S02.E08: Word as Bond

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Margo feels the pressure of ruling; Julia's friends question her behavior; Quentin faces the repercussions of the deal he made; Penny finds a way to help Kady.

Promo:

 

Clip:

[Poltargyst]

Ha!  Leave it to Kady to find a way to put Q to sleep so Penny can find out what's up.  And now he knows Alice is in there!  Oooh, cliffhanger. But Penny, really, signing your life away for a million years?!?

Julia is such a badass bitch.  Heh, I liked her this episode.  She is not taking crap from anyone, even mouthing off to Reynard, even not knowing she had a way out.  Does Reynard not know that she's no longer with child?

I know Julia was wrong for blowing up the tree guys, but that Dryad was a dick, and I have to admit a guilty pleasure that she did it.  It's nice seeing Julia working with (kinda) the others.  Julia and Margot were fun together.  I like that the group as a whole has stopping Reynard on their to do list now.  I like them working together.

[NorthstarATL]

Can we keep this Julia? Because she is so much more fun than JuliaWithShade! Something about Margot bugged me for the first time in the previous episode, probably the way she was laying out the bank robbery plan; but Diva Margot was back in fine form tonight! And yay for Elliott's return from his nap! Looking forward to the War and assuming that, yes, destroying Reynard will likely be a big mission for the group. Do we know anyone in the age group that ReynardSpawn could be?

[MorganSte]

So now Julia is into genocide and has all the trees in Fillory ready to wage war against Fillory.  How is that a good thing?

But THANK GOD, someone knows about Alice now.  Why, oh why, did that have to drag on so long?

[grandemocha]

I really wonder what the hell niffin Alice is up to when she's in control of Quentin? Is she trying to help herself and her brother deep down? Is it all just to fuck with Quentin and a selfish pursuit? I felt awful for poor Quentin tonight. Jason Ralph did a good job at just making Quentin seem utterly exhausted, scared, and a bit crazy from being haunted by Alice.

I did like that it was Penny who really took a closer notice and figured out that something wasn't right with Quentin. I cracked up laughing when Kady knocked out Quentin so Penny could get in his head.

[Jynnan tonnix]

Really enjoyed this episode, especially after last week's. Will have to rewatch to get some of the fine points, but yay for having it back to its usual convoluted self! :)

[NorthstarATL]

1 hour ago, MorganSte said:

So now Julia is into genocide and has all the trees in Fillory ready to wage war against Fillory.  How is that a good thing?

Well, she wasn't mopey when doing so,. And if the Dryad hadn't been so Patree-archal in his dealings with Margot and Julia they might have negotiated a compromise.

[GaT]

4 hours ago, Poltargyst said:

Does Reynard not know that she's no longer with child?

 

I've watched every episode of this show, & I didn't know this. When did she get rid of it? This show has gotten so convoluted, I have no idea what's going on with anyone.

Edited March 16, 2017 by GaT

[wayne67]

2 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

Well, she wasn't mopey when doing so,. And if the Dryad hadn't been so Patree-archal in his dealings with Margot and Julia they might have negotiated a compromise.

Yeah nothing like killing a guy for saying something you dislike... Considering that the High Queen doesn't traditionally have any power to enact policy, I don't imagine her showing up with some random Magician would suddenly counteract centuries of distrust and disrespect. If they bothered to tell him that the High King was currently dead or that they'd get the other King to join in maybe they would have found a compromise. Also the last time Margot made a decision, she started the war in the first place. 

Well now I can hate Julia for killing off sentient trees. Also what would have happened if he opened that box immediately ? They both would have died ? *sigh* Why didn't he open that box immediately and save me from watching Julia and her constant disregard for other people. 

[MorganSte]

6 hours ago, wayne67 said:

Yeah nothing like killing a guy for saying something you dislike... Considering that the High Queen doesn't traditionally have any power to enact policy, I don't imagine her showing up with some random Magician would suddenly counteract centuries of distrust and disrespect. If they bothered to tell him that the High King was currently dead or that they'd get the other King to join in maybe they would have found a compromise. Also the last time Margot made a decision, she started the war in the first place. 

