While Dean Fogg’s “Professor Ex” was a dead end (pun intended), it’s possible that Alice’s suggestion to visit Daniella Markus, the author of “Circumstantial Prognostication,” could bear fruit. The new focus for the ex-goddess seems to be investigating why some surges are deadly and others aren’t, and the Circumstances (a wonderful reference from the books that took surprisingly long to appear in The Magicians) are a big part of it, even explaining why Alice’s Quentin was so young. The question now is whether it will continue alongside Julia’s or go off on a new path. Who else would know what to do with a twelve-year old Quentin golem other than the girl who knew the original at that age? And who can deny the poignant beauty of paralleling Quentin’s habit of starting books over so that the story doesn’t end with Alice’s unwillingness to let go? Like young Q said, her friend’s gift wasn’t his life, it was hers, and that story just started. And his choice to use an anywhere-anywhen stamp to send a message to Quentin “before the Seam” is foreboding in the extreme.įurther reading: The Magicians: Quentin and The Grieving Process in Season 5Īlthough Alice also performs a sort of resurrection of her own, her journey has a nice beginning, middle, and end to it, and the intersection with Julia’s story was particularly enjoyable.
In perhaps the most understated arc of the episode, the former High King’s solo journey has him stumbling somewhat conveniently into Jane Chatwin’s time-sheltered, non-linear existence, but the subsequent theft of her time travel paraphernalia sets up the multiple attempts to save Josh and Fen, framing Eliot’s apathy with a brilliant metaphor: frustrated with failure, Eliot says to Margo, “I don’t get why you keep trying to fix something that wants to be broken,” and she knows as well as we do that he’s not just talking about Fillory. In that regard, the show manages to respect Quentin’s legacy without wallowing in grief or indulging in denial.Īfter all, we saw where denial got Eliot. This episode provides a helpful turning point for Alice even as Eliot is still finding his way, but with Julia and Kady progressing through their respective investigations and Margo finding some measure of victory in Fillory, the story is picking up speed nicely right after the premiere.
The magicians s01e02 sub how to#
The Magicians Season 5 Episode 2įollowing Stephanie Quinn’s example, no one here is going to tell The Magicians fans how to grieve, but if “The Wrath of the Time Bees” didn’t help bring some closure for those who miss Quentin Coldwater, nothing will.
This The Magicians review contains spoilers.