"A Discovery of Witches" | S3:E5 and E6 | An Analysis (contains details of E5 and E6)

The following analysis is solely my own. Some of it offers an opinion while recapping portions of the episode. I impart a little satire within the recap. For this post, I’ll recap mostly in order of how the episodes unfolded. I begin with the fifth episode followed by the sixth episode. You'll know to stop if you're not caught up before I recap the sixth. In some moments I may condense some of the scenes all in one section to avoid jumping back and forth between the different storylines. It may not recap every moment and may not cover every character of the episode. Anything written for this post is created by the blog's author who is an inspired fan with the intention of promoting the work. If you enjoy reading this, please leave a comment here or on Instagram @thataddamsgirl.

Season 3 Episode 5

Writer: Lisa Holdsworth, Director: Debs Paterson

Description: Benjamin's plan to bring down the de Clermonts is set into motion. Matthew and Diana return to Sept-Tours with the twins. Gerbert demands to examine the babies.

“In every ending is a new beginning” is the constant theme that runs through the TV series "A Discovery of Witches." The ouroboros symbol is plainly ever-present in representing the de Clermonts; it appears on their seal that imprints the wax on letters and important documents. All throughout the chapters of The Book of Life the symbol is mentioned. E5 opens to us bearing witness to the rituals tied to life and death. Agatha Wilson and Diana de Clermont attend T.J. Weston’s funeral in The Cotswolds. Meanwhile, Ysabeau is having Sept-Tours prepared to hold Rebecca and Philip’s christening ceremony. In the world of the All Souls Trilogy, enduring the cycle of life and death for an infinite number of the Earth's rotations is a synonymous experience for creatures and humans. Vampires are always talking of death and life, recalling who it was that they sired from the moment of being brink of death to being reborn a vampire. The dawn has often been a symbolic message bringing a new beginning and the dusk has also been when someone life's comes to an end.

Baldwin and Gerbert are socially distancing.
Trevor Eve is Gerbert (right). Peter McDonald is Baldwin (left).

Has anyone else felt like this constant pissing match between Gerbert and Baldwin should finally come to its end? Essentially, Gerbert thinks the de Clermonts having offspring between a vampire and a witch is an imbalance of power. Gerbert what is it you plan to do with all the power? Control freak, indeed. It's ADOW's greedy, selfish villain whose only desire is to be superior. Baldwin is under pressure from Gerbert to control these new children as the head of the de Clermont family.

Emily Mather appears in the form of a firelight, with similar movements as a butterfly flapping its wings. The mist of the morning clears the way to let in the stream of sunlight over the sacred circle.

Ysabeau and Marthe meet the babies and welcome back Sarah whose emotions are on the surface in still mourning Emily upon her return. Sarah takes flowers Ysabeau had obtained at her request and heads back to the sacred location to lay them in the center. A beautiful beam of sunlight breaks the fog with a flickering light of a butterflylike spirit much to Sarah’s delight.

Hi Jack, I heard so much about your ragers.
Lindsay Duncan plays Ysabeau.

Jack and Ysabeau finally meet. She warmly welcomes him. Doesn’t mention the blood rage situation. It’s in the subtext, though. “I heard so much about you.” He seems self-conscious hearing her say it.

Is the blood ragers anonymous meeting happening before or after the christening?
Toby Regbo plays Jack Blackfriars.

I've got to point out that whoever it was who planned the camera shots in E5 and E6, it never misses an opportunity to have the oil painting of Philippe de Clermont in view. It hangs in the hallway as people come and go at Sept-Tours. In this post, you'll see that I highlight each moment.

What actually happened to this painting after the series wrapped?
James Purefoy should have it hanging in his home next to his sword collection.

Marthe, Ysabeau, the babies with Diana and Matthew are gathered in the sitting area by the main fireplace. They discuss the scion, what they’re trying to accomplish. The babies symbolize a new opportunity to unite the creatures. Diana and Matthew shall determine who are their true friends by who shows up. 

We descend onto the city of Berlin and meet Lena, a witch, who is leaving a dance club. Of course, shadow caster, Benjamin, is onto her. She looks a heckuva lot like Diana. He takes her hostage in a derelict industrial setting of Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, which turns out to be located in the central operation area of the holocaust; the Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek. She’s tortured off-camera and while restrained and dazed, she hears the names of Diana and Matthew. She’s able to free herself from the bed she’s cuffed to later in E5 while Benjamin is preoccupied with torturing Gabriella, likely another witch. She's doing exactly as he had hoped, which is going straight to Matthew with the intention of luring him to his lair.

Goth poser. He wears white socks with black trousers and black shoes.
Jacob Ifan plays Benjamin Fuchs.

Diana is struggling to keep her daughter Rebecca satiated. This scene is quite the same as in the book. She takes Marthe’s hint that Rebecca wants something other than her mother’s milk. It's amusing to see a plate of russet potatoes in front of her and a big steak knife on the table. Someone was about to make Hasselback potatoes and then got sidetracked. Alright, of course, use the tool best suited for the job. Rebecca, your taters are on hold until we can get you to chill out with some fresh garnet drippings.

Diana, the Chopped choice of ingredients are breast milk, pumpkin, russet potatoes, or your blood. You have 45 seconds to feed your daughter before you're both sent back down the oubliette. What will it be?   

As in The Book of Life, barely a second passes and a vampire will hear the flow of blood as it is being siphoned. Matthew rushes to discover Diana allowing Rebecca to drink from a slice in the vein of her palm. Diana wins the argument and Matthew apologizes in agreement that they will do what they have to for their children.

Future prospects for Marcus and Phoebe seem to rely on Phoebe telling Marcus that she wants to become a vampire. He tells her to shelve that conversation until after the christening. 

Jack and Matthew have detected that Philip is a witch. It’s a sweet moment between them. The scene makes it seem like Matthew is cautious, almost in a possessive way, about Jack handling his son. Jack had earlier been patrolling the grounds of Sept-Tours looking for Benjamin in case he decided to come after the family. Later in the episode, they’re taking in the night's air on the grounds of Sept-Tours. Matthew mentions to Jack that he understands how difficult it is to have held back and not intervene when Baldwin threatens to take the children from the chapel. Matthew wants the family to stop hiding from the shame that blood rage has brought to them and admit that it has "done more harm than the actual blood rage" itself.

Guests arrive for the christening from New Orleans and London, Fernando de Clermont reunites with Sarah Bishop, Marcus’s family Geraldine and Ransome, finally meet Ysabeau, Chris and Miriam are now more than colleagues–they’re friends. They stop to observe the portrait of Philippe de Clermont, which is in view of the camera from a side angle again. At least this time it is about seven seconds to pause with slightly more light.

Whoa, I swear I just saw his eyes follow us!
Chris, come on! Philippe's painting is not alive.

Jack, I hear you like to draw. 

Do you know what a painter draws before he goes to bed?

Curtains. 

Get it? He (hahaha), draws the curtains!

This big gathering seems to also be missing Gallowglass. Fernando tells Sarah that he decided to decline the invitation. Ysabeau says that their “allies are waiting in the chapel.” She calls the children "revelations." She’s come to realize that she has a witch as a daughter and that she regrets Philippe not being there; that Philippe would have been proud to witness this moment.

In the chapel, the godparents stand including Chris, Miriam, Marcus, Phoebe, Fernando, Sarah, Jack, Hamish, Marthe, and Ysabeau -- they vow to protect the children. Driving to Sept-Tours is Baldwin Montclair. 

The Catholic christening takes place first and then the Wiccan ritual conducted by Sarah Bishop. She bestows the names “they will take as they go out into the world…to recognize their potential. Rebecca Arielle Emily Marthe; Philip Michael Addison Sorley." 

Chapter 32 details that "Sorley" is the last name of Gallowglass. Addison was Diana's father's middle name.

