Gilbert in Wonderland is the bonus story featured in the DVDs for the anime adaptation of Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. Each DVD volume came with two pages of the story, featuring a total of 18 pages.
It is a parody of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Mochizuki's characters.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for Pandora Hearts.
Read at your own risk.
Synopsis[]
The story begins with a narration from “God” otherwise known as the author herself. She describes the scene, a sunny day in which Alice reads a book under a tree with her sister. But upon closer inspection, only her sister is present and reading the book with a cat perched happily on her head. There is no Alice in sight. God tries calling to Alice, but when that fails, she gives up and provides a replacement for Alice—Gilbert.
Gilbert, as he was at 14 years old, appears wearing a frilly dress. He protests vehemently, to which God says that her word is absolute, but Gilbert only snaps at her further. Looking at himself and the dress he’s forcibly clad in, Gilbert with an embarrassed expression insists that he’s a boy. Then Ada, clutching at Dinah in her arms, tears up and asks if Gilbert so badly dislikes the idea of being her little sister. Gilbert pales and immediately backpedals to try and comfort Ada. Meanwhile, a suspicious-looking White Rabbit carrying a watch hops by while muttering about being late. God points this out and urges Gilbert to “follow the script” and chase after it. Gilbert refuses, not wanting to get involved in anything dangerous or troublesome. God doesn’t care, and manifests a boot to kick Gilbert—and Ada and Dinah who were clinging to him—forward in the plot.
Gilbert goes flying and tumbles headfirst down a rabbit hole, screaming in terror all the way down. Ada and Dinah fall with him, though both enjoy the descent far more in comparison. At the bottom of the rabbit hole, Ada and Dinah are both unharmed, as they have landed on top of Gilbert like a fall cushion. They both look up in confusion, and Gilbert himself raises his head with surprise when someone steps forward and approaches their small group, asking if they’re alright. A tall young man with short wavy black hair tied back in a small ponytail and dressed in formal attire. He greatly resembles a certain someone, if significantly older. Gilbert asks who he is, and the man introduces himself as “Raven,” a servant of the Queen.
Raven helps Gilbert up, who introduces himself in turn and explains his strange situation. He asks if a rabbit carrying a watch came by, and Raven points him in the direction of the forest. Raven asks why Gilbert is pursuing the Rabbit, to which Gilbert simply calls it a command from God. Brushing himself off, Gilbert sighs tiredly and plans to only obey what is most necessary then go home as fast as possible, muttering about the various chores he has to do once home. Raven marvels at Gilbert’s blasé attitude, then wonders why the kid seems so familiar.
While Ada stares at wonder at everything around her, Raven reveals he also needs to go through the forest to reach his destination, but there’s a problem. A gathering is being held there—the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse’s tea party. Silhouettes of the three appear laughing evilly (except for March Hare who trembles in slight fear in the background) just at the mention of their names. For a moment all of them pause in total silence, absorbing this information. Gilbert remarks that his every instinct screams at him to avoid that scene at all costs, and Raven agrees that the event is like an inescapable Abyss. Ada holds Dinah up above her head happily. But then Raven declares with strength that their combined strength will protect them as they go through. Gilbert takes Raven’s proffered hand and becomes filled with determination himself to overcome this obstacle. And so, the two of them head into the forest. (Ada stares at the way both of their legs are shaking with fear.)
In the forest, surrounded by a canopy of darkness. Cups of tea and trays of sweets sit at the table waiting to be gorged on, while the man eating them hums with interest. Holding a folded note, he reads it to be an invitation to the Queen’s tea party addressed to the Duchess. Another man, with round ears atop his head, remarks how they’ve never even received such a letter. The both of them—the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse—sit atop the defeated bodies of Gilbert and Raven, eyes twinkling deviously. Sat in the Dormouse’s lap are Ada and Dinah. In the background, a trembling March Hare watches the scene with horror. Raven demands that they return the letter as he needs to deliver it to the Duchess. The Mad Hatter refuses, as they also wish to attend the tea party. The Dormouse agrees, adding on their plans to gain the Queen’s favor by offering her as a gift a certain rabbit they had caught earlier. Gilbert perks up and notices, just behind them, a cage hanging from a tree. And in the cage is the Rabbit he was chasing.
