Arriving on the foggy planet, the group enters a cave where Mrs. Whatsit introduces the children to the Happy Medium, a jolly woman in a silk turban and satin gown, bearing a crystal ball. Mrs. Whatsit asks the Happy Medium to show the children their home planet, but the Medium is reluctant to look at something so unpleasant. Meg, Charles, and Calvin see a vision of their planet in which it is surrounded by the Dark Thing that they first saw from the atmosphere above Uriel. Mrs. Which explains that the Dark Thing is the pure Evil that they will have to fight. She assures them that they are not alone; they join a legacy of warriors against the Dark Thing, the greatest of which have also been Earthlings: Jesus, da Vinci, Shakespeare, Einstein, Bach, and Gandhi. Impatient, Meg asks about her father; Mrs. Which informs her that he is held captive on a planet that has capitulated to the Dark Thing.