As we enter the second half of this season of The Magicians, we’re at episode 7: Poached Eggs already!  Please remember that as this is a recap, there’s SPOILERS, so don’t make Margo shout at you for forgetting…

In the previously, we see:  Poppy (Felicia Day) being rescued, Penny (Arjun Gupta) saving Victoria (Hannah Levien) from The Beast/Martin Chatwin (Anthony Marble/Charles Mesure), Kady (Jade Tailor) trying to leave the psychiatric hospital (but failing), Eliot (Hale Appleman) and Margo (Summer Bishil) working out the fairies ‘terraforming’ plot, Benedict (Harvey Guillen) killing himself and the appearance of the Dragon, Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) receiving magic from Julia (Stella Maeve), and then Alice collapsing while using the magic.

The episode opens with Margo and Eliot sneaking out of Whitespire, while Flitwick (Rizwan Manji) tells them that the floaters have begun pillaging the countryside.  Margo tells him that they have to think bigger than that, and need to deal with the fairies first.

The Magicians - Poached Eggs

THE MAGICIANS — “Poached Eggs” Episode 307 — Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson — (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

Meeting up with Q (Jason Ralph) and Poppy, the four of them then portal back to the Brakebills cottage and discover Alice on the floor.  When she wakes up, she says she has been experiencing some ‘surges’ and expected some issues akin to organ transplant rejection.  Fogg (Rick Worthy) gives them no reassurance and even mocks them, as he says they will just do what they want anyway and not heed his warnings.  Julia tells Q to concentrate on the Keys and she will take care of Alice.

Q talks with Penny about getting to the Underworld, and after some convincing, Penny agrees to help.  Poppy suggests using the libraries Dragon, nicknamed ‘The Bookworm’ to get there, but Penny says it’s too small to send a full size human.  Q tells Penny he could go ‘as a book’ and then send the key back.  As they would then need another traveller, due to the key returning from the underworld to a satellite library on another planet, they work out they could ask Victoria to help, and Poppy says she can find her.

Meanwhile, Julia is researching how to help Alice, and Fogg tells her that nothing will really work, and unless she takes the magic back, Alice will die.  To do the transfer, Julia will need some more magic, as Alice will never let the magic go on her own.  Fogg thinks he knows where they can get some, but says it will come with a price.

Elsewhere in the cottage, Eliot and Margo are hiding the fairy eggs, just as Fray (Madeleine Arthur) and Fen (Brittany Curran) excitedly return from visiting New York with Todd (Adam DiMarco).  Margo enlists Todd in keeping the eggs hidden from Fray.

The Magicians - Poached Eggs

THE MAGICIANS — “Poached Eggs” Episode 307 — Pictured: (l-r) Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh — (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

Over in Fillory, Margo and Eliot return to find Flitwick has overdone it with the cover story and the castle is littered with feathers due to their supposed ‘chicken pox’.  He then tells them that the pillaging by the floaters has led to reprisals and signs being erected that say ‘Death to floaters’.

In the throne room, Margo and Eliot lay out there extortion plan to the Fairy Queen (Candis Cayne), and tell her that in exchange for her bathtub, they will return the eggs.  As this deal would be between the Fairy Queen and all the people of Fillory, they would all be then able to see the fairies.

Back on Earth, Julia and Fogg go to see Irene McAllistair, who has some reserves of magic, in order to get the magic they need to save Alice.

In Brakebills, Fray discovers the Fairy eggs, and is disgusted with Eliot and Margo.  Despite Fen and Todd pointing out that Fray isn’t a fairy and is deluded, she is unconvinced.

Next, we see Q and Poppy finding Victoria in the city and they try to convince her to help.  As they don’t succeed, they get Penny to talk to her and they discover that Victoria is working with the group run by Harriet (Marlee Matlin) that Penny has had contact with before.  Harriet doesn’t like Penny though, so they need to ask Kady, who Harriet does like, to get involved.

The Magicians - Poached Eggs

THE MAGICIANS — “Poached Eggs” Episode 307 — Pictured: (l-r) Felicia Day as Poppy, Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater — (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

Over at Irene’s, Julia makes a deal for magic, and is given the excretion of a magical creature that she will have to snort.