Baldwin throws open the doors and apologizes for his tardiness, offers his congratulations, and asks for the children so he can take them to Venice for assessment. “We need to know what they are, Matthew.” Baldwin won’t recognize the scion. He calls them the “diseased branch of the family.” Jack starts to feel some anger and Ysabeau calls on him to control it. Baldwin labels this scion a formation of a rebellion. Matthew clearly wants to sink his teeth into his older brother.

We've washed away the baby's sins. But I'm still living with MINE, Baldwin! (Grrrrrr!)

LOVE this action and the actors in this scene! Peter McDonald is Baldwin Montclair, Matthew Goode is Matthew de Clermont

Vamp fighting is a matter of showing who’s got more strength and power – Baldwin is physically restrained and calls for Matthew to let go, literally. Matthew wants Baldwin to let him go, figuratively, let him go on, and do what he wants with forming a scion. Diana has the upper hand with threatening to set off an explosion. Matthew declares that he’ll never bring shame on the family. Baldwin settles for Diana who swears she will spellbind her family if they develop blood rage. She says if "the scion fails" she’ll "submit to the congregation." Baldwin finally relents and says Matthew is responsible for all whom he sired and all of whom those he sired has sired. So that means Benjamin’s his problem.

NY Fashion Week reaches a whole new level with Diana bringing her witch fire to the runway!

It's thrilling to watch her call upon the witch fire! Teresa Palmer is Diana Bishop de Clermont.

Sarah and Diana talk about her power. The 10th knot was not used, but it is the “knot of creation and destruction.” This is like her and Matthew’s partnership. She says her magic is made of this same principle, which she calls a “union of opposites.” She references Goody Alsop in saying that forming the scion is a representation of "old worlds dying and new worlds being reborn. When I get The Book of Life back, replace the missing pages and heal it, something tells me that my magic will be even stronger.”

Baldwin brings the Congregation up to date. Knox’s old chair still is empty. Gerbert is still sour about power. Insinuates that Baldwin approved of the scion so that they can still defy the Covenant. Baldwin clarifies that Matthew is now responsible if members of his scion screw up – whether they had done something against the covenant in the past or are accused of wrongdoing in the future. The question is raised by Domenico if Jack has been dealt with and Baldwin is satisfied that he’s no longer a threat. Satu speaks up and says that Diana’s promise to spellbind Jack is a betrayal to witches because it is against the principle of their way–don’t make a creature powerless, ever. Agatha tries to reason with Satu and brings to attention that voting on the matter would be unfair since the seat of a former witch has not yet been filled. Um, Agatha probably has a certain witch in mind--just hold that thought. 

Baldwin has to now answer to Gerbert’s insistence that Rebecca and Philip were to be assessed by the Congregation to which Agatha accuses him of wanting to kidnap them. He fumbles his way through clarifying that it is simply “quarantining” them. Gerbert starts to infer that the vampires need to take the lead on this matter.

Diana was showing the twins twinkling magical lights, and then she hears someone coming, so she quickly snuffs the magic and then pretends to be playing with their feet. Ysabeau appears and she asks Diana to come downstairs because a witch has arrived to see her and Matthew. Lena, the witch is warning them. First, she says Benjamin kidnapped her. Benjamin wants to expose the witches; he talked about “a witch with the power of life and death that would allow him to control everything.” He was hoping to mate with her to make babies like Matthew and Diana. She goes on to say, “He wanted me to be his Diana.” Lena lets out that Benjamin told her Matthew turned him into a torturer. They take her somewhere to let her recover. Marcus says that Matthew will need “the strength of the Knights of Lazarus,” if he’s going to find and kill Benjamin. Matthew gets all Eeyore-like, thinking nobody's gonna want to be part of their order of misfits. Chris, Miriam, Sarah, Jack, Rebecca, and Philip are now members of the Knights of Lazarus. “It means that we’ll be sworn to defend each other.” The Congregation won’t be able to target one individual without the defense of the entire scion of the Knights of Lazarus. The ritual of swearing on the sword and putting on the rings, which all contain the ouroboros goes like this: “Do you swear faith and fealty to the order and to each other, vampire, daemon, witch, and human to protect those in need of help? Welcome to the Knight of Lazarus.”

Fernando tells Matthew that he’s no longer interested in being the outsider like he was when Hugh de Clermont, his partner, was killed. He says, “I want to be part of your scion, Matteus, part of what you and Diana are doing. A member of your family. And I hope that is at your right hand.”

Olivier Huband is Fernando Goncalves.

“That is where I want you.”

Fernando, your amazing coffee will help me make, sweet passionate love to Diana all night. Thank you. 

Matthew sniffs the coat that Lena wore. Of course, he knows it belonged to Benjamin. He finds the watch in the pocket that once belonged to Philippe. It’s dated “1922” so there’s that clue to bite us in the ass later. Which vampire of the two is a better biter, Benjamin or Matthew? Definitely has to Matthew thinking back about how Diana reacted to his taking a drink from her heart vein in E9 of S2.

Diana and Matthew finally make out; it has been a minute. It took until the 5th episode to show he still enjoys intimate moments with Diana. She doesn’t want to promise that she won’t go near Benjamin. They sit up and he says, “You’re my wife, not a weapon.” 

She’s got Corra, the firedrake, just nearly ready to escape back in the chapel – let Corra kill him! Of course, the song begins, “Nightcall” by Kavinsky. This song was in the film Drive, and a cover version is used in this case. If one compares that film's Driver and Irene with ADOW's Matthew and Diana, well, we're at the point in the story in which there is an unavoidable conflict. It's in the way of their ability to go on with life peacefully. Diana is not actually the "Irene" in this scenario, but she's what has been grounding him and there is no one else for Matthew except her; his mate for life.

The Book of Life's passage in chapter 33 reads as follows:

“The family will survive if I don’t come back. There are others who can serve as its head. But you are its heart.” 

“There is no point in arguing with me. I know this from experience,” he said. “Before you, I was nothing but dust and shadows. You brought me to life. And I cannot survive without you.”

In E5:

“Mon coeur, ma lionne. If I don’t come back, this family of ours will go on. And there are others who can serve as its head. But you, you will always be its heart.”

Their romantic embrace brings the episode to a close while the camera pulls back into the burning fireplace. If you read any of the books, though, Matthew's hands are always described as having a cool touch. I always think of how the TV version cannot offer the sensual touch he gets from Diana's "fire" and she gets from Matthew's "ice." It is this passage I find going to for knowing what these characters feel when they embrace:

“It’s too hot,” Diana protested, though she still put her hand in his. 

“I’ll cool you off,” he promised with a smile. 

Diana looked at him with interest. Matthew’s smile broadened. 

His wife—his heart, his mate, his life—stepped down off the porch and into his arms. Diana’s eyes were the blue and gold of a summer sky, and Matthew wanted nothing more than to fall headlong into their bright depths, not to lose himself but to be found.

Darling, I think you have Rebecca's spit up on your back.

Episode 6

Writer: Christopher Cornwell  Director: Jamie Donoughue

Description: After receiving Benjamin's message, Matthew leaves Sept-Tours at dawn to track him down; Diana enlists Sarah's help to finally get the Book of Life.

Continuing from where E5 left off of Matthew leaving the family for Poland to find Benjamin. The song “Genesis” sung by Ruelle plays.

Philippe may be dead, but he lives on in this portrait overseeing everyone's arrival and departure.

He holds Philippe's watch that Benjamin surely planted for Matthew to find in the coat's pocket. He’s going to find him and kill him knowing that he may not come back. Diana is peacefully sleeping with the twins by her side. He looks at her from the side, he stops at the foot of the bed and observes her once more. He is about to pull open the door to leave and he turns back to see her entering the room with the portrait of Philippe above her to the right. I truly love the framing of this moment as they come together as dawn is breaking through the windows as they hug. He cups her head in his hands. In The Book of Life, “He cupped my face in his hands, searching every inch as though trying to memorize it.”

