Re: your Alice thoughts, I came away thinking that however important the sword itself was, it was also pretty important that Alice wield it, though, because none of the characters who were willing to take the task from her could do it. I mean, the Jabberwock says that the bearer is insignificant, but I don't know that we should take the Jabberwock's word for that. But then, I got very invested in hero!Alice so there may be some projecting on my part going on there.

Regardless, I agree that her going home is a better ending than her staying in Wonderland would be, despite the LOL IMPERIALISM (I literally had a "yay!...wait" moment in the theater when she was talking about going to China). In my head she maybe goes back to visit a few years later, but she spends some time learning how to be happy being Alice in her own world first.