3/7

3/7 The Queen of Hearts makes identity even more complicated. Julia and Bethany were two sisters before they became the earlier Queen. Their transformation joins two people into a single monstrous royal figure. Later, Call of Wonderland and the opening storyline of the ongoing series bring Julie Sands and Salome Gray into the Queen of Hearts identity. They are a different pair of women. Julie is not a shortened name for Julia here, and Salome is not Bethany under another name. That is worth being precise about because the repeated title can make the history seem much simpler than it is. The realm can continue to have a Queen of Hearts while the people bound into that role change. The horror is also different from an ordinary change of clothing or allegiance. Two lives have to occupy one imposed identity. Remembering the individuals makes it harder to reduce the Queen to a familiar name, a throne, or a threatening shape at the end of a corridor.