Well now I can hate Julia for killing off sentient trees. Also what would have happened if he opened that box immediately ? They both would have died ? *sigh* Why didn't he open that box immediately and save me from watching Julia and her constant disregard for other people. 

Just that shot of Julia walking away from a *forest fire* with a smile on her face made me disgusted.  It doesn't matter if the trees are sentient, you don't go around burning down forests.   And then she's all "you should be happy" with Margo.  

I do expect Julia to magic herself out of the dungeon though.  I was surprised she let the guards take her. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[Philbert]

10 hours ago, GaT said:

I've watched every episode of this show, & I didn't know this. When did she get rid of it? This show has gotten so convoluted, I have no idea what's going on with anyone.

 

End of the previous episode. They didn't show it. Julia just wakes up and Kady informs her that the child has been removed but there's been a complication.

[Hanahope]

Julia without a shade has turned her into something akin to the Beast.  Has no compassion, only cares about herself, which in this case, still means finding a way to defeat Reynard.  And now that anything that pisses her off, is going to get some repercussions.  She has no real beef with the Lorians, so she had no problems letting the magician go after he gave her the invisibility pendant.  She only fired up the trees because they insulted her.  Have to say, its definitely a different story line from the books.

Loved that Alice-niffin used her time as Q to research how to avoid being boxed.  Her use of the reverse psychology was fun.

I do believe that Reynard knows Julia's not pregnant anymore.  He made a reference to it, how he was protecting her, until...then he sniffed her and discovered she didn't have a shade anymore either.  But right before Reynard could do anything further, Q showed up with the button and ported him and Julia away.

It does appear that Dana's half-god child is not someone we've met before. 

I can't believe that Penny gave up a million years of service.  You'd think that he'd at least give Mayakovsky a chance, and just look up the info on the half god child in the library.

[iMonrey]

As many problems as this show seems to have I still get a kick out of it almost every week. This week it was the hilarity of this past-seeing device turning out to be a View-Master. LOL. That really cracked me up.

Did anyone else think the dryad looked like Jon Snow? I swear I did a double take because I thought it was Kit Harrington. Could have been his brother.

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I did like that it was Penny who really took a closer notice and figured out that something wasn't right with Quentin. 

Not deliberately, though, and not out of the goodness of his heart. Quentin "leaks," according to Penny - I assume this means his thoughts invade Penny's head whether he wants them to or not, like the way Taylor Swift got into his head as he was just passing by Quentin on the campus last season.

[FiveByFive]

12 hours ago, wayne67 said:

If they bothered to tell him that the High King was currently dead or that they'd get the other King to join in maybe they would have found a compromise.

I thought about this and since it is law that she doesn't have any power (which wouldn't necessarily change if Eliot didn't wake up) and since the trees aren't on their side at all, by telling the dryad the King's condition that might lead the Dryad + Trees to inform their opposition that they have been weakened.

9 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

I can't believe that Penny gave up a million years of service.  You'd think that he'd at least give Mayakovsky a chance, and just look up the info on the half god child in the library.

While I think Penny should have waited to Mayakovsky, him being completely impetuous is totally part of the character. Helping Mayakovsky with his battery could have potentially helped them all. Hopefully he'll find a contract loophole. However, I still love Kady and Penny as a couple. 

16 hours ago, Poltargyst said:

I know Julia was wrong for blowing up the tree guys, but that Dryad was a dick, and I have to admit a guilty pleasure that she did it.  It's nice seeing Julia working with (kinda) the others. 

While the Dryad was a dick, the trees have legitimate reasons for not trusting them. Julia just proved them right. 

14 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

It does appear that Dana's half-god child is not someone we've met before. 

I agree, however, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a completely decent guy who Julia will want to suck dry just to kill Reynard. 

