A Discovery of Witches – 2.10

By: Ellie Yates

In 1951 Diana (Teresa Palmer) lovingly watches on as Matthew (Matthew Goode) teaches Jack (Joshua Pickering) about the constellations. They all head outside and, as Diana holds Jack, Matthew shows him the patterns of the stars. Diana says stargazing in London is magic. Speaking of, despite getting ever closer, Diana later fails to complete the ten knots. As she tries to finish the ninth, the threads disappear. Goody (Sheila Hancock) tells Diana that another Weaver has arrived in London and their arrival is no accident.

Whilst roaming the streets of London, Diana says she wants to get Jack a new book. As they browse Matthew smells coffee and heads to find the time-walker it must be coming from. As he pins the time-walker against the wall, Diana realizes it’s her father! They’re both equally shocked to see each other. At the house Stephen (David Newman) says Diana was riding a tricycle two days ago and his trip to the past is also to find The Book of Life! Diana shows him the book and tells him she can’t read it, which may be because three of the pages are missing. Matthew mentions the page that was sent to Diana and Stephen says it was postmarked from Jerusalem so they always presumed it was sent by Jewish witches. This leads Diana to believe it was sent by Rabbi Loew. Diana tells Stephen that Peter Knox (Owen Teale) is looking for the book in the future and Stephen says he hopes he doesn’t know it contains dark magic, Knox is obsessed with the dark arts.

Cue a scene of Knox and Gerbert (Trevor Eve) with Knox saying that it’s possible Em (Valerie Pettiford) and Sarah (Alex Kingston) have a missing page of the book. Gerbert says he believes the witches are at Sept-Tours but Ysabeau (Lindsay Duncan) is protecting them and won’t give them up easily. Gerbert says it would take a powerful witch to get close. Knox tells him he’s not his hunting dog and Gerbert responds with “fetch.”

At Sept-Tours, the gang from Oxford have arrived to keep baby Margaret safe. Marcus (Edward Bluemel) introduces Ysabeau to Phoebe (Adelle Leonce). Phoebe tells Ysabeau it’s an honor to meet her and Ysabeau warmly says she hopes she doesn’t disappoint. Later Marcus discusses the best way to keep Margaret safe. Marcus says they need to repeal the Covenant as it’s not protecting anyone anymore. Phoebe explains that the change has already started, seeing as all four species are sitting around the same table eating dinner together. This earns her an approving smile from Ysabeau who later tells Phoebe that a lesser human would be afraid of being around them. Phoebe shares she’s more afraid of humans’ capacity to hate and discriminate. Ysabeau asks for a moment alone with Marcus and tells him that he’s made an excellent choice in Phoebe and he’s right to criticize their conservatism. She tells him to use his grief for Phillipe, who believed in hope for all creatures as motivation to take action.

Back in 1951 Stephen tells Matthew and Diana that they’ve broken the rules of time-walking by participating in life there. He says they need to leave the book behind as they can’t time-walk with a powerful object that they don’t understand. He tells the couple they’ve already messed with history and they won’t find the answers there. Later, Matthew tells Gallowglass (Steven Cree) that he and Diana are returning to their own time, but he’ll get the old Matthew back. Gallowglass says he prefers the future one.

Stephen tells Diana not to waste her opportunity with Goody. He states that lack of ability won’t ever be a problem for her, but lack of desire may be seeing as once she completes her magic she’ll have to leave. Stephen watches on as Diana practices the knots again and tells her not to try so hard. As Diana lets the magic come naturally, she completes the ninth knot with Matthew proudly looking on from the rafters. Stephen says some witches would kill for that kind of power and notices the mood change. Goody tells Diana to speak her truth and she tearfully shares with Stephen that she’s desperate to tell him everything, but she’s terrified of changing anything whilst wanting to change everything. Stephen says they can’t change his and Rebecca’s (Sophia Myles) fate and Diana needs to accept it. He congratulates Diana on her child and says Rebecca saw it coming. He hugs Diana and tells her she’s everything they’d dreamed she’d become before leaving her behind.

Diana tells Matthew that she knows how he feels leaving a life behind. She worries about Jack, but Matthew says Henry Percy will look after him and he’ll become an apprentice and have a much better life than he would have if they hadn’t found him. Gallowglass takes Diana to meet the coven and she tells him not to wait for her. It turns out that she’s meeting Father Hubbard (Paul Rhys) instead and gives him her blood so that she can become his “child,” meaning that he now has to honor her request to look after Jack. Diana says Matthew can’t know about their pact. Hubbard promises to watch over Jack and bids Diana farewell.

On her way home Diana does visit Goody and Susanna (Aisling Loftus). Goody tells her she may need one final knot, a weaving of creation and destruction. Goody says only a Weaver who stands between worlds can complete it. Goody is sad to see Diana go, but Diana says she’ll never forget her and thanks her for all she’s done. Diana hands Susanna a chess piece and tells her to keep it safe as one of her ancestors will give it to Diana in the future.

In the present Domenico (Gregg Chilin) finds the vampire infected with blood-rage. He tells them to show him who they are and offers to help them. Instead, they attack him and maul his chest. Domenico manages to heal before continuing his search for the vampire. Meanwhile, in Venice, Satu (Malin Buska) is back and tells Knox she’s been “busy.” She notices he’s looking at maps of Sept-Tours and tells him she can help. Knox snidely shares with Satu that he doesn’t need her pyrotechnics and she tells Knox his confidence will be his downfall.

Knox later arrives at Sept-Tours and begins a spell to draw out Sarah and Em. Em wakes, leaving Sarah in bed, and heads out to summon Rebecca. Rebecca tells Em that there’ll be dark times and great losses, but the book will change everything. And, once completed, the book will reveal itself. She explains to Em that she’s in danger and, sure enough, Knox is behind her and has seen everything. Em magics the page of the book away and Knox uses magic to try and force her to give it back. As Em resists, Ysabeau tells Marcus that a powerful spirit is nearby. Marcus and Sarah head out to find Em.

Knox leaves Em unconscious, but doesn’t get far before coming across Marcus. Knox uses his magic to knock Marcus back. Marcus tells him he wouldn’t dare hurt him on his own grounds and Knox puts him to sleep. Knox slips away as Sarah shouts for Em. Sarah finds Em and holds her, begging her to wake up.