In terms of plot, A Lion Among Men does little to move the overarching plot along. It starts out eight years after Son of a Witch and focuses on the Cowardly Lion's story.
There is a war brewing between the Emerald City and Munchkinland. Brrr finds himself caught in the middle of the war-zone when the book starts.
A Lion Among Men provides example of:
- Breather Episode: The book staunchly refuses to move the series' plot at all, and presumably covers all the loose plot holes that aren't important to the ending of the next book.
- The Bus Came Back: After sitting out Son of a Witch, Mr. Boss and the Clock of the Time Dragon both re-enter the narrative (as does Nor, who had an off-screen presence/role in the preceding book).
- Civil War: After the tensions and cold war of the previous two books, the opening salvos between the EC and Munchkinland are officially fired (and will continue into the final book).
- Mature Animal Story: A Lion Among Men, is about the Cowardly Lion. It's a Darker and Edgier, very adult retelling of his story from cubhood.
- Named by the Adaptation: The Cowardly Lion is named "Brrr" (in-series due to it being the first "word" he says as a cub, but in a meta fashion after Bert Lahr, his actor in the MGM film).
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Liir's 'Elphaba Lives' stunt at the end of the previous book. It's convinced Shell and his cabal that Liir has possession of the Grimmerie, or at the very least knows where it may be. This sets off a chain of events that gets Brr drafted by the EC as part of his plea bargain.
- Parental Abandonment: Brrr grew up on his own the Great Gillikin Forest.
- Succession Crisis: This is the EC's official motive for locating Liir. If he is indeed Elphaba's son, then his claim to Colwen Grounds and the mantle of Eminent Thropp would automatically supersede Shell's (as Elphaba was the eldest Thropp child). This is a Spanner in the Works for Shell and his cronies, as their planned annexation of Munchkinland and its resources is built upon that ancestral claim. While there is truth to that, the unofficial motive is that they're desperate to find Liir because they believe he has possession of the Grimmerie or at the least knows where it is now.
- That Man Is Dead: Traumatized from her ordeal in the previous book, Nor changes her name to "Ilianora" because she sees her carefree past self as dead.
- Time Skip: Maguire jumps the narrative ahead 8 years after the events of Son of a Witch.
- Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: In-universe, there have been no known sightings of Lirr in the 8 years since the end of the preceding book. Neither the EC or any of his Liir's associates have any idea what's become of him or where to even begin looking (as the trail's now gone long cold). Avaric lampshades the trope, complaining Oz seems to be just littered with hidey-holes based on the number of missing persons of interest like Liir that they can't seem to locate.
