Gone is the appreciated format of the episodes beginning with a glimpse of how events in the present-day are unfolding, we are taken straight to Bohemia to an unwelcoming Emperor Rudolf who has no interest in welcoming a vampire and spy for Queen Elizabeth into his court until Diana catches his eye, as if she is some precious treasure he wants to acquire. He is very quick with beginning his attempts to make Diana his as he sends a gift by the evening of Diana and Matthew's arrival. After learning of Diana's interest in alchemy, he takes the next step to make her his by introducing her to an interesting rabbi, Rabbi Loew, also known as the Maharal - a man with a wide knowledge of languages whom the Emperor has hired to translate old texts for him. Rudolf also seems eager to impress Diana with his travelling collection of treasures. I could really believe that he didn't have any romantic interest in her, that he only thought of her as something impressive to collect, to show off wherever he goes and whoever he entertains.
I love that Diana uses Rudolf's keen interest in him to do some of her own investigating, to get ever closer to finding the Book of Life which has been said to be in Edward Kelley's possession, an Englishman who has found himself in the employ of the Bohemian Emperor. Though it is also clear that Diana gets ahead of herself and doesn't realise how she could take things too far by entertaining the Emperor so much, how it could increase his desire to add her to his collection and provoking Matthew's blood rage. By saying she'd expect him to have the Philosophers' Stone, she gets a reaction that gives her an indication of what he knows of the Book of Life but it also gives cause for him to be suspicious of her which could be dangerous as he is already suspicious of Matthew's presence.
Rudolf may have seemed for most of the episode that he is a spoilt royal just focused on his trinkets and possessing even more but he shows himself to be someone who can be a threat if he needs to be. He changes his mind and opinion of others on a whim, demanding they leave one minute and apologising with gifts the next. Though he still is intent on showing what he can do by shaming and dismissing the rabbi from his court very publicly in a bid to intimidate Diana after her questions about the book. This is another moment where I admire her newfound independence and grasp of magic by turning the sculpted snake on his cup into a real one - though this only makes her more fascinated by her rather than warn him off.
The first effects of Diana and Matthew mating begin to show in this episode sometime after Gallowglass notices it from the change in their scents - kind of makes me uncomfortable how vampires can know so much about another by their scent alone. It's kind of like having Sherlock Holmes or Marvel's Daredevil around to tell you everything about your life based on any minuscule physical detail. I think this is the first time Matthew explains - on screen at least - why he was hesitant to properly mate as it makes the emotionally triggered blood rage harder to handle and smelling other people's scents on her makes him more possessive of her. Personally, even when reading the book it seemed like a way to explain their unhealthily possessive relationship and excuse the more controlling aspects that Matthew brings to it. However, Diana is quite good at calming and dealing with his reactions, she retains her own independence no matter what his instincts demand. I feel like in this regard, the screen Diana is more resistant to Matthew's possessive demands than the page Diana. She doesn't give in to the demands of the symptoms but she does treat them as well as you can.
By the time Diana and Matthew get to discover the Book of Life, it has already driven Edward Kelley insane - his "screaming book" that has told him what it could of the origins and future of creatures. The events of the episode finally come to fruition when Diana, Matthew and Gallowglass are shown to Kelley and the Book of Life, with images bursting from the pages of the book when Diana draws it to herself - the images of the alchemical wedding and the alchemical child were definitely visible. The VFX team did such a beautiful job of making the images literally bounce off the page, the design and the light that came from it was so beautiful and ethereal. It looked like truly powerful and pure magic. This performance of her power makes Rudolf finally decide to release Kelley as was the aim but he wants to take Diana for himself. He looks at her like a literal prize to be won, the way Abu looks at the treasures in the Cave of Wonders in Disney's animated Aladdin film.
In the chaos that ensues, Diana and Matthew become witnesses to how the book ended up with missing pages as Kelley tears pages from it in his madness, tearing out the three pages that were missing when Diana viewed it in the Bodleian Library, one of which appeared in the Bishop House. Escaping with the bulk of the book intact and coming into contact with it at last, Matthew realises what the book is made of, something truly inhumane and revolting - it is made entirely with the skin, blood and hair of the three creatures, witches, vampires and daemons. There is true chaos in this scene, there is so much that goes on and needs to happen by the end of it that no character is in control of what happens and every setback is out of their hands.
The episode still ends with a view of a present-day tour of Emperor Rudolf's treasures in the room where his travelling collection was in 1590, which include writings from the maddened Edward Kelley about his "screaming book". Something that could only be one thing if the right person were looking for it. Or the wrong person. The latter being Peter Knox, a detestable character whose face we haven't see in a while.
The standout moment of this episode was a vampire introducing himself to Diana by the name of Benjamin Fuchs. If any of you reading this have read the books, you will know why this is so important. For those that haven't, I look forward to you all discovering who he is. The introduction to him is chilling and unnerving in and of itself, even if you have no idea who he is. It happens with just about any creature when they introduce themselves and somehow know who Diana is before she knows who they are. And he appears at just the right moment, the mere seconds in the day that both Gallowglass and Matthew are away from Diana's side. It's a close brush with some extreme danger. It becomes all the more intriguing when one of the closing scenes of the episode are the aftermath of him tearing apart a guard then approaching the mad Edward Kelley with blood on his face and interest in the book.
Reasons to Recommend:
- Introduction of Benjamin
- Edward Kelley's madness
- A display of what blood rage can do to a vampire, provoked by any extreme emotion
- First sighting of the Book in its full form before it is quickly torn apart
Comments
Post a Comment