Henry Gale

Henry Gale is currently identified as a facet of the Broken Piece Man, One.

Henry Gale is the same Uncle Henry of the Namesake Dorothy. He and Aunt Em lived in Oz with her until Aunt Em died, seemingly walking into the Deadly Desert (We now know she is alive, but he doesn't know this). Out of respect for his deep grief, Ozma gave Uncle Henry the power over plants and wished him well on his return to Earth. The control over plants seems to be a part of One's control at Bramble Manor. The little house in the middle of the wheat field in Kansas where One plots Machiavellian schemes appears to be Henry Gale's old farmhouse. It is hard to reconcile the gentle, quiet and peaceful farmer of L. Frank Baum's writing with a part of One's personality, but Adora says this Henry Gale is unlike the one she knew, and could have been corrupted by a Shadow.

"If Ozma saw fear in him, a Shadow Child probably did as well, It could have changed him." Henry Gale was known to go to the Goblin Market. It is possible he could have sold his own name, and this Henry Gale is the one who is walking around causing so much havoc. The Original Dorothy makes an interesting comment that doesn't confirm it...but doesn't deny it either.

"Uncle Henry! He's not human. Not really."

The Henry Gale of the Frank L. Baum stories was eternally kind and gentle, soft-spoken and tolerant. His paternal devotion to his niece in the books is at odds with his assimilation into One, so the current storyline supports the possibility he was corrupted--or at least overwhelmed by stronger personalities within the Broken Piece Man.

Time will tell the rest of his story. Whatever the strength of his personality, it says a lot (and unflatteringly too) that Auntie Em said that she'd rather have "let the cows run over my legs than show up to the church that day" when Travis asked if she knew of her husband's current circumstances. The contrasts between the estranged couple are marked; Auntie Em is a vibrant, peppery defender of her beloved niece's bones and memory and legacy, but her husband/One is obsessed with keeping Dorthory enslaved, 'alive' in memory and story, and under his perfectionist control.