Returning to the cottage, Poppy, Q and Penny are planning on how they will get Kady out of the psychiatric hospital.  Q and Poppy, who both coincidentally happen to know a lot about psychiatric hospitals, which concerns Penny, come up with a plan to be visiting doctors, and get access to Kady that way; they can then steal a pass and give it to Kady, who can then escape.

At the hospital the plan initially works, but during the exchange of the badge, it gets dropped and the opportunity is lost.

The Magicians - Poached Eggs

THE MAGICIANS — “Poached Eggs” Episode 307 — Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson — (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

In Fillory, Eliot and Margo discuss the situation they’re in, and Margo digs her heels in, stating that she is the queen and has fought long and hard to get where she is, so refuses to give up.

Back at the hospital, Kady is frustrated and argues with Penny about why he is there, but at Penny’s prompting they entice an orderly in, knock him out, and Kady escapes her room.  Kady tries to leave the building and en route, has a heart to heart with Penny, and they express that they both still need each other.  As they’re talking, the alarm is raised and the building goes into lockdown.  In another part of the building Poppy sets fire to some pamphlets to trigger the fire safety protocol, which will unlock the building again.  As the building is being evacuated, the orderly sees Kady and the team need to knock out the security guards to leave.

Meanwhile, Alice, desperate, tries to raid the Brakebills pharmacy and bumps into Professor Lipson (Keegan Connor Tracy), who gives her some steroids, which may help her condition.

When Julia returns to Brakebills with Fogg to help Alice, they discover Alice has left, so they use a locator spell to find her.

Next, we see Fen alerting Eliot that Fray is missing, but it turns out that Fray has gone to the Fairy Queen to tell her about what Eliot and Margo have been doing, and where the eggs are.  Fray says she did it for family loyalty to the fairies, but she soon learns that the Fairy Queen doesn’t value her, as the Fairy Queen gives a counter offer of “don’t hurt my children and I won’t hurt yours”.  When Fray expresses her confusion, the Fairy Queen explains that she could never trust Fray, as she was a perfect example of Human duplicity.  When Fray witnesses Eliot stating that he can’t be the Father that turns his back on his daughter, she is moved and exclaims that she isn’t his daughter and is just a human the fairies found.  The Fairy Queen says that Fen and Eliot’s daughter died in childbirth, and Margo presses home the need for the Fairy Queen to complete the deal, as she has lost her leverage.

The Magicians - Poached Eggs

THE MAGICIANS — “Poached Eggs” Episode 307 — Pictured: Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz — (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

On Earth, Kady meets with Harriet in a diner, as Poppy and Q watch from across the street.  Harriet initially refuses to help, but Kady makes a side deal of stealing books, that entices Harriet to agree.  Penny is less than impressed by the deal, but ultimately agrees, and tells Kady he loves her before leaving for the underworld.

In a dodgy side street, Alice is trying to get turned by a vampire, when Julia appears and stops her doing it.  Alice and Julia get into an argument over the best way to proceed and in the brief fight, Alice over reacts and injures Julia.  Frightened and remorseful of her actions, Alice transfer back all the magic to Julia.  The two of them have an open and frank discussion of their own pain and how they got here, with each of them beginning to understand the other.  Alice tells Julia that the magic isn’t Reynard’s, it’s hers, as she felt it, so she need not fear it.

Next, in Whitespire, Eliot goes to comfort Fen, who is bereft at the loss of her daughter, and Eliot tells her she was a good mother, while he was a shitty husband and father.  Fen says she needs some time and can’t be in Fillory for a while.

At Brakebills, Poppy goes to talk to Q, who is having serious doubts about the plan and is panicking.  To snap him out of it, Poppy kisses him and he is confused, but she explains he just needs to have some fun…

Later, in a carriage in Fillory, Eliot and Margo complete the deal with the Fairy Queen, which means that everyone can see the fairies.  The Fairy Queen seems too cocky though, and she says that the people of Earth have been messing things up in Fillory for too long, and the people can see that too now.  The carriage stops and suddenly a crowd, replete with flaming torches, descend on the carriage, wrenching open the doors and carrying Margo and Eliot away…

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