A Discovery of Witches – 2.3

By: Ellie Yates

Matthew (Matthew Goode) explains to Father Hubbard (Paul Rhys) that he killed Thomas to spare him from any further pain. Matthew says he’s prayed for forgiveness and he’s there to ask Father Hubbard for his. Father Hubbard can tell that Thomas’ death is weighing on Matthew and says his relationship with Diana (Teresa Palmer) has changed him. Matthew tells Father Hubbard if he lets this matter drop that he will put in a good word with his father. Father Hubbard says he will consider it.

Back at the house, Diana laughs as Jack (Joshua Pickering), the boy they took in in episode one, sloppily eats eels. A note is handed to Diana. After reading it, she meets with Mary (Amanda Hale) to help her in her lab. Later on Diana and Matthew visit Dr. Dee (Struan Rodger) and his assistant Robert Ainsley (James Allenby-Kirk). Dr. Dee explains that his previous assistant, Edward Kelley, abandoned him in Bohemia. Diana and Matthew search for The Book of Life, but it appears to be missing. Dr. Dee says Edward knew how to read the book and could understand it. He mentions Emperor Rudolph who took interest in Edward and the book, which contains a secret message about maintaining immortality. That night Jack has a nightmare about a “tall man” and Diana watches Matthew lovingly tell him he’s part of the family and safe from monsters there.

The following day Diana meets with the witches for her training. The witches surround Diana with magical threads and Goody (Sheila Hancock) tells her they will discover her element, all Diana has to do is choose the thread that calls out to her the strongest. Diana struggles to pick out a thread and panics before Goody intervenes. In the kitchen Diana is pulverizing a pot of leaves and Goody tells her she needs to be kinder to herself. She tells Diana that a Weaver’s first spell is difficult and most witches only have one element in their blood, but Diana saw all of the threads. Diana realizes that she has used all of the elements in her magic at some point. She tells Goody that she sounds like her aunts and hopes that they know she’s ok. In present day France, Em (Valerie Pettiford) casts a spell so that she can speak to Rebecca (Sophia Myles), Diana’s mother. Rebecca tells her Diana needs them.

Meanwhile, Matthew visits Kit (Tom Hughes) and asks him what he knows about Bohemia. Kit tells him it is ruled by a madman and the book is lost. He advises Matthew to focus his attention on matters closer to home – Lord Burghley (Adrian Rawlins). He warns that Lord Burghley is starting to suspect Matthew is not himself. Later, Lord Burghley visits Matthew and Diana and tells Matthew that this explains his recent behavior. Diana tells Lord Burghley that the witches are loyal to the crown and just want peace. Lord Burghley questions why they’ve kept their relationship from The Queen and tells them that she’s expecting them at Whitehall the next day. Diana is worried, but Matthew tells her The Queen trusts him and Lord Burghley can’t change that…overnight.

Later that evening Matthew is angry at Kit for betraying him and accuses him of wanting to drive him and Diana apart. Matthew tells Kit that if he can’t accept their relationship then he’s no friend of his. He tells Kit to stay away from him and Diana. This prompts Kit to pay Lord Burghley a visit demanding to know who told him about Diana. Kit needs Lord Burghley to tell Matthew that it wasn’t him, but Lord Burghley says it should have been – that’s what he pays him for. Lord Burghley dismisses him as he has no interest in his squabble with Matthew.

The following day Mary arrives at the house to lend some clothes to Diana for her visit to The Queen. At Whitehall Diana is on edge, but Matthew tells her to give The Queen (Barbara Marten) what she wants and she’ll have nothing to fear. The Queen refers to Matthew as her shadow and tells him marriage doesn’t suit him. She asks who Diana thinks she is making a traitor out of Matthew. Diana defends Matthew and says he is loyal, but The Queen tells her men have trouble being loyal to one woman, nevermind two. Matthew tells The Queen all about the book they are looking for and she asks if it has anything to do with the Philosopher’s Stone (not the Harry Potter one). To prove his loyalty, Matthew says that he will find Edward Kelley and bring him back so he can make the Philosopher’s Stone so that The Queen can live forever.! Later that night Diana says she will help Matthew find the stone, but Matthew says it will take many months and she needs to stay and finish her training as they will need her magic to get home.

Diana meets with the witches the next day and this time she manages to tie the threads together. She conjures up a Rowan tree and Goody tells her she is truly a Weaver and the tree represents the crossing of worlds. She tells Diana to be patient and her Familiar will reveal itself soon. Outside Susanna (Aisling Loftus) tells Diana that she truly is a powerful witch and everything in her life is intertwined.

As Diana tells Matthew all about what happened in her training, Matthew hears a noise. He grabs a dagger and waits for the intruder. It turns out to be Matthew’s nephew, Gallowglass (Steven Cree), who has come with a letter from Matthew’s father in France. He wants Matthew and Diana to travel to France and if they don’t he will head to England anyway. Diana tells Matthew that they have to go and they will face his father together. Goody isn’t keen on the idea of Diana leaving, but Diana says she has to as she is connected to Matthew. Goody hands Diana some notes and Diana promises to carry on studying and vows she will return. Goody tells her that she is setting a new course, but she can’t foresee where it might lead.

Matthew breaks the news to Jack that he will have to stay behind as he and Diana wouldn’t forgive themselves if he got hurt. Diana gifts Jack mini portraits of her and Matthew. Gallowglass tells Diana that she needs to be Matthew’s anchor, otherwise he might forget himself. As they leave for France Diana tells Matthew that maybe they were meant to meet his father.

After earlier uncovering a body in present day Venice, which had been uncontrollably fed on, Domenico (Gregg Chillin) tells Gerbert (Trevor Eve) this could be used to bring the whole de Clermont dynasty crashing to its knees. Domenico says he wants to control Venice again in exchange for helping Gerbert destroy the de Clermont family.