The Magicians
Season 2 Episode 8: “Word As Bond”
Directed by James L. Conway
Written by Sera Gamble
Created by Sera Gamble & John McNamara
Based on the novel by Lev Grossman
Starring Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Rick Worthy, Jade Tailor
Syfy
Air Date: Wednesday, March 15th, 2017, 9:00pm

Last time on The Magicians, the whole gang decided to rob a bank because… money. The bank had magic wards to get through. Margo (Summer Bishil) led the charge, and it took bees, a literal disco ball, and Eliot (Hale Appleman) dying (not totally) to get the gold. Julia’s (Stella Maeve) baby was exorcised at a price and Fillory filled its coffers.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode below.

The Magicians 2.8 “Word As Bond” review: Kady and Q (Jade Tailor, Jason Ralph) discuss Julia’s missing shade. They are worried, but Julia feels awesome, “like a million pound weight’s off her chest.” They study failed god-killing spells. Julia wants to make her own. The first step is to find Dana’s demigod baby.

Q makes the contract between him and Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley). What could go wrong? Margo comes and tells him things are underway to get Eliot’s conscience back into his body, but not if the soiled wellspring has anything to do with it. He goes back to Brakebills, “How is she?” Julia all but skips down the stairs and says she found out She makes a door, thinking Reynard (Mackenzie Astin) doesn’t care about her, and there he is. He sniffs her, but Q is there, hiding behind a tree. He tells Q to run, but Q grabs Julia and presses the Fillory button. He leaves her there, bored.

Alice takes over Q’s body. When he wakes up, there are tons of books around and Alice is jumpy.

Margo’s advisers tell her of intelligent Loria tree allies, and Julia wants to go too.

Penny (Arjun Gupta) gets a job offer (really a slave offer) from the Librarian. But service is for an eternity. He goes back and deems Q “weirder than usual.” He acts caring towards Kady, but denies it, and Kady is cold.

Margo and Julia go talk to the trees, who are sexist, but cute. Do I have a crush on a tree?

Q comes back and Alice gives a hint that they can look into the past, and makes Q seem extra awkward trying to get it out of her in front of Penny and Kady. He does, and it is a viewmaster that looks shows the past of a current room. I want that. But the face of the person that adopted Dana’s baby is scratched out.

Margo is scared and begs an unconscious Eliot to come back despite his “constant low-key death wish.” Julia goes back to the trees and blackmails the Loria sorcerer out of an invisibility spell. She then gives a treasure wrapped bomb to the Dryad. The trees are decimated and Julia walks away with a smile. Margo is pissed and throws Julia in a dungeon.

Alice finds a monster wrapped in a child, seeking someone who could cure her of being a Niffin. She wants newborn meat as payment. Alice kills it instead and Q wakes up confused and terrified. Next time he wakes up she had portaled them to Ireland and tricked Quentin into retracing their steps. They meet Friar Joseph who can’t be boxed. He will not gift her with his knowledge until she figures out how to free herself from Quentin. It had better be soon, though. Q’s body can’t handle Niffin Alice much longer.

It is really beautiful the way Margo assures Fen (Brittany Curran) that she will take care of her. Margo is fierce. Eliot wakes up and there is a tender moment between him, Margo, and Fen.

Penny declares his love for Kady. I felt it and so did she. She punches Q and knocks him out. Penny goes into Q’s head and is kicked out by Alice.

Secret’s out!

So many feels this episode! Margo & Eliot, Penny & Kady, even Q with Alice. These college students, so one-dimensional when we first met, have drawn us into their layers. Every time Mackenzie Astin comes on the screen I feel afraid for myself. I actually keep hoping the Beast (Charles Mesure) will gallop in and save Julia from Reynard.

The Magicians airs Wednesday nights at 9:00pm Et on SyFy.

Videos

THE MAGICIANS | Season 2, Episode 8: Sneak Peek | Syfy

Alice and Quentin form a bond while discussing their new deal. All that while Margot fills Quentin in on Eliot’s situation.

THE MAGICIANS | Season 2, Episode 8: ‘What’s In a Name’ | Syfy

While searching for a way to find the name for Dana’s baby, Penny’s offered a deal at the Library of the Neitherlands.