Welcome back to Fillory! If The Magicians has taught us anything, it is that nothing is as it seems and Fillory is not exception in the season 2 premiere entitled, “Knight of Crowns”. As Quentin learned last season, it isn’t quite the magical wonderland he expected and they are all already in hot water before this season even begins. There are castles, desperate alliances, and of course, magic (both good and evil). Written by Sera Gamble and directed by Chris Fisher, here is what happened in the premiere.
SMELLS LIKE NEW ROYALTY | This season picks up right where the finale left off, with Quentin (Jason Ralph) desperately running through the woods of Fillory, trying to find someone to help his friends. He persuades the witch from Hansel and Gretel to help in exchange for a vial of his blood. When they get back however, everyone seems to be okay (or at least still breathing). Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) was able to heal them using the god power she still has from *gags* “imbibing” Ember’s “essence”. Since Julia (Stella Maeve) has taken The Beast (Charles Mesure) and the magic dagger with her, they need a plan and fast before Alice’s god power wears off and they are back to square one. They try to use The Wellspring but The Beast has all but drained it dry. After finding a note about a library full of books on battle magic located in Castle Whitespire, they figure that is their best chance. The castle is only accessible to the High King so first they have to have a little coronation. There are actually four kings and queens and as High King, Eliot (Hale Appleman) gets to pick his own little royal court. They journey to the special coronation beach where they find the Knight of Crowns (who literally died of boredom waiting for them). His job is to give them a test to determine if they are worthy of the crowns. The test is actually the trivia quiz at your local pub on 90s night but these 90s kids are prepared. Eliot Dirty-Dancing-Monologues his way into the Knight’s heart and they all pass the test. Quentin insists they make a ceremony out of it so he bestows the crown on Eliot and dubs him High King Eliot The Spectacular. Eliot’s first queen selection is Margo (Summer Bishil), whose new title is Queen Margo The Destroyer. Next is Queen Alice The Wise. Finally, Margo is the one to crown Quentin and after a sweet speech, dubs him King Quentin The Moderately Socially Maladjusted. The only one without a crown on Team Fillory is Penny (Arjun Gupta) but in all fairness, I don’t think he wants it anyway. Alice confides in Quentin that she is worried that she will freeze up again the next time they face The Beast so he takes her to a field to practice. She manages to grow a giant apple tree from a single seed even with the power starting to fade. Team Fillory (minus Penny who is having limb complications) arrives at the castle and they are greeted by Eliot’s sweet and excited wife, Fen (Brittany Curran), and Tick Pickwick of the Northern Marsh Pickwicks (say that 5 times fast) who has been taking care of the castle in their absence. Eliot requests they be taken to the library immediately but when they get there, they find it almost entirely picked clean. Alice manages to find a workbook about battle spells but no actual spells. They look at the cover and see a Brakebills logo on it meaning it’s time for a field trip back to earth. Eliot must stay behind as per the laws of being the High King but before they leave, Quentin promises him they will come back.
THROWING SHADE | Julia and The Beast emerge back in the real world inside the ballpit of the one Discovery Zone they forgot to condemn back in the 90s. They come up with and agree upon the terms of a contract between them stating that if The Beast helps Julia kill Reynard (Mackenzie Astin), she won’t stab him with the magic dagger and will give it to him once Reynard is dead. She also makes sure to add that he cannot hurt her or any of her friends in the process. Back at her apartment, Julia monitors the police scanner (as you do) and hears a report of five bodies with their hearts ripped out. She and The Beast pay a visit to the crime scene and he figures out that Reynard is drawn in by witches performing rituals just like the one Julia and her late friends were trying to do. The Beast is curious as to why Reynard chose to “spare” her when he killed all of her friends but at her silence, realizes that just because she’s alive, doesn’t mean she was spared. He tries to relate to her by telling her what Plover used to do to him and that only the powerful survive. She isn’t a fan of his methods of ‘surviving’: killing dozens of people, taking over a world, nearly destroying magic, etc. He tells her about the small part of a person’s soul called their Shade which is what allows you to feel both pain and love. Take it away, and those feelings go with it. He offers to remove hers for her but she turns him down. Later, he asks again, this time showing her what it would feel like by drawing her Shade out of her body temporarily. She begs him to put it back and disappointed, he does but leaves her with the notion that if she destroys herself in the process of killing Reynard, the god still wins, even in death.
HELPING HANDS | While Alice was able to keep Penny from bleeding out, her god powers are not enough to reattach his hands so he carries them around in a little wooden box. While the others try to find the castle, Penny and Margo journey to Chatwin’s Torrent which is a river said to have incredible healing powers. The River Watcher ( J.P. Manoux) appears and guides Penny through how to use the river correctly. Once his hands are sewn on, Penny strips down to his birthday suit and submerges himself in the river. It seems to have worked but when they go to leave, the River Watcher requests payment for his services. Between not receiving any compensation and being sassed and insulted by Penny, the River Watcher is angry enough to curse Penny’s hands to have a dangerous mind of their own. Penny realizes this later when his hands start performing spells violently and of their own volition. He returns to the river to try and sweet talk the River Watcher into fixing his hands for real, but he has no pity for Penny whatsoever and warns him his actions have consequences. Penny begs him but the River Watcher merely suggests Penny ‘perform sexual favors on his own person’ (thanks Veronica Mars).
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• Did they seriously retcon WWII to have been won using magic?
• I know we don’t have the time in the main season so I would like an entire series of webisodes watching a millennial explain various social media platforms to The Beast.
• The Rainbow Bridge is the most beautiful shot of the episode and might be my favorite visual of the entire series so far.
• With many fabulous one-liners curtesy of everyone, the winner of Line of the Night (extra points for delivery) goes to the Knight of Crowns for “You know of Swayze?”
So what did you think? How long will the partnership between Julia and The Beast last without copious bloodshed? Is Eliot ready to be High King of Fillory? How long do you think Alice’s god power is going to last? Let us know in the comments below!
The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy!