The final episode of A Discovery of Witches season 2 touches base on every story thread that has been running its way throughout this season. Loose ends are tied up, significant confrontations take place, and there is just enough of a cliffhanger to tease the coming third season but not too strong either. At the very least we know that filming for season 3 has finished and it's in post-production, expected to arrive in 2022. And there's a lot to look forward to.
The episode starts with London 1591, with Diana finishing her training with Goody Alsop interspersed with Matthew teaching Jack about the constellations and their last moments as a family. And as Diana completes the 8th knot but fails the 9th, Goody Alsop detects the presence of another weaver in London which is strange as the two of them are the only known ones in London at that time. While Diana shops for a book for Jack, Matthew smells coffee which shouldn't be in England for a few decades, leading to the final part of their journey in 1591 - another timewalker is near and it is none other than Stephen Proctor, Diana's father. Stephen is there for one of the same reasons Diana is - to study the Ashmole 782 manuscript at an earlier time when it was easier to read. Diana shows it to him and explains the images she has seen from the three missing pages, how the book can no longer be read without them.
Stephen is a seasoned timewalker at this point and is quite pragmatic about it, through a few choice interactions, including Jack passing through the house, he realises that they have taken part in history too much. As timewalkers, they should only be observing not making the changes that they have. He can tell immediately that Diana wants to take the Book of Life back to the future with them but seems to be the only one thinking about the fact that it is too powerful an object to take through time and that if they take it out of its time now, though he never says it explicitly, it will not make its way back to Diana in the Bodleian.
While Matthew ties up loose ends with Gallowglass, we see one of the more interesting witch scenes - Diana taking Stephen to Goody Alsop which is a new experience for him as he was never formally trained as a weaver but self-taught. It's one of those scenes where you can feel the power of the characters present because of how well they have emphasised the strength and rarity of weavers and here you have three in one room, two of which are timewalkers. It's great seeing Diana complete the 9th from training from Goody Alsop with her father there to encourage her. Though something Stephen says puts a dampener on the achievement - many witches would kill for that power. As Diana begins to express what she feels about her past and Stephen's future, he reveals that he knows his and Rebecca's fate would meet them no matter what and they knew their time with Diana was short. This conversation does for Diana what seeing Phillipe did for Matthew - it helps her make peace with her grief and regrets about losing her parents before Stephen leaves for his own time. Throughout his visit, he is quite stand-offish whereas Diana is outwardly feeling more, something I felt was the same in the book. When reading it, I found it slightly off-putting it but watching it being acted a lot like what I imagined made me realise why this would be the case - Diana as an adult is a complete stranger to him but Stephen is as Diana remembers him from her childhood before he was killed.
Having agreed that once Diana completes the 9th knot, they would return home, the issue of Jack's care comes up with Matthew assuring Diana that Henry Percy would take care of the boy. Though we soon see that Diana is not content and does what I always enjoy seeing her do - taking matters into her own hands by going to the vampire lord of London, Father Hubbard. She makes a deal with him that he gets a single drop of her blood in exchange for him taking care of Jack. Diana is careful with this though by making sure he does not touch her to make sure Matthew does not know she has seen Hubbard but also makes sure he cannot get too much knowledge of her through memories in her blood.
During her final goodbyes with the witches, Goody Alsop tells Diana about a tenth knot, one the old weaver has not managed herself, a knot of creation and destruction. This is one of the many light teases as to what's to come in the third season, something Diana still has to work towards in developing her power. Diana also gives Susanna Norman the chess piece that her descendant, the daemon Sophie, brings to Diana before she and Matthew timewalked. And so it comes full circle that the chess piece travels in a circle continuously throughout those 400 years.
Before finishing the last moments left of 1591, between these scenes were also those of events taking place in the present day. Multiple people arrive at Sept-Tours, all for the protection the de Clermonts will provide them and in anticipation of Diana and Matthew's return including Sophie and Nathaniel with their baby, Margaret, Nathaniel's mother and Congregation daemon Agatha Wilson, and Marcus and Phoebe. The inhabitants of Sept-Tours, along with a visiting Miriam, discuss Knox, the Congregation and what enforcement of the Covenant will mean for Margaret, Diana and Matthew. Marcus' character as someone who was born amidst revolution as both human and vampire is strong here as he suggests repealing the Covenant, realising that the world has changed since it was made and segregation between the creatures is only weakening them all. The real gem in this scene comes from Phoebe pointing out the obvious as the new pair of eyes in the world - that the change and rejection of the Covenant is already happening in that moment with all four species dining together.
