We come to the season finale of The Magicians, and wow there's a lot happening.
As partially told in the form of Quentin writing a new Filory novel, we get a potted history of the group's adventures in the magical realm. Quentin and Julia arrive in the realm in its heyday, and become embroiled in the stories they know when they turn out to be 'the witch and the fool' who rescue Jane from a trap. They then visit a blacksmith to commission the Leo Blade to slay a master magician, the price being a place at court once they become kings and queens of Filory, as is par for the course for visitors from Earth.
They then encounter the Watcher Woman, a terrifying figure from the books who turns out to be yet another alias used by Jane Chatwin to push herself to learn magic in the first place. She notes that Julia's memory has been blocked, something shiny replacing something horrible (I fucking knew that goddess was no good!) but refuses to remove it. They then bounce forward to join the rest of the group in what can only be described as Filory's whatever the opposite of a heyday is. Everything has gone to shit, even the sunlight. They are able to claim the Leo Blade, but as future High King, Eliot is required to marry the blacksmith's daughter, forsaking all others.
Penny rescues Victoria, who shows him the 'ride along' spell, and also Christopher Plover, who has been held captive by the real Beast, Martin Chatwin, not that anyone has much sympathy for Plover. Julia and Quentin find Ember, one of the twin gods of Filory, in a dissipate state, and learn that his brother, Umber, was killed by the Beast. He gives Quentin a bottle of his 'essence' to imbue him with power enough to wield the Leo Blade, but also unblocks Julia's memories, revealing that rather than some corn goddess popping up to heal their ills, the Free Trader Beowulf's ritual summoned the trickster Reynard the Fox, who tore out Richard's heart so he could use his body, nullified the group's magic, killed the minor characters and raped Julia. Kady was apparently 'saved', although whether she ran or was ever caught is not explored. Marina helped clear up and, at Julia's request, blocked her memory.
Victoria and Josh punk out. Quentin finally accepts that he's not the hero, and gives Alice the essence, a) which is exactly the euphemism you think it is and b) there's a point to that, to drink, imbuing her with divine power. They travel to the source of Filory's magic to ambush the Beast, but Alice finds the knife gone from her belt when she goes to attack. She gets seriously fucked up, Quentin, Eliot and Margo are tossed around like ragdolls and Penny's hands are cut off at the wrist. Ouch.
Then Julia pops up with the Leo Blade, having realised that she too was - violently and unwillingly - 'gifted' with the 'essence' of a god, which gives her the power to wield the blade. She puts the knife to Martins' throat. Hurray, huzzah, and home for tea and crumpets!
Except not.
No, Julia clearly stole the blade from Alice not to ninja the kill, but because the Beast killed Umber. He knows how to kill gods, and that's knowledge she is willing to deal for, whatever the cost.
Seriously, it's a good thing the show got picked up for a second season, or I'd be bouncing off walls at this point. Alice is looking pretty dead, Penny maimed and everyone else hurt, and the Beast is loose in the company of a fairly monomaniacal Julia. One could argue that she is determined to expunge the evil that she helped to bring into the world, but it's hard to definitively call the Beast the lesser of those evils and clearly emotion is clouding her judgement. Not that it's easy to fault her for that, given all that happened. Reynard is clearly a shit and needs to die, but one the other hand Martin ruined Narnia - a pretty textbook sign of evil - and squeezed his sister's throat until her head exploded, so he's not some brooding, misunderstood antihero.
And Quentin? Well, Quentin is as much of a useless dick as ever, but a more likable one at least.
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| "So... this is recursive." |
They then encounter the Watcher Woman, a terrifying figure from the books who turns out to be yet another alias used by Jane Chatwin to push herself to learn magic in the first place. She notes that Julia's memory has been blocked, something shiny replacing something horrible (I fucking knew that goddess was no good!) but refuses to remove it. They then bounce forward to join the rest of the group in what can only be described as Filory's whatever the opposite of a heyday is. Everything has gone to shit, even the sunlight. They are able to claim the Leo Blade, but as future High King, Eliot is required to marry the blacksmith's daughter, forsaking all others.
Penny rescues Victoria, who shows him the 'ride along' spell, and also Christopher Plover, who has been held captive by the real Beast, Martin Chatwin, not that anyone has much sympathy for Plover. Julia and Quentin find Ember, one of the twin gods of Filory, in a dissipate state, and learn that his brother, Umber, was killed by the Beast. He gives Quentin a bottle of his 'essence' to imbue him with power enough to wield the Leo Blade, but also unblocks Julia's memories, revealing that rather than some corn goddess popping up to heal their ills, the Free Trader Beowulf's ritual summoned the trickster Reynard the Fox, who tore out Richard's heart so he could use his body, nullified the group's magic, killed the minor characters and raped Julia. Kady was apparently 'saved', although whether she ran or was ever caught is not explored. Marina helped clear up and, at Julia's request, blocked her memory.
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| Just say no to god 'essence' |
Victoria and Josh punk out. Quentin finally accepts that he's not the hero, and gives Alice the essence, a) which is exactly the euphemism you think it is and b) there's a point to that, to drink, imbuing her with divine power. They travel to the source of Filory's magic to ambush the Beast, but Alice finds the knife gone from her belt when she goes to attack. She gets seriously fucked up, Quentin, Eliot and Margo are tossed around like ragdolls and Penny's hands are cut off at the wrist. Ouch.
Then Julia pops up with the Leo Blade, having realised that she too was - violently and unwillingly - 'gifted' with the 'essence' of a god, which gives her the power to wield the blade. She puts the knife to Martins' throat. Hurray, huzzah, and home for tea and crumpets!
 |
| This is not as good a situation as it seems. |
No, Julia clearly stole the blade from Alice not to ninja the kill, but because the Beast killed Umber. He knows how to kill gods, and that's knowledge she is willing to deal for, whatever the cost.
Seriously, it's a good thing the show got picked up for a second season, or I'd be bouncing off walls at this point. Alice is looking pretty dead, Penny maimed and everyone else hurt, and the Beast is loose in the company of a fairly monomaniacal Julia. One could argue that she is determined to expunge the evil that she helped to bring into the world, but it's hard to definitively call the Beast the lesser of those evils and clearly emotion is clouding her judgement. Not that it's easy to fault her for that, given all that happened. Reynard is clearly a shit and needs to die, but one the other hand Martin ruined Narnia - a pretty textbook sign of evil - and squeezed his sister's throat until her head exploded, so he's not some brooding, misunderstood antihero.
And Quentin? Well, Quentin is as much of a useless dick as ever, but a more likable one at least.
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