A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 10 Recap

Relive each delicious moment of A Discovery of Witches with our weekly recap. This week? A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 10 recap.

Do you ever find yourself yelling at the screen in front of you or mumbling cheeky responses to the characters while watching a show? We do. Sometimes we keep those responses to ourselves and, sometimes, we text them to each other as we watch the same show at the same time 700 miles apart. We enjoy these conversations so much that we decided to share them with you. Each week, Ashley and Nikki will publish an episode recap for the long-awaited second season of A Discovery of Witches. You can read it while you re-watch the episode (because you know you’re going to re-watch it) or just read it. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, just do it. We hope that these recaps will be worth a few giggles for A Discovery of Witches fans and that they might even make you think twice about what you’ve just watched. Without further ado, here’s our A Discovery of Witches Season 2 episode 10 recap…

[0:00] Ashley: Weaver, maker of spells — they could be talking about Diana or the writers could be giving themselves a wink and a Hail Mary prayer that they’re able to tie all these loose threads up in 45 minutes. We believe in you! 

[1:00] Sure, threads of the universe and all, but that dress is delicious! 

[2:00] Ashley: Don’t leave Jack. Don’t do it. I want them to get back to the safety and certainty (sorry, make that “safety” and “certainty”) of the 21st century but the three of them together weave their own particular blend of magic. 

Nikki: This gives me a flashback to my childhood when my mom and dad spread blankets on our front yard and we watched a meteor shower. While we awaited the meteors, my parents named the constellations and I was terrified because I thought that they were actually seeing a bear and a hunter and I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t running away from what sounded like impending danger. Good times. Also, in Diana’s words, magical.

[3:00] I’m beginning to understand how my cat feels when she sees us carrying suitcases up from the basement. Things feel out of order. Someone is taking a trip. Someone is getting left behind. Will everyone be safe? Agh!

[4:00] Anyone else pondering how the hell we’re already at the finale?! Ten weeks flew by too quickly and now we have to wait another year for more creature magic. Blame Peter Knox. He’s who I blame for all undesirable things. 

[5:00] Nikki: The creature tour group has arrived. I hope there’ll be afternoon drinks on the balcony. I know that Cruise Director Ysabeau has a full complement of games and activities planned for everyone.

Ashley: Phoebe says whatever’s coming, she’s ready and wants to experience it all… annnnd yet, she declined the group transportation right off the bat. So I suspect she’s really more of a selective joiner reviewing the optional activities on the tour agenda. Can you blame her? 

[6:00] Nikki: Muhaha! Marcus tried out the word “partner” on his grandmother like I did on mine. I hope he has better results because mine just spent the next 10 years asking when we were going to get married.

Ashley: Also, Phoebe gets nothing but respect from me for showing up to meet grandma in a hoodie and a messy bun. Take me or leave me, grams.  

[7:00] Ashley: Season 2 has been a revisiting of dearly departed daddies, yet this one feels rather anticlimactic in comparison to the buildup and palpable emotional reaction Diana and Matthew had at seeing Philippe again. 

Nikki: Is this a substitute for those awkward pre-date conversations that dads force on their daughters and their dates? Oh, so you’re the vampire. Where did you meet? What’s your major? Do you have a job? (And for those from the south) Who are your grandparents?

[8:00] “I’m an anthropologist. I’m here to observe.” You. I am here to observe you. There, I fixed it.

[9:00] Nikki: Ok, I’m kind of annoyed by Stephen. He says, “It’s a shame you can’t read it” to Diana like it’s a shortcoming. Listen, Daddy Weaver, you can’t read it either so chill a little bit.

Ashley: And I’m kind of annoyed by Stephen because he’s putting off too much of a goofy Rick Moranis from Ghostbusters vibe for my taste. Hell, really an any ‘80s movie with Rick Moranis kind of vibe. 

[10:00] Nikki: The phrase “witch baby” makes me giggle. That is all.

Ashley: It’s making me giggle too, and also think of the creepy dancing baby from Ally McBeal. 

[11:00] Nikki: “Fetch.” There’s another one for the gif archive. Gerbert’s lines this season have been short but so very memorable.

Ashley: “You were meant to observe, not participate. You need to go.” Begging — pleading really — for any colleague or client to say this to me at around the sixth meeting of any given day. Thank you kindly. 

Nikki: Also, to be fair, Matthew and Diana didn’t actually adopt Jack. They just met him in the street, took him home with them, and then treated him like their own child. Ya know what? Let’s stick with the term adoption. It seems way less creepy.

[12:00] Nikki: I’m beginning to think that we won’t get to see any of those sweet “be brave, be bold, be magical” sentiments from show Stephen like we did from book Stephen. This version seems lessy hippy and more crabby.

Ashley: Last week, Phoebe learned about the world of creatures. This week, she’s seated for a full family dinner with daemons and vampires and witches, oh my. Girl must’ve binge watched the MasterClass series on creatures. 

[13:00] As a 46-year-old woman, I can assure you that the change has, indeed, already started. Thanks for the reminder Phoebe. Now hand me that cooling towel, I feel a hot flash coming on. 

