We’re nearing the end, and everyone is having to make hard choices on The Magicians, in episode 11: Be the Hyman.  This review contains SPOILERS!

After recent upheavals, the whole group are now back together in the same place and coming to terms with the situation.  In some ways this is a bit of a reset for the characters, as they prepare for the last couple of episodes.  Margo (Summer Bishil) and Josh (Trevor Einhorn) have a reconciliation, and Julia (Stella Maeve) and Penny (Arjun Gupta) try to grapple with the pregnancy together.

Our heroes look at Ember
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Brittany Curran as Fen, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

This bubble is burst, in typical Magicians style by the manifestation of the God Ember (Dominic Burgess).  As usual, Ember is a bit of a dick, and summons the minds of Eliot (Hale Appleman), Fen (Brittany Curran), Margo and Josh to see him, leaving their bodies unconscious back at the apartment.  Here he states that due to the emergency on Fillory, they need to do something.  Sensing that Ember is willing to let them do almost anything, his brother Umber (Nico Evers-Swindell) appears and gives them another option, which will allow them to save the people of Fillory.

This is classic Magicians, and played with the well-crafted balance of humour and serious drama we’ve come to love.  The extended gag about pickles for example is typical of the leftfield, which also ends working perfectly as an analogy.  The Umber/Ember duo have been great characters over the years and it’s good to see them in one last episode.

The solution they come up with is to evacuate Fillory into Umber’s pocket world called the Ark and then put them onto a new Fillory created using the ‘World Seed’.  All after destroying the old Fillory.  Predictably, this makes them the invaders that Sir Effingham (Sean Maguire) has been trying to stop.  While this is not exactly a revelation, it is pleasing enough not to grate.  This plan creates some issues though, and involves half the team going to Vancouver to find Umber’s pocket world, and the other half trying to get hold of the ‘World Seed’.  Both of these tasks require some outside assistance from people that they’d rather not be dealing with.

Ember sits on his throne
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: Dominic Burgess as Ember — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

For Eliot, Margo, Fen, and Josh this means finding a traveller who can get them to Umber’s house, so Penny unearths Hyman (Dustin Ingram), who Plum (Riann Steele) placed in stasis.  Following his help, it becomes abundantly clear that Hyman is a man somewhat out of his depth as well as time.  It then falls to Penny to try to educate him on how things work in the 21st Century.  As you’d expect this does not go entirely smoothly, especially as alongside this Penny and Julia are trying work out their differences.  These scenes are a major highlight of the episode, with many characters trying to find their place.  There is a distinct rawness to the Penny and Julia sections, with Gupta and Maeve doing a great job of giving authenticity amongst the magic.

Back in Vancouver, having discovered that they must undergo an Indiana Jones style choice to get the pocket world, Eliot, Fen, Margo and Josh have a bit of falling out.  This has been a long time coming, and centres on how Fen is treated by the group and how she views herself.  While she has lacked confidence and self-esteem, despite being a badass, she has been poorly treated by the rest.  This comes to a head, and it sets up a heart to heart with Eliot, which is both tender and a little harsh.  Curran doesn’t always get to show her versatility, and Fen is a much underused character, so some more development like this was very welcome.

Fen and Eliot get snappy
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Brittany Curran as Fen — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Elsewhere, the continually interesting team of Kady (Jade Tailor) and Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) go to find the help of the one person who had a plan to steal the ‘World Seed’, Marina (Kacey Rohl).  For me, Marina is one of the most underused characters, who could have had a much bigger part in the series.  Rohl has been fantastic every time she appears, and has been a much missed presence.  Here we see even more nuance from her, as she gets to play Marina as good, and then evil again.  This return for Marina is hopefully not just a one off, and she will remain a part of the last couple of episodes.

The good Marina talks to Kady and Alice
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz, Kacey Rohl as Marina, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

It’s in this part of the plot that we get to see the most difficult moral quandaries, with Alice and Kady having to make some decisions that they normally might not make.  They’ve made some questionable choices over the years, but ‘be more like Marina’ is not one they probably ever expected.

As is often the case with The Magicians, this is an episode that plays in the grey areas, both morally, and personally.  A lot of the characters here are searching for meaning, and trying to find a purpose or where they fit in.  There are burdens for each of them, both right now and fast approaching, and none of them know exactly how that will play out.  What’s in store for them all is unknown at present, and that’s exactly how we like it.  No doubt whatever happens it will be both dramatic, emotional, and somehow have a streak of humour in it.