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Philbert said:

 

End of the previous episode. They didn't show it. Julia just wakes up and Kady informs her that the child has been removed but there's been a complication.

Thanks, I really have no memory of that at all.

[wayne67]

3 hours ago, FiveByFive said:

I thought about this and since it is law that she doesn't have any power (which wouldn't necessarily change if Eliot didn't wake up) and since the trees aren't on their side at all, by telling the dryad the King's condition that might lead the Dryad + Trees to inform their opposition that they have been weakened.

Well having the King be unavailable isn't going to change the Lorian time scale much since Margot declared war and they're already massing on the borders as it is so it's not like telling the Dryad that the King is wounded/asleep/unavailable is of much strategic value. Whereas releasing the Top Illusionist in the Fantasy Realm gives Loria quite the advantage and burning the forest is a way to undermine Fillory and reinforce Loria.

Honestly I'm not sure why I'm watching any more. I don't care about the Fillory war, or Penny's romance/hand story, Julia's revenge plot or Alice as niffin. I think I'll just read the forums sometimes to see if anything interesting has happened. 

[Mabinogia]

50 minutes ago, wayne67 said:

I think I'll just read the forums sometimes to see if anything interesting has happened. 

That's what I've been doing for about three episodes now. Well, ever since Alice died. While the Alice Niffin stuff kind of intrigues me, nothing else I've read has made me want to tune back in. Fillory was okay when they first visited but I don't want Elliot living there. And Julia's storyline seems to be getting worse. Penny's hotness can only carry me so far. lol

[iMonrey]

There were at least 2 commercial breaks last night where the dialogue was literally cut off mid-sentence. I don't know who's throwing the switch at SyFy but they don't even seem to be watching when they do it. It's like there's a timer or something and it automatically cuts to commercial regardless of whether someone is in mid-sentence.

[KaleyFirefly]

8 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Julia without a shade has turned her into something akin to the Beast.  Has no compassion, only cares about herself, which in this case, still means finding a way to defeat Reynard.

 Have to say, its definitely a different story line from the books.

Julia only caring about herself, you say? And how is that any different from...the way Julia has always been?

This show has gone completely off the storyline from the books. It now has only a vague resemblance to the books.

[TiffanyNichelle]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

There were at least 2 commercial breaks last night where the dialogue was literally cut off mid-sentence. I don't know who's throwing the switch at SyFy but they don't even seem to be watching when they do it. It's like there's a timer or something and it automatically cuts to commercial regardless of whether someone is in mid-sentence.

I noticed that as well. It was so annoying.

[KaleyFirefly]

6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

That's what I've been doing for about three episodes now. Well, ever since Alice died. While the Alice Niffin stuff kind of intrigues me, nothing else I've read has made me want to tune back in. Fillory was okay when they first visited but I don't want Elliot living there. And Julia's storyline seems to be getting worse. Penny's hotness can only carry me so far. lol

Agree so much with all of this (including Penny's hotness)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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If they bothered to tell him that the High King was currently dead or that they'd get the other King to join in maybe they would have found a compromise.

If I were the Lorians and Margo admitted that the High King was dead or not around, I would not have said, "Oh, hey, since you guys are in a tough spot, now I'm willing to compromise and negotiate." I would exploit that weakness and attack the shit out of them immediately. That's what you do when you're at war.

When the sexist dryad was going on an on about how insulting it was that Fillory had sent two WOMEN to talk to him, I found myself wishing that Kady had been with them so she could get in her weekly punch. Loved that she ended up later using it on Quentin so Penny could incept him.

So far I am enjoying shadeless Julia so much more than regular Julia, but I know that she is going to end up causing even more problems (does she ever do anything but cause problems on this show?). I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up being the big bad for a while.