[14:00] I like how Phoebe didn’t even attempt to finish her lie. “Sorry. I got lost on the…” Aw fuck it, I really just wanted to snoop in your museum-like home. We cool?

[15:00] “Humans have so much potential, but our capacity to date and discriminate, well, that scares me more than of this.” PREACH, Phoebe. No truer words. 

[16:00] Ashley: “You’re right to criticize our conservatism.” — Said no Republican ever. Too much?

Nikki: “Grief carves a place in the heart and sits there forever. But, when focused, it can be a powerful motivator. Sadness becomes resolve and pain becomes action.” Yes. Yes. Yes.

[17:00] Nikki: “There are a few loose ends to tie up.” We’re 17 minutes into a 43-minute episode and things are unraveling in two different time periods. A few “loose ends,” indeed.

Ashley: You will get the old me back is what I’ve been saying to myself and my family for the past year, promising to eventually put pants with a button back on and re-introduce myself to a hair dryer. 

[18:00] Pardon me as I have a few flashbacks to my one season as a tee-ball coach when the fathers kept yelling instructions at their kids from the sidelines.

[19:00] I deducted points from Matthew for hovering in the gallery just out of sight but I gave him 1,500 bonus points for that smile when Diana completed the knot. He looks so proud!

[20:00] “I’m terrified of changing anything. And yet, I’m desperate to change everything” is the best summary of adulthood and motherhood that I’ve possibly ever heard.

[21:00] Nikki: “It’s time I, uh, took a stroll.” This was a perfect way to rip off the bandage. It hurts, no matter how or when you do it, so just make it quick and then move on.

Ashley: I love that “I’ll see you later” was Stephen’s parting line to his daughter, leaving the hopeful possibility of seeing her again in some form or another. 

[22:00] “Yes, it’s always bittersweet. I find it best to concentrate on the sweet.” Sage advice from this changed vampire.

[23:00] Ashley: Hold up, after last week’s dance with the she-devil, do we really let her go anywhere alone??? Gallowglass, you know better. 

Nikki: I’m calling BS here. Gallowglass knew that Diana and Matthew had been mated but he didn’t know that Father Hubbard was in the Coven Clubhouse?

[24:00] “I will open a vein and let a single drop fall into your mouth.” This is so incredibly specific, it reminds me of a cooking show. I will now take melted butter and rub it over the skin of the bird…

[25:00] Ashley: I don’t recall this form of payment for bartering goods and services on Oregon Trail. And to think, I’ve just been Venmoing our babysitter for taking care of our child. Huh. 

Nikki: Would you really entrust a man with THAT beard with a child? (Ashley: God no. Fairly certain he’d pop up as a big red dot on a registered predator map.) 

[26:00] “Then go you must.” Did Goody just channel Yoda?

[27:00] Well crap. I can’t hang on to Target gift receipts with any confidence. But she’s going to manage to keep hold of a Precious Moments statue and pass it through the family for 500 year unscathed. 

[28:00] Satu’s “been busy.” She’s been lighting shit on fire and terrorizing old women… ya know… just a Tuesday.

[29:00] Ashley: “I won’t be needing your pyrotechnics.” I’m going to try this for selectively reducing the headcount at our next family gathering. Seems polite. 

Nikki: “Your confidence will be your downfall.” I do wonder how the world would be different if more men had heard this throughout history. *steps down off soapbox*

[30:00] This feels like an episode of Ghost Hunters or just a Zoom meeting. “What is it that you want? Show me who you are. Let me help you.”

[31:00] Nikki: The Intern walked right up to the edge of an expletive and then backed away and I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even take this all in the first time I watched it.

Ashley: What the fuck just happened? Well hell. Intern, I took us right over the social graces edge. All I saw was a Phoebe-like hoodie and blue. Oh so much blue. 

[32:00] Nikki: “We’ve achieved everything we set out to do.” You also made a baby in the process so I’d say y’all are overachievers.

[33:00] Ashley: Name three people dead or alive you’d take back to the 21st century with you. Easy: Gallowglass, Goody, Jack. Any other icebreakers? 

Nikki: And I’ll miss you most off all Gallowglass/Steven Cree. Whaddya say we all meet back “here” for A Discovery of Witches Season 3?

[34:00] Nikki: “You’ll be happy…once you settle.” Great advice for a frightened child. Terrible advice for dating.

Ashley: “Be brave.” Was that for Jack or for us, Matthew? Because this is all too much. 

[35:00] Nikki: So…just a one-minute creepy dude montage? Cool.

Ashley: This whole thing feels like the opening to an Unsolved Mysteries episode. Just waiting for Robert Stack’s voice to come on. 

[36:00] Ashley: Um scratch that. Robert Stack’s got nothing on Peter Knox.

Nikki: Stephen told us that Peter was obsessed with the dark arts and now we have proof. Any spell that wrests folks from their slumber is pure evil.

[37:00] Em, no Em. Just no. Try some warm milk. Get your sage out. Swaddle that crying baby. Nibble on Marthe’s baked goods. ANYTHING BUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING. 