Philippe's portrait is serving the back story, so for it to oversee Matthew leaving to go kill Benjamin, it signals the warning of what happened to Philippe can happen to Matthew. We learn that Philippe was tortured by Benjamin and not the Nazis.

While Matthew is driving towards Poland, the hills reflect on his windshield as he’s facing what is really an uphill battle.

Let's recall that in S3 E1, Matthew told Diana:

“at the end of the first crusade, I was in Jerusalem. Philippe dreamt of establishing a homeland for creatures, but in order to do so it was necessary for us to reveal ourselves to some humans that we thought we could trust. And, Benjamin was one of them. When Benjamin threatened to expose us all, it crushed Philippe’s dream. … By God I wanted to punish him. Death would be too quick. I made him a vampire so that he couldn’t reveal our true nature without revealing his own. And then I abandoned him. A new blood-raged vampire. I thought it would kill him eventually or get him killed. It was the most terrible miscalculation."

Here’s the way The Book of Life covers this:

“He was mine. Benjamin began to trade in de Clermont family secrets. He swore he would expose the existence of creatures—not just vampires but witches and daemons—to the humans in Jerusalem. When I discovered his betrayal, I lost control. Philippe dreamed of creating a safe haven for us all in the Holy Land, a place where we could live without fear. Benjamin had the power to crush Philippe’s hopes, and I had given him that power.” 

… “Death was too quick. I wanted to punish Benjamin for being a false friend. I wanted him to suffer as we creatures suffered. I made him a vampire so that if he exposed the de Clermonts, he would have to expose himself.” Matthew paused. “Then I abandoned him to fend for himself.” 

There are several times in this series when a scene begins with someone facing the opposite direction. Their back to the camera. We saw it in S1 when Diana’s adrenalin is racing and Matthew is on the far side of the room from her trying to hold it together to not attack her and his back is to her. In S2 when Diana and Matthew arrive to see Philippe, he’s in his office and his back is to them. In S3 we saw Matthew facing out the window when Phoebe enters to introduce herself. Now in E6, Diana is at the fireplace in a smaller room when she tells Marcus that she’s going to Oxford and he can’t change her mind. She does not want to wait any longer with the three missing pages so she gathers Sarah and Fernando to go with her, however, Marcus asks Fernando to go ahead of them.

Diana asks that the rest all remain back at Sept-Tours to guard Rebecca and Philip. She gets out her Oxford University Bodleian Library reader card and magically duplicates it to make Sarah a reader. Sarah and Diana are fearless in knowing that showing up to retrieve the book is going to call attention to themselves. Where was Diana before I was of age to get into a show that was 21 and over without a valid ID?

E6 gives us another territorial pissing match between Baldwin, Domenico, and Gerbert in Venice. Two daemon members of The Congregation leave Gerbert’s office seeming to agree to his power grab. His intention is to reform The Congregation and fix the broken Covenant. He wants to have the vampires lead or, he believes, it’s all chaos from now on because of the scion Matthew formed. The plan is to ban Agatha, the ally that supports Diana, which in actuality, protects the Knights of Lazarus, the de Clermonts, from having to answer to the Covenant. Baldwin reminds Gerbert that Philippe never intended for the balance of power to be with the vampires. Gerbert argues that the “formation was to serve the Covenant and the wisdom of it was to be self-evident.” Baldwin is pressured to support Gerbert as Philippe’s full-blooded son and he complies. Domenico is silently absorbing all of this. Later he lends his voice to Baldwin privately.

Domenico gets that Gerbert is creating a lot of friction in his attempt to end the authority of the de Clermonts. Gerbert freely admits to meeting with Benjamin and now says that Benjamin was responsible for Philippe losing his mind, not the Nazis as we had been led to understand. Domenico is listening intently as Gerbert spills the beans that he capitalized on the opportunities as a result of Philippe’s death. If Gerbert could do this with Philippe, what's stopping him from doing this to other vampires?

Do you mean I spent 5-1/2 episodes being a dickhead to my brother Matthew when I should have just killed Gerbert and taken all of his money?
Gregg Chilingirian is Domenico Michele.

At the 38:42 point in the episode, Baldwin and Domenico meet. He calls Baldwin “an inflexible, arrogant head.” Baldwin has been manipulated by Gerbert to think that Matthew has undermined him by forming a scion. Domenico reveals, however, that Gerbert has fostered Benjamin’s reemergence and the blood rage killings. They have been in cahoots for centuries. Domenico drops quite a bombshell on Baldwin and he wants nothing in return for dumping this information in his lap.

Fernando and Marcus quietly agree to a plan which Fernando knows already without him even asking. Marcus throws it out there that he’s asking him as Grandmaster of the Knights of Lazarus. There’s only one person that matters in protecting Diana on her mission to get The Book of Life. Is everyone paying attention?

We’ve seen Philippe’s library back in S2 when he offered Diana free reign of it. He stashed a secret message in the binding of a book in it for Ysabeau to find later that season. S3 we saw research being done in that space perhaps with some books and then Ysabeau pulls out a book from it for the christening. This time Diana slides out her pages from under a slot built into a shelf. I’m so pleased that his library has become so useful to her this season.

Is this the best hiding place in all of Sept-Tours? If we're trying to imagine where Diana would have hid the missing pages, one of the first things we'd do is see if they were tucked inside a book kept in a library? How well hidden is this secret shelf?

Phoebe and Marcus get down to the discussion of having to run when the Congregation comes after them; how long he can hide out without being noticed as opposed to her. He essentially can go an entire lifetime without surfacing is what he’s getting at and she can’t because she’s not yet a vampire. He says, “If you don’t make the change, you still have a choice, you can still go back to your life.”

I don’t know how he can think that he can sire her with the fact that he couldn’t sire his friend James after the car hit and killed him. He tried to give him his blood and it wasn’t James’ genetics that prevented him from turning. It was Marcus’ blood that has the problem with turning a human into a vampire.

We’re 10:09 into the episode and the moment we’ve ALL been waiting for…(drumroll - cymbals) Steven Cree aka Gallowglass, shirtless, tattooed, with pecks and biceps exposed, plus his tight abdomen. Cree lifted weights; sacrificed ice cream and chocolate to bring the fans of Gallowglass his sculpted physique. He read the books and knew the fans expected a bigger character, physique-wise. 

I can live with the only sighting of Corra the firedrake being a tattoo on Gallowglass.

Take a moment to study the landscape of a man we all have had to endure being covered up in all the previous episodes.

The tattoos are fading and the tattoo artist thinks it is from sun exposure. She has an American accent. I’m not sure what she’s doing in Brighton, England on the boardwalk giving Gallowglass a touch-up session. She notices his left shoulder, thinking it is a dragon and he calls it a firedrake. Fernando shows up to save us from staring too long at this perfect torso. He explains how Diana will need his protection. Gallowglass points out to Fernando, “You were the one who told me I should walk away.” (sighs) (And we sigh, too, Gallowglass) “And you know how hard it was for me to do it.” (Aye, we know!)

Using tattoos to give us more clues about Gallowglass is our favorite plot device. 

Fernando: I do.

Gallowglass thinks he doesn’t need to be answering to the de Clermonts, i.e., Matthew’s got Diana and she’s got him. It’s all Sonny and Cher singing a pop ballad, yet, he’s got no one.

Fernando: Then don’t do this because you’re a de Clermont. Do it because you’re the man I know you to be.

"O, tha fìor dhòigh agad le faclan, Fernando," is the Scottish Gaelic for,
"Aw, you really have a way with words, Fernando."

For the sake of time, I’m not comparing this with The Book of Life, so I encourage you to read Harkness' words yourself that describe Gallowglass’s tattoos in chapter 23 of the book. I feel it would have been much clearer on how he felt about Diana if they created the same images of his tattoos on TV as they were in the book.