The Rabbit, wearing formal attire, a top hat, a watch on his chest, and a pair of white ears poking out of his blond head, rattles the bars of the cage and begs them to help him. His ears folded down and his eyes wide and teary, the Rabbit proclaims to be a “poor little rabbit” who is always being bullied and had been kidnapped as he was on his way to visit his sick uncle. Raven and Gilbert both gape wordlessly at this. The both of them now in sync, they reflect on how perfectly well they know all of that to be a lie. Despite that, they can’t help but want to do anything for the Rabbit. Gilbert and Raven’s endless devotion is so powerful that they both rise up and punch away the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse, sending the latter two flying off into the distance. The March Hare still behind gapes in shock and further horror. Ada and Dinah, still smiling happily, remain unharmed.
Gilbert gets to work on trying to free the Rabbit, rattling the bars of the cage, but Raven points out that they can’t unless they have the keys to open the cage. Gilbert takes a fork from the table, grabs the March Hare by one of his ears, and threatens to turn him into a pelt unless their lot hand over the key. The March Hare shrieks in terror and pain at being turned hostage, and Raven pales in horror at such a display of violence. The Mad Hatter and the Dormouse—Ada still in the embrace of the latter—simply laugh though, unfazed by such a threat. Raven protests that they seem more like the villains in such a situation, but Gilbert just snaps at him to shut up. The March Hare, having reached his limit, reveals he possesses the key and holds it out to them. The Mad Hatter snaps at the March Hare for being so weak. The Dormouse begins to panic that their plan to offer the Rabbit to the Queen as a present has failed, all the while he nibbles on the top of Ada’s head, who protests that it tickles. The Mad Hatter bites at his handkerchief in frustration and curses the “double seaweed-heads.”
Gilbert, getting to work on freeing the (still crying) White Rabbit, asks why they would even do such a cruel thing. Raven explains that the Queen is a terrifying person. She denies the existence of anything she doesn’t find beautiful enough and controls her populace with “morally wicked” literature—that is, romance novels. Anything which displeases her she will behead, and the only things she is favorable towards are delicious tea, cute boys to tease, and cute girls to be her little sister. Everyone pauses. They all slowly look to young Ada in the Dormouse’s arms. The Mad Hatter and the Dormouse celebrate that they have no problem at all and take off running with Ada and Dinah. Gilbert reacts a second too late and panics that Ada got kidnapped. Behind him where the cage stands, the creak of a door opening sounds and an angry voice pipes up. Soon Gilbert and Raven are made to kneel in remorse and apology at the feet of the White Rabbit, who berates them furiously for not properly protecting Ada.
Gilbert shyly asks for the White Rabbit’s name. He introduces himself as “Oz,” a cute little rabbit with a watch and nothing more. Raven regards him with suspicion, but then Oz stares at them, his large eyes shining, a slight flush on his cheeks, lips pursed into a small pout. Gilbert and Raven are both rendered idiots at the cute sight and lose any and all doubt for the Rabbit. Oz demands what they’re going to do, as Ada was kidnapped and if they’re going to just sit there. Gilbert protests that he needs to save Ada no matter what, as she is his older sister (in the script). Oz smirks, interested and impressed at his determination. Raven rubs the back of his head and claims he has work to do. Oz and Gilbert both kick him so hard he falls over bleeding. Oz then looks at Raven’s fallen form and sees the object he dropped: a letter of invitation from the Queen to the Duchess. Oz smirks as a plan comes to in his head. Oz declares that there’s nothing they can do if the Queen already has her hands on Ada. Behind him in the trees, a dark shape vaguely resembling a cat watches on. Oz continues, in such a case there’s only one person they can turn to for help—the Duchess.
Later, in the lair of the Duchess, Oz, Raven, Gilbert, and a tied-up March Hare kneel before the loveseat-like throne of the woman in question. She drops the invitational letter from the Queen to the floor, then stomps on it, crushing the paper underfoot. The Duchess cackles, realizing this is her perfect opportunity to outwit the Queen. She declares she’ll help the trio out with anything if it means getting back at the Queen. Raven and Gilbert gape in unison at how fast and easily she agreed. Oz, totally unsurprised, explains that the Duchess and the Queen have a terrible relationship, their rivalry infamous across the entire land. And so the Duchess is willing to do anything if it means she can provoke the Queen. Meanwhile, the Duchess mutters angrily to herself about how irritating the Queen is, and how satisfying it will be to get one over on her. The Duchess smirks, eyeing a vial of dark liquid on her tableside, and declares she wishes to try out a new potion she’s made. With vigor, the Duchess declares they will head post haste to the castle. Oz agrees happily. Raven and Gilbert, far more skeptical about this situation, go pale as they wonder what to do.
