The following analysis is solely my own. Some of it offers an opinion while recapping portions of the episode. The focus is usually on a particular aspect of the story or aspect of a character. Anything in this post is created by the blog's author who is an inspired fan wanting to promote the work. Feedback is welcome. Let me know if you like or don't like something. Please leave a comment here or on Instagram @thataddamsgirl.
For those keeping track of the directors and writers of season 2 episodes:
Directors:
- E1, 4, 7, 8, 10: Farren Blackburn
- E2, 3, 5: Philippa Langdale
- E6, 9: Jonathan Teplitzky
- E1: Sarah Dollard
- E2, 10: Susie Conklin
- E3: Polly Buckle
- E4, 6, 8, 10: Peter McTighe
- E5: Lisa Holdsworth
- E7: Joseph Wilde
- E9: Michelle Gayle
If you haven't watched episode 10, you will be spoiled if you read any further. I'll only refer to the book when it is significantly relevant.
Shudder description: Diana completes her training with Goody Alsop in order to return home. Surprise encounters ensue.
Before beginning to watch the finale of S2 "A Discovery of Witches," one just needs to look back on where the journey of Matthew and Diana has taken us.
They were running for their lives at the end of S1 from The Congregation.
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| S1 E8 The Congregation - Gerbert (Trevor Eve) and Baldwin (Trystan Gravelle) in a heated confrontation. |
Diana had to find a teacher and luckily she found Goody Alsop soon enough.
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| Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop/Roydon and Sheila Hancock as Goody Alsop |
Matthew had to fit into the old ways of spying for the monarchy of England in 1590 while not raising suspicion of the queen. His old friends accepted him, except for Christopher "Kit" Marlowe. They had to tell him that they came from the future. They adopt a child off of the street named Jack Blackfriars.
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| Matthew Goode as Matthew Roydon with Jack played by Joshua Blue Pickering. Matthew quells the boy's fear after having a nightmare. |
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| Tom Hughes (center) as Kit Marlowe |
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| Matthew could not continue to have a witch tortured, so he snapped his neck. But Lord Cecil Burghley sent him to deal with the queen. The witches are being persecuted for allegedly plotting against her. He definitely lost his cool quite a few times over the things Burghley made him do. |
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| (Steven Cree) Gallowglass making an entrance; it's only a game that his uncle Matthew plays with him. |
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| The arrival on the beach of France (S2, E5). |
Soon they had to contend with both the queen, Fr. Hubbard, the search for Ashmole 782 all the while having to report to Matthew's father, Philippe, at Sept-Tours, arriving in E5.
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| The last time Matthew saw his father, it was when Philippe was insane and in pain from being tortured by the Nazis. Old wounds are reopened. He was Philippe's assassin. (E4, informed us via Ysabeau that Matthew was commanded by Philippe to wipe out all of the vampires sired by Marcus because of the bloodline being infected with blood rage. Marcus was clueless, but everyone else knew this well-kept secret, even Miriam.) |
Matthew could no longer hold back his blood rage tendencies while at Sept-Tours. Diana was strong for Matthew with their faith to each other was tested.
They mated finally after marrying. Diana was anointed by Philippe as his blood-sworn daughter. Ysabeau in the present receives a new, but also the final message from Philippe in a touching end to E6. Matthew found closure with his father and they moved on to Bohemia.
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| Philippe de Clermont (James Purefoy) giving a wedding present to his son Matthew (Matthew Goode). |
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| A vampire's nose knows. |
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| Benjamin Fuchs introduces himself, sort of. He's the emperor's collector. He will figure as a significant character in future episodes. He sensed the blood vow between Philippe and Diana. |
The emperor wanted Diana for himself, which made Matthew furiously jealous but also enraged in learning that the emperor was a little too fascinated with collecting parts of creatures, thanks to Gallowglass accessing the secret collection in Rudolf's Kunstkammer.
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| Diana sets fire to the floor and door to stop Matthew from leaving. |
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| Michael Jibson as Emperor Rudolf (far right). |
Diana made a scene in seizing hold of Ashmole 782, so they had to flee quickly and lost three pages to Edward Kelley's madness. Once out of Bohemia, Diana had a nightmare that the tree in the book is made of dying creatures. In E9, she met with Goody upon her return and continued her training. She found her familiar, a firedrake named Corra.
