Several characters in “Home Improvement,” the title of this week’s funnier-than-ordinary episode of The Magicians, deal with some idea of home. First, there’s Fen, who does something she will for her fatherland, even supposing that which means present process back-breaking yard paintings for the meant prophet in her desires. There’s also Alice, who ought to go to her mother to forge a vicinity spell for Zelda, the Librarian who has her very own home-related choice to find her daughter in the reflect realm. And then there’s a completely pregnant Poppy (a ordinary person performed using Felicia Day), who is increasing her own domestic — first with the aid of stealing dragon sperm to inseminate a dragon egg, after which with the aid of embracing the human infant developing inner her. Home for the group is a fickle element, something so flittering it’s difficult to keep on to, yet something so powerful that it drives our characters to head wonderful lengths to keep (or push away).
Fen’s idea of home is arguably the most uncomplicated and, ultimately, the most challenged. Fen is a child of Fillory: her whole existence has been devoted to shielding her home united states. This equal commitment reasons her and Margo to get conned by way of a female pretending to be the prophet, even though fortuitously, the best price to them for doing so is a few hours of menial exertions. It’s this willpower that drives her to head on a quest (with Margo coming alongside as her wing-lady) to locate the purveyor of her prophetic dreams. Less thankfully, however, when Fen, in the end, confronts the real prophet in a dream (a dream wherein she’s delivered Margo and Josh, no much less), the cat-like creature tells Fen that her destiny lies with usurping High King Margo.
Meanwhile, Alice has to face a home she’s run far away from — the needs her mom, Samantha, to solid a spell. But the 2 have by no means gotten along, and their rift has grown into a chasm because her father died. Alice’s resentment causes their first attempts to forged the spell to fail, and it’s best. At the same time, two Librarians show as much as arrest Samantha’s pal Carol (who sells illegal sexy-time voodoo magic) that they admit that they love each other, even supposing they don’t like every difference very much. Although the spell works, love is all that’s wanted, permitting Alice to meet the top of her coping with Zelda. Zelda holds up her cease of the good buy: to lose Alice’s new buddy Sheila from the Library’s clutches. Sheila has been under the influence of alcohol at the Library Kool-Aid and has become a junior Librarian. Alice is distraught but reputedly at the fence approximately the Library at the quiet of the episode. Maybe Sheila is proper? Maybe the Library can be a new home for her?
The most unearthly storyline revolving across the concept of domestic this week belongs to Poppy and her infatuation with dragons. Quentin and Julia negotiate with Harold, the usher in of the dragon of the East River (puns, as continually, abound in The Magicians), approximately trading for one of the stone organs Eliot-Monster is collecting. As a fee for the stone, Harold sends them on a venture to recover a vial of blue liquid that someone stole for the dragon’s hoard. That someone turns out to be Poppy, who’s pregnant and camping out in the Physical Kids Cottage at Brakebills. As we noticed in earlier seasons, Poppy is a dragon enthusiast: she’s even written dragon pornography! The gang unearths out that she’s inseminated a dragon egg (that blue elixir she stole became dragon sperm), and the to-be-born dragon has ensorcelled all who contact it, which incorporates Poppy, Quentin, and, when he attempts to thieve it, Penny 23. Given her former god fame, Julia is immune from the egg’s powers, and they and Kady run back to the East River to trade the dragon egg for the stone organ Eliot-Monster wishes.
While these storylines extra or less solve themselves this episode, all of them drive the larger arcs of the season forward, each in terms of individual improvement and, in all likelihood, future plot points. Julia, for instance, is advised through Harold that she wishes to alternate her cutting-edge god-with-no-electricity reputation ASAP, and to accomplish that, she wishes to locate a person called the Binder. Kady also touches on the entire hedge witch versus Library brouhaha via ordering Pete to turn in the hedge witch who blew up the Modesto branch, something a good way to probably purpose issues in the destiny, one manner or the other. Alice and Fen also face emotional turning points at the top of the episode: will Alice group up with the Library? Will Fen satisfy her destiny and betray Margo?
One clean element is that the simmering battle with the Library will move to the front burner over the next few episodes. Whether this arc clashes with the only related to the Eliot-Monster remains unclear — Quentin has another stone organ but no plan on the way to save Eliot and rid the sector of unspeakable evil. Maybe the monster will peace out once it gathers the stones and remembers who or what it is? Maybe the Library will realize the mistake in their methods and release their keep on magic? Given the group’s tune document, I doubt it.