They arrive at the Bodleian Library. Diana is in her trademark blue winter coat, the least inconspicuous fashion, in my opinion. Oh, it’s thundering above, so the gloomy weather is so apropo for this daunting task of calling up Ashmole 782.

She sees Gallowglass standing center under the overpass and walks briskly to give him a big hug. She tells him that she missed him and he’s glad to hear it, calls her Auntie.

The vampires inform Diana that they’re keeping watch in the main outdoor plaza and she heads inside with Sarah not far behind her. They have vampire hearing and will know when danger is nearby.

Diana says she feels right being back and calls up the book at the call desk. The original staff person who searched for it the first time in S1 is still working there. The note comes back that the book isn’t there; it’s missing. Diana turns and starts to walk and something in the air tells her to check the lift again. There it is, on the lift. She moves to the side and the call desk staff person is suspicious. Refer to chapter 34 to read about how she finds it in The Book of Life.

Diana opens it and it is just like she left it in 2018. The spell to cloak her, though Sarah calls it a masking spell, makes it appear that they’re just reading together. She inserts the page with the tree and it accepts it with a seal like a laser fastening it to the book. The next page is inserted and then the page with the dark prince and his bride. Her and Matthew. She triggers a shockwave and the book's pages start flipping forward. She stops it and places her hands on it. 

“It’s the story of us. Here lies the lineage of an ancient tribe known as the Bright Born. Their power boundless as the night. Their love began with absence and desire, two hearts becoming one. When fear overcame them.” 

She’s absorbing the entire contents of the book. She’s becoming The Book of Life.

Sarah walks out holding a blue book that disguises Ashmole 782. Gallowglass cannot help but see under her skin the words are alive and flowing through her bloodstream.

Gallowglass's tattoo seems to be a variation on the Ingwaz rune symbol. It makes for a great tattoo because it is never in a reversed position. Adding a dot to the center is not traditionally how Ingwaz is depicted so I'll interpret it as a make up artist adding their own artistic marker.

They walk out of the plaza to the car down the road and, when Sarah removes the disguise, she sees all the text wiped from the book. They hustle Diana into a car, but a man who was there when the shockwave hit, calls Peter Knox to say that they’re leaving the area.

A vampire can move faster than a train through a dense forest and arrive without a hair out of place. 

Matthew finally arrives in Poland. He carries Philippe’s watch with him; he uses his vampire speed to cross through the forest. He finds the derelict facility and all of his senses are on high alert. However, I cannot help but feel like Matthew is unprepared for this psychotic killer. He enters a room that appears to have the 1940s, hospital-style light fixtures.

Benjamin enters and sees Matthew in the corner of the room. He knows how to get to Matthew in saying his best work was in driving Philippe’s torture to the point of insanity. “If it’s any consolation, I was well rewarded with the information I got from him.” Matthew thinks the contrary that he got nothing and that he’s been living a lie, “The wronged son!” he tells Benjamin.

He tells Matthew he’s exactly as he made him. “Do you remember what it feels like, that new hunger for blood? How it cuts you in two? How strong the blood rage is when you’re first changed?” 

Matthew admits he wanted him be cursed and Benjamin tells him that “it’s not a curse; it’s a gift.”

Benjamin says he waited until now to come after Matthew because he needed Matthew to be happy otherwise there’s no point in "ending a life of someone who is miserable." It’s exciting to Benjamin to think of being able to meet Diana and he tells him “witches are so fragile,” although he “hopes Diana is more robust.”

They tangle with each other showing off their vampire speed, but we can see how Benjamin is luring him into a room to torture him. The fighting goes on until it seems like Matthew comes out dragging Benjamin as if he’s won. He scratches Matthew’s face which heals quickly. A moment of stillness overcomes Matthew and he admits that it wasn’t Benjamin’s fault. I wasn’t a good father.” 

You can see Matthew is about to lean down and drain Benjamin when all of a sudden a shockwave hits him. It stuns him and seems to pull the life from him. He tips over and falls from his kneeling position, collapsing on the floor. It is Satu who is doing this. She shows great power in controlling how she can render Matthew powerless. Moments later Benjamin is on his feet again and she is in a space where he tortured witches. He regrets that Diana didn’t watch Satu bring down Matthew. She wants Matthew dead, but Benjamin tells her that they need Matthew to get to Diana. They made an agreement that Satu gets Diana and he gets Matthew because he doesn’t need Diana. 

Satu (Malin Buska) wears a dress designed by Susie Cave.

Her clothing line is under the label The Vampire's Wife.

Villanelle (Jodie Comer) wore a dress by The Vampire's Wife in one of the first episodes of S2 of "Killing Eve". 

The journey back to Sept-Tours is delayed by the fact that a disheveled Peter Knox is waiting for Diana and Sarah at the helipad. He demands The Book of Life be turned over and he realizes Diana has it inside of her. Sarah calls him a murderer and he goes off on a tangent about the witches he destroyed. She calls the wind to “capture the dark” and he accuses her of not having the power. Alex Kingston is a fierce witch and Diana steps in to add her energy to seek to avenge Emily’s death. He’s pulverized into the air carried off by the wind leaving behind only his spherical tool on the ground.

The tap of her hand to her heart awakens her power as she calls upon witch wind.  
Alex Kingston as Sarah Bishop.

Witch wind is encircling Peter Knox played by Owen Teale.

"For Em."

They return to Sept-Tours. Phoebe knows they have the book, but Diana clarifies, “It’s a little more complicated than that,” and then she shows the text lit up and moving under her skin. No one reacts like this is some unfathomable phenomenon that she absorbed the entire book.

BFFs greet Diana at the entrance to Sept-Tours. Though we cannot hear him, Philippe would have said, "She is power, and now she's The Book of Life!" 
Aiysha Hart (Miriam), Ivanno Jeremiah (Chris), and Edward Bluemel (Marcus). 

Diana braindumps the book’s information much to the delight of Chris and Miriam who find she confirms all of their theories. She and Sarah talk about what happened to Peter, but are interrupted by Marcus. It’s a video from Benjamin. He shows Matthew on an elevated angled table semiconscious, in a drugged state, slowly being drained of his blood. Matthew is singing a German hymn, which is actually a lullaby, titled “Der Mond ist aufgegangen.” In the book, Ysabeau says that Philippe used to sing it when he returned home. “Der Mond ist aufgegangen, / Die goldnen Sternlein prangen / Am Himmel hell und klar.” It translates to “The moon has risen / The golden stars are emblazoned / Bright and clear in the sky.” In the book, “It is a song about God’s final judgment,” says Ysabeau. Wicked, dark stuff, thank you, Deborah Harkness.

Diana never made a promise to not go anywhere near Benjamin. 

Benjamin tells Diana, with a lift of his wrist to his chest, wearing the watch that Matthew brought back to him, that “time is running out” if she wants to “say goodbye.”

The music that closes is written by Radiohead, “Street Spirit,” but this is a cover by Rosie Carney. It’s a perfect choice for this scene as Diana’s eyes well up and she boldly stares down Benjamin. The camera backs out of the room and the ceiling lights are like the dotted lines on a highway, like driving in reverse at night, fading out into the darkness.

Wow, if there was ever to be an opportunity for Diana to finally use her tenth knot, this would surely be it! In any heightened action scene of a TV drama, as its story is coming to a close, it’s emotional to witness a hero be taken down. Viewers will be intensely gripped with suspense as Matthew's soulmate and his friends take on a heroic rescue. Who can replenish Matthew's blood to revive him? He could drain Benjamin like he did Philippe, yet, not to put him out of his misery but to end him. How will Diana and the gang defeat Satu and Benjamin, and revolutionize The Congregation in the remaining 45 minutes of this series? 

