Warning, this contains spoilers.
As we reach episode 11 of 13, The Magicians continues to push all those interweaving plots into a satisfactory conclusion. It was exciting, but “The Rattening” was also quite a sad episode with almost everyone coming to terms with a sudden realisation. Even Reynard, sort of. The Magicians “Big Bad” lets slip that he once loved Our Lady Underground. This important revelation is eagerly absorbed by his son, Senator Gaines and will no doubt be used against him as he plots against Reynard.
Our Lady Underground is a popular source of regret. On her visit to the underworld, Julia realises she was real all along but had gone AWOL and she made a mistake by ever following her. When Julia has a chance to help to help Q by rescuing the shade Alice, she does. Might this mean Niffin Alice can be finally fixed? Julia is managing to fake it without her shade, but that large healing hole in her stomach doesn’t look too promising.
Sphincter magic…
Eliot and Margo have finally fallen out. Who’d have thought that Margo declaring war could cause such problems? Eliot has her locked up for bargaining away his wife and unborn child in exchange for fixing the wellspring, but he makes sure she has the best dungeon and her coconut oil. If Margo’s escape and rescue attempt on Fen goes well, there could still be a way of repairing their friendship. There’s a possible flaw there as Eliot has been transported back to earth. After a chance conversation leads to the invention of Fillorian democracy, it looks like Eliot is surplus to requirements and has been thrown out.
Senator Gaines has fully turned against Reynard, now appreciating that everything he’s got from life is at least partly thanks to a magical ability he didn’t know he had. He tries to act like a human but the temptation to force support is too much. He instantly regrets it and then accidentally uses the same technique on his wife. He’s a new character but you can feel for him. The successful, and apparently good politician has just found out he’s a monster. Often it’s the other way around with politics.
A new character has arrived in the form of Sylvia, the girl who is surprisingly not too annoying. In another example of The Magicians never wasting a line, Penny compares her to Meadow, the daughter in The Sopranos, but thinks the character is called Willow. Of course, Willow is the powerful witch from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I liked his attempts at sphincter magic this week but Penny could be veering towards being the comedy light relief again. The writing for Penny in The Magicians always feels more meaningful when he is with someone. He has some interaction with Kady and possibly Sylvia but I’m waiting to see where that goes.
Also keeping things light, we have the interpretation of the underworld which is a lot like a smart hotel lobby where you take a number for service. Don’t take more than one though, as they might call security on you. Bowling is also a popular activity in the afterlife as souls try to cope with the transition. Q doesn’t like bowling, following an incident where he got his finger stuck, but he’s soon bowling strikes. The thing is, it’s always a strike in the first week. Q also has (had) one of his baby milk teeth, which was convenient for getting him part of the way into the underworld. An Ancient One (a dragon) got them the rest of the way in exchange for his magic teleportation button. That’s got to be very important sooner or later.
