‘The Magicians’ recap episode 201: ‘Knight of Crowns’

When last season of The Magicians finished, it looked like our heroes were defeated. On this week’s season two premiere, they make a comeback and scurry to find a new plan to dispose of the Beast.

Quentin runs through the woods screaming for help. He finds a candy house with a witch. She wants a vial of his blood in return for her help.

When they arrive back at Martin’s office, Quentin finds Alice alive. The God power in her system made her impossible to kill. She also stopped Penny’s arms from bleeding and raised Eliot and Margo from the dead. Perhaps Quentin won’t need the witch after all. However, she won’t return his blood. What will she do with it?

The friends try to come up with a new plan to kill the Beast. Alice is able to get a hole in the floor to open for the magic well. They start to pull up the bucket, but the ground shakes like an earthquake. They decide to leave the well alone.

Martin and Julia appear at a kid’s restaurant. She wants help killing the trickster God who hurt her. The Beast wants the killer blade to revert to his custody when the job is done. Julia asks that all of her friends go free in return. Let’s hope she has all of the loopholes.

Our heroes return to the home of Eliot’s new wife. Quentin suggests finding the armory of books that he thinks Rupert Chatwin used to learn superior battle magic. The armory is at Castle Whitespire, accessible to the High King – Eliot. They just need to find the carriage that goes there. Penny and Margo split off to find a healing river to return his hands to use.

The carriage won’t transport Eliot until he’s actually been crowned, so the castle won’t let him in either. Quentin does research in the Fillory novels on how to do a coronation. There will be four total kings and queens. Eliot gets to choose the other three once they get to the rainbow bridge.

Eliot does a spell to find the bridge. Meanwhile, Julia marks the Beast with a symbol to keep him from harming her until they’re done. She does an internet search for murder victims who are missing their hearts. They find some in Florida and Julia glamours her ID to pose as a cop.

While Julia questions witnesses, Martin breaks into the crime scene and takes something. Julia finds out the trickster is still in Richard’s body. Martin shows her the card he found inside with a Goddess on it.

Penny and Margo find the river and a man who offers to help. He has to sew Penny’s hands back on before he goes in the water. He does so, then hits on Margo while they wait. When Penny comes back up, the man asks for payment. Penny is outraged and refuses to pay. The man casts a spell behind Penny’s back. Will his hands remain attached?

Martin asks Julia for items he’ll need to kill the trickster. While she gathers them, he wants to be dropped at the playground to watch the kids. How creepy. Is he a sexual predator?

As Penny walks along, his hands twitch and cause a branch to drop. He decides they’re just healing. The friends find the bridge and cross it to find a seashore with a guardian. He looks dead but wakes abruptly. He’s the Knight of Crowns.

The knight wants them to pass a test to become rulers. He begins asking them questions about Earth from the 1990s. What gives? Our heroes inform him that it’s 2017, but Eliot tells him to ask him something about Patrick Swayze. He performs the last scene from Dirty Dancing and the man tells him the crowns are his. Nice!

Eliot starts to put a crown on his own head, but Quentin wants to make it a ceremony. He takes the crown and says a few words before placing it on Eliot’s head. Eliot then crowns Margo with a speech. Afterward, Eliot apologizes to Alice for betraying her and crowns her queen. Lastly, Margo apologizes to Quentin for screwing up his relationship with Alice and tells him he’s inspiring. She then crowns him with the last crown. Will all these healing words help our group trust each other again?

Penny’s hands start acting up and cause a small fire. Penny decides to go find the guy who sewed them on. Can he talk him into taking off the curse?

Alice tells Quentin she forgives him and she hopes they can be friends. She’s afraid she’s going to freeze when they come across the Beast again. Quentin takes her to a secluded area to practice her magic. A tree grows in front of her and she commands an apple to drop from it. Quentin asks how she feels. She kisses him. Does this mean they have a chance of being a couple again?

Martin asks why the trickster spared Julia before he realizes he didn’t. He suggests she get over it and not be a victim. He tells her the shade inside her that holds her soul makes her feel pain. It’s also there for love, but he tells her she’ll never love again. He offers to help her if she becomes a part of his plans. He wants to sever her shade, but she turns him down. Can she keep up the refusal?

Our new rulers find Castle Whitespire. Eliot’s councilman tells him there are several problems. The throne room is locked and they can’t find the key. Eliot asks to be taken to the armory. Will they find the spell they need to kill the Beast?

Julia dreams of the trickster and drags herself to the bathroom mirror. Is the burden too much to bear?

Our heroes find the armory empty of books on battle magic. There’s a book there about the spells, but the spells are missing. Alice notices the Brakebills logo on the front. The spells must be there.

Penny finds the man who cursed him, but he’s more interested in teaching Penny a lesson than getting paid. Penny is royally screwed.

Eliot and Quentin say their goodbyes. They’re worried about the time difference between Earth and Fillory. Eliot asks for a hug then teases Quentin about giving his butt a squeeze. It lifts the seriousness of the situation.

Julia asks Martin why he wants her to lose her shade. He offers to show her a better way of life. She lets him briefly but decides she needs it. He puts it back but tells her it will eventually destroy her. Will he wear her down? I guess we’ll find out next week.