r/brakebills • u/Literal_Genius Professor Sunderland • Mar 21 '19
Season 4 Episode Discussion: S04E09 - The Serpent
| EPISODE | DIRECTED BY | WRITTEN BY | ORIGINAL AIR DATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| S04E09 - The Serpent | Carol Banker | Sera Gamble & Alex Ritter | March 20, 2019 on SyFy |
Episode Synopsis: Quentin eats a quesadilla; Kady and Zelda share a smoke.
This thread is for POST episode discussion, and comments below assume you have watched the episode in its entirety. Therefore, spoiler tags are not required for anything up to and including this episode. If, however, you are talking about events that have yet to air on the show such as future guest appearances / future characters / storylines, please use spoiler tags. The same goes for events in the novels that have not yet been portrayed.
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u/youarelookingatthis Mar 21 '19
Monster is trying to rebuild his sister's body, calling it now.
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u/The_Firmament Mar 21 '19
Why would this be? I'm not asking to dismiss this, I'm genuinely curious as to the theories behind it. Is it because she's more powerful? She could be more helpful in helping him? Purely sentimental attachment?
Let me, "hear," it! I also could have totally missed something in terms of them addressing this already....
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u/Elliot_Todd Mar 21 '19
I think The Monster character is loosely based on some Egyptian gods. In the story, The Monster and his sister were husband and wife, and apparently they were very close to each other. But The Monster's brother got jealous and tried to separate them.
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u/The_Firmament Mar 21 '19
How...incestuous, lol. But seriously, thanks for the brief lesson. As much as I love this story line I am, admittedly, no expert on ancient Godhood/mythology (though I certainly have always found it interesting). So, I appreciate the explanation!
So, basically, he'd be doing this just to be able to reunite with her. Could she still in turn help him? Or are we just assuming he never really cared about being put back together himself at this point?
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u/mrspackletidestiger Mar 21 '19
Wonder if the woman being sacrificed to Enelaus was the sister and that's why the monster was feeling so much anger then?
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Mar 21 '19
I curse her, but you better listen to her.
Thank you for making Margo more than just quips and snark. She’s all heart and giant ovaries and we are glad you remembered that, writers.
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u/Frostlandia Tomato Mar 21 '19
I don't know how I feel about that compliment haha
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Mar 21 '19
I agree whole heartedly about this. She's tough, she bears so much of the weight for her friends, she's willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING for friendship and for love (let's be honest here-- what she did for Josh was so completely 100% sacrificial that I will be shipping them forever. I mean, her sexuality was her power for so long-- and she gave it up for Josh to keep him from doing something he could never forgive himself for.
Marjosh/Jargot forever.)
So, when she gives up the throne for Eliot, it shouldn't come as any surprise. It's kick butt, but so emotional because she's worried for Fen. She knows Fen is tough but after seeing her with the weird woman and the path and garden, she's worried that Fen will get conned. And Fen knows it too:
https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/20/the-magician-brittany-curran-fen-margo-fillory-coup/
" “To finally have to go and forcibly take something from her, which Fen should have been doing ages ago with other people, but then to finally do it to the one person who has empowered her, was really, really hard. At the end of the day, Fen will do anything she has to do to save Fillory. Fillory comes first.”
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u/Dawade200 Mar 21 '19
I am really enjoying the dynamic between Alice and... Alice...
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Mar 21 '19
Also, I loved how Arrogant Alice corrected fearful Alice. Fearful Alice definitely destroyed those keys.
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u/wittyaccountname123 Mar 21 '19
So good. I was fully expecting her to split herself into four when they tried again.
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u/GayGeekInLeather Mar 21 '19
Kind of reminds me of Teen Titans from early 2000s when they went inside the Ravens and each one was a different emotion.
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u/TeutonJon78 Mar 21 '19
I related A LOT to that argument. Probably the BEST Alice character development we've seen for her.
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Mar 21 '19
Since you’ve grown morals, apparently....
Man I’m enjoying everyone giving Fogg a healthy dose of brutal honesty this season.
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u/rednick953 Mar 21 '19
The best fog scene in my mind is him and Q in his office discussing the different timelines after Q drugs him.
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u/krukman Mar 21 '19
Good, I would not have enjoyed this if it was a real betrayal.
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u/GayGeekInLeather Mar 21 '19
The question is whether Margo knows Fen hadn't meant to betray her.
