Headscratchers / The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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• Is it stated how Sugar Plum "framed" Mother Ginger in the first place? She says she was banished for trying to take over the other three realms, but also that enough people believed the lie for the residents of the Realm of Amusements to desert her completely, explaining why it's so derelict. What did Sugar Plum do in order to sway so many opinions, and if Mother Ginger was supposedly a good and decent person all along, why couldn't she do anything to stop it?
  • I think what must have happened is that Sugar Plum had an evil scheme nearing completion in her realm, and, not having time to convince Shiver and Hawthorne, she had no choice but to go ahead and attack the Land of Sweets. Cue Sugar-Plum calling the other two for help in the face of this "unprovoked attack".
• Related to the above, why does Mother Ginger act all shifty and suspicious when Clara goes to the Realm of Amusements to get her key back? It'd be one thing if she didn't know who she was, but she recognizes her as Marie's daughter yet still doesn't just say, "Hey, I'm not the bad guy here, Sugar Plum framed me," and doesn't seem to align with her up until the climax. She doesn't have anything to lose from at least trying to convince Clara of the truth, and Clara isn't going to leave without her key anyway, so why not make the attempt?
  • She probably intended to do so, but was interrupted by the Nutcracker's intervention. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway, since everyone repeatedly told Clara that Mother Ginger is not someone to be trusted.
• When Clara mentions her Christmas present, Hawthorne asks "What's Christmas?", suggesting that Christmas doesn't exist within the Four Realms. However, the Nutcracker's post is located in a place called the "Christmas Tree Forest"... How can they have Christmas Trees if they don't even know what Christmas is?
  • It’s Hawthorne, the Regent of Flowers, who doesn’t know what Christmas is. Shiver, the icy Regent, probably knows what Christmas is.