Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - 'All the Mirrors in the World'

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

With Mr Childermass having visions under the surgeon's knife and Lady Pole whisked away to a specialist care institute (briefly a magical school) in Yorkshire, scandal is but a heartbeat away from Mr Norrell's door, especially as the unassuming Mr Segundus reveals that he is able to see the roses at the mouths of the Gentleman's enchanted victims, Lady Pole and Stephen Black.

Meanwhile, the differing approaches of Messrs Strange and Norrell come to a head. Called to attend upon the King himself, Norrell declares again that magic can not cure madness, but Strange is willing to try. His efforts, however, almost lead to the abduction and murder of the king by the Gentleman, with Stephen Black as his unwilling executioner. Strange then learns that various persons believe themselves to be being instructed in magic by Jonathan Strange, as the result of a con perpetrated by Mr Drawlight. In seeking out Drawlight, he stumbles on the King's Roads - a set of magical paths behind the mirrors of the world, created by the Raven King - but is dissuaded from exporing them when he realises that he is becoming consumed by magic to the expense of his marriage. He then pens a scathing review of Lascelles' account of Mr Norrell's revitalisation of English magic and announces his intention to retire to Yorkshire. Lascelles encourages Norrell to view this as a betrayal and Strange as an enemy, even as the latter is being recalled to service after Napoleon's capture of Paris.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell continues to hammer along at a cracking pace. It's almost a shame how briefly we get to see things like the King's Roads, a network of broken paths and walls resembling little so much as the fast transit system in a better class of fantasy computer game. So far, the primary movement in the plot is due to the largely unseen hand of the Gentleman with Thistledown Hair, but it looks as if we'll get to see more Strange vs. Norrell soon, and one almost wants Lascelles to get his comeuppance as much as the Gentleman.

While it has plenty of set pieces - the Roads, the confrontation with King George and the gathering of the moss-oak - and quieter moments - Strange's recognition that magic is not worth his marriage, Lady Pole witnessing Honeyfoot and Segundus defying Childermass - the crux of the episode is the last meeting of the two leads, in which Norrell notes that without the other, neither can truly discuss magic, as no-one else understands.