long as you think you can without feeling physically sick by the possible implications..

Mar 30, 2014 Alice Madness Returns Main Theme B Cello Celleste (A.K.A Chapter 2 Intro Extended). Nov 13, 2011 Alice: Madness Returns Unreleased OST - Red Queen (Markus Wormstorm) HQ - Duration: 3:57. Alice Liddell 69,754 views. Madness is often a treatable disease, though perhaps not in this case. Queen of Hearts: Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown! Nurse Witless: 'Cruel to be kind', that's my technique as they say, but she's as mad as a hatter, poor dearie! Dr Bumby: Worst is over, and over, and over. Forget it, Alice - forget it! One nurse, Pris Witless, overheard Alice blaming herself for the fire that killed all of her family; Witless would later use this 'confession' against Alice in the form of blackmail. 7 In the first six months of 1865, Alice was subjected to many remedies, without result, such as cold plaster sessions and blood-letting, experimental shocking. Alice, with Vorpal Blade in hand, strives to save Wonderland and her own sanity. In Alice: Madness Returns, she has left the asylum but now living in a London orphanage under the care of psychiatrist Dr. However, lingering suspicions about the fire send her on another trip into Wonderland to uncover the truth, and darker secrets around her.

Alice: Madness Returns is the sequel to the third person action-adventure game American McGee's Alice.

Alice madness returns all 74 characters. Suddenly, she sees an image of her deceased parents in the window's reflection but turns around to find no one there.

Alice[edit]

• My Wonderland is shattered. It's dead to me.
• Another day, a different dream perhaps.
• Is it mad to pray for better hallucinations?
• I know what's real!
• I know I'm guilty of something, but punishment hardly ever suits the victims of a crime.
• Who set that bloody train in motion? Where has it come from?
• You've used me and abused me, but you will not destroy me!
• It's not a dream. It's a..memory. And it makes me sick!
• Wonderland has become quite strange. How is one to find her way?
• This is good for me. I'm not insane! I didn't kill my family. I am fine. I'm not mad. I am innocent, I mean, not guilty!
• I've not come back here looking for a fight.
• I want to forget! Who would choose to be alone, imprisoned by their broken memories? [bitter]
• I know their pain. I would assist. But is sanity required for the job?
• Blasted Cat!

Cheshire Cat[edit]

• Puurrfect. When you're not on edge, you're taking up too much space.
• Threats, promises and good intentions don't amount to action.
• Every picture tells a story. Sometimes we don't like the ending. Sometimes we don't understand it.
• Ah, Alice. We can't go home again. No surprise really. Only a very few find the way, and most of them don't recognize it when they do. Delusions, too, die hard with memory. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient, remembering it: agonizing. But recovering the truth is worth the suffering and our Wonderland, though damaged, is safe in memory.. for now.
• Abandon that hope! A new law reigns in this wonderland Alice, it's very rough justice all around. We're at risk here. You, be on your guard.
• A secret is only a secret when it is unspoken to another.
• Different denotes neither bad nor good, but it certainly means not the same.
• Only the insane equate pain with success.
• Only fools believe that suffering is just wages for being different.
• Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here.
• The uninformed must improve their deficit, or die
• Only a few find the way, some don't recognize it when they do - some.. don't ever want to.
• Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry. But if a ferret were about to dart up my dress, I'd run.
• A reflection sometimes exposes more reality than the object it echoes.

Mad Hatter[edit]

• The world is upside-down, Alice. Inmates run the asylum - no offence - and worst of all.. I'm left tea-less!
• The insolence, the arrogance the execrable table manners! They are destroyers of Wonderland! Defilers! Denuders! Derangers! Delightful..
• The law is just. Just a whisper away. Who knows how to measure rules? With a ruler! Cruel rules.
• Everything's a nail, is it, Miss Hammerhead? First it was your search, freighted with fear and fragmented memories. Now it's the train! Never time for tea. While your brain's on holiday, we're ruined! Now we're all mad here and that's a good excuse for going to hell in a teapot, but not for forgetting what your senses saw.
• Forgetting's just forgetting, except when it's not. Then they call it something else. I'd like to forget what you did. I've tried, but I can't.