The castle of the Queen is lively with celebration as her tea party goes underway, small fireworks lighting up the sky above as attendants mill about in the garden. A pair of knights stand guard and usher in guests as they arrive. Ada munches on a heart-shaped cookie happily as she sits across the table from the Queen. On either side of the young girl, the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse continue to flatter and suck up to the Queen. But she pays them no attention, drinking her tea as she passive-aggressively greets the Duchess and asks the state of her “sagging breasts.” The Duchess in turn passive-aggressively giggles and comments about the Queen’s wrinkles. The two stare at each other with thinly veiled disdain. As they seethe at one another, the rose bushes behind them rustle and Raven and Gilbert poke their heads out. While Gilbert is eager to save Ada and get out of their quickly, Raven is still nervous and unsure about their plan. Gilbert declares now to be their chance as the Duchess has the Queen distracted, and jumps out of the bushes to get Ada. Raven runs after him, urging him to hold on a second.
Raven and Gilbert both stop as a shadow appears before them. A long thin tail curling behind him, the shadow calls them both too naïve. A pair of pointed ears twitching atop his head, he claims to know their plan to target the girl. Gilbert and Raven turn pale with growing terror as they realize they’re facing off against a cat. The shadow confirms this and introduces himself as the “pretty cat” owned by and serving the Queen. The Cheshire Cat, in the shape of Oscar Vessalius dressed in a cat-themed unitard.
Raven shoots at him repeatedly in his rage. The Cheshire Cat shrieks in pain as Gilbert behind gapes in shock.
Raven continues shooting at the Cheshire Cat, chasing him down in utter anger, as he insists that this is supposed to be when the one-eyed actual cat is supposed to appear. Gilbert watches in awe as Raven furiously fights off the overgrown cat. The noise however catches too much attention, the two knights stiffening into alertness. The Queen as well whips around at the sudden commotion, leaving her back open to the Duchess behind her, whose eyes twinkle at the opportunity. The Duchess grabs the Queen and binds her hands above her head, leaning over her menacingly with a devious smirk. The Duchess teasingly waves the vial in front of her, while the Queen, red in the face, shrieks and asks what she’s even going to do to her. The Duchess tosses the vial up into the air, where it turns over and its contents start to spill out just as it arcs over the heads of the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, and Ada. The dark liquid splashes over Ada’s head, activating as it makes contact with her.
With a poof, Ada grows up from a young child into a young adult in a matter of seconds. Due to her rapid growth spurt, her clothes rip to pieces off of her and render her nearly naked in her new adult form. Gilbert and Raven gape in horror at this. The Queen, and the Dormouse too, scream in grief at losing the cute young Ada while the Duchess snickers just behind. While Ada kneels on the ground, blinking in confusion, the Elliot knight goes bright red in the face and berates her for her shameless public appearance. Then he gives her his coat to cover herself with, while his fellow Leo knight teasingly remarks how kind he is.
Meanwhile, the Queen has lost it in her rage and grabs a scythe, ordering Ada to be beheaded. A pair of Playing Cards hold up their weapons as well and prepare to follow their Queen’s orders. Gilbert chokes in shock at this and tries to protest, opting for a more peaceful resolution, but his voice is lost to the sound of everyone else clamoring too loudly. The Duchess rolls up her sleeves and proposes she’ll be the Queen’s opponent, to which the Queen starts swinging her scythe wildly. The Mad Hatter announces the Duchess and the Queen’s intense showdown and starts taking bets, while half-heartedly comforting the Dormouse who is still mourning the loss of young Ada. Oz immediately takes up that bet, placing 5000 yen on the Queen, though he clarifies he considers both his “wives.” Raven declares his job here done and tries to walk out, to which the Elliot knight snaps at him for. All the while this chaos is ensuing, various playing cards flutter around and fall like confetti, of which there also appears an Echo playing card and a Jack playing card. The noise continues, seemingly unable to be stopped.
But Gilbert decides he’s had enough. He screams at everyone to stop.
Gilbert, fed up with everything that’s been done to him so far, lets loose all the complaints and criticisms he’s been keeping bottled until now. He berates the Queen and the Duchess for acting so shameless and childish for being the rulers of the country, then equally berates the rest of the cast for following in their leaders’ footsteps and acting even more indecent. The force of his scolding is so powerful everyone freezes and gapes with pale faces at the harsh and painfully accurate judgements, except for Ada who continues smiling happily and Leo who just watches with amusement. Gilbert’s yelling increases tenfold when he turns to snap at Oscar the Cheshire Cat for dressing like that as a 45-year-old grown man. The Queen tries to defend her behavior for being the result of her grief from the King vanishing suddenly, but Gilbert just snaps at her for making excuses. Gilbert tiredly mutters to himself for having to deal with his master disappearing for ten years, while everyone else cowers fearfully in the corner from his scary chewing-out of them.