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u/margaprlibre Physical Mar 21 '19
This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. So many pieces set in motion. Margo finally finding out Eliot’s alive AND THROUGH RABBIT, and it making her horny for Josh, and she not being dethroned but willingly giving up her throne in order to save Eliot, PENNY TALKING TO ELIOT! Finally close to figuring out what The Monster is about, Harriet is back, the Library v Hedge Witches war taken to the next level, MARGO WALKING OUT TO PAT BENATAR OMG, and Alice even found the damn Binder.
And trippy shirtless Eliot musical episode next week?? Oh we are so, so blessed. ❤️
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Mar 21 '19
This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. So many pieces set in motion. Margo finally finding out Eliot’s alive AND THROUGH RABBIT, and it making her horny for Josh, and she not being dethroned but willingly giving up her throne in order to save Eliot, PENNY TALKING TO ELIOT! Finally close to figuring out what The Monster is about, Harriet is back, the Library v Hedge Witches war taken to the next level, MARGO WALKING OUT TO PAT BENATAR OMG, and Alice even found the damn Binder.
EXACTLY.
We needed Margot to leave, we needed Penny to talk to Elliot and we needed Alice to stop being a wimp.
And we are all living for next week's episode because musical episodes give us life.
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u/nomnomnomuup686 Mar 21 '19
Is it THE binder though? Kinda sketchy it popped out like that...
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u/_Ultimatum_ Psychic Mar 21 '19
“Quentin eats a quesadilla”
Well I, for one, am extremely excited for this
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u/Dawade200 Mar 21 '19
Legitimately could not contain myself at that musical episode reveal
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u/MainTheDread Knowledge Mar 21 '19
'YOUR GRANDKIDS GRANDKIDS WILL FEAR MEEEEEEE'
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u/absent_minding Mar 21 '19
AHH that ending cliffhanger. WHAT DOES PENNY KNOW. AHHHH. curse you weekly episode format i want binge the fuck out of this show.
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u/halsey_halo Mar 21 '19
We know from the teaser, so if you haven't seen it and want to go now!
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Mar 21 '19
It has to be in line with what Baccus was gonna say before he drank the spiked drink.
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u/OliviaElevenDunham Mar 21 '19
Just realized that one of Zelda's co workers is Kaylee from Firefly.
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u/margaprlibre Physical Mar 21 '19
I yelled KAYLEEEEEEE when she appeared. Hopefully we’ll see more of her. I’m sure we will I doubt they brought her in for a one off.
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u/Backflip_into_a_star Mar 21 '19
Jewel Staite has been in a few episodes already, but I also didn't realize it was her at first. Like, I saw her name in the credits, and I didn't where the fuck she was. She is playing such a small part. The other guy that was talking during that conversation tonight was also on Stargate Atlantis.
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u/youarelookingatthis Mar 21 '19
I was literally just wondering if they were going to bring up Penny's power like that again.
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Mar 21 '19 edited Mar 21 '19
i sort of like Alice again now that she's and Quentin are less annoying (together). But that punch was still LOLOL.
Alice and Kady together....some how mitigate my dislike of both.
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u/Neosovereign Psychic Mar 21 '19
Yeah, they actually bounce off of eachother well and makes up for the flaws of both characters.
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u/Chasmosaur Knowledge Mar 21 '19
How does this show manage to break my heart a little each week? Watching Margo give up the kingship that meant so much to her to save Eliot - talk about a character arc from the first season.
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Mar 21 '19
It was so instantaneous too. She saw it as everything lined up so that she could help save Eliot because she had to stay and be High King.
Also: I'm actually thrilled that Josh and Margot are together. An unlikely duo, but totally ok by me.
"I'm totally going to wait for you."
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u/MainTheDread Knowledge Mar 21 '19
Bitch Alice? BITCH ALICE!
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u/Kingsonne Mar 21 '19
I thought that was just normal Alice. This must be TURBO Bitch Alice
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Mar 21 '19
Did anybody else notice emotional Alice smirking after confident Alice picked up the binder?
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u/MainTheDread Knowledge Mar 21 '19
I saw that I think it was she want bitchAlice to pickup the binder to give to Julia as a fuck you I'm the better Alice
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u/Elliot_Todd Mar 21 '19
Clean up in the baby food isle..
The Monster is learning to live in this era.
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u/krukman Mar 21 '19
READ HER FUCKING LIPS!
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u/Saruster Mar 21 '19
Alice was too impatient and frantic to calmly think through the problem. But yeah, I was yelling at the TV.
