A Discovery of Witches – 2.1

By: Ellie Yates

It seems Diana (Teresa Palmer) and Matthew (Matthew Goode) just managed to escape into the past and Knox (Owen Teale), Satu (Malin Buska) and Gerbert (Trevor Eve) realize they changed their clothes before leaving. They soon figure out that they’ve gone to the past with Diana being a time-walker. Knox says he is willing to wait for them to return.

Diana and Matthew have travelled to London in the year 1590 and it turns out that it was prophesized for Diana to arrive that night, not that she knows. Matthew tells Diana that he had hoped not to end up in this particular spot. He takes Diana into a nearby house which he knows very well. Matthew is concerned that the house is empty, but soon enough people come running when one of the occupants Kit (Tom Hughes) declares that Diana is a witch. Matthew, who is referred to as “Master Roydon,” wasn’t expected back at the house for weeks. Kit says Matthew has been bewitched by Diana, but Matthew tells him that he is in his right mind and Diana is his wife!

Upstairs Matthew and Diana discuss how they have arrived 60 miles off-course but in the right year and night. Diana jokes how she is now Matthew’s wife and he reveals that Kit is Christopher Marlow, the playwright/poet. Francoise (Holly Aird) enters to tell Matthew that Sir Walter Raleigh (Michael Lindall) and the Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy (Adam Sklar), are on their way. Diana quickly realizes that Matthew is in fact Matthew Roydon – a member of The School of Night. Matthew says it is with good reason that no one knows much about him compared to the others. He was hoping to be able to lay low in the past, but now he has to become Matthew Roydon again. He heads downstairs to deal with Kit, who still thinks Matthew is under a spell and says he will now imagine Matthew is a stranger. Whilst helping Diana change, Francoise notices the markings on her back. Diana tells her they were done by a fellow witch as not everyone is accepting of her and Matthew’s relationship.

Diana meets Walter and Henry who are flummoxed by her American accent. Diana says that she is from Cambridge…the west. Matthew explains to the men that Diana’s parents died when she was young and he hopes to find someone discreet to train her. Diana explains that they need to locate The Book of Mysteries and things get a little tense, especially when Kit tells Matthew to keep “that” indoors. Matthew says that it’s probably best for Diana to lay low and she reluctantly agrees, but says no one is keeping her anywhere.

To make matters worse, Matthew says he too has to leave to re-orient himself and reach out to certain people. Whilst he is out, Diana tries to sleep, but wakes feeling uneasy and appears to be drawn to something outside. She sees a glowing woman and hears the words “come, witch.” Diana follows the woman who looks just like present day daemon Sophie (Aisling Loftus). When she sees Diana, the woman scuttles off.

Back at the house Diana tells a less than impressed Matthew that the woman she saw must be Sophie’s ancestor and that would explain how Matthew’s chess piece ended up with Sophie’s family. Diana concludes that the woman she saw must be her teacher. Matthew is angry at Diana for going out, but she reminds him that they protect each other and she’s not staying locked up. Diana tells him to either find her the witch or she will go out and find her herself.

The next morning Matthew asks Diana to show him the building that the witch came out of and he’ll get Walter on the case. Matthew shows Diana around the streets of London in 1590 – a historian’s dream. They get a few funny looks which amuses Diana, but this doesn’t last long as a man spots Matthew and quickly walks away, which concerns Matthew. Back at the house, Matthew tells Diana that he should have reported the man to Kit, but if anyone is wanting details of what he’s been up to, he’s got no idea! I guess even vampires can’t remember back that far.

Matthew visits a tavern and speaks with Pole (Simon Meacock). He pretends that information is being leaked on his whereabouts and asks Pole where he was, feining to determine it’s not him responsible for the leak. Pole tells him that word is that Matthew has been helping the King of Scotland focus on his witch hunt, rather than what is going on down in London. Matthew visits William Cecil (Adrian Rawlins) to try and explain his early return from Scotland. He manages to get away with it but Cecil tells him he has further use for him now he’s back and he’s not to leave without his say-so.

Whilst exploring the attic Diana finds letters with the Royal Seal mentioning their “trusty shadow.” The candle she is holding begins to flicker and when she realises where the draft is coming from, she finds a secret door. This leads her to a room decorated with hundreds of letters and Catholic crosses. Francoise appears and Diana tells her she knows Matthew is a Catholic. Still suspicious, Francoise says that Matthew would have told her that if he was bewitched. Diana promises not to tell anyone as she had suspected Matthew was a spy, but now realizes he has been identifying Catholics, betraying his people and his faith.

Matthew returns home to find Diana at the desk in the attic and she tells him he looks older which Matthew jokes is a first. Diana asks him why he identifies Catholics and he says that it’s his duty which leads Diana to worry about his father. Matthew says he’s in France and won’t be a problem. He explains that his father needed a spy in the English court, which he was doing a good job at until now. Diana worries that Matthew’s father knew he was Catholic when he sent him to London, but Matthew doesn’t want to talk about it.

Walter and Henry have found the witch and bring her to Matthew and Diana. The witch touches Diana’s temples and says that Diana is not a witch. After a bit of polite pleading from Diana and a little threatening from Matthew, the witch agrees to stay and help. However, Diana fails to re-light a candle, but she does manage to turn a bowl of juicy looking fruit into a bowl of fluffy mold. This leads the witch to run off, telling Matthew he can keep his money. Diana follows her and tells her she needs her to help, but the witch tells Diana powers like hers are the reason the King of Scotland is hunting witches and why they can’t get peace from people like her husband. After following the witch outside Diana asks Matthew who else thinks they’re married. Matthew says just the people in the house and probably assuming neighbors. As they take a second to think, a young boy pickpockets Diana and Matthew grabs him. Diana sympathizes with the boy, Jack (Joshua Pickering), and lets him inside. She asks Jack what he has heard about her and he tells her people say she’s a witch and the rumors started in the tavern – The Lamb.

Over dinner Matthew asks a few questions and finds that Kit often frequents The Lamb and dismisses Walter and Henry. Kit doesn’t bother denying that he’s been talking about Diana and says he’d do the same again. This causes Matthew to fly across the room at him, pinning him to the sideboard by his throat. Diana intervenes and tells Matthew that they need to tell Kit the truth before he starts talking to others. Diana explains that she is from Cambridge. but in the New World in the future. She explains Matthew isn’t behaving like the man he was because he isn’t that man anymore. Kit struggles to believe this, but asks if this is true then where is 1590 Matthew/ Diana says that it’s possible he’s been displaced, but he should come back when they leave. Matthew threatens Kit that he will end him if he tells anyone.

Later that night Francoise brings Matthew a letter from one of Cecil’s men and he heads out. Looking for Matthew, Diana finds Kit and he tells her that Matthew seems gentler but now he’s back he will change and won’t be her Matthew anymore. It seems that Kit cares for Matthew more than as a friend and tells Diana that she can stay, but she shouldn’t assume she knows Matthew. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know he’s currently overseeing someone’s brutal torture.