Mayfair Witches – Ten of Swords

By: Mariah Thomas

A woman is reading cards and on the phone while having a lightly heated discussion on how she feels she should be alone for the night. She hangs up and pulls the devil card. Lasher (Jack Huston) feels drawn to a specific house and is revealed to be this woman’s scent that drew him there. He rummages through her house for new clothes and walks out to the dock where she is. She doesn’t seem to know him but reveals she feels like she does and is open to his questioning. The pair go inside and have deep conversation that leads to a heated moment of passion. Once she is resting in the aftermath, Lasher raids her fridge for milk. It is clear that is crucial for his growth. Not long after she begins convulsing in pain. Lasher holds her as she dies.

Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) visibly struggles with the guilt of covering up a death for Lasher. She is distraught as she washes her bloody clothes. She soon goes to the basement to discover Lasher has broken the window and left. Rowan then gets a phone call about the blood sample and is told it is running as non-human.

Knowing Lasher on the loose will lead to harm, Rowan calls Jojo (Jen Richards) over to show her the stone body of Cortland (Harry Hamlin). She presents the idea of bringing him back to ask questions on Lasher’s whereabouts. Knowing the harm he’s done, Jojo is against the idea. Rowan promises to think of something else. While having breakfast, Jojo gets a call that their cousin, Gifford Mayfair (Thora Birch), is dead. She is revealed to be the woman from the opening. Rowan sees a jug of milk on the floor and knows Lasher is nearby. She runs into the nearby woods to look for him and he speaks to her through their mental connection. He reveals the woman killed from last night was also a mayfair witch. He expresses new urges he cannot put into words. He tells Rowan he does not feel like he can trust her anymore and flees once more.

Cip (Tongayi Chirisa) visits Arjuna (Suleka Mathew) and she hands him the Bible he sent. He asks her to hold onto it a little longer and she realizes it is a memory. She asks him to come inside and confides in that him she’s been having memory slips. He reveals to her, her memory was wiped previously. She wonders what it is that was wiped, and through his own power, Cip is unable to see what those memories were.

Moira (Alyssa Jirrels) and her mother, Alicia (Leslie Castay), get into an argument over her power. She constantly keeps music on to prevent her from reading her thoughts, even if that isn’t her intention. Moira heads out and Sip follows her to a bar with friends. She catches up with them and reveals her intent to go back to Spain soon to leave behind family drama. As she heads to the bathroom, Cip intercepts and she immediately knows something is up when she can’t read his mind. She walks away once more and he lets her into his mind. She learns everything. His relationship with Rowan, his mission to capture Lasher and more. Although she understands the danger of Lasher, she does not want to be that heavily involved with her family.

While looking through a photo journal, Millie appears to Rowan once again. Rowan tells her Lasher is killing Mayfair women by seducing his way into their minds. She says she tried to kill him and Millie doesn’t buy it. “If you wanted to kill him, you would have. But that would mean you lose your powers.” Although Rowan remains confident, she really did try, Millie is right. Rowan’s new powers all depend on Lasher’s proximity to her. If he is gone or dead, she loses them.

Lasher’s next visit is to Moria’s mother, Alicia. Her younger sister hears her mother laughing with a male guest and closes her bedroom door to drown out any sound. It is clear Alicia has had a deep infatuation with Lasher for most of her life. She always wanted him to desire her. Now that he does, it makes the trap of seduction to kill that much easier.

After having him help run a blood sample, Lark (Ben Feldman) is ecstatic to have Rowan back in his life. He attempts to keep conversations going and asks about her life now. After prompting him to run more tests, he decides to bring her the results in person. The two come face to face for the first time in years. He asks if she is going to invite him in. However, knowing the house is enchanted to not allow in outsiders, she declines. Instead, she walks him back to his hotel. As they walk the pair catch up, Lark attempts to make sense of what Rowan is up to. She continues to remind him this isn’t his mystery to solve and to leave the questions to her in regard to the blood. She reveals to him she accepted a job offer out in New Orleans as a lead surgeon. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Jojo.

Moira returns home later to see her mother passed out on the couch. She goes to help her to bed but soon realizes something is wrong when she sees blood. Her younger sister begins to come down hearing commotion, and she tells her to stay up. Moira immediately calls Cip to come over. Once at the house to assess herself, Cousin Jojo calls Rowan to inform her of Alica’s death. She reveals she thinks Lasher is behind this, and Rowan confirms she knows it is.  Sip is able to touch Alicia’s body and see her last memory of Lasher.

Rowan races home to awaken Cortland’s stone body.  In his mental prison, Cortland was haunted by his father. In life, he was a ruling and cruel man to him. In this near after life world, he is just as cruel. Forcing his son to shine his shoes and prepare meals for him while having nothing for himself. It is a sick, heightened personal hell for him. As he is awoken, his father prompts him to stay claiming it is best for the family.  He awakens immediately apologizing not wanting to be stoned again. She begins to question him about Lasher’s intentions. She soon sees he doesn’t know anything. Cortland previously did heinous things for the sake of Lasher. All while not really knowing him at all. Rowan heavily judges him for this, and he appears sympathetic and claims to be nothing more than a pawn. Cortland is willing to do anything Rowan needs in order to not go back to his mental prison. She tells him to gather the entire family. Still in his mind presumably, Cortland’s father angrily calls out Rowan’s name. It is possible he knows more about Lasher’s intentions and wishes for him to fulfill that prophecy of killing Mayfair women.