"The Thomas Wolfe Syndrome: Chapter Five of Happily Ever After" and the backup story, "The Toxic Dream" are contained in the one-hundred-and-forty-sixth issue of Fables. It was released on November 19, 2014.
As an editorial joke, all the creators of the main story have "-ingham" appended to their names in the credits, making light of how Bill and Mark have similar surnames. This is replicated in the infobox.
Publisher's summary
Rose Red isn't happy. She's pretty sure she's going to kill her sister, who she sometimes loves, sometimes hates and sometimes both. It's complicated. What to do, then, but go home to sort things out – all the way to a little cottage in the woods in a faraway land, where Rose begins to learn just who she is and where she really came from. Turns out that's complicated, too. This issue also features The Last Story of Hansel and Gretel!
Plot
The issue opens on Grimble talking with a crow and a wyvern in a far-away land. He explains that he's been given special abilities by "powerful sponsors of great magic," which allow him to cross between worlds. He also explains the purpose of his journey as "cleaning up a small mess," after which he will return to Fabletown. The wyvern then tells Grimble that Tom Wolfe, the apparent leader of that world, doesn't allow beings to leave, and attacks the bluebird.
In Fabletown, at a meeting of several of the important leaders, King Cole declares that Bigby is now an enemy of the community, and must be destroyed at all costs. Everyone agrees except Leigh, who spends an hour arguing that he should be spared, but fails to sway the rest of the leaders.
Meanwhile, Grimble is seen taunting the dead carcass of the wyvern, stating that he still possesses the vigor he had as a troll. He then scares off the crow and continues on his journey.
Back in Fabletown, Leigh reprimands Cole for not supporting her argument for Bigby. He says that he didn't want their romance to cloud his judgement, and she angrily retorts that she was seducing him for her own purposes. She demands that the mayor delay the hunt for the wolf and retires to her chamber, where she is surprised to see Rose Red. Rose reveals that, thanks to her new-found powers, she saw through Leigh's glamour and knew of her true intentions. She runs Leigh through with her sword and takes the glass ring, and with it control of Bigby, for herself.
Leigh's blood stains Rose's suit of armor red, and Hope appears with all of the people Rose had previously had visions of, each of them chanting "what you wanted." Rose breaks down and questions whether she is the villain now. Hope's visions inform that she is going to kill Snow, despite her protests and questioning of why. The visions then disappear and are replaced with the Cricket on the Hearth that first took Rose to the different agents of Hope. It states that it is going to tell her, without any ambiguity, exactly the nature of her and her sister, and transports her to the house they grew up in. It ends the issue by quoting the Tom Wolfe mentioned earlier, telling her that she can never actually go home again.
Credits
- Bigby Wolf
- Boy Blue (vision)
- Cinderella
- Colin (vision)
- The Cricket on the Hearth
- Crow (first appearance)
- Flycatcher
- Frau Totenkinder
- Grimble
- Hope
- King Cole
- Lauda (vision)
- Leigh Duglas
- Maddy
- Morgan Le Fey
- Prospero
- Rose Red
- Snow White
- Wyvern (first appearance; death)
- Nalayani
Locations
- Mundane world
- New York City
- Fabletown
- Castle Dark
- Leigh Duglas' chamber
- Castle Dark
- Fabletown
- New York City
- Homelands
- Prince Charming's Fable world
- Magical Forest
- Snow and Rose's cottage
- Magical Forest
- Prince Charming's Fable world