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| Louisa de Clermont (Elaine Cassidy) and Kit cannot compete with Diana's firedrake, Corra. |
Diana and Matthew also found out that she's carrying a baby that they both thought to be inconceivable, literally.
Queen Elizabeth took Matthew's cure and he revealed to her that he was "a future Matthew" and that she would be known forever as one of the greatest rulers of England.
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| Matthew Roydon arrives at Whitehall to tell the queen he lost the book and that he left Edward Kelley, the alchemist, back in Bohemia. She doesn't take it well and has all the books at the Hart and Crown confiscated. Jack heroically saves Ashmole 782. |
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| Matthew's blood is a cure for pain. (Barbara Marten as Queen Elizabeth I) |
Matthew's sister Louisa and Kit Marlowe schemed a plan to try to do away with Diana, but with the help of Corra, Diana was protected. She stopped Matthew from killing Louisa and Kit--his blood rage was out of control.
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| Louisa's throat gripped by Matthew in Bedlam. |
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| "The witch's kiss allows me to see inside your soul." |
It allowed them to grow closer when he admitted to her how he is in a battle with himself to control the need to possess her and was ashamed of this need he's had his entire life. She accepted him and he owned his identity as a vampire, finally giving in to his desire. Her witch's kiss and his drinking from her heart vein helped them have insight into each other's thoughts and her seeing into his soul.
The story also continued for Marcus meeting Phoebe at the auction house in Oxford, while a vampire is killing people in a blood rage.
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| S2 E4 before Phoebe (Adelle Leonce) learns that Marcus (Edward Bluemel) is a vampire. |
Domenico and Gerbert are scheming to accuse and take down all of the de Clermont family members if they can prove a de Clermont is behind the murders. Peter Knox is gaining ground on finding the page in the possession of Emily Mather at Sept-Tours. Ysabeau is instructing Marcus to be the Grand Master of The Knights of Lazarus that can save the family; protect the creatures. Baldwin is informing Gerbert of the new baby witch, Margaret, born to the two daemons Sophie and Nathaniel Wilson.
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| S2: Emily (Valarie Pettiford) calling on the dark magic to bring forth Rebecca, Diana's mother. |
I'm honored to recap and analyze the last 44 minutes of S2. E10 is about all moments that make our hearts swell with love and deflate with sadness. "Endings and beginnings," says Diana. Each person that Matthew and Diana bid adieu to is a tear-jerker moment to be savored. Furthermore, each woman character portrayed in this episode demonstrates how they are in command of their life, which is not by accident. Women have proven their power of endurance through the last 5 centuries.
The episode opens with Diana learning her last weaver's knots; numbers 8 and 9. Goody senses the presence of another weaver arriving in London.
We then see Matthew teaching Jack about the constellations. He clearly enjoys this moment being a father to Jack. Diana, Matthew, and Jack are outside observing the night sky over London. This is one of the last few happy moments they'll privately share with each other as a family.
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| Matthew and Jack inside the Hart and Crown in London, 1591. |
Congregation member Agatha Wilson (Tanya Moodie) joined the witches--Sarah & Em, the vampires--Marcus, Ysabeau, Marthe and daemons--Sophie and Nathaniel with their newborn Margaret, a witch, at Sept-Tours. Sarah and Em were trying to get more information from the spirit of Rebecca in E8 by using dark magic.
Marcus (Edward Bluemel) introduces Phoebe (Adelle Leonce) to Ysabeau (Lindsay Duncan), his grandmother. She is much warmer towards this warmblood than she was, at first, to Diana -- maybe it's the fact that Phoebe is not a witch. There's a risk in letting humans know that vampires exist, however, Phoebe is a forward-thinking modern woman who openly accepts Marcus as a vampire. Wait until he talks about drinking from the blood vein. I think she'll be fine with it as long as there's always ice cream to eat. Marthe probably already has a recipe for salted caramel with French vanilla bean.