Gilbert finishes off his rant by declaring that even he can do a better job at ruling the country than them.
There’s a long pause as everyone absorbs his words carefully. Then all of them come to a realization that that sounds like a great idea, all agreeing to put it in motion. Gilbert is confused as to what they mean. Then Oz throws up confetti and more playing cards into the air, declaring the crowning of their new king: Gilbert. The Duchess and the Queen squeal together excitedly. Gilbert himself screams why.
God then speaks up, after never appearing again after the first two pages. She declares that, while she first intended to end the story with him waking up from this dream, she can’t ignore his admirable determination and responsibility. Gilbert tries to protest, his horror growing as what’s happening to him is beginning to dawn, but he can’t get a word in. God simply encourages him to do his best to invoke his tyranny onto the country. The castle is surrounded by celebration and fireworks commemorating the crowning of their new king, who is currently screaming his protests which no one seems to hear nor care for.
God continues to narrate that Gilbert, now the King of Wonderland, continues to be dragged around by his unruly subjects while attempting to restore the country’s honor using his tsukkomi-like retorts as his main weapon. Ada is having fun as well, having her own tea party alongside the two nervous Mad Hatter and Dormouse, while the March Hare is chained to the table on the ground.
God questioningly announces a “happily ever after.” Meanwhile off on her own adventure, Alice has captured an actual white rabbit and stares at it with growing hunger. Gilbert to the side begs to be allowed to wake up from his dream.
Characters[]
| Pandora Hearts Character | Gilbert in Wonderland Role |
|---|---|
| Jun Mochizuki | God |
| Young Gilbert Nightray | |
| Ada Vessalius | Alice's sister |
| Dinah | Dinah |
| Oz Vessalius | The White Rabbit |
| Adult Gilbert Nightray | Raven |
| Xerxes Break | The Mad Hatter |
| Vincent Nightray | The Dormouse |
| Reim Lunettes | The March Hare |
| Sharon Rainsworth | The Queen of Hearts |
| Lottie | The Duchess |
| Elliot Nightray | Knight |
| Leo | Knight |
| Oscar Vessalius | The Cheshire Cat |
| Cheshire (Mentioned only) | The Cheshire Cat |
| Fang | Playing Card |
| Dug | Playing Card |
| Echo | Playing Card |
| Jack Vessalius | Playing Card |
| Glen Baskerville* | The King of Hearts |
| Alice | Alice |
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first time that the author Mochizuki is directly included in the story. She was known as "God" and operates similar to a narrator.
[]
| v - e - t | Pandora Hearts Chapters |
|---|---|
| Coming-of-Age Ceremony Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 |
| Working for Pandora Arc | 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 |
| Cheshire Cat's Lair Arc | 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 |
| Lutwidge Academy Arc | 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 |
| Break's Past Arc | 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 |
| Sablier Arc | 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 |
| The Feast Arc | 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 55 • 56 • 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 |
| Jack's Intention Arc | 62 • 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 69 • 70 • 71 • 72 • 73 • 74 • 75 • 76 • 77 • 78 • 79 • 80 • 81 • 82 |
| Swan Song Arc | 83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 93 • 94 • 95 • 96 • 97 • 98 • 99 • 100 • 101 • 102 • 103 • 104 |
| Extra Episodes | 80.5 • 85.5 • 91.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 |
| Omake | Maidora Hearts • Bumbling Sleuth Break • Magical Girl Ill-Omened❤Lacie • Pandora Academy |
| Other | One-Shot • DVD Bonus Story • Pandora Hearchu • Mochizuki's Musings |
| v - e - t | Pandora Hearts Episodes |
|---|---|
| Coming-of-Age Ceremony Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 |
| Working for Pandora Arc | 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 |
| Cheshire Cat's Lair Arc | 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 |
| Lutwidge Academy Arc | 17 • 18 • 19 |
| Break's Past Arc | 20 • 21 • 22 |
| Chain Invasion Arc | 23 • 24 • 25 |
| DVDs | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 |
| Other | Special Episodes • DVD Bonus Story |