In the latest episode of A Discovery of Witches, we get the second episode set predominantly in the present day following the wide cast of characters that Diana and Matthew left behind, but this time we do get a couple of brief glimpses of the two at the beginning and end. The regular format was switched around - it opened and closed in the past acting as bookends to the present. There's a development in Emily's attempts to contact Rebecca, Pheobe's introduction to creatures, Margaret's birth and sinister Congregation members making deadly decisions. After this episode, I feel like there should have been more of a balance between the present day and the past throughout the season. Or just 8 episodes like the first season.
The beginning of the episode opens with a brief glimpse of Diana and Matthew who have returned to their London home with the Book of Life. Now that the pages have been torn from it, it is as she saw it in the Bodleian Library - unfocused with text moving across all the pages. It was good to at least see a glimpse of them this time as it doesn't let the audience forget where their story is while being taken in by the present day arc. They are quickly left behind as the episode returns to the 21st century and story threads that are clearly distinct but very intertwined.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before - I've become bored of the boat ride view to the Congregation where they pass through a cloaking barrier and the building is suddenly revealed to the viewers. It has become so repetitive and the Congregation headquarters are distinctive enough in any scene that I can tell when a scene is set there. The present day picks up a short while after it left off in the previous episode with Knox informing Gerbert of the letter he found from Edward Kelley about the Book of Life - how he gave the three pages to the three creatures and it may be why the former was unable to summon the book himself in the Bodleian.
First, let's go back to Sept Tours and our favourite agony aunt witches - literally. Emily is still intent on trying to summon Rebecca's dead spirit and though Sarah is under the assumption that she stopped, the latter finds the formers still doing exactly that. We get more of an insight into Emily and Sarah, their past and what made them who they are. Sarah's fear of the higher magics Emily is using is not only because of how addictive and life-threateningly dangerous it can be - she came to hate it because she could never master it. We hear about their past and how Emily and Rebecca would practice higher magics together and when Sarah tried to learn as a way to bond with the two, she could never get the hang of it. However, by the end Sarah is convinced by Emily's instincts and wants to help her find the sacred site on the grounds she is feeling the power of. When they find this site, we as the audience already know it as the old temple for the goddess of the hunt where Phillipe took Diana and Matthew for their pagan wedding. Amongst this emotional conflict and desire to find more from the dead at Sept Tours, Ysabeau de Clermont, former hunter of witches across the world, has gone from reluctant shelter to being the protector of these two. She cares for them and, in her own stony way, is there to comfort them when they need it and offer advice when it comes to the ones you love from her own experience.
Back in London with Marcus, his main story threads and explored and soon tied together, the first of which being his coming to terms with being a carrier of blood rage through Matthew and Ysabeau. Miriam goes to try to explain to him why he was never told but his anger makes him conflicted about whether he should even continue as Grandmaster of the Knights of Lazarus, especially after his conversation with Nathaniel about whether they are still effective. He goes so far as to suggest Baldwin take over if he wants it so badly - something that Phillipe made Matthew promise would never happen. In his emotional turmoil, he goes to Pheobe at Sotheby's and hands over the Knights of Lazarus medallion for her to research it which would lead to questions he'll be able to answer. He's desperate to convince her of what he is.
Pheobe becomes a more interesting character here, it's great to get to know her in her earlier stages of involvement with Marcus rather than later. She finds herself being convinced of the existence of vampires after finding a Knights of Lazarus sketch of Matthew and comparing it to the unidentified miniature portrait of him, both drawn immortal years apart. That medallion becomes her saving grace when the vampire Dominic goes to Sotheby's acting as a detective to question her about the theft of the miniatures again - when it seems she and her colleague may be under the threat, seeing the medallion and having it confirmed that it was handed over by Marcus is enough to make him leave. At the very least we know that some vampires still respect the Knights.
What follows is essentially what I wanted from the books but never really saw. Now that Pheobe believes Marcus is a vampire, he introduces her to the world, revealing to her how integrated creatures may be in her life. The way he talks about to her about Ysabeau and Phillipe is like he's always looked up to and admired them. Marcus and Pheobe's relationship develops further after this which makes it so much easier to be invested in their relationship. In the books, we see the one meeting at the beginning and then all the after where they are set on being each other's mate. I found myself caring about her more because as a viewer, I am actually getting to know her directly. Though she's new to all this, she does well in reminding Marcus of who he is by the few details she knows so far when he says he wants to give up being Grandmaster of the Knights of Lazarus - she reminds him that of all the lives he could have led he chose to be a doctor which helps humans and that he was born in a revolution, a time of change and therefore should be at the front lines of changing creature politics if he doesn't agree with it.
In the end it seems enough to convince him as he tells Baldwin he will keep his position and use it for positive change for all creatures whereas his uncle believes the Knights were formed to protect de Clermont interests. It is at this point that Marcus decides to tell Baldwin about the daemons Sophie and Nathaniel's newborn witch baby. You see a clear distinction between these two - Baldwin only cares about vampires and the de Clermont reputation whereas Marcus has a conscience and doesn't want to be an isolationist amongst the creatures. This revelation leads to something happening that made me despise Baldwin more than I ever did in the books - he betrays Marcus' trust when Gerbert confronts him and quickly reveals the Sophie and Nathaniel's daughter, Margaret, to the vampire. As Baldwin de Clermont, I'm not too surprised but as a Knight of Lazarus, it was a horrendous thing to do.
And by this we go to the other important event of the episode - Sophie goes into labour. Weeks earlier than expected too. It was likely the quietest, calmest and least screamy birth scene I have ever watched that I didn't believe it was done. Miriam is the one to confirm by the child's "singing blood" that she is a witch and so Marcus thinks to have them moved to Sept Tours as soon as possible to be safe from the Congregation. But before they can do that, the worst of the Congregation, Peter Knox, finds them at the hospital. Agatha, another Congregation member and Nathaniel's mother, gets there just in time for Knox to say that the witches will come for baby Margaret as one of their own to be raised by them. My skin crawls any time he speaks to any character that may in some way be his enemy, he's a revolting character all round. But Agatha doesn't falter with Knox and threatens to kill him if he goes near Margaret again. Agatha is another character I appreciate seeing more of in TV format, she's another one of the underused characters throughout the books in my opinion.
Domenico seems to generally be quite cocky in this episode. He raises his price with Gerbert for finding the blood rage vampire killer to more than just Venice but doesn't confirm what that could be. Then he blackmails Marcus by saying he's close to identifying the blood rage killer and knowing it's connected to the de Clermonts and the theft of the portraits. The de Clermont family have proven, however, that even if they are afraid of something they do not falter or let it show in front of those that would rather see them fall.
The episode closes with another brief glimpse of Diana and Matthew. Diana, with her hand resting on the Book of Life, dreams of a mystical looking tree, one which is vibrant and full of life at first and then quickly dying with faces all over it looking like death and screaming. It seems like a bad omen until we find out more.
Reasons to Recommend:
- Another episode dedicated to what goes on in the present day rather than skipping over the story
- It's been a while since we've seen how despicable Knox and Gerbert could be
- The romantic development between Marcus and Pheobe
- Marcus deciding at last what his purpose is and what he'll do with the Knights
- Emily and Sarah close to making discoveries of their own.
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