"A Discovery of Witches" | S3:E3 and E4 | An Analysis (contains details of E3 and E4)

The following analysis is solely my own. Some of it offers an opinion while recapping portions of the episode. I impart a little satire within the recap. For this post, I’ll recap by topic rather than as the episode unfolds. It may not recap every moment and may not cover every character of the episode. Anything written for this post is created by the blog's author who is an inspired fan with the intention of promoting the work. If you enjoy reading this, please leave a comment here or on Instagram @thataddamsgirl.

Episode 3:

• Director: Debs Paterson 
• Writer: Michelle Gayle
• Description: In New Orleans, Matthew and Marcus struggle to reconnect with Marcus' children; in London, Diana and Phoebe find a lead in their hunt for the missing pages.

Episode 4:

• Director: Debs Paterson
• Writer: Matt Evans
• Description: Struggling to pin down T.J. Weston, Diana, Phoebe, and Sarah seek help from other witches; Benjamin has a proposition for Satu; Matthew finally returns home.

If you haven't watched season 3, episodes 3 and 4, or any episodes from the two previous seasons, you will be spoiled if you read any further. 

Whoa! Diana kept you a secret for two seasons. We could have solved the mystery two seasons ago!
Aiysha Hart plays Miriam.

Search for The Missing Pages of Ashmole 782 aka The Book of Life

Diana (Teresa Palmer) creates a cloaking spell though she doesn't describe that she created a disguise. It's quick. She hides what she's doing so she looks like she's reading and not like she's pulling the letters out of the book.

Phoebe and Diana make efforts to find the missing two pages. Together they determine that she can find a book that may have it and she has to go to The British Library. She learns from a spell about the book that Father Hubbard last had, therefore he must have one of the two missing pages.

"H" appears on Diana's wrist in the same spot where she previously cut it open using her witch magic to extract a single drop of blood to drop into Hubbard's mouth. This action not only represented a pact that they secretly had between them to ensure he would care for Jack, but it also allowed Hubbard to see her secrets. He learned she timewalked with Matthew and was able to realize they were not returning when they fled London back in 1591. 

We arrive at a place called Hubbard’s of Houndsditch in London. He welcomes a newcomer to his flock while Peter Knox waits patiently to see Hubbard. Knox seeks out the missing page from Hubbard and learns that Hubbard knows he was banned from The Congregation. Hubbard says, “Even someone as jaded by creature politics, as I know that you’ve been removed from The Congregation, I offer no judgment for your crimes. Only salvation.” 

Knox wants what he wants. He attempts to activate his witchcraft tool on Hubbard, but he’s not fast enough. Hubbard chokes Knox and threatens him that he won’t make it out alive if he tries to hurt Hubbard. "H" still blesses Knox when he tells him to go.

Father Hubbard gets a little handsy
Peter Knox (Owen Teale) and Father Hubbard (Paul Rhys)

That's a good boy. Bless you and be on your way.

Diana finds Father Hubbard who lets her know Knox was just there. She tells him that Knox will try to still get that page. If Knox gets the page, he will try to use it to his advantage. This puts Hubbard in a quandary because he wants his followers protected. The point she makes is that Gerbert and Knox are using The Covenant to divide them now, but with the page, the lives of creatures are endangered. Hubbard hands her the page, which he hid cleverly on the back of a framed image of Christ on the cross. He tells her he trusts her to “have the courage to do what has to be done. Whatever [she] has to sacrifice," and she tells him she “won’t betray that trust.”

No, you cannot have the blood of my twin babies.
[However, it's the secrets they hold that he really wants.] 

Further research leads to the name of someone who has owned another book by John Dee, T.J. Weston. Diana has to find out if he still has the third missing page.

Recall in S1 when Diana woke from a nightmare of her hands wrapped in a spider web? She couldn't comprehend that her power was suppressed, that she was spellbound, and her subconscious was reacting to what was going on around her. As a result, she'd have nightmares about feeling incapable of controlling her magic. 

Spiders create a web made of silk in which its main component is protein. This article claims spider web silk, in strength, is a cross between steel and rubber.

The writer and director are giving us the character arc that depicts Diana mastering her powers; having control of her magic. E4 opens with Diana weaving her spells in bed. The opposing images of these two episodes is one of the reasons I enjoy the TV series.

There's no circle of protection ever cast in ADOW's rituals when Diana weaves a spell. It’s television so I’m letting it go.

She went from having nightmares tied to her being spellbound to being able to put her power to use in a moment of crisis. Look at how far Diana has come to understand how to weave spells. 

She decides that she has to form a coven for a locator spell. It needs a witch for each element. Everyone is against it because Peter Knox is going to figure it out.

Diana, Sarah, and Gallowglass seek a location in the city of London. She finds the alley where she believes she met Goody Alsop. She calls for the "streets of old to appear" and encounters a witch who says “We’ve been expecting you.” This is Linda Crosby and this is covered well in The Book of Life.

There are three dozen members of the coven. Diana explains the task and Linda says that they’ll help her. Sarah gathers materials from around the room. 

The witches representing all of the elements perform the spell with Diana and a map eventually assembles to show a location written on a parchment paper with the latitude and longitude of Weston's location.

Natural light has always been a trademark of the production design of "A Discovery of Witches".

Coarse salt can replicate a satellite image of The Cotswolds pretty damn good.

They drive out to The Cotswolds. Gallowglass takes the lead to check the safety situation. He senses that someone inside is in distress and they enter through the patio doors to a very cluttered space. T.J. Weston is holding a baseball bat to defend himself. He is an anxious daemon; cautious, sensitive, and feels threatened by these unexpected visitors. 

Recall when we met Sophie and Nathaniel in S1 -- also daemons. Both were much more confident and certainly have blended in with society. Agatha, a member of The Congregation, and also a daemon, projects confidence.

Diana explains to Weston that she’s looking for the page that was in John Dee’s collection. He takes her to another room for which he dramatically plays piano. There’s quite a lot of items he’s hoarded over many years. He doesn’t want to give up the page, the page with the tree. The skin of his ancestors of which it is comprised is one of his most personal possessions. They leave because Diana doesn’t want to force him to give it up, understanding that he has been traumatized.

If you want to compare the TV series to the book, refer to chapter 27 in The Book of Life. The TV series has improved the introduction of T.J. Weston and allows him to find a connection with another daemon.

Phaldut Sharma plays the eccentric, agoraphobic T.J. "Timothy" Weston

Daemons can often be afflicted with mental illness and in Weston's case, he has resulted in hoarding manuscripts for coping with it. In the book, the question is asked: 

“Why do manuscripts interest you?” When trying to get answers from daemons and undergraduates, it was best to ask genuinely open-ended questions.

“They’re like the house—they remind me of something I shouldn’t forget,” Timothy said, as though that explained everything.

Diana knows she can ask Agatha to help convince Weston to give up the page. Diana talks to her about what she needs. Witches and daemons make friends again, like Sophie and Daniel helping her with the statue of the Goddess Diana!

Back at the place where the coven met, Knox strolls in and is his usual asshole self and uses his witchy tool to throw around his power. He gets his hands into the materials and finds the location for T.J. Weston.

Knox gets a rush from discovering where the third missing page is located. Timothy Weston is in big trouble.

The TV series has made small efforts to depict the daemons who are lacking connection. There was such a scene in S1, E3 when Nathaniel shows Sophie how he created a way to have daemons meet other daemons.

"They've spent half of their lives thinking they were freaks."
"Now you've got them talking to each other."
"Some are gonna want to meet face to face."
Daniel Ezra as Nathaniel and Aisling Loftus as Sophie.

It’s a relief to see Diana and Agatha return to Weston’s place. Agatha convinces him that they’ll take care of the page. This is the chance to prove that daemons matter. She’s sympathetic to his preference of living in isolation. He knows that Diana can put a stop to “the blood, the death, and the fear.” He finds the page with the tree, which is similar to what Diana saw in her nightmare in S2. The tree in her nightmare was made of screaming creatures. Diana thanks him. Agatha reassures Weston that he has a whole community and herself to support him. 

