Sandman Wiki
Advertisement
Sandman Wiki


Book IV: The Road to Nowhere is the fourth and final issue in the limited series The Books of Magic.

Summary[]

Mister E takes Timothy to one of the possible futures. First, they visit a point fifteen years from their time when a final battle between the magical forces of good and evil is being fought, and in this instance the grown-up Timothy is leading the forces of evil. This battle is fought differently in different futures, but it always signifies the end of magic for the centuries to come.

Next Mister E takes Timothy thousands years into the future, showing him how both science and magic rise and fall time and again, taking different forms, until finally, millions years from now, both terms lose all meaning. Finally, they arrive at the End of Time when they meet the last thing remaining before the collapse of the Universe - the embodiment of the Major Arcana of Tarot inhabiting the place they call Terminus.

There, at the End of Time, Mister E reveals that he has no intention of taking Timothy back; rather, he believes the boy to be weak like all humans and wants to kill him before the world corrupts his soul. However, the worried Trenchcoat Brigade sends Yo-Yo through time to rescue Timothy. The owl sacrifices itself to save Timothy, but soon their fight is interrupted by the appearance of first Destiny, and then Death who came to claim her brother and then the Universe itself. Death tells Mister E that Timothy's life is not his to take, and orders him to walk back to his time "the hard way" - one year at a time. She also mentions that she has "an appointment in Samara" with him, thus tying Mister E to an old legend. Then she sends Timothy back to his time.

After returning from the journey, Timothy tells the Trenchcoat Brigade that the price that he's seen is too high, and he chooses the regular life. However, both the brigade and himself soon realize that the choice was an illusion, since he's already seen the magical side of the world and won't be able to forget it. In the final panels of the comics, Timothy manifests Yo-Yo back into existence, thus performing his first spell.

Appearances[]

Featured Characters[]

Supporting Characters[]

Antagonists[]

  • The Archmage
  • Darkseid
  • Fatal Five
    • Emerald Empress
    • Mano
    • The Persuader
    • Tharok
    • Validus
  • Mordru
  • Timothy Hunter (Future)
    • The Forces of Evil
      • Abra Kadabra
      • Black Bison
      • Cult of the Blood Red Moon
      • Demons
        • Demons Three
          • Abnegazar
          • Ghast
        • The Hordes of M'nagalah
      • Eclipso
      • Etrigan
      • Jinx
      • Kamara
      • Klarion the Witch Boy
        • Teekl
      • M'nagalah
      • The Wizard
    • Yo-Yo the Owl

Other Characters[]

  • Doctor Fate (Future)
    • Nabu
  • The Forces of Good
    • Abel
    • Captain Marvel
    • Doctor Fate/Kent Nelson
    • Jason Blood
    • Jennifer Morgan
    • Randu Singh
    • The Spectre
    • Tefé Holland
    • Zatanna Zatara
  • Ghosts
  • Jonah Hex
  • Legion of Super-Heroes
    • Element Lad
    • Cosmic Boy
    • Dream Girl
    • Lightning Boy
    • Night Girl
    • Saturn Girl
    • Tellus
    • White Witch
  • Mary Hunter
  • OMAC
  • Space Cabbie
  • Tommy Tomorrow
  • William Hunter
  • Basilisks (Mentioned)
  • Auntie Blodwyn (Mentioned)
  • Brotherhood of the Cold Flame (Mentioned)
  • Dream (Mentioned)
  • Fairies (Mentioned)
  • Jesus of Nazareth (Mentioned)
  • Griffins (Mentioned)
  • Katarina (Mentioned)
  • Lords of Chaos (Mentioned)
  • Lords of Order (Mentioned)
  • Mister E's father (Mentioned)
  • Sea Spiders (Mentioned)
  • The Sphinx (Mentioned)
  • Spirits (Mentioned)
  • Superman (Mentioned)
  • Werewolves (Mentioned)
  • Alfred Tennyson (Mentioned)
  • Noël Coward (Mentioned)

Objects[]

Locations[]