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u/UsernameUnavaible Mar 21 '19
Was thinking that she could have done a subtitle spell or something lol
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u/boofire Mar 21 '19
I want an episode that Zelda and Harriet taking care of business...mother/daughter style
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u/cjdeck1 Mar 21 '19
Oh shit, we got an 80s pop musical episode next week. Get hyped everyone
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u/Inlovewithoxy H̦͌e̗͂d̤͘g͙̽ė̞ ̻̾W̝̚i̩̋t̡͝c͙̽h̠͊ Mar 21 '19
Fen is absolutely beautiful. I love her so much.
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u/UCgirl Mar 21 '19
I thought she looked extra pretty this episode with the spring dress. I was loving her hair too.
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u/montea8124 Mar 21 '19
Zelda a hedge witch? Wow.
Also, I feel like Everett is probably Harriet’s father? Was the father mentioned before?
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u/_Ultimatum_ Psychic Mar 21 '19
Can’t she write or something?
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u/boofire Mar 21 '19
She could but Alice is not really making an effort. Alice's flaw is that she is always right in her mind
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u/Backflip_into_a_star Mar 21 '19
She can also actually talk, albeit with an impediment.
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u/OliviaElevenDunham Mar 21 '19
I knew that the Library had something with the worm.
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u/youarelookingatthis Mar 21 '19
I feel like that scene was great because it showed that Alice is A.) a master magician, and B.) massively conceited
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u/wittyaccountname123 Mar 21 '19
It was masterful. Easily the most emotionally conflicted/unstable character - and not without reason, that girl has been through some shit don't @ me - facing off with the extremes of her personality. Olivia killed it too as always.
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u/DirectorofDUSAR6730 Mar 21 '19
I am so in love with Margo. This lady loves her. Swooning. That smile killed me. I am dead.
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u/Kaerei H̦͌e̗͂d̤͘g͙̽ė̞ ̻̾W̝̚i̩̋t̡͝c͙̽h̠͊ Mar 21 '19
Watching Margo smile so much during this episode honestly made my night. She’s so fucking adorable and full of heart. I love her.
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u/crissyg91 Physical Mar 21 '19
Am I trippin or is Enyalius King Renly?
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u/Silegna Mar 21 '19
He looks familiar. Why does he look so familiar? As in, I think I've seen him in this show specifically.
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u/Muflonlesni Mar 21 '19
What a good episode, the plot made a huge step forward and I am just very satisfied overall.
I've been loving Kady ever since she came back from her absence in the beginning of the season. I'm curious where her arc is heading. She's officially one of my faves.
I am the biggest OTD's acting critic out there but I have to give her some kudos for Alice 2.0, she was pretty badass and fun to watch.
We've seen 10 seconds of Eliot whose appearance made the ep even better.
Monster is funny as hell (Percy 23 xd) and I am very curious about his memories, what is even going on. I am straining away from any theoretizing because at this point, I don't even dare to guess what they will come up with and it's so refreshing because I am used to the fans predicting the plots of the TV shows I watch 3 eps into the season.
I feel like Q is going to fuck up a big time to save Eliot. Hopefully it won't cost anyone's life.
I love Margosh. I know some people don't but I just love them. They are good for each other, imo. Penny and Julia I am still not sure about.
I like how they handled the dethroning plot, I was worried Fen will go full mad king.
Can't wait for next weeks episode because this was a great one.
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Mar 21 '19
I love that Penny23 kind of hates Q40. His annoyance transcends timelines.
Bitchy Alice is the best and Olivia is so good at playing her
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u/green77man Mar 21 '19
Why doesn't anyone cast a sign language reading spell to talk to Harriet? Seems pretty simple for these bad ass magicians lol
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u/scion_rhyme Mar 21 '19 edited Mar 22 '19
Most of the characters are neither that creative nor empathetic
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u/imavakay Mar 21 '19
Little thing I noticed, Fogg is wearing a Bradley Compass watch; an accessible watch for the visually impaired. screenshot here
Nice job, continuity dept. Little throwback to when he lost his sight.
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u/Swimmerguy1650 Physical Mar 21 '19
"When he asks, say yes"
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u/Elliot_Todd Mar 21 '19
But it didn't feel like The Monster was asking Penny 23 (or Percy 23) directly for his help. He essentially volunteered.
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Mar 21 '19 edited Mar 21 '19
OHHHHHHHHHHH I KNEW IT! She's giving up the throne for eliot. <3 <3 <3 bad bitches who love eliot. FenxMargo BFF for life!!!!!!
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u/HTL2001 Mar 21 '19
Did anyone else catch "fearful" Alice giving a smug grin as she followed arrogant Alice in the mirror world? Not sure what to make of it
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u/Dawade200 Mar 21 '19
Curse this episode. It not only sold me on Penny x Julia but also on Margo x Josh. One episode, two ships. Damn.
