A Discovery of Witches Recap: Episode 1.08

Well, well, well. The season one finale of A Discovery of Witches is here and it certainly delivered! The episode had plenty it needed to get through when comparing it to the original source material, and while it was a standard episode length, it felt much longer with how many scenes we were treated to! We even learned quite a few new things and our key players all came together finally!

During last week’s episode, Diana and Matthew headed to Madison to learn more about Diana being spellbound and we saw flashbacks to Diana’s parents who were the ones that did it in order to protect Diana. She begins her training, but in a moment of frustration, it seems Diana inherited her father’s ability to timewalk, while later on, Matthew tries to help Diana’s training in the woods. However, this just leads to a steamy scene for the pair. Marcus and Miriam arrive at the house to help and the house gives Diana a letter from her father, which includes a page from Ashmole 782. As for our other creatures, Juliette leaves Gerbert, Sophie reveals she is born to witches, Satu is captured, and Knox was the one who killed Diana’s parents. At the end of the episode, Diana comes across Juliette…

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Playing With Fire

We see Diana (Teresa Palmer) find Juliette (Elarica Johnson) once more and Matthew (Matthew Goode) senses something is wrong and comes racing in. Holding Diana by the throat, Juliette says she left Gerbert and Matthew abandoned her to mate with Diana. Juliette wants to see Matthew kiss Diana and so they do, which only upsets Juliette more. It seems Gerbert sired and groomed her to be the object of Matthew’s desire and within a split second, Juliette whirls around and slices Matthew’s throat.

With blood instantly pouring down his neck, Juliette plunges her hand into his chest and Diana throws Juliette out of the way. Diana’s magic flares, but this time with witchfire, which she forms into a bow and arrow. She aims, releases, and kills Juliette in an instant. Matthew is dying and so Diana calls upon the goddess to help her and promises to do anything in exchange for Matthew and a voice speaks out and says there will be a price, and so Diana naturally agrees, and a blade appears in Diana’s hand. Meanwhile, Miriam (Aiysha Hart) and Marcus (Edward Bluemel) sense Matthew, and Em (Valarie Pettiford) and Sarah (Alex Kingston) also go racing at their own speed. They all arrive as Diana slices her wrist and a barrier of light forms around them as she gives Matthew her blood, but he won’t drink and Marcus says she can’t help. Diana asks the goddess once more, and Matthew then bites into her neck and we see flashbacks of Matthew trying to control himself from the previous episodes, but he manages to pull away eventually.

They give Diana a blood infusion and Miriam and Matthew sit by Diana’s bedside where Miriam is quite surprised by Diana’s courage along with her witchfire as that wasn’t in the DNA results. Diana eventually comes to and asks about who Juliette was to him and that she doesn’t regret killing her. Matthew is worried someone else will find them and he proposes they timewalk and to hide somewhere in time.

A Little Scheming

Domenico (Gregg Chillin) goes to see Gerbert (Trevor Eve), who asks about Juliette followed by enquiring about Matthew and their need to find them. However, Domenico entices Gerbert with Satu (Malin Buska) and so they go to see her. Domenico asks about Meridiana and Satu tells him she let her go as she’s been enslaved for centuries and that Diana may be even more powerful from Meridiana.

Baldwin (Trystan Gravelle) heads to the Congregation and wants them to convene to decide Satu’s fate. He calls Matthew and says their time is running out as discussions might resume with the Congregation gathering. Meanwhile, Gerbert enters the Witches Archives quoting the prophecy to Knox and that the witch mentioned must be Diana. He wants to team up with Knox to destroy the de Clermont’s and find Diana. Later on, Gerbert and Knox discuss getting rid of Matthew and Baldwin, as Marcus would be the next de Clermont on the Congregation.

Help Is On Its Way

At the Bishop household, it begins to rattle and a poppet, which witches use to cast spells, falls from the fireplace. Matthew recalls Diana’s ancestor Bridget having an issue with a poppet as it convicted her at the Salem witch trials. In the poppet, Diana finds a pearl earring and Matthew recognises it as Ysabeau’s, which was lost hundreds of years ago. Meanwhile, Ysabeau (Lindsay Duncan) and Hamish (Greg McHugh) are in Philippe’s study gathering things Matthew may need.

The group try to figure out where Diana and Matthew should go and that they require three things, which is why Matthew has been requesting things from various times. However, his concern is returning to the present. Em and Sarah help train Diana to see if she can timewalk, however, her first attempt fails as she’s focusing too much on other things and should focus more on Matthew. Meanwhile, Matthew is stressing about Diana, but then the next thing we know, Diana is there in his arms and they’re elated at her timewalking, much to the disgust of Miriam.