  • Timestream
    • End of Time
      • Kingdom of Terminus
        • The Castle
    • The Road to Nowhere Future
    • Possible Futures (Mentioned)
  • Earth
    • United Kingdom
      • England
        • London
          • Ravenknoll Estate
            • Hunter Residence
          • Brighton (Mentioned)
    • India
      • Calcutta (Mentioned)
    • Iraq
    • Italy
      • Rome (Mentioned)
    • Nepal
      • Khatmandu (Mentioned)
    • United States of America
      • Boston (Mentioned)
      • San Francisco (Mentioned)
  • The Dreaming (Mentioned)
  • Faerie (Mentioned)
    • Baba Yaga's Hut (Mentioned)
  • The Void
  • Gemworld/Zerox
ISSUES
The Books of Magic (Vol. 1)
The Invisible LabyrinthThe Shadow WorldThe Land of Summer's TwilightThe Road to Nowhere
The Books of Magic (Vol. 2)
Bindings Binding: Book 1, Tearing DownBindings: Book 2, A Book of LeavesBindings: Book 3, Closing CirclesBindings: Epilogue, Lost Causes
Summonings The Hidden SchoolSacrifices: Part I, InstrumentsSacrifices: Part II, VictimsSacrifices: Part III, AltarsThe Artificial Heart: Book 1, Handmedowns Of The Ragged SchoolThe Artificial Heart: Book 2, Bleak Houses, Hard TimesThe Artificial Boy: Book 3, The Climbing BoySmall Glass Worlds Part One: Missing ColorsSmall Glass Worlds Part 2: Transparent Lies
Reckonings What Fire Leaves UsPlaygrounds Part One: Hell And BackPlaygrounds Part Two: Tag... You're ItPlaygrounds Part Three: Deformative YearsPlaygrounds Part Four: Boys Will Be BoysPlaygrounds Part Five: Really-PretendPlaygrounds Epilogue: The Knight, The Dragon, & The Maiden
Transformations Heavy PettingNeedlepointRed Rover, Red RoverAnd Sure In Language Strange She SaidUsed To Bes
The Girl in the Box Rites Of Passage: Prologue, Into Thin AirRites Of Passage Part One, Down With ThatRites Of Passage Part Two, This Is Not About ChocolateRites Of Passage Part Three, Singing In The DryRites Of Passage Part Four, ShellsRites Of Passage Part Five, I'll Hold Your BreathRites Of Passage Part Six, Drowning In Place
The Burning Girl Purgatory Creek Population: 1Dark As Day, My Lady, Bright As NightRites of Passage Part 8: Fire & Sugar & SpiceRites of Passage Part NINE: AppearancesRites Of Passage Part 10, Reasons To Be StoneLocked InRites of Passage Conclusion, A World Of OneSolitaireThe MotherlessNothing Up My Sleeve
Death After Death The BridgeKing of ThisSlave of Heavens Prologue, The EndSlave of Heavens Part 1, The VeilThe ScaleNear Life ExperienceSlave of Heavens Part 4, Inconvenience Be Not ProudSlave of Heavens Conclusion, When All Else FailsThe Box
Book Eight A Thousand Worlds of TimHomecomingBardsey BoysThe Exquisite CorpseA Fully Articulated KnowingThe Last Molly StoryThe Wager/Sturm and the SilverWilliam's Tale Part 1/Auberon Finds a FriendWilliam's Tale Part 2/The Kelpie's LoveIn Defense of his CountryAll Things TimothyWrong Side of the Tracks/The Scrying PoolThe Good FellaThe Heart of the StormThe ArrangementA Day, a Night & a Dream - Part OneA Day, a Night & a Dream - Part TwoPentimentoCauldrons & KettlesAshes TimeThe HunterThe Lord of The HuntThe Closing Part One - Chasing BarbatosThe Closing Part Two - Being Mr. WrongThe Closing Part Three - Inner Child
Sandman Universe: Books of Magic
Moveable Type What's Past is PrologueUnreliable NarratorsIn MemoriamLibrary FinesA Twist in the NarrativeThe End of Chapter One
Second Quarto Over the River and Through the WorldsOut of This Wood Do Not Desire to GoStorytimeEverything's FineNo Take BacksGreat ExpectationsA Blast from the Past
Dwelling In Possibility Bad InfluencesFoul CopyNeedful Books and Winter DreamsAlways Winter and Never...An Awakening
Field of Dreams, Part OneField of Dreams, Part TwoDwelling in Possibility, Part OneDwelling in Possibility, Part TwoDwelling in Possibility, Finale
Navigation
Core SeriesSpin-offs by Neil GaimanThe Sandman Presents & Other storiesSandman Universe
Spin-offs by Neil Gaiman
Overture Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3
Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6
The Sandman: The Dream Hunters Chapters 1 & 2Chapter 3 & 4
Chapter 5 & 6Conclusion
One-shots Sandman Midnight TheatreEndless Nights
Short stories Death: A Winter's TaleFear of FallingHow They Met ThemselvesThe CastleThe Flowers of RomanceThe Wheel
Death: The High Cost of Living The Spirit of the StairwayA Night to RememberThe High Cost of Living
Death: The Time of Your Life Things You Just Do When You're BoredImaginary SolutionsThe Time of Your Life
The Books of Magic The Invisible LabyrinthThe Shadow WorldThe Land of Summer's TwilightThe Road to Nowhere
Navigation
Core SeriesSpin-offs by Neil GaimanThe Sandman Presents & Other storiesSandman Universe
Advertisement