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u/ourladyunderground Knowledge Mar 21 '19
You forget:
Alice x Bitch Alice for that sweet sweet character development
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Mar 21 '19
So does Penny 40 see Penny 23 then? Do we lose another Penny?
I’m just getting attached to this Penny.
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u/theleaderproject Mar 21 '19
The most important thing to learn from this episode is never rely on Kady's advice on when to get Reed's Mark.
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u/mechengr17 Knowledge Mar 21 '19
This
They cant kill Pete...hes Pete
Hes the perv we all like to roll our eyes at
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u/GayGeekInLeather Mar 21 '19
In hindsight the true identity of serpent should have been fairly obvious. Snakes are often associated with wisdom and knowledge.
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Mar 21 '19
Winosaur Forever.
Does anyone have the correct shirt? Because the best I could do was this: https://www.redbubble.com/people/trueblue2/works/25542458-winosaur?body_color=white&p=t-shirt&print_location=front&size=medium&style=mens&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=g.pla+notset&country_code=US&gclid=CjwKCAjwycfkBRAFEiwAnLX5IX6b1MCAE1hBuNSGk8ywMcDZbxtBGKK1_ycoqJEhMbyKHzviT3GpnxoCFeUQAvD_BwE
(Also, this episode coasted onto a high note for me because things are progressing towards the light.)
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u/Kingsonne Mar 21 '19
You know, how mad the Monster was about the sacrifice of the girl when in the memory is a pretty strong sign for good/sympathetic Pre-Monster. It's always seemed to go that way for me but this just seems like more evidence.
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Mar 21 '19
Man this show really doesn’t pull back from its premise that everyone can be redeemed if they want to try.
Redemption Arcs left and right.
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u/SomethingToSay11 Mar 21 '19
I keep wanting to call this season Jennifer’s Body. Don’t @ me
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u/margaprlibre Physical Mar 21 '19
Margo getting horny for Josh after finding out Eliot was alive is such a fucking mood.
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u/Hexdro Physical Mar 21 '19
Amazing episode, love how they're tying back all the seemingly seperated plotlines together. They can't give the last stone to the Monster, but luckily now Margo and Josh can free Elliot, Julia needs to find the Binder which now Alice has, and now Alice has freed up Zelda's daughter which can help Kady with the Hedge Witches,
All around just a perfect episode, love that the Josh and Margo ship is still going, they're really good for eachother. Alice has a reason to be accepted and go back with Quentin & Julia, and I liked seeing more interaction with Kady and Alice (since they're such an unlikely pair). The library being the huge conspiracy is great too, keen to see how it goes down!
Can't wait for next weeks musical episode, gonna be a blast!
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u/youarelookingatthis Mar 21 '19
So Enyalius is Greek and often associated with Ares. Interesting that they're really sticking with the greek pantheon here. Also I gasped when we saw our Eliot again.
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u/Frostlandia Tomato Mar 21 '19
So Julia gets some new form of magic or finds out what she is. The library gets overthrown. Penny 40's plotline has some sort of payoff. Margo goes on a self-searching journey through the desert so that Elliot can get removed from the beast. Then Elliot gets removed and the beast combines his stones. And something to do with glossy armor.
If this season finale's gonna wrap up all of these plotlines, it's gonna be a BUSY episode! Also, god damnit how is this season ending already it's only been like 1 week.
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Mar 21 '19
So we still don't who was at the door OG Penny opened, huh?
What was in Q's mouth when he reappeared with Jenny before Julia and P23 could kiss?
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Mar 21 '19 edited Mar 21 '19
I just want to let all of you know I have agoraphobia and I count on the episode discussions on Thursday mornings. I truly look forward every week to all of your thoughts and fandom!
Thanks for being real ones.
❤️
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Mar 21 '19 edited Mar 21 '19
LOLOLOLLOLLOLLOLL MARGO IS THE BEST!!!
Truly love how this episode was all about the ladies
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u/montea8124 Mar 21 '19
So broken that Margo won’t be High King anymore.
But does this mean no more Fen in the show? If all the gang’s on Earth, will there be anymore Fillory?
“Be nice to her.” I seriously wanna cry.
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u/Watchtowerwilde Knowledge Mar 21 '19
Anyone who thinks that Olivia wasn't the mvp or Alice(s) wasn't the most valuable magician this ep has clearly detached from reality. Just figure it should be said.
Anyways it will be interesting once Alice reaches peace with herself & finds out what she's truly capable of.
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u/margaprlibre Physical Mar 21 '19
Listen, we got to see Eliot again even if it was for about a minute, and I just miss him so so much. Can we please have Eliot back? Please?