His home is always dark. Here he cowers by the window afraid to let in the light. It may reveal too bright the darkest and deepest troubles he has caged up inside himself. 

Made from the skin of Weston's ancestors

Diana and Agatha walk back to the car. Seeing Weston in this mental state of unrest had upset Agatha. She infers that daemons are often neglected by The Congregation--their existence so seldom acknowledged and it implies they are the most vulnerable. The sight of him suffering compels her to fight for the daemons... to have them be treated just as equally as witches and vampires. “That’s why I want to repeal the Covenant. We need more than a fight, Agatha. We need a revolution.” says Diana.

Diana starts to feel contractions. BTW, it’s a 2-hour drive from The Cotswolds back to London.

After Diana is safely received in London, Agatha returns to Weston's home. His door is wide open. He’s in pain and she finds him lying on a table surrounded by the ritual salt. It is the salt that Knox took with him so the evidence is clear that Knox attacked him. Weston breathes his last breath -- same as the way Emily appeared as in S3 E1. 

Scion Formation 

Matthew is in New Orleans with Marcus as Marcus meets with his vampire daughter Geraldine (Genesis Lynea) about forming a scion with Matthew de Clermont. He’s been showing up to talk to her each week. She knows about the blood rage disease. She lets Marcus know that the whole family knows of the proposal to form a scion. She tells them to leave New Orleans. Ransome Fayrweather (Parker Sawyers), Marcus’ oldest vampire son, is completely against it.

Marcus turns up to gamble with his vampire family later. His children don’t trust Matthew because he slaughtered many of Marcus’ vampire children. 

Looking back at E2 of S1, Matthew vaguely makes a comment about things he's done when Diana wistfully says. "The things you've seen," in this scene.

"The things you've seen."
"And done."

Matthew shares the burden of being infected with blood rage and has learned to control it. He's teaching Jack (Toby Regbo) techniques to help him suppress it. 

Matthew is facing the legacy of having tried to cull the disease about two centuries ago. He executed vampires – the vampire children of Marcus – who need him to admit he murdered their family and friends. [He possibly saved the slaughter of more humans if any of those vampires were to sire new vampires who'd show signs of blood rage. But the time it would take to get into hypothetical matters would take an entire episode to address.]

Marcus phones Phoebe and she says that she thought she’d “have to be immortal” to accomplish so much reading. He says, “I know. We need to talk about that.” This hints at the idea that Marcus may want to marry Phoebe and she may want to have him sire her – make her a vampire. He was unsuccessful with siring a friend who was hit by a car back in S1. In addition, Matthew had killed Marcus’ children to control the genetic continuation of blood rage. 

Marcus tells Phoebe about the scion formation not going so well – “Matthew would rather die than admit he’s at fault.”

Marcus heads over to the French Quarter and talks with his son Ransome. They talk about Matthew forming a scion so that there’s no way for The Congregation to intervene again. This refers to when Matthew’s stepfather, Philippe, ordered him to slaughter vampires with blood rage. Philippe had formed The Congregation to rule on how species are to remain separate from others, avoid contracting the blood rage disease, be exposed to humans, and minimize the risk of extinction. Marcus explains, “There are elements of the Congregation that want to use blood rage to grab power, to frighten other creatures into submission. Baldwin could order another massacre tomorrow.” 

That’s true. Baldwin even wanted Matthew to kill Jack until Matthew stood up to Baldwin in refusal. He goes on to say that Matthew intends on finding a cure to end blood rage and that Ransome could help in supplying a sample of blood to determine why they don’t experience blood rage. Ransome asks Marcus if Matthew owns up to his past actions.

In The Book of Life, Ransome owns The Domino Club on Royal St. in the French Quarter. It's a gambling business. There is no sign of this being the case here.

All of Marcus's family are gathered to hear what Matthew has to say. Ransome says that “according to the Congregation it is his duty to kill [Jack]”. 

Matthew responds with, “Well, then, you’ll have to kill me, too.” 

It becomes heated because Ransome calls Matthew a hypocrite. Matthew throws back that The Congregation could wipe all of them out as they always want the creatures to live in fear. The scion would prevent such a thing, which is why he’s there. Ransome asks Matthew to admit what he’s done, to “comprehend what we lost.” 

Matthew Goode as Matthew de Clermont or Matthew Clairmont.

Ransome Fayrweather (Parker Sawyers)

The skull art could be a tribute to a bar called The Dungeon in New Orleans, also located in the French Quarter. The Dungeon is nowhere near as minimal in aesthetic as Ransome's business.

Matthew says, “I am sorry for what happened.” 

Ransome says it didn’t “happen” and that it was “done to us.”

In a moment of reflection, Matthew recites the name of each vampire he murdered. He recalls in detail how he met them in the street and then killed each of them: Malachi Smith, Suzette Boudrot, Sandrine Lachellier, and it continues. Fabien Guidry, Sophie Mathieu, Jacqueline Lascelle – she was Ransome’s mate. Matthew describes in detail how he followed her and then killed her. “I see what I did and cannot change it. … I am sorry for what I did.”

Ransome stands and walks towards Matthew, puts out his hand, “We’ll join your scion.” Matthew shakes Ransome’s hand and he thanks him. He leaves to go back to the New Orleans residence. On his way, he phones Diana to check on her and tell her the good news. 

His grey hairs are coming in, much like he mentions in chapter 33 of The Book of Life. 

Dawn, the time of day that symbolizes a new beginning.

Matthew tells Marcus that there’s a great deal of work to be done to gain their respect. “Marcus, I deeply regret what I did here. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” replies Marcus.

Edward Bluemel as Marcus Whitmore

After Miriam bestows Matthew with her analysis session and then tells him to return home to be there for Diana, he then phones Baldwin. He tells him to meet him.

Baldwin appears in New Orleans knowing that Matthew wants Baldwin’s blessing to form a scion. Matthew tries to convince Baldwin that Philippe would allow this option for Matthew to split from The Congregation to do what’s right for his family. Baldwin says that it is in his right to take away all de Clermont assets that Matthew owns and say that he can never return to Sept-Tours. Baldwin asks Matthew what it was like seeing him again. He doesn’t make eye contact with Matthew. Baldwin is the second son sired by Philippe, after Hugh. “As you’d expect,” is Matthew’s answer. 

Baldwin won’t support Matthew’s plan to form a scion; doesn’t have any respect for Matthew’s decision.

Jack Blackfriars

In E3 when Marcus and Matthew return from visiting Geraldine at the courthouse in New Orleans, they can see the furniture has been upended. Jack suffered another moment of blood rage and Matthew senses he’s in the nearby cemetery. The sound dept. recreated the authentic sounds of the insects; likely cicadas. Jack is being coached by Matthew. They discuss what triggers his need to express his rage, and it is his seeing himself on Benjamin’s video attacking humans.

Toby Regbo portrays Jack Blackfriars in a moment of losing control.

Later Matthew finds Jack outside in the yard sketching. He constantly sees the faces of those he has killed. Matthew looks through the sketches and says that Benjamin was the murderer but that Jack was the weapon. Jack tries to compare this with how Matthew was to Philippe, but Matthew says that this is no comparison because Matthew was “relied upon” by Philippe “to eliminate any threats to the family.”

Jack is back in the cemetery and he senses a vampire nearby. He discovers that Ransome is there. Ransome observes the onset of blood rage so he asks what is so special about you to Jack, “He’s slaughtered everyone else.” Jack reports back to Matthew. Matthew agrees to meet with Marcus’ children.

"I'm learning to control it."