The Queen of Hearts[edit]

• A good guest does not overstay, a perfect guest stays home!
• The train is trying to destroy all evidence of your past and especially the fire. Now, who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?
• There is no method in this madness!
• Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown!
• What you claim not to know is merely what you've denied. You've recaptured your vagrant memories. What are you doing with them?
• You shouldn't ask questions you know the answer to, it's not polite.
• Make your survival mean something, or we are all doomed!
• I may survive here, but you're finished!
• You don't know your own mind!

Dr Bumby[edit]

• Memory is more often a curse than a blessing.
• The cost of forgetting is high.
• The past must be paid for.
• A flower's purpose is simple and immutable. Human purpose is fickle because it is a slave to memory. Memories must be strictly managed, Alice. Unproductive ones must be eliminated.

Other[edit]

• Nurse Witless: Still a mess, no surprise. Her kin roasted like chestnuts right before her eyes. Ten years in Rutledge Asylum wasted everyone's time! Dr Bumby won't do better. Still hauling out her questions: the fire, her memory. I deserve consideration, don't I? Who found her her new clothes? Who got her a place at Bumby's? Where she'd be without me? On the street, selling her backside! Likes my pigeons, though. She's doled out the odd pound or two. But I know what's worth more than that! Kept her secret, haven't I? Heard her say 'All died on my account, I couldn't save you!' I've told her my silence is for sale, cheap! I'm a good sort, really, not like her nanny, that uppity whore! Or that lawyer fellow Radcliffe [who] took her stupid rabbit! Need money.. warned her I'd tell the coppers if she didn't make a 'donation' to my upkeep. She yells and goes off her head. Days she can't remember her name, what I heard.

• Dr Bumby: Come, Alice, am I not to be as much honoured and obeyed as the Queen? Is that asking too much? I want what she wanted. Give yourself over to that: trade the tentacles for the train. It's altogether a better ride. It's that or back to Rutledge!

• Nurse Witless: Never a kind word or reward for services rendered! Don't I deserve a bit of luck? Don't piss on what's right and owing to me, I say! Brought you out of the asylum, now you'll go back of your own accord!

• Nanny: I told your mother, dear. You're a distant and stubborn child, too content in her own world. Young women need to leave their wonderlands. The real world is not so 'wonderful'. You'll need to grow up. Perhaps some more time in 'care'?

• Radcliffe: You look decent enough. But appearances deceive: I know you for an unstable and violent person! I can't say I'm surprised you've been incarcerated in the asylum again. A long stay under supervision would serve you right!

• Dr. Wilson: 'Flight or Fight' implies a permanent choice. But 'flight' often just means putting the fight off to another day. Choose your battles wisely, Alice.

• Walrus' Poem:

Sword and crown are worthless here,

I invite everyone to dance

Labourers, lawyers, church and gown all make their little prance.

This life is full of random death

And heaps of grief and shame,

So few are soothed by 'accident'

You want someone to blame.

Fire, plague or strange disease,

Drowned, murdered or, if you please,

A long fall down the basement stairs

None are expected, no one cares.

I often must work very hard

Sweat running down my skin,

After the dance I then must rest

And the eating can begin.

Dialogue[edit]

Alice: At least the place I've landed is somewhat familiar

Cheshire Cat: [Suddenly materializing] About time, too, Alice.

Alice: Blasted cat! Don't try to bully me. I'm very much on edge!

Cheshire Cat: Purrfect. When you're not on edge, you're taking up too much space.

Alice: You are no help at all!

Cheshire Cat: But you know I can be.

Alice: I'll frighten myself when necessary, thanks very much. I was hoping to escape all that!