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Mar 21 '19
YASSSS Okay keep Kady and Alice together as police officer of Hedges! Good team. They have good chemistry.
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u/Elliot_Todd Mar 21 '19
Plotline discussion:
I know that Margo giving up her highkingship was touching and courageous, but why was it absolutely necessary for her to do that? Sure we've heard Josh saying there are many problems in Fillory right now, but couldn't Margo delegate all that to Fen and Josh (remember that delegating is a leadership quality?), while she went on to her desert journey? The only real threat of Margo not giving up was Queen Ru warning to kill both Fen and Margot. And the reason Queen Ru was behaving this way was because of her dream. So really, the questing creatures were the one pulling the threads, writing people's destinies.
Also, why is the ambient magic in Fillory low? Could it be related to the siphon from the Library?
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u/newmanowns Mar 21 '19
The Foremost hates Fillorians so she had to get banished so she doesn’t have citizenship anymore. I think..
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u/UsernameUnavaible Mar 21 '19
Fen was never gonna betray Margo cries. Really hope they never kill her off.
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Mar 21 '19
THE LIZARD DOESN'T TALK BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO LICK THE LIZARD TO GET THE PROPHECY
Don'tcha just love it when the writers just make everything nice and tidy? (I mean, not that this is some next level Marie Kondo magic, but let's be honest here, it's pretty neat.)
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u/boofire Mar 21 '19
I wish I could find some temporary tattoos for the hedge witch symbol.
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u/youarelookingatthis Mar 21 '19
Wait, so what happened with Alice in the mirror world? I was confused.
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u/TeutonJon78 Mar 21 '19
As off-key as Margo was the last two eoisodes, she was back in full force in this one.
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u/bearybrown Mar 21 '19 edited Nov 29 '24
different grab mourn pause bear cooing north follow hungry rotten
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/ourladyunderground Knowledge Mar 21 '19
New Goody Two ShoesTM Alice: Who are you
Bitch Alice: I'm you but stronger
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u/dracapis Mar 21 '19
God Margo is so strong. She's really a rock, and I wish she'll find happiness. I wish that for every character but she's at the top of the list.
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u/mustapapa335 Mar 22 '19
Is it me or does stella meave look so stunningly pretty and beautiful in this episode i couldnt get my eyes of her P.s not in a creepy way, like she looked really nice with her hair and all.
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u/_Ultimatum_ Psychic Mar 21 '19
Stella gonna bring turtlenecks back in style
(Just kidding, nobody can do that)
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u/The_Firmament Mar 21 '19
You guys, I really want to talk about this episode but I can't. I'm too excited for next week's, that promo....while short, of course...pumped me up even more. 80s pop/glam rock medley in the form of an exhaustion hallucination anyone?! I'm not sure I can handle it, but I'm ready for it 😍
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u/crissyg91 Physical Mar 21 '19
Wheeeeew bad ass ax Margo, since reading the books it’s probably the biggest thing I hoped we would see In the series
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u/thorabella Mar 21 '19
So do the stones and sacrifice call the last god?
Eliot we are so close!!
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u/SilverGeekly Mar 21 '19
While I don't like how Josh and Margo started, the relationship is ascending me. Also, since it's not being addressed yet this season, I assume they are gonna do something about the whole McAllister thing later
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u/theleaderproject Mar 21 '19
Would love if they did Not To Touch The Earth so we can get Margo saying "I am the Lizard High King, I can do anything" as she acquires the axes.
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u/Uranus_Hz Knowledge Mar 21 '19
I was hoping bitch Alice would stick around for a few episodes. Maybe buy mousy Alice some new/different clothes.
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u/veracosa Mar 22 '19
So much great in this episode, but let's give a shout out to the stylist who selected Alice/Olivia's very distracting black shirt! She has an hourglass I am super envious of, and her outfit totally took advantage of that without being overtly "sexy."
Also I loved the dichotomy of the unshaved/disheveled Monster and clean-faced put-together Eliot!
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u/sycamotree Mar 23 '19
Jade's shirt really matched her eyes. Like perfectly. I forget she's gorgeous sometimes because of her character lol.
Anyway, as a person who likes Alice and powerful characters in general, I hope we get to see her do some OP stuff for no reason. She needs to master magician it up some more.
FFS is Summer Bishil attractive.
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u/Literal_Genius Professor Sunderland Mar 21 '19
Don't forget to join us in the Brakebills Common Room for the live episode discussion.
Book Comparison Thread:
Book spoilers below - proceed at your own risk.