The Magicians are finally back and their world has become bigger and even more crazy. In the season 2 premiere, the squad struggles to make sense of their utter defeat and come up with a brilliant a new plan, all the while continuing to adjust to their new surroundings in Fillory.
When we last left them, Penny had lost both his hands, Margo and Eliot were unconscious, and Alice had her throat slashed. Julia had just stuck the Leo blade against The Beast’s neck (that she took from the chosen one) and proposed a deal. They quickly vanish leaving Quentin the only one with minor scrapes at the shed. Last season we also started to explore Fillory and met a host of characters including the god Ember who was not fairytale like at all. What great fun to see that life in this enchanted land isn’t so different from Earth, full of lots of dark entities with nefarious agendas.
Read below for the biggest moments from this week’s season 2 premiere.
The squad survives their encounter with The Beast/Martin Chatwin
Believing that he’s the only one to still alive, Quentin goes on a mad dash through the enchanted forest trying to find help for his slain friends. He comes across a witch who seems to be living in some kind of gingerbread house. She claims that she’s really more of a healer and a gardening enthusiast, sure lady. Before aiding him however, she wants to get paid. A desperate Q agrees has no choice but agree to give her a vial of his blood and they race back to the shed where a very much alive Alice emerges.
Thanks to Ember’s contribution last season, Ms. Quinn is a little hard to kill right now and she cauterizes Penny’s wrists and revives Margo and Eliot.
Q dismisses the healer but she warns him that he should be wary of creatures in Fillory because they only look whimsical. Amen to that.
The Wellspring is nearly empty
Back in the shed, the squad decides that they should drink from the Wellspring to get some power in case The Beast shows back up. Only Alice is able to touch the small metal ball that opens the protected door to the well on the floor. They discover that the enchanted water is nearly gone because Martin drank so much from it. When they tried to retrieve the bucket to get a drink, an earthquake suddenly hits, leading them believe that doing anything with the Wellspring was too dangerous because it had a direct effect on Fillory.
Julia makes a deal with The Beast
The Beast takes Julia to a Chuckee Cheese like establishment and over drinks and pizza they come to an agreement. Julia sets up a contract between them where he must agree to help her kill Reynard the trickster fox god and until the god’s death he must not attempt to harm her or any of friends or else the Leo Blade will kill him. In exchange once Reynard was dead she would put down the weapon and he can claim it.
Penny and Margo head to the healing river
The team decides to head to the Armory (in the Whitespire castle where the kings and queens of Fillory resided) so that they might find some battle magic spells that might help them in defeating The Beast. However Penny rightfully brings up that his hands are in a box. Yea whoops! So Q says that he can go to the healing river where he might get healed. Margo volunteers to go with him because she figures they could use all the healing water they could given what they are up against.
At a river, a mysterious man shows up who claims to aid those who need the magic of the water. He tells Margo that she’ll need to help Penny stitch his hands back on him. After, the traveller goes in butt naked and plunges himself into the cold rushing waters. But thankfully it works and as the two magicians are preparing to leave, the river helper tries to sell them stuff. Penny tells him that they have to go and so the other man nods and asks for a tip of 20 gold pieces because this is Chatwin’s Torrent. Does that mean he is collecting payment for The Beast? Penny loses his cool and proceeds to insult the guy, basically telling him to F off. Not a good move because the dude also happens to be a magic wielder and does something to the traveller’s hands that is probably going to bite him in the ass later on.
Crowns anyone?
Before they can get into the Armory, Eliot and the others need to get crowned to be fully recognized as the rulers of Fillory. Q remembers that there’s a specific coronation place that can be accessed through the Rainbow Bridge (named so because of the flowers all over it). Martin was able to find it via a spell and Eliot is able to perform it as well. Penny and Margo catch up with the rest of the group (via a magical note that they sent) and together they all cross the bridge, which is a beautiful site to behold. Once they get to the other side they meet a very dead looking knight who gets reanimated and explains that he must test them first before they can receive the crowns of Fillory. Only children of earth can be their bearers and the trial is designed to ferret out any imposters. Amazingly the test is on 90s trivia!
First question: What popular American television program stars actor Tim Daly?
Second question: This hit single is performed by offspring of famous entertainers. (Hint: Beach Boys)
The answer is Wings and Hold On by Wilson Phillips fyi.
Eliot then goes into a monologue from Dirty Dancing and the knight acknowledges him as your majesty. The next scene is a touching moment for Eliot, Margo, Q, and Alice as they take their turn to get crowned, while Penny watches on deeming the whole thing ridiculous. They become High King Eliot the spectacular, High Queen Margo the destroyer, Queen Alice the wise, and King Quentin the moderately social maladjusted.
Alice and Quentin try to be friends again, sorta
After the impromptu ceremony Alice tells Q that she accepts his apology and admits that she’s mad about losing him more than the fact that he cheated on her. She also confesses that she’s worried she’ll freeze up again when its time to face The Beast a second time. Quentin tells her that being cool under pressure is something that everyone has to practice doing and so he takes her aside and has her do a nature spell without holding back. Alice performs it and is able to grow a full on tree from one seed. Feeling the adrenaline rush from unleashing her potential, she kisses Q though quickly says they aren’t getting back together. Confused but going with his hormones, he says ok and they resume kissing.
Martin gives Julia some advice
The Beast asks Julia to get him some items in preparation for a spell he needs to trap Reynard and after she gets back he asks her why the fox god didn’t kill her along with her friends. Julia is reluctant to talk about it but he connects the dots and figures out that she had been raped, just like he had as a child by Christopher Plover. Martin then suggests that that he can help her get over this whole thing by removing her shade, the part of her that makes her feel pain (and also love). Essentially it’s her humanity. He explains that he has plans and that she could be part of it as long as she severs her shade because it is what cripples her (just as it did him) from being strong. Julia looks tempted but she tells him no thank you.
Eventually she asks him why does he want to help her with her shade and he says that she would be able to live life and be happy. He volunteers to show her and so he temporarily disconnects it from her being, but Julia is quick to tell him to put it back because she needs it. Martin seems to see a kindred spirit in her of sorts given their similar experience and he gives some surprisingly sage advice that getting her revenge will likely destroy her and there’s no glory in that.
The Armory
At the castle, the squad gets taken to the Armory except most of the books are gone. The leftover manuscripts are mainly useless until Alice finds one with notes on some serious battle magic. The catch? It was written on a Brakebills notebook. Looks like they’ve got to back to school after all. Poor Eliot though is going to be left behind as the other three head back to try and find some spells strong enough to combat Martin. He and Q share a vulnerable moment where the high king faces the reality that he might never see his friends again and live out his days in Fillory (because time moves differently there). It’s a sobering but Eliot diffuses the somberness by asking the other magician to squeeze his ass while they hug it out.
Oh how I have missed The Magicians! Season 2 dives right back into the mayhem as the grad students try to figure out how to get themselves out the deep well of crap they are currently in. The show continues to be a great melding of fantasy and reality, where characters are flawed with their own agendas and motivations. Fillory is just as dangerous as Earth except there Quentin and the squad are now responsible for solving the problems of an entire realm. It will be great fun to see how they are able to manage rescuing Fillory, themselves, and magic as a whole from dying with the mental, emotional, and magical skills of graduate students. They’ll have to prove to themselves and to everyone else that they are up to the task.
Bring on the mayhem!
The Magicians is on Syfy Wednesdays at 9/8 central.
For more on The Magicians click HERE.