Matthew Considering What it Means to Become a Father Again

Matthew's face is pensive while he reflects on his role as a father and a husband. His thoughts cover the past two seasons from being a predator with Diana when he feeds on her to heal his wounds from Juliette’s attack, to his duel with Philippe, and the blood rage he experiences as a result. The clip of Philippe telling Matthew “Your conscience is a handicap.” Matthew craving and loving Diana, Jack’s blood rage, Baldwin commanding that Matthew kill Jack, Ransome trying to believe that Matthew was truly remorseful, and it leads him to worry about solving the endless problems in order for them to have a future.

Flashback to E6 of S2 with James Purefoy playing Philippe de Clermont. 

Sarah

E3, Sarah (Alex Kingston) has made a grilled cheese sandwich and she and Diana recall this very snack was something that Em would make for Diana when she’d be up late studying. Sarah addresses that Diana needs to trust her intuition as well as her intellect in creating a spell for finding the missing pages.

Sarah tries to go back to Madison much to Fernando’s protest and then she encounters Gallowglass. He and Fernando talk Sarah out of leaving because Diana needs her. Sarah asks how does Gallowglass know how Diana needs her from his knowledge of past experiences. 

“I’ve seen her spend hour after hour in the bloody library. Every time things were tough for her she read her way out of it. Book by book. And when she got things straight in her head, where would she go?”

“To me and Em.”

“Aye. And she’ll need to come to you again,” he tells her. “You do know that.”

“I do. But I don’t understand how you know that.”

Fernando answers her by saying that Philippe saw Diana’s importance to the vampires. Gallowglass admits that Philippe asked him to keep watch over Diana until Matthew meets her. Sarah calls it spying. 

"No. No, I was there just in case. Not that you needed much help from me, if I'm honest. And that it was down to you and Em. But neither of our jobs are over yet," says Gallowglass.

This doesn’t mean we should re-watch S1 and look for Gallowglass. The timewalking with Matthew hadn’t taken place and so they altered the outcome by timewalking and then meeting with Philippe. We don’t get a replay of S1 to observe Gallowglass in the corners of libraries, hidden from Diana, yet, making sure she doesn’t get off the path to Oxford – off the path that leads her to find Matthew. He is a protector and there's not anything harmful about his role in her life that should be further discussed. 

Gallowglass: Finding a New Purpose

A vampire protecting a witch. It’s Philippe’s assignment to Gallowglass. That’s what we know in E3, and indeed, he’s protecting her from Benjamin while Matthew is in New Orleans. However, he does tend to hover. She descends a staircase and it is not as if Gallowglass cannot hear her and seems to round a corner just as she’s hitting the landing. Odd, indeed, if not awkward. He studies her instead of doing what regular fellow housemates do which is go about their own business.

Fernando (Olivier Huband) goes outside to chat with Gallowglass near the beginning of E4. Turns out that Gallowglass has a smoking habit. It reads so much of the character of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer when he became interested in Buffy. He’d smoke outside her house. Fernando says, “No good can come of this.” 

“I know.”

The nicotine patch doesn't work on vampires.

Some quit smoking with the help of hypnosis.

But what if the hypnotist has a way to tell my brain to bark every time I hear a word? That would be really embarrassing if the word was "Gallowglass".

“It isn’t only Matthew and Diana who deserve happiness. You deserve to be happy too, mio figlio.” (“my son” in Italian)

“Do I?”

Fernando seems terribly worried for Gallowglass.

This dialogue is in chapter 29 of The Book of Life in a different kind of context, but it still means the same. Fernando begins talking about what Gallowglass was assigned to do, saying:

“When I next see Philippe de Clermont—and he is no doubt toasting his feet before the devil’s fire—he will answer to me for asking this of you.”

Fernando knew that Philippe enjoyed making other people’s decisions. He should have made a different one in this case.

“I would have done it regardless.” Gallowglass stepped away. “I don’t seem to have a choice.” 

“You always have a choice. And you deserve a chance to be happy.” There had to be a woman out there for Gallowglass, Fernando thought—one who would make him forget Diana Bishop.

“Do I?” Gallowglass’s expression turned wistful.

Gallowglass and Diana are alone in Weston’s yard and she tells him that she can work on getting the book’s missing page on her own. He says, “You don’t think I know? You had that same look of determination on your first day at Yale.” It’s quite an admission that he looked out for her at Philippe’s command so that she’d find her way to Matthew. She says “You would have waited centuries. He had no right to ask that of you.”

“Diana, I did it gladly.”

He openly tells her that he knew she wasn’t meant for him. He looks past her into the distance. He’s struggling a bit to hold back his emotions. She’s sad to know this and says she’s sorry, but he doesn’t want her to apologize. “Oh, Gallowglass, I couldn’t have asked for a better guardian.”

Steven Cree is Gallowglass. He is quite fun to watch as a character who is strong, yet sensitive, and also very cool.

He tells her that Philippe had “an unholy ability to give you a job that you couldn’t refuse.” She touches his hand and she thanks him. It is remarkably a beautiful scene with a musical score of strings playing throughout their conversation (“Diana & Gallowglass” is a track on the S3 soundtrack, but if you look at the song titles, you'll be spoiled about what happens before you watch the remaining three episodes). He ends his thoughts quietly without her hearing, “But it would cost you a piece of your soul.” This is his response to his agreeing to do it and having to finally move on; end his protection of her because she’s with Matthew now.

It’s important to read the passage in chapter 23 of The Book of Life. He elaborates on what he hoped would happen.

“I won’t have you feeling sorry for something you couldn’t prevent,” Gallowglass said, silencing her with a wave of his hand. 

“I knew you could never be mine. It didn’t matter.”

“Before I was Matthew’s, I was yours,” Diana said simply.  

“Only because I was watching you grow into Matthew’s wife,” he said roughly. 

“Granddad always did have an unholy ability to give us jobs we could neither refuse nor perform without losing some piece of our souls.” Gallowglass took a deep breath.

“Until I saw the newspaper story about Lady Pembroke’s laboratory book,” he continued, “a small part of me hoped fate might have another surprise up her sleeve. I wondered if you might come back different, or without Matthew, or without loving him as much as he loves you.” 

Diana listened without saying a word.

“So I went to Sept-Tours to wait for you, like I promised Granddad I would. Emily and Sarah were always going on about the changes your timewalking might have wrought. Miniatures and telescopes are one thing. But there was only ever one man for you, Diana. And God knows there was only ever one woman for Matthew.”

“It’s strange to hear you say my name,” Diana said softly.

“So long as I call you Auntie, I never forget who really owns your heart,” Gallowglass said gruffly.

“Philippe shouldn’t have expected you to watch over me. It was cruel,” she said. 

“No crueler than what Philippe expected from you,” Gallowglass replied. “And far less so than what Granddad demanded of himself.”

The context is that he likes her and would do anything for her. Anyone who thinks that Gallowglass watching Diana from a distance for anything other than to protect her needs to let go of reading into it as something creepy. [Read about the character archetype known as The Protector.] He presents as being someone who was possibly a loner with a life's calling as serving as a protector. 

Gallowglass is a character written by Deborah Harkness with love and she wanted him to unconditionally guard Diana so that she would meet Matthew. I interpret the attraction that he developed as a platonic need to be near her while they're living under one roof. She's a witch and vampires hear their blood "singing"; they emit a scent of "chamomile honey". These details are covered in the first book; first season E3. It's of no use to make it bigger than what it is.

Diana, Sarah, and Gallowglass are in London and pull up to another house. He doesn’t look at Diana and he stares straight ahead. He rolls down the window to keep watch. She tells him through the window that she’s glad that he told her. 

Later in E4 when Diana births twins, Fernando hands a glass of what seems to be whiskey to Gallowglass who’s standing at the front door. He’s giving Diana and Matthew space while she gives birth. He’s not at the door to just observe the rain after centuries of having endured gloomy weather. He’s able to be in earshot of what’s going on upstairs. 