Alone later, Ysabeau approaches Phoebe with almost the same kinds of words she did with Diana but less threatening - to understand what it means that the male de Clermont has put so much trust in them. It's Ysabeau's way of getting a read on what Phoebe is like, impressed that she is not terrified being the only human among witches, vampires and daemons. As Phoebe leaves the room and Marcus goes to Ysabeau, she expresses not only her approval of Phoebe but also Marcus' choice to question how conservative creatures have been with the Covenant. I feel like her words in this scene are great encouragement to her grandson, the words she chooses to talk about Phillipe sound like her way of saying he is a lot like the late de Clermont sire - a comparison I can see Marcus shaping up to do justice to. Her line about grief and pain becoming resolve and action just sweetened the power those few sentences had behind them.
While the creature allies have all been organising and staying safe at Sept-Tours, the vile Knox and Gerbert discuss their plans and interest in the Book of Life once again, Knox being quite the obedient informant for Gerbert. Gerbert convinces Knox that if he believes the missing witch page to be with Sarah and Emily, he should attempt drawing them out at Sept-Tours, where they are most likely to be under Ysabeau's protection. Satu makes an appearance after being absent for a long time while Knox looks at a plan of Sept-Tours. Knox, however, rejects her help as a powerful ally in his plan. Words he may come to regret.
All of this starts to come together more towards the end as each thread is tied more closely together. In 1591, Andrew Hubbard is approached by Benjamin Fuchs (last seen speaking to Diana in Bohemia), who is very interested in information about "Matthew's witch", something that Hubbard is no longer in a position to betray - except maybe to his sire, the vampire asking him about Diana in that moment. Domenico finds the blood rage vampire killer, offers to help if the vampire reveals themselves but they remain unidentified as they attack Domenico instead. And then we see Benjamin in the present day for the first time, watching Domenico after the attack, knowing now that he is interested and tied to what has just happened. And Knox approaches the grounds of Sept-Tours, making his way to the old temple.
I think this is the scene I was waiting for most when the season began seeing that Emily was still alive. Using spells, Knox draws Emily to the temple where she begins again to summon Rebecca's spirit and Knox's reaction to seeing Rebecca halts him in his tracks - you can tell from the tears forming in his eyes that he knew the dead witch on a more personal level. Surprising indeed that he could feel anything but fortunately it's so brief you don't get a chance to feel sorry for him. While everyone else is only just stirring at Sept-Tours, aware of some disruption, Rebecca tells Emily that the Book will change and reveal everything before warning her that she is in danger. Emily is one of the characters I love seeing work magic, her style is one of my favourites as she sends the page away from herself. Emily is a character to love and admire and mourn in this moment as she dies resisting Knox's attempts at torturing information out of her about the page or Diana. And Sarah realises too late where Emily went as Marcus only catches up to a retreating Knox who overpowers the vampire but decides not to kill him as he is on de Clermont land which would invoke a war he cannot win. In the book we don't get a lot of detail about Marcus' part in this. All we know is that throughout the second and third book, he feels guilty for Emily's death and that he failed. I'm assuming that scenes like this were put together in consultations with Deborah Harkness and I think it does well in showing how he could feel that he failed when really it was not his fault at all and out of his hands.
After Diana and Matthew say their final goodbyes to Gallowglass and Jack before they leave, their part in this season ends as it did in the first - in a bedroom by a four-poster bed about to take a step and timewalk. But this time back to their own time. And as this happens, there are brief glimpses of all the important players and where they are left off - Agatha rocking Margaret while Nathaniel and Sophie watch, Gerbert looking out over Venice, Sarah cradling Emily's dead body, and Marcus unconscious as a result of Knox's magic. It's not the kind of ending that makes you particularly anxious and eager for the next season to come but it is just enough to keep your interest peaked for one final (I think) season.
Reasons to Recommend:
- Seeing the most significant even of the present day which is Knox confronting Emily at Sept-Tours
- Loose ends being tied up in London with the bittersweet presence of an unexpected character
- The unity of creatures in anticipation of Diana and Matthew's return - a true sign of change
- Teases of Benjamin without giving away the role he will play in the next season
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