Diana and Matthew go strolling around the market searching for a book to buy Jack since all of the books were confiscated by Lord Cecil Burghley. Matthew smells coffee. "Coffee won't arrive for decades," Diana says. It's straight from Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. Matthew senses another timewalker and rushes out of the bookstall with Diana following. Matthew doesn't ever take the friendly welcome approach to witches, but luckily Diana recognized the man. Her father, Stephen Proctor, is standing right in front of her.
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| "Timewalker, Diana." |
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| "Dad?!" (David Newman as Stephen Proctor, center) |
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| Stunned by seeing her father, but also another beautiful costume for Teresa Palmer. |
The best parts of Shadow of Night with Diana being with her father are adapted to the screen version. It addresses several key moments for the story:
- Diana is with the vampire that Rebecca saw in her visions.
- He has the chance to see her as an adult; he timewalked from when she's a child.
- Stephen meets Jack; notices how Matthew treats Jack as a son--their adopted son.
- Jack's bag of marbles that Matthew hands him is in the book but is adapted for the screen to demonstrate he will need the guidance of someone with parenting skills when they're gone.
- Diana tells her father that they have Ashmole 782. She describes which pages were ripped out.
- They find out that Rabbi Loew probably held onto the page of the alchemical wedding to have it delivered to Stephen by Jewish witches so that it would reach Diana in the future. Recall that this is the page that came through the wall in Madison, NY in S1, E7.
- Matthew reveals that the DNA in the vellum can also contain secrets as the reason they need to take it with them.
- Peter Knox seeks this book and Stephen tells them that Peter is obsessed with the dark arts.
- Stephen admonishes Diana and Matthew for being too long in the past. Their impact is too significant. Adopting Jack, stealing a book. Matthew says that he was there before. "We screwed up," says Diana. Stephen says that they have to go and leave the book behind. "You can't timewalk with a powerful object you don't understand," says Stephen.
Stephen talks with Diana about the magic she's using with weaver's knots. He asks Diana if she's afraid of it. She says she's not, but we remember when it scared her to see her magic want to come out and she didn't know how to contain it. Witch wind, witch water, and witch fire, for example. Stephen tells her, "Lack of ability will never be your problem. But desire, maybe. If you complete it, you have to go." They meet Goody and she knows who the weaver is now. She helps her get through the ninth knot. Her father and Matthew observe. Matthew is on the balcony above as she completes the ninth knot in front of Goody and Stephen. Diana hears her father say "Some witches would kill for that kind of power."
This scene with her father is much heavier to watch with a delicate piano score playing than it was in reading it in the book. She admits she's "terrified of changing anything, and yet I'm desperate to change everything." He knows his life with his daughter will not last for long, but he's the one character that doesn't try to learn how he dies. He says, "It's part of a whole tapestry, like your child to come." Rebecca could see Diana's pregnancy with Matthew. It is one of the most important moments for Diana to hear him say, "You're everything we dreamed you'd one day become."
"I'll see you later," he says. She watches him walk and she starts to run after him and stops. She and Matthew both found closure with their fathers this season. Matthew acknowledges that they don't know what their families -- his being Marcus, Ysabeau, Miriam, and hers being Sarah and Emily -- have gone through by their timewalking to London 16th century. Diana wants to find the missing pages as soon as they return to prevent them from getting into Congregation's hands. They decide that Henry Percy will be the safest person to take care of Jack. She knows that someone else has to look out for Jack.
When they left Madison, it was Matthew's intention that Marcus protects this merged family including the daemons at Sept-Tours. Harkness's All Souls Trilogy is about bringing together the creatures including the human partner to Marcus. They all live under the same roof; have a symbiotic relationship. Why should they let The Congregation stop them? The Covenant is an outdated policy that should be torn up. I'd even say The Congregation should have all its members against integration removed.
Matthew tells Gallowglass that he's about to leave and that Gallowglass will get the old Matthew back, but Gallowglass says he prefers the future Matthew. Gallowglass and Matthew are close so, of course, he would best understand the transformation of a man he's known for hundreds of years. I look forward to more of their scenes together in S3 both as actors and characters. Shadow of Night contains a little more of Gallowglass, which understandably couldn't fit into the adaptation.
Gallowglass thinks he's escorted Diana to see the coven, but she really has schemed a plan to have Fr. Hubbard meet her in secret. Teresa Palmer is inspiring to watch her character take charge in portraying Diana as strong, independent and telling Hubbard, essentially, this is how it's going to work.
