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A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES: Thoughts on Season 2, Episode 9

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It’s time to conjure up a new season of A Discovery of Witches!

This week on A Discovery of Witches:

Matthew is forced to account for his disruptive visit to Bohemia; Matthew and Diana reach a new level of intimacy.

So lets talk about Episode 9! Please join us as we share our thoughts on the episode. And while we are at it – there are spoilers below. Lots of them. Read at your own risk.

THE GOOD

Roz: I love the work of Diana on her spells to get us to that last moment. The firedrake is also amazing and I wish we had more of it in this episode as a sign of Diana’s true power.

Christie: I loved the scene with Matthew and Elizabeth. It’s something that seems cliche, but knowing that Elizabeth actually gets some peace because of Matthew makes me happy.

The witch’s kiss/heart’s blood scene was also so well done. Tender and intimate and sexy too.

And we got to see Corra! The effects for the firedrake were beautiful, and I hope we get more of her.

THE BAD

Roz: I can’t see why someone as well regarded as Burleigh (Burley?) is has to do that level of work on finding the book, but as Christie says below, it’s an odd choice. Maybe we don’t want to delegate to someone else, but he’s got too much else to do at court for that sort of detailed work.

Christie: Given the changes made to the story here I guess it makes sense that Matthew and Gallowglass would go to Hubbard for help but I don’t like it. And I’m not sure I believe that Hubbard would have known where they were that quickly either. London is a big city after all, even then. To say nothing of the fact that I don’t believe Hubbard would have allowed Matthew to take Marlowe to Bedlam. Louisa definitely, but not Marlowe.

Another change that creates a scenario that bothers me is the notion of Lord Burleigh personally going down to the lodge to find the book. Considering Burleigh’s importance, I do not believe that would have happened, and the whole scenario in this episode made him seem extra petulant and contempuous of Matthew. Less like the most important man in the realm and more like another lapdog of the court.

HISTORY & BOOK COMPARISONS

Christie: 

History: Most of the time when we think about Bedlam from the historical standpoint we think of Victorian times. But the hospital has been around far longer than that. It was founded as a hospital in 1247 — Bethlem Royal Hospital, but wasn’t really a hospital as we know it. It’s founding as a hospital was based on the medieval use of the term, where it would house the poor and to collect alms to help fund Crusader efforts in the Holy Land.

Gradually it took on patients, and including mentally ill ones. By 1460, the hospital was principally for the confinement of the mentally ill. And it still exists today, though conditions and the treatment of the mentally ill are very different now.

Bedlam was a nickname for the hospital that eventually stuck.

Book vs. TV: Lots of changes between the book and the TV series here. I’ll just highlight some of the big ones.

  • Diana returned to court with Matthew to see Elizabeth. They assuage Elizabeth with an elaborate necklace that Emperor Rudolf gives Diana (never happens on the show). Matthew does fix Elizabeth’s tooth pain by giving her blood, but he never tells her about the future. He calls her Lizzie, not Bess. Which is weird.
  • As mentioned before Diana’s confrontation with Kit and Louisa is different in the book. Kit takes Diana on a tour of Greenwich Palace, and they meet up with Louisa at the jousting field and tie her to one of the jousting dummy posts. Kit and Louisa try to use Diana as a jousting dummy. It doesn’t go well. A combination of Matthew’s and Diana’s friends, plus Diana’s powers lead to her being found.
  • Diana has more control over Corra in this episode than she does in the book by this point. She doesn’t even learn Corra’s name until later.
  • The heart’s blood/witch’s kiss scene actually takes place in Prague (Bohemia in the show).

Also, not a change from the books, but an interesting fact — this is the event that ends up leading to Louisa’s eventual death. In the first book we learn she died in the Caribbean in the 1700s. Well after what happened in 1590, we learn Phillipe found out what Louisa did and had her banished from the de Clermont family for violating his blood oath on Diana (no one else in the family knew the real reason). Louisa died when her plantation home was set on fire as retribution for her habit of drinking the blood of the sons of local landowners. So did Diana and Matthew affect Louisa’s fate by being in 1590? We may never know.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Roz: Bring me the finale! I have so many feels about what is set to happen and just want to watch it unfold.

Christie: Overall I liked that this episode tightened up quite a few emotional arcs from the book in a more satisfying way. I think the overall story this season has flowed better than it did in the book too. Last episode next week!

You can follow along with our coverage of the show here.

New episodes of A Discovery of Witches will be released each week on Sundance Now, Shudder and AMC+. For those waiting to see the show on TV, these new episodes come to AMC in June.

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Christie Zizo is never far from a computer or her phone anyway, so she decided to put that addiction to use and became a journalist. Usually while she bangs away at a keyboard, she's got Turner Classic Movies, a British sitcom, or something Scifi/Fantasy on TV (Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, American Gods, and many, many others). Her new obsession is "A Discovery of Witches," and all the history and science that goes into this fantasy series.