Hey everyone, it’s Chris. This is episode 6 of my Magicians overview, this time dissecting episodes 4 through 7 of Season 2! You can find the previous reviews here.

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Okay, by now hopefully you know the drill, let’s get into it.

Episode 8

Complications

Julia losing her Shade. It wasn’t in the books, but is an interesting way to make her character a bit more like the book version. Although she didn’t have her shade removed, the things she went through… deadened her I guess you could say.

And she is basically good, but not emotional. And the whole thing with her killing the forest is a betrayal of one of the key aspects of her character. She is actually a friend of the trees in Fillory, the only one they really respect and talk to, so not a fan of this.

As I have mentioned before, in the novels Julia is one of the Queens of Fillory, so this is just odd.

The Deal

This was equal parts great and annoying to me. Although I loved the fact that Penny could sense something was off with Q. Again, a massive fan of what they are doing with Penny in the show.

For real though, Penny needs to button his shirt. This whole thread with Friar Joseph is pretty great though. And gives us a pretty great story arch to play with going forward. I did like that they gave us stakes with Quentin and Alice and their peculiar relationship.

Oh and Penny getting choked out by Alice, was rad. Great ending.

Comatose Eliot

This was kind of silly, and not at all in the novels. It feels kind of crappy that they have weakened his character like this. Once he is in Fillory Eliot quickly becomes the king Fillory needs, and takes it seriously. That being said, I did like the cinematic moment of the transfer of consciousness from his golem to his real body.

Episode 9

Brownouts

So, magic dying was in the novels, but not like this. The storyline was much more… far out than what you see in the show. It has to do with old gods who created magic, and basically a magic sewer that they live in. It’s… odd.

The Duel

This was in the novels, but not at all in the same way. I’m unsure at this point how I feel about it. In the novels Eliot used magic to win the duel, but it was his own magic, a testament to his growth as a magician that he volunteered to fight and then uses his knowledge and training to fight and win.

There is a serious undercurrent of cheating in the show whenever there is a serious problem, from Q uses a spell to shoot arrows straight, to Eliot learning to use the sword from a spell, it just is king of irritating.

Magicians, the Musical

I mean, how could you not love this? I wish they would have shown the Fillorians freaking out a bit that they were singing for no reason. This was probably the only thing about the shows version of the duel that I preferred to the books.

Walking up in full chorus, freaking awesome. Also, the reaction of the Lorians to the singing was great.

Reynard and His Son

I mean I don’t even understand why this storyline is in the show. It bothers me that they are muddying the storylines with this stuff. Moving on.

The Faeries

This wasn’t in the original narrative, magic was saved by the magicians after going on a quest, not by bargaining with faeries. Again, removing the agency of the characters, which is sad.

Julia the Maniac

I hate this, the entire idea of it is anathema to me. It is 100% a betrayal of who her character is, who she should become. To the point of sacrificing Q just to have a chance at Reynard. It’s infuriating.

Alice is Beamed Up

This was a nice way to end the episode, and a great way to set Alice’s story back on the correct course, given how important the things she sees, learns and does while “travelling” are the over all story.

Episode 10

Julia, the Knowledge Student

While there are aspects I don’t like about the new way they are handling Julia’s story, I liked them touching on her loop history, and showing what her discipline would have been, and it being the same one that Fogg had was a nice touch.

The Timelines

I have been waiting for this, hoping that they would do a decent job of incorporating the previous moments into the present story. I am surprised that they took this long to do so, but now that they have, it’s nice to see that they are doing it justice.

Also, not in the novels. But having Julia and Fogg casting at the same time was rad.

Penny the Novice

While Penny working for the Librarians is in the novels, we meet him much later after he has risen to an upper tier of authority and power in the order, so we don’t see any of his time as a novice, what he was tasked to do etc.

Working this into the show is another great moment for his character to develop and mature, so I’m a fan.

Trouble in the Library

I really like that they are making good use of The Library and the Order of the LIbrarians. They are basically just mentioned in the novels, with the only librarian we really ever meet being Penny.

Having intrigue and stakes being applied to the place makes a lot of sense. They established in the novels that the Library is the total sum of all magical knowledge, as well as knowledge associated with magic, which is why you saw the volumes dedicated to each member of the Scooby Gang.

Dragons and the Underworld

I was wondering how they were going to work this in, and while it feels a little odd, what with them being the “gatekeepers” of the underworld, it is nice that they are being introduced this early in the show.

The underworld makes an appearance in the novels, but it is in conjunction with events that happen in Fillory during the quest to restore magic, and not in relation to a shade being lost. Interestingly enough, it is in the underworld that we first get a glimpse of Julia’s greater destiny as well.