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| Fr. Andrew Hubbard, the vampire priest (Paul Rhys). |
She asks if she were one of his brethren would he protect Jack? She said that she could give him her blood without Matthew knowing. She opens her vein in her wrist by use of magic. She lets one drop hit Hubbard's tongue and he sees the truth she revealed earlier about having saved Matthew's life. However, he also sees that they timewalked. He promises to watch over Jack. "Farewell, Diana Bishop." Now he knows her real name; he will be able to locate her anywhere in the future.
She returns to Goody Alsop and Susanna Norman (Aisling Loftus). It seems that she told them both of the decision to have Andrew Hubbard watch over Jack even though he's going to live with Henry Percy. But if you think about why she needs Hubbard in addition to Henry, it is because Henry is mortal and Jack will outlive him. What happens when he has no parents?
Goody explains that the tenth knot is a "weaving of creation and destruction." A knot that even Goody Alsop cannot accomplish. "Endings and beginnings," Diana adds. Goody continues, "Only a weaver who stands between worlds can complete it."
The goodbye is emotional to watch. But here Diana gives to Susanna the chess piece of the goddess Diana and tells her that one of her descendants will give it to her in the future. We get one last look at Goody and Susanna.
Fr. Hubbard is in the street and senses a presence. Benjamin approaches him and asks about Diana, but Hubbard is not going to discuss anything because she is part of his flock now. "That's no way to speak to your sire. Now, tell me about Matthew's witch." And so it is revealed that Benjamin was the one who turned the dying Hubbard into a vampire during the plague that was meant to kill him. It wasn't a divine resurrection after all! This sets up what we can look forward to in S3 when Benjamin comes looking for the de Clermonts. We can assume he learned about who was married to Diana through Emperor Rudolf. We still don't know why Diana hasn't yet told Matthew about her being recognized in Bohemia because the blood vow revealed her identity.
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| Jacob Ifan as Benjamin |
Diana gives Ashmole 782 to Gallowglass to deliver to Dr. Dee. She tells him that she's going to miss him. Honoring the words of Deborah Harkness, the adaptation gives us a line so meaningful, "Keep the other Matthew safe for me so that he can find me one day."
Steven Cree as Gallowglass has a remarkable way of showing the character's emotions. Eyes closed tight, he and Teresa end their hug, but as she walks away, you see what the character of Gallowglass faces--that he won't see her again for 430 years. Could it be that this Scottish vampire has feelings for a witch, nevermind, a warm-blooded woman of the New World?
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| Matthew waits in the background while Diana bids farewell, which in Scottish Gaelic is "mar sin leat". A moment we won't see again until S3, when he will call her "Auntie", which will be sometime in 2022, according to SKY TV, hopefully, that means the same for U.S. viewers. |
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| "I've got some mopping up to do," says Gallowglass. Ironic because we're all leaving puddles of tears during all of the farewell moments. Our hearts are exploding with the love between these characters. |
They have to say goodbye to Jack. When he says, "I don't want to go, I want to stay here," it is just too much for this blog writer to bear. Joshua Blue Pickering plays Jack and he is so profoundly genuine with a sweet face, but cleverly portrays Jack who has a tendency for sleight of hand style of theft. The piano score, again, is like it's carving a new gorge for a stream of tears to flow. This is the same overwhelmingly sad feeling I experienced while they each said farewell to Philippe.
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| In a way, Matthew saying goodbye to Jack is somewhat near to his having to lose his first son who had an illness. It was devastating for this character as we learned in S1 E5, to lose his wife and son. However, he feels assured by the fact that Jack will be with Henry Percy's family. The concern Diana has, however, is if Fr. Hubbard can protect him. But aren't we all concerned about how well Fr. Hubbard can keep Jack a secret from Benjamin? |
Later, Matthew and Diana are in the bedroom, preparing to timewalk. She thanks him for sharing Matthew Roydon's realm with her. He tells her that he's had so many roles in his life, but that he always wanted to be a husband and father again. "Endings and beginnings," she responds. Saying this earlier to Goody is still resonating with her when she says it to Matthew. They have the shared experience in saying goodbye to the past and hello to the future. They kiss. He walks to the door, and as viewers, our POV is again, of backing out of the room as he closes the door. We know Diana can take Matthew anywhere. "Magic is in the heart; magic is desire made real." She who stands between two worlds is without a doubt going to use the tenth knot to get them to Sept-Tours in the future.