[38:00] Ashley: What is up with Creepy McCreeperson’s eyes? 

Nikki: Was he crying? Allergies? 

Ashley: Whatever it is, I’m no optometrist but it looks as if applying gel drops three times a day might help. 

Nikki: Also, this feels a little bit like Qanon…the prophecy will reveal itself…

[39:00] Ashley: YOU IMPUDENT FUCKER. 

Nikki: I love that Emily is using her last moments to champion Diana and tell Knox about the power that she’s always known Diana carried within her. We should all be so lucky to have an Emily in our lives.

[40:00] Ashley: The world’s mightiest creatures were within a short radius and yet Emily still died on their watch. A reminder that evil knows no limits, and also there’s only so much in our control to protect those we love from harm’s way. 

Nikki: Endings and beginnings and endings and beginnings and endings and beginnings

[41:00] Peter has just been told by Emily that Diana will avenge her death and now Marcus is telling him that if he kills Marcus “you’ll start a war that you have no hope in winning.” Dude, you might want to read the room and get out of there.

[42:00] “Let’s go meet our future.” My immediate thought after receiving my first dose of the COVID vaccine.

[43:00] Nikki: Because we’ve had so many Princess Bride moments this season, I think it’s fitting that we end with this one. “Jesus, Grandpa, what did you read me this thing for?” I feel little Fred Savage with every fiber of my being. While I loved this fantastic journey, I would have been very happy for it to have continued for another couple of episodes.

Ashley: And here I am, hoping to wake up from an Oz-like nightmare to see that Auntie Em is actually alive and well. 

Final Thoughts:

Ashley: For much of the U.S., this weekend was Daylight Savings, a brain-blotch of a time when the clock springs forward an hour to offer more daylight over the next several months. It’s only an hour, and yet for the entire next day I always find myself confused asking what day is it, why I am so tired, is it time to eat again, how’d we get here, etc. In fairness, these are standard questions I always ask myself (I digress), but it felt only fitting that the Season 2 finale aired on this particular weekend. Because this single hour of television left me feeling all those disjointed feelings and emotions, unable to rationalize that time had propelled us forward and we had made it to the end of the season in a flash. What just happened, how many ways can I dismember Peter Knox and where do we go from here? It’s enough to leave anyone feeling a bit wobbly, like Domenico after the blue rage attack (seriously, what was that?!).

The writers of this show had the herculean challenge of unpacking Shadow of Night and adapting it into 10 episodes for the small screen. Toward the end, it wasn’t lost on me how parallel it felt to watch Diana fumble through learning to weave 10 unique knots while the writers attempted to tie up all the loose ends set in motion throughout the season. Would both creatures be able to nail that 10th knot by the finale’s conclusion?

I’m not sure they did, but I’m also not sure they were meant to. Yes, we greedy watchers would love it to have a satisfying conclusion that makes us able (or unable) to bear the long year of waiting for the next season to arrive. Like Willy Wonka’s Veruca Salt, we want the world… we want the whole world. But in a season — of both television and life — marked with change and uncertainty, newness and grief, beginnings and farewells, the best thing to hope for is hope itself. Hope of the story continuing and the opportunity to be part of it as it does. Hope for good to prevail over evil, wherever and whenever they face off. Hope for faith, family and friends to be the glue that binds no matter what circumstances continue to knock our world off its axis. Life, for any creature, is best lived through that lens so I’m applying it here too.

Nikki: If you’ve listened to our podcasts, you know that we didn’t just read the All Souls Trilogy, we felt it. The characters and the storylines became personal to us. It can’t be surprising then that the show has also become personal. Ashley and I have made a lot of COVID and pandemic-related remarks in these Season 2 recaps because we watched the series after a year of living in an upside down world. It would have been nearly impossible for us to frame our (hopefully) humorous hot takes in any other way.

This brings us to the finale which I have lovingly titled “Fifty Ways to Say Goodbye.” In our lives, we rarely believe that a goodbye will be final. For Matthew and Diana, however, each 1590 goodbye was a final one. Stephen, Diana, Matthew, Gallowglass, Goody, and Jack all showed us how to say goodbye. You can do it quickly, like Stephen, to avoid the tears. You can say all the things in your heart like Goody. You can crack jokes like Gallowglass. You can cry and lament the unfairness of it all like Jack. It turns out that the goodbye is the easy part. It’s the emotions that come afterward, sometimes in waves and sometimes, unexpectedly, out of the blue that are difficult.

Last year I said a lot of goodbyes and I didn’t know at the time that some of them would be final. I’ve searched my heart over the last few weeks to think about what I would have done differently if I had only known. This episode helped put those goodbyes in perspective. There’s not much use in worrying about how you do it. It’s always going to hurt. All you can do is make sure that your loved ones know that they are, indeed, your loved ones. And that whole Emily thing? I can’t talk about that just yet. You’ll have to wait for a podcast for that one.

If you’ve missed any of our A Discovery of Witches recaps, do not fret! You can find them all here.