| “ | But what will happen to them? Decision Day is approaching, and the coastal shelf will flood with water. | ” |
— Willa, The End
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Willa is one of the Islanders who makes their only appearance in The End.
Biography
Early Life
Willa is described as having an unusually large head. It is unknown how and when they came to the island nor why they chose to stay.
Willa's job in the colony was to ferment coconuts with Byam in order to make it into cordial. Unbeknownst to them, fermenting the coconut milk caused it to become an opiate, drugging the islanders into compliance if they drank too much of it.[1]
The End
While storm-scavenging the day that Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire wash ashore, Willa finds and discards a barnacle-encrusted garden hose at Ishmael's suggestion.
They are likely among the crowd of islanders who go storm-scavenging the day that Count Olaf and Kit Snicket wash up ashore, with Kit on a raft of books. The colonists leave to go fetch Ishmael to decide what to do, leaving Olaf under the watch of Friday Caliban and the Baudelaires. Upon returning, Ishmael suggests that they abandon the Baudelaires, Olaf and Kit on the coastal shelf. Willa expresses concern that they will drown, as the following day is Decision Day, when the Coastal Shelf floods. Ishmael does not care and has the islanders leave.
The next morning, a mutiny breaks out during breakfast, and Willa is seen with their arm grabbed by Alonso. They shriek in annoyance and step on Dr. Kurtz's foot.
Count Olaf arrives and Ishmael shoots him with a harpoon gun, which releases the Medusoid Mycelium hidden under his robe, poisoning the islanders. He suggests the islanders drink cordial to try and dilute the poison, and the fermented cordial drugs them into compliance. He convinces them that the Baudelaires are the root of the trouble, and then gathers them on the outrigger and has them sail off towards Lousy Lane for a cure, though they will not make it in time to save their lives.
Probable Death
It is unknown if they met their fate by being poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium. It is noted that the Incredibly Deadly Viper followed the boat with an apple, and as the Baudelaires did not know this, it is possible some islanders survived to report this to Lemony Snicket. Friday knew the snake to be friendly, and thus may have taken the apple from it; however, it is unknown if she would have been able to convince Willa or the drugged islanders to eat it.
Trivia
- Willa may be named after Willa Cather. In her eighth novel, My Mortal Enemy, she writes,
| “ | When kindness has left people, even for a few moments, we become afraid of them, as if their reason had left them. When it has left a place where we have always found it, it is like shipwreck; we drop from security into something malevolent and bottomless. | ” |
— Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy
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- Although unclear, the mention of a shipwreck may be what ties Willa into the thematic naming of the islanders.
- While they make no physical appearance in the Netflix Adaptation of The End, they could still potentially be one of the unnamed islanders.
Appearances
Gallery