Hamish arrives with Matthew’s items, along with Sophie (Aisling Loftus) and Nathaniel (Daniel Ezra). In the kitchen, they all gather and Sophie gives Diana the figurine and Em recognises it as Diana, the goddess of the hunt. However, Matthew recognises it as a white queen chess piece, one that he lost ages ago in a wager. Nathaniel wants to leave, however, Sophie wants to stay and tells them about her heritage. Matthew realises the earring and chess piece are from the same night, All Souls Night or Halloween, which is coming up…

Marcus and Nathaniel are getting into fierce conversation, while Sophie carves pumpkins with Em and Sarah. They know Sophie has been upset and she tells them of her bad dreams about the Congregation and they promise to help her. Nathaniel then receives a call from Agatha (Tanya Moodie) as the Congregation is reconvening. Meanwhile, Matthew and Diana are about to go back 25 days to the night they danced at Sept-Tours, and they find themselves there and they repeat that night once more.

Diana and Matthew return to the present where they have a lovely dinner with everyone and Miriam wants to test the DNA of Sophie’s baby to find out whether it is a witch or a daemon. Later that night, Matthew speaks with Hamish about the Knights as Matthew will have to give up his post as grandmaster as he might not ever be able to come back. Hamish is surprised Diana doesn’t want to know where they are going just yet, except she just wants to be in the present for the time being and he warns her that Matthew will not be the same man where they go.

A Witch Trial

Satu’s powers are coming back and just in time for her trial. During the trial, Satu accuses Baldwin of working with Matthew to keep Diana from the Congregation, and that is why she did what she did. Gerbert and Knox begin to stir the pot, especially when Gerbert brings up the Knights of Lazarus and gives that as the reasoning as to why Baldwin had to help Matthew. Gerbert demands Baldwin steps down immediately, along death by beheading and fire apparently. However, Agatha says they must vote, but first they will have a break. The Congregation reconvenes, but only Gerbert, Satu, and Knox accuse Baldwin of treason. Then, Knox demands to know where Matthew and Diana are. Afterwards, Baldwin thanks Agatha, but he now owes them a debt.

Time For Goodbyes

Hamish, Sophie, and Nathaniel are returning home, and Matthew tells Nathaniel to take Sophie to Sept-Tours if they are concerned at all. Hamish speaks of Ashmole 782, and Matthew believes they might find it in its entirety in the past.

Sarah and Em are headed to Sept-Tours and Em gets quite emotional about saying goodbye. However, Sarah starts off with telling Diana to listen to her teachers, followed by a proud moment that Diana will be using her powers before saying goodbye. Finally, Marcus and Miriam collect some final samples and plan to head off so Diana and Matthew can have some time alone. Matthew gives Marcus a letter, which appoints him as grandmaster much to his shock and he doesn’t want to accept it, but Baldwin can’t have it as Philippe wanted the Congregation and Knights separate.

With everyone gone, the pair stand outside and Diana happily uses her magic to light the pumpkins when Matthew says it’s time. All dressed for their time jump, Baldwin leaves a message on Matthew’s phone to say they’ve run out of time and to leave, right when Knox, Gerbert, and Satu arrive at the Bishop household. Matthew gives Diana one last item for their travels, which is Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Matthew tells her they are headed to London in 1590, while Satu tries to break through the spell on the house. The door flies off just as their about to put their foot down and Diana spins around.. Have they travelled? Or did they stay? Only time will tell with Season 2 AND 3 coming our way!

Overall Thoughts?

What a jam-packed episode! So many characters and scenes to enjoy, it really felt like a much longer episode. While again, the graphics weren’t the best, it was great seeing Diana kick ass with her witchfire and call on the goddess, plus let’s not forget saving Matthew! While I would have enjoyed a little more timewalking, the scenes were beautiful, especially with Matthew dancing with Ysabeau once again and it feeling more like a farewell. There were some truly heartwrenching scenes in this episode, so of course we have to commend all the actors for the excellent portrayals once more.

We are so excited that a second and third season were announced today, which means we’ll being seeing the whole story! Personally, the second book Shadow of Night was my favourite and can offer many exciting scenes and moments for fans to enjoy! Perhaps they might split it? Otherwise we’ll get each book as a season, just like they did with this first season.

I’m quite thrilled overall with the first season. While there were things, mostly visual and dialogue wise, that could have been better, it was a truly remarkable adaptation!

What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below!