DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Magicians episode “Be The Hyman” contains more spoilers than the number of times Marina has foiled our protagonists’ plans. Hey, you don’t get to be Queen Bee of the hedge witches without stepping on some toes. You’ve been warned. Proceed with caution.
Welcome back, Fillorians! The Magicians returns with another stellar installment. It’s hard to believe that, after this week, only two episodes remain of our beloved show. Ever. I don’t know about you, but I’m still living in blissful denial regarding the end. Better to hold fast to hope in these dismal times, eh? Anyway, Fogg 17 was broken out of Brakebills prison by a newly tangible Hyman Cooper. He was only trying to make new friends in the 21st century, y’all! Eliot, Margo, Fen and Josh were summoned by an enigmatic energy source masquerading as Ember. Ember informed them of Fillory’s imminent downfall. Alice introduced the idea of creating a pocket world to house Fillorians prior to the destruction of the realm. Penny fretted over Julia’s pregnancy and her increasing psychic visions. Marina was actually nice. Even without the blatant admittance I would have assumed she was under a spell.