Cheshire Cat: Abandon that hope! A new law reigns in 'this' Wonderland, Alice, it's very rough justice all round. We're at risk here, you be on your guard!

Duchess: Ah it's you again, Alice. You may approach.

Alice: Why would I do that? You want to eat me!

Duchess: Yes, well you taught me manners and I've lost my taste for mad women; strictly a porcine diet for me. Everything is better with bacon, don't you agree? Of course you do. Now, there are pig snots scattered about. I heard a few behind the house; go fetch them for me. But take care of the pests that block your way. Pepper them up if they do. They need spice and you're just the dish -- ehm -- girl to season them for me. You'll find that grinder serviceable.

Alice: Why not season your own pig parts?

Duchess: Matters of priorities! My Alabaster skin needs protection from the disgusting creatures running amok amidst the environs. But one gets peckish! Look, all you have to do is listen for the oink, then shoot the snout! You may like the results. I certainly will.

Alice: The Hatter's Domain, almost as I remember it!

Cheshire Cat: Appearances, as you know better than most, can be deceiving, Alice. Much has changed since your last visit.

Alice: Dr Bumby says change is 'constructive', that 'different' is good.

Cheshire Cat: Different denotes neither 'bad' nor 'good', but it certainly means not the same! Find the Hatter, Alice. He knows more about 'different' than you.

Alice: But does he know more about the difference between bad and good?

Cheshire Cat: [noticing the Bolterflies attacking] Making friends, Alice? You're as randomly lethal and entirely confused as you ever were.

Alice: I've managed without you so far, Cat. Return to whatever hovel's home to you, I'll call if I need you.

Cheshire Cat: Predictably rash. It's not a question of 'if', Alice, it's 'when'. Now hold on, and as they say, 'shut up'! [he disappears]

Alice: So typical.

Mock Turtle: You'd better come aboard, Alice. We're doomed, of course!

Alice: What? There's no hope, then?

Mock Turtle: Oh, there's an infinite amount of hope, but not for us!

Mock Turtle: Confounded beasts, they want my ship!

Alice: I think you're more to their taste.

Mock Turtle: [outraged] Never! We're almost relatives!

Alice: You're related to soup, Admiral.

Caterpillar: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

Alice: A single step off London Bridge could end my journey..

Caterpillar: Failure as your epitaph? I'd hoped you were more courageous!

Alice: I've come all this way to find a simulacrum?!

Caterpillar: If I had the time, I'd detail how often you prefer dealing with illusions rather than the real thing. Problems you refuse to deal with don't exist! You deny reality!

Alice: That's not right! I know what's real!

Caterpillar: No! You allow others to tell you what isn't real.

Alice: My memories are shattered! This wicked train has ruined nearly all I can recall and Wonderland will perish completely as I lose my mind. So much has changed.. I can't help Wonderland if I can't help myself!

Caterpillar: Much has changed, but you've got it backwards: save Wonderland and you may save yourself! The Carpenter was on to something, but he was hiding from the real. Your goal is to accept it!

Alice: Where should I go, then? What should I do?

Caterpillar: The Queen must be served, Alice. The Queen, in all her guises, must always be served.

Alice: How can she stem this growing corruption or assist my search? What does she know that I don't?

Caterpillar: She is someone you once knew and loved. Time changes us all.

Alice: Not all change is good!

Caterpillar: Remember that when you find the Queen!

Cheshire Cat: Back to admire your handiwork? Returning to the scene of the crime?

Alice: It had to be done, Cat, you said so yourself! 'You and this Red Queen cannot both survive. She is a cancer in your body. Excise her or perish!'

Cheshire Cat: Well, she was the face of evil in the heart of darkness..

Alice: She didn't treat you too well last time, lost your head as I recall!

Cheshire Cat: She was completely deranged. You picked up her crown, but now you've put it down. You must speak to her; what's left of her, anyway.