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| The theme of endings and beginnings calls back to the opening of the first episode of season 1. |
Back in the present, Gerbert (Trevor Eve) and Peter (Owen Teale) conspire to get the missing page from the witches at Sept-Tours. Peter says, "I'm not your hunting job, Gerbert."
"Fetch," is the single command from Gerbert.
Indeed, Sept-Tours has been quite a hub of activity. The creatures are breaking bread altogether at one table. Marcus thinks he can stop the segregation of the creatures by repealing the Covenant. The rules are dividing the creatures; discrimination is not a means to survival.
Phoebe and Ysabeau meet up in Philippe's library. She recognizes the age of the furniture. Ysabeau is impressed by Phoebe being so much better than the average human. She agrees with Marcus to take a stance on thinking progressively. In answering Marcus saying that he wishes Philippe was still here, "Grief carves a place in the heart and sits there forever. but when focused, it can be a powerful motivator. Sadness becomes resolve and pain becomes action."
Peter is briefly reunited with Satu (Malin Buska) upon her returning to Venice. She tells him she's been busy. We last saw her in Finland with her mom. She wants to go to Sept-Tours again as his ally. He tells her he doesn't want her "pyrotechnics" and that his "confidence will be his downfall." Why does Satu appear in the last episode at all if they weren't going to show her performing magic?
Remember Matthew's lodge in Oxford? Domenico (Greg Chillin) is hiding in the darkness as the killer vampire enters. Domenico asks the mysterious stranger to let him help him. But the stranger attacks Domenico, yet only injuring him. He must have seen his face. The vampire leaves quickly so we can probably assume that this is someone who wants something from Matthew and Diana. Domenico soon after is being caught entering a hotel by Benjamin lurking nearby. What does he want with Domenico or is he looking for the murderer?
In E10, the man in the shadows this time is not Matthew, but someone else being a predator; aiming to gain an advantage by siphoning the life out of a much-loved character. We see Peter at the sacred space outside of Sept-Tours where Em and Sarah (Alex Kingston) had previously gone the night before to conjure the spirit of Rebecca Bishop. He calls to whoever was using that space to return. Em wakes to his call. She doesn't wake Sarah. She conjures Rebecca (Sophia Myles) who tells her that the book will change everything and that she's in danger. In the nick of time, Em makes the alchemical wedding page disappear. Peter seizes Em's head with his hand firmly holding her in place. He's using his power to try to get Em to turn the page over to him. She's brave and tells Peter that "I will always fight for Diana... she will reunite all creatures against bigots like you." She collapses and he tries to escape before being seen.
At the same time, Margaret, the baby, wakes up. One should assume her witch powers sense danger nearby. It wakes up Marcus, Sarah, Sophie (Aisling Loftus) and Nathaniel (Daniel Ezra). Ysabeau senses another creature and Marcus takes off to find Knox. Marcus fails at attacking him. Knox uses his device to put Marcus to sleep while he escapes. Sarah finds Em unconscious and cradling her, trying to rouse her.
We close on Ysabeau holding the Knights of Lazarus symbol and looking like a woman with a new agenda; a new plan forming to save not just the de Clermonts, but every creature, too. Let's hope we see Ysabeau play a role to help free the wild creatures from the persecution of The Congregation.
The series ends on a cliffhanger, but all the best shows leave us with the feeling of wanting more. E6, E9 and E10, are equally deserving of awards for directing, performance, and writing out of all the ten episodes. The entire season undoubtedly deserves technical awards for production design, costumes, cinematography, special effects, sound, stunts, and music. Name the category I missed and the team should get the award for that, too.
We can look forward to season 3 in 2022, but it feels terribly so far away. Currently, the post-production work is going on. Every performer in this series, even as they portray other characters outside of ADOW, is worth following on other TV and film projects. I'll be checking out what else they're working on until season 3 brings the story to a close next year.
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| Does anyone else need a hug besides me? |
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