The Magicians: Ramifications   Books Included 
April 13, 2017 8:18 AM - Season 2, Episode 12 - Subscribe

Julia, Kady and Penny each make sacrifices to finally face Reynard, while Quentin and Eliot learn a disturbing truth about Fillory, where Josh tries to manage the kingdom. And jokes are made about books being made (poorly) into movies.
posted by filthy light thief (11 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I thought the Poison Room in the Library looked like the heavily damaged Netherworlds might look, but that might just be a visual parallel (or my own interpretation of how things might look).

It's a shame that The Gang didn't crash the party in England to find the clock again, but at this point, the book connections are fewer and thinner than before, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The less book-like the show is, the less it can be harmed by people looking for parallels and finding the TV show lacking. After all, it's no Law & Order, the one perfect show ;)

(They may have changed Janet to Margo, but at least the Chatwins weren't skateboarding Americans ;))
posted by filthy light thief at 8:24 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yes, we are parting from the books at lightning speed. I'm getting a little confused and it's possible I can no longer remember what bits might actually be in the books. At this point it's almost a piece of really good fan fiction; someone read the books and came up with alternative adventures for the characters with some loose inspiration from the books. I don't have a problem with that. There were some things I didn't like in the books that we've done away with, like the whole endless voyage to that island.

When Eliot is reprimanding Q for giving up the button and Alice bursts in and then back out, the look Eliot gives Q was priceless. And their encounter with Umber was fun, especially the Law & Order bit and Umber explaining the order/chaos balance between himself and Ember.

Interesting too that Reynard was Persephone's son. I guess I had suckered in to the notion that she was his lover. I'm a little irritated that the little asshole got to live and that his mother didn't do some sort of handwave to restore more of the damage, like bring John and his wife back. Kady is totally screwed in my opinion and I don't think the "best bitches" are going to survive this.

Q is finally doing the maturing he did in the books. He confronts Mayakovsky, chews out Umber, and does his damnedest with Alice. So I should give the show some credit for sticking to one of the central themes of the book: gifted, precocious kids need to grow up too.
posted by Ber at 10:42 AM on April 13, 2017 [3 favorites]


Good point on Q's maturity - it was interesting see him deliver not one but two Adult Confrontations (and one to an absentee god, nonetheless!). This tracks into the 3rd book in some ways. I wonder if we'll find Quentin's proficiency in this season, or the next (announced yesterday, thanks to strong viewership growth across all key demos). There's only 2 episodes left, so I'm guessing that and the wrassling with the new Big Bad (as discussed in the A.V. Club review for this episode) is next season.

On the loose connections to the books, I was wondering if some of The Magician's Land plot (Wikipedia, with plot summary) will come through with the (failed) creation of a magical land, or maybe Cuba was just another bone tossed to the book readers?
posted by filthy light thief at 12:07 PM on April 13, 2017


I understand the purpose of Julia not killing Reynard in terms of showing she wasn't completely broken blah blah blah whatever, but I would have popped him in the head. It was the right move. Persephone already proved she can't be trusted to keep him in check. Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Kady was right, Julia was wrong.
posted by Justinian at 12:44 PM on April 13, 2017 [4 favorites]


Yes, except that perhaps Julia didn't want to piss off Persephone. If I'd been in her situation, that would totally be a concern of mine. I'd be, yes, yes, merciful and you'll take care of him but secretly, inside, I'd be going "whew, maybe killing the child of the queen of the underworld right in front of her isn't such a great idea".
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:39 PM on April 13, 2017


I suppose. Once you've killed one god, though, perhaps they'll get the message.
posted by Justinian at 4:53 PM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


But she only has one shot, literally, to kill a god, so she could kill Reynard and then Persephone would likely be pissed, and Julia would be powerless to counter her wrath.

Also, I felt that Julia was trying to be more "human" and consider desires and goals other than her own. And in the end, Persephone gave Julia back her shade.

On that topic, isn't it odd that anyone without a shade could meld with any stray shade? I guess they'd both have to be consenting entities, but that still seems a bit odd. Maybe there's some organ-donor-like compatibility issues, which could help Julia temporarily host Alice's shade.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:19 AM on April 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


"On that topic, isn't it odd that anyone without a shade could meld with any stray shade?"

Yes, and given that the shades are part of those people and have their personalities, I think it's odd that the show sidestepped the issue of who Julia would be with Alice's shade and not her own.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:26 PM on April 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


As a fan of both the books and this series, I don't mind suggesting that there be a lot of sidestepping along with some jazz hands when it comes to rectifying various plot points as the show moves along.

Again, it ain't no Law & Order.
posted by Johnny Hazard at 11:03 PM on April 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


But she only has one shot, literally, to kill a god, so she could kill Reynard and then Persephone would likely be pissed, and Julia would be powerless to counter her wrath.

Also, of course, plot-machination-wise, this gives us a Chekhov's Actual Gun to use on Ember.
posted by Ragged Richard at 1:21 PM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


The whole bit with Persephone demanding that Julia spare Reynard makes me wonder if the gods of Earth, including Persephone(?), aren't more than a little like Ember themselves. As in, they live for drama, so obviously they want to keep Reynard around, 'cause that asshole is one hell of a source of drama.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:20 PM on May 28, 2018


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