But I think that what Stella Maeve said during the inside the episode above is incorrect. She thinks that removing someone's shade means they don't think about the consequences. If we are looking at the beast as an example of what being without your shade is like, I don't think that's true. He understood the consequences of his actions and planned ahead. Julia not caring about how her actions impact others is the same now as before. Actually in burning down the trees, she had complete understanding of the consequences and then expected Margo to thank her. In a sense, I think it has made her even more careless. At least when she was mopey and she had her shade, she had enough sense to know to hide at Brakebills and Fillory so Reynard couldn't find her. As soon as her shade was gone, she was like nah, it's fine and promptly walked right into him.

On the other hand, I am just so glad that they managed to get rid of the demon baby! Last week when Kady said that was a complication, I thought it was going to be that Julia couldn't have kids or that she no longer had magic. Removing her shade was a good choice by the writers because now we don't have to deal with emo Julia.

It's interesting to see that they are trying to maintain certain storylines from the books (even if it means curving around to get there) but they are okay with completely changing other storylines.

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I really wonder what the hell niffin Alice is up to when she's in control of Quentin? Is she trying to help herself and her brother deep down?

I'm willing to believe that it's as simple as Alice wanting to get unstuck from Quentin. She wants to be free, not just of him, but to be able to exist freely aka going places other than where Quentin is, seeing what Quentin is seeing, etc. Even if he weren't the ex who betrayed her, I think any ghost would get annoyed/bored being permanently tethered to one person. I think that her ultimate goal is probably to get Charlie out of his box as well so they can niffin around together, but that for now her immediate goals are to free herself from Quentin and prevent him from binding her in a niffin box so that she can go about her merry niffin way.

I do feel a little bad for Quentin though. It must be disconcerting to wake up and wonder where he is and what the hell Alice did while in his body. At least when he woke up in the library, he was just looking through the books she had been reading. But waking up at a playground at night with what looks like a dead little girl must be at least a little disconcerting. Heh, but Alice was telling the truth - it was a monster, not a human, so she was allowed to hurt it, just like Spike was allowed to hit demons after he got chipped on Buffy.

When Quentin's nose started bleeding later, I thought Alice had found a way to make her magic work again, but she said it was the strain of his body trying to contain a niffin. I wonder if she was telling the truth or if she is just trying to cover up the fact that she can do magic AND hurt a human, two things that are forbidden by the word as bond spell.

When Margo said that the magical brownouts were affecting spells, I was worried that the word as bond spell Quentin and Alice had just done would not be binding and she would be able to get around the restrictions (whether that meant hurting people, doing magic, or getting more time in Quentin's body). If Alice is non-corporeal as a niffin, how was she able to bleed to seal the word as bond spell? Hilarious that Quentin was so easily manipulated by Alice in Dublin. I hope he at least ate the best fish and chips in Dublin on the way!

Ha, loved that the magical equipment to see into the past was an old view master. If I were Kady or Penny, I would have smacked him upside the head for not telling them what he was seeing. Use your words, Quentin! No wonder Kady ended up grabbing it from him so she could see what he was making noises about.

[Hanahope]

12 hours ago, KaleyFirefly said:

Julia only caring about herself, you say? And how is that any different from...the way Julia has always been?

Well, previously, I think she would have done whatever she could to protect Kady.  Now, she'd sacrifice Kady if it helped her to kill Reynard.  Even with all that Marina did, Julia balked at using Marina as bait until she had no choice (and Marina realized the same).  Julia did feel sorrow at finding her dead, whereas now I don't think she would.  But I do agree that Julia has always acted a bit selfishly, now its even moreso.

[NorthstarATL]

On 3/16/2017 at 2:16 PM, iMonrey said:

As many problems as this show seems to have I still get a kick out of it almost every week. This week it was the hilarity of this past-seeing device turning out to be a View-Master. LOL. That really cracked me up.

If you ever have a chance look into a show called "Danger 5"! Their use of the View-Master was also fun.

[diebartdie]

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 If Alice is non-corporeal as a niffin, how was she able to bleed to seal the word as bond spell?

well the way I think about it is, if anyone else had been in the room and seen him completing that spell, they would have seen him bite one thumb and slice the other, so Q did both actions.