Alice: The Red Kingdom's in ruins, but you're no better off!

White King: When you defeated her, I tried to reclaim the castle, but I was set upon by her monstrosities. The malignant royal bitch still reigns.

Alice: I'm here to petition her. I must get inside.

White King: The only way in is through me. Sacrifices must be made.

Alice: Those who say so usually mean 'they should be made by others'.

White King: Cynicism is a disease! It can be cured. Once inside, beware of the outsized killer who patrols her domain. Never confront him; he is invincible. Now cut me loose: I'll show you the meaning of 'sacrifice'!

Alice: [to the Queen] I was expecting someone else!

Queen of Hearts: You don't know your own mind!

Alice: It's nearly a complete stranger!

Queen of Hearts: What you claim not to know is merely what you've denied. You've recaptured your vagrant memories: what are you doing with them?! You once rejected my attempts to control our lives forcefully, but now you've allowed another to succeed in my role!

Alice: I won't miss your tentacles.

Queen of Hearts: [infuriated] You'd prefer the hot stinking breath and unyielding attentions of a potent, unreasoning, unfeeling hellraiser?! I don't think so!

Alice: Can you give me more than a warning? Caterpillar said you might help!

Queen of Hearts: I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently on offer!

Alice: If you don't, we're all doomed!

Queen of Hearts: Not doomed. Forgotten! I may survive here, but you're finished! You see the pattern of destruction, I know you do! The train is trying to destroy all evidence of your past and especially the fire. Now, who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?!

Alice: The destruction of Wonderland.. is the destruction of me?!

Queen of Hearts: Indeed! And vice versa!

Alice: I've set it in motion, I can derail it. This is good for me! I'm not insane! I didn't kill my family. I am fine. I'm not mad, I'm innocent - I mean, not guilty! [sees the tentacles wrapping around her] What's happening, what are you doing?!

Queen of Hearts: The train must be stopped, but there's more to do. Your view conceals a tragedy. The whole truth you 'claim' to seek eludes you because you won't look at what's around you! [swallows Alice; Inside Alice's memories] There is no method in this madness!

Dr Wilson: My professional opinion? Madness is often a treatable disease, though perhaps not in this case.

Queen of Hearts: Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown!

Nurse Witless: 'Cruel to be kind', that's my technique as they say, but she's as mad as a hatter, poor dearie!

Dr Bumby: Worst is over, and over, and over. Forget it, Alice - forget it!

Insane Child: The unstable are more than merely mad: they have 'other parts'. The Dollmaker will deprive them of what remains of their deranged souls. They need care!

Alice: I know their pain. I would assist, but is sanity required for the job?

Insane Child: A limited quantity. You're not mad enough to be rejected. You're like them, of them in a way, but not them. I should say 'not us', for I'm them, but you are on your way. The way is clearly marked.

Alice: I believe I know that way and I'd rather not travel further along it.

Alice: My Lizzie.. What is this train's destination?

Queen of Hearts: Madness and Destruction. You shouldn't ask the questions you know the answers to, it's not polite. And that noise wasn't Lizzie talking in her sleep.

Alice: Oh no.. Poor Lizzie!

Queen of Hearts: And there are no centaurs in Oxford. Make your survival mean something or we are all doomed!

Caterpillar: Come to receive your punishment then?

Alice: I know I'm guilty of something, but punishment never suits the victims of the crime.

Caterpillar: Abuse is a crime the strong visit on the weak, and you're right, abusers are insufficiently punished for the damage they do. Those who witness abuse without seeking retribution for the harmed pay a penalty. Your own pain mitigates your failure to act earlier, but you may not yet have paid enough for witnessing the pain of others..

Alice: Is there really so little hope?

Cheshire Cat: There is even less. And if fear paralyzes you.. we're lost.

Alice Madness Returns Esrb

Alice Madness Returns Nurse Witless Book