“Matthew will never leave her side again,” says Gallowglass. Fernando nods and offers a hand to his shoulder.

A few moments later, Gallowglass is in the background hearing Marcus announce that there’s a girl and a boy. Gallowglass looks at everyone being in their own world together, silently slips towards the hallway, and then walks out. He looks up at the window seeing Matthew holding a baby. Gallowglass is on his motorcycle. His brow is full of emotion. He puts on his motorcycle helmet. From inside we can see through the window past Matthew, with a view to the street. We watch Gallowglass look up at the window and then drive off into the night out of frame. Back on the street his taillights in view. 

Gallowglass side note: most would not think about how many lives and identities someone needs to have as an immortal creature. He’s a mercenary in 1590. If he had to spend three to three-quarter centuries waiting for Diana to be born, well, that’s got to feel like an eternity. Once she is born, he has to be completely covert and inconspicuous. He doesn’t have a profession we can discern; he’s not a scholar or a scientist such as Matthew, Marcus, Miriam, Baldwin (who’s involved in finance). [How did Sarah and Emily earn money, btw? I have to read over the first book, but I think they had a way to make money selling something.] If he got to know anyone who is mortal, he had to always look the same age around them. 

This is also not the last time we see Gallowglass in S3. I would never make a promise like this normally, but I know from the trailer that we have not seen the last of him. In fact, we'll see a little more than one may expect of his physical appearance.

Research into the Blood Rage Disease

Chris (Ivanno Jeremiah) and Miriam are stalled by needing more blood samples and waiting on more from Matthew.

Cool jeans; the quality of denim is essential, I agree. Miriam, we're still talking DNA, at least I think so.  

Chris has determined that the vampire DNA overwrites human DNA when a human transforms into a vampire. The gene charts of Ysabeau, Matthew, Jack, and Ransome are all analyzed. Chris finds that when Matthew was reborn as a vampire, his non-coding human DNA possessed a gene that reacted to the new genes from a vampire’s DNA and it overwhelmed his system. Miriam then explains that a vampire’s DNA “pushes what’s human in order to dominate the newly modified cells.” Chris says that he’s got genes combined with his human parents and Ysabeau. Human genes contain the activating material to allow the disease known to cause blood rage to be present in his body.

The framing of this scene with the sculpture's outstretched wings foreshadowing the freedom Matthew shall gain in forming a scion.

Miriam arrives in New Orleans and Matthew is learning what Chris had figured out about Matthew’s human genes causing the blood rage to be expressed upon his transformation into a vampire. The cure is nowhere in sight so the hope for Jack and the twins has fizzled out.

Matthew is stewing in his guilt on the porch. Miriam analyzes Matthew saying that he does this – feels guilty over what he’s done, can’t change, and fear what he might decide to do as a result. Miriam reminds him that he has to deal with leading a scion, Diana needing him, they’re about to have twins. He bitterly responds that they will be likely afflicted with blood rage. He is thinking of the worst-case scenario. Hiding the twins or them being “exterminated because they have blood rage.” She has quite an optimistic attitude about the idea that Matthew and Diana can “find a way to make sure they lead long and fulfilling lives.” She tells him to get back there for the birth.

Everything in the south happens so much slower. It feels like I have been waiting for days on this porch for the wine delivery.

Satu as a Weaver

Satu is in The Congregation’s library and in walks Benjamin. She is invited to join him to take on Diana. Satu says that it’s her intention to meet alone with Diana. Benjamin is “sad to hear that.” He leaves.

S1, Satu confronts Diana to study the burn and tries to sense her power. Later she opens Diana to discover what Diana is capable of as a witch. She determines that Diana is a weaver after Diana is sent down into the oubliette. In S2, Satu visits her own mother in Finland, and though we don't see this storyline, we can gather that Satu renewed herself by returning to her roots. She sets out on her own as a solitary witch.

Jacob Ifan as Benjamin Fuchs

Malin Buska as Satu

In E4 Satu is attending a party in Venice and recites the prophecy to Gerbert. He tells her "just enjoy yourself." Domenico and Benjamin are also at the party. Benjamin approaches Satu out on the balcony and he brings up the original proposal of helping to take down the de Clermonts. She accuses Diana of not knowing how to use her power. This contradicts somewhat something she said in the last episode about Diana having learned how to use her power. Satu thinks she’s the witch from the prophecy, not Diana. “Who actually is that witch?” is what she’s asking Benjamin who listens without responding.

Satu, should I try shipping him a bottle of aperitivo with a formal invitation to join me here?
Sure, but don't try to serve him Baccala’ Mantecato. A cod dish in Portugal really turned him off.

Benjamin Seeking to Take Down the de Clermonts

Benjamin and Gerbert are together in Venice. Benjamin learns that Diana is pregnant with twins and seems to think it is because she’s some powerful witch. Gerbert is of the opinion that this shouldn’t have happened and Benjamin schemes that they could make their first move to taking down the de Clermonts. Gerbert points out the fact that Baldwin and Matthew are growing further apart and that this can play out to their advantage. Benjamin thinks this can keep Matthew busy so that they can act now. Gerbert thinks that they can see the de Clermonts ruining their own lives without them interfering. Benjamin prefers to be the one responsible for their destruction. 

Matthew constructed baby cribs to take back to London.

Birth Matters 

The streets are wet, the skies are opening up like tears of joy and a clap of thunder, which reminds me of Philippe. I’m just gonna say that Diana’s got a great doula in Aunt Sarah. That’s witches for you.

 Here's some catnip.
Is it too late for an epidural?!

The doctor who can ascertain everyone's heart health could cure the world. Instead, he broods on about just how he can no longer sire a vampire. How is he going to break the news to Phoebe? (ref. S1 E1 when his friend gets hit by a car and Marcus tries to turn him in order to save his life.)

Matthew, and Dr. Marcus Whitmore, whom Miriam reminds has handled many births as a medical doctor, arrive from New Orleans. Keep in mind that they knew she was in labor when they took off. She’s had contractions for 6 hours… at this point and she was 5-min. apart upon returning from The Cotswolds and then she’s 4-min. apart when Matthew arrives. It’s as if he timewalked from New Orleans to London. The song “All Through the Night” is the score for the entire scene. We watch as Diana goes through different stages. She has the first baby, a girl. Then the boy. 

The conversation turns later to Diana wishing her parents were there. She says, “To Em and Philippe.” 

Matthew adds, “If Philippe was here he would be shouting in the streets and waking up the neighbors. Terribly proud.” Philippe was represented by the sound of thunder that welcomed Philip and Rebecca into the world.

I felt my eyes welling up with that image of Philippe doing this and certainly as James Purefoy playing him, it would be quite a commotion of excitement, toasting with bottles of champagne, and lots of hearty laughter.

They name the twins Philip and Rebecca.

Miriam is on the phone with Ysabeau whom once declared that Diana could never bear any children of Matthew's.

In S1, Ysabeau tells Diana about Matthew's history as a human while showing her the church that he built. They visited it again in S2 when she told him that she wanted to give him a family.

Marcus announces to the other members of the house that they have a girl and a boy. 

Soon I'll be surrounded by dirty nappies.
(see above for Gallowglass's needing to leave)

it'syay imetay otay amscray in Pig Latin (It's time to scram)

Daemons

On the road to The Cotswolds, Agatha gets out of the car and walks into Weston’s yard. She sees his door wide open. He’s in pain and she finds him lying on a table in a circle of the salt -- the same salt that Knox took with him, so the evidence is clear that Knox attacked him. Weston breathes his last breath much in the way we saw how Em takes her final breath.

These past two episodes were packed with a lot of details and yet some of the other characters who were in the book are not in the TV series thus far. Diana's firedrake, Corra, has not made an appearance. Converting the book to TV has proven that there is not enough time to cover everything, but the writers are doing a fine job in trying to satisfy the needs of the story.