[iMonrey]

Alice wasn't possessing Quentin's body when they did the bonding spell, though. She is either a spirit or a manifestation of his conscience. It's only after they signed the "word as bond" agreement that she began acting through him, in possession of his body. So I really don't see how she could be held to the bonding spell either. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

Just watched this again, with two or three glasses of wine, which may have  either helped or hurt things...I think I have the storyline set in my head a little better, and am still loving how complex it is, maybe because sometimes I'm just not quite analytical enough to crititicize the minutiae. So Julia minus shade is out there wreaking havoc on Fillory in her quest to destroy Reynard...Reynard is being his old self, but his appreciation, if nothing else, of shade-less Julia might give her the moment she needs to overcome him in the end. She has also caused a huge rift within Fillory via Arboricide, but who knows how that will ultimately work out. Margo is putting up the best front she can as high queen without Eliot's backup, but now he's back (yay!), and I really do have to say it touches me the tie I see evolving between him and Fen, even if it's probably stronger on her part at the moment. Looking forward to seeing that  play out as well, especially given the bits show in the previews for next week.

Really enjoying Niffin Alice and the interplay that causes. Intrigued by Brorther Joseph's (was that his name?) challenge and how that plays out. Hoping there are not too many huge plot holes left once the whole Niffin thing gets explored more, but plot holes, to some extent, are almost inherent in this sort of story, and trying to over-analyze them is just self-defeating..better just to go along for the ride...

Still enjoying the Penny/Kady relationship at least partly because they are both so unbelievably beautiful to look at. My heart might belong to Eliot here, but my eyes DO enjoy some unabashed dessert. But it will be interesting to see how his contract with the librarians both (indubitably) proves valuable and frustrating. Oh, and hoping to run into Miakowsky  at some point as well....

Among all manner of other things..

In short....or, rather, not so short, I am just still in love with all the mental and visual diversions this show provides! Pure escapism with a big side of eye candy!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Making magic:

[tennisgurl]

Oh Penny. This is NOT the best decision long term. At least this might lead us to seeing the Library and the Magical Librarian some more. They're super cool and interesting. I love a good Magical Library.

Loved that Penny was the one who noticed something was up with Q. He might not have had the purest motives, but I am glad that he tried to help, in his own way. Just admit you guys like each other damn it! One some level, anyway. I also enjoy how Kadys solution to pretty much anything is punching it in the face. I will laugh my head off if we end up defeating Renard by having Kady punch him in the face. I could get into that.

I actually like Julia now that she's involved in the main plot, and the story seems to be showing her as a scary selfish person, instead of an awesome person. The Tree Guy might have been a jerk, but that's no reason to murder him and a bunch of his people. Pretty sure that wont help the political situation any time soon. Poor Margo. I do love Bad Bitch Margo quite a bit, plus her more human side with Eliot. Speaking of, Eliot's back! Just in time for medieval style war! Yea?

Still really enjoying this season, although I hope we get a more centralized Big Bad soon. Yeah we have Renard, but most of the main characters are only now kind of dealing with him. Most of them are dealing with internal issues or the upcoming army. I am glad that all the main characters are in the same place now, and are part of the same plots, even if those plots are a little scattered. Maybe Renard and the war story with somehow come together?

[theatremouse]

On 3/16/2017 at 7:47 PM, KaleyFirefly said:

Julia only caring about herself, you say? And how is that any different from...the way Julia has always been?

To me, the difference is before Julia was do-anything-because-completely-desperate. Now, she's DGAF rather than desperate, which is slightly more interesting and different enough in a way that is consistent with what they're saying happened with the exorcism. It makes sense she's not completely different. She's still the same person and personality, she's just broken in a different way. She was always a little too impulsive and prone to lashing out. Now she's totally ungrounded. I wouldn't say I like this-Julia, but I do find her more entertaining to watch than crushed-by-the-weight-of-her-misery Julia.

[AudienceofOne]

On 17/03/2017 at 4:15 AM, Hanahope said:

Julia without a shade has turned her into something akin to the Beast.  Has no compassion, only cares about herself, which in this case, still means finding a way to defeat Reynard.

What is so ridiculous about this is that this was how Julia was behaving anyway. I'm suppose to be going 'OMG, she's lost a bit of her soul and now she's behaving like a psychopath' when her behaviour hasn't changed at all. Hey, remember when she  betrayed all her friends and got them killed and was then surprised they weren't her friends anymore? Remember when she tried to murder Quentin for being mean to her and then wrote him a letter about how he needed to apologise to her. If I put this on the list of 'Julia fucks everybody over and then expects them to thank her for it', it wouldn't even make Top 5.

I found Penny signing that 'million years' contract ridiculous and I'm still not entirely sure why he did it.

[Camera One]

As if Julia wasn't annoyingly selfish before, they double down on that and makes her apologetically selfish, which was even more annoying.  Way to compound the problem.

The War in Fillory story isn't working for me because the reason why Margot started it was stupidity.  It's not like she and Eliot didn't have enough problems to deal with.  With all the extra energy spent on the war, they aren't making any headway into saving magic.

Alice taking over Quentin was mildly intriguing.  The monster in the sandbox was amusing.  I miss Alice, so I hope she has some humanity in there.  I'm not too fond of shows who keeps the actor around to play an evil version.  It's more of a painful reminder than enjoyable for me.

I did like the past viewer, but finding the Dana's child got a bit convoluted.  

There seemed to be so many different subplots jammed together and all of them have their own issues.  One thing I did like were unlikely combinations of characters in this one.  Quentin and Kady, plus Julia and Margot, for example.

[CigarDoug]

On 3/15/2017 at 10:20 PM, MorganSte said:

So now Julia is into genocide and has all the trees in Fillory ready to wage war against Fillory.  How is that a good thing?

But THANK GOD, someone knows about Alice now.  Why, oh why, did that have to drag on so long?

Quentin has a habit of keeping things to himself, with bad consequences for all involved. I saw the same thing on Arrow, where Oliver was constantly keeping secrets from the team, and when they found out, the team fell apart (naturally). If you can't trust the people you are working with in a difficult situation, it just makes everything harder.

On 3/15/2017 at 10:18 PM, NorthstarATL said:

Can we keep this Julia? Because she is so much more fun than JuliaWithShade! Something about Margot bugged me for the first time in the previous episode, probably the way she was laying out the bank robbery plan; but Diva Margot was back in fine form tonight! And yay for Elliott's return from his nap! Looking forward to the War and assuming that, yes, destroying Reynard will likely be a big mission for the group. Do we know anyone in the age group that ReynardSpawn could be?

Did Kady confirm that Julia lost her shade as a complication of the Magic!Abortion? Or are we just assuming that's what happened?

Reynard!Spawn is revealed at the end of this episode, I thought. Or the beginning of the next one. It's a new person, not someone previously discussed.

[CigarDoug]

On 3/16/2017 at 2:10 AM, GaT said:

I've watched every episode of this show, & I didn't know this. When did she get rid of it? This show has gotten so convoluted, I have no idea what's going on with anyone.

Really? OK, Kady and Julia went to the abortion clinic. The fetus (we assume) defended itself and made the doctor kill herself. So Kady and Julia went looking for a Magic!Abortion, and found the two Chinese women who were butchers (remember them waving the knives at Julia?). The one woman said the baby was too dangerous, so she started summoning Goblins to kill her (the invisible things in the alley, that disappeared in smoke when killed). The other woman said bring me one million dollars in gold, and she will do it. So they robbed the bank, with the rest of the team. Once they robbed the bank, they had the money and went back to the Chinese lady. They didn't show the procedure, just Julia recovering afterwards. Maybe the fact they didn't show them take the money to her, and show the actual procedure, was confusing. You had to connect the dots.