The army deserves its own part of this thread because calling everything the witches send after Dorothy “monsters” would blur several different threats together.

The army deserves its own part of this thread because calling everything the witches send after Dorothy “monsters” would blur several different threats together. The Skarabs are part of the armed force behind their rule. They are involved in the violence against the Kavari that shapes Thorne's history, which gives those soldiers a connection to the consequences already being carried by someone in Dorothy's group. The flying monkeys add another problem. They can reach the travelers from the air, and their attack separates members of the group. Being surrounded by friends doesn't necessarily keep Dorothy safe when an enemy can lift someone out of the middle of them. The demon dogs and other dangerous creatures make the journey through Oz hazardous in another way. Then there are the magically produced attackers associated with Thora. The witches can make the landscape threatening and still have an army to bring against a defended city. That is why the original adventure keeps changing the kind of danger the companions have to answer. Sometimes they need someone who can fight. Sometimes they need information, help for an injured friend, or a way to get someone out of captivity. By the time the forces gather at the Emerald City, the group has already spent the journey dealing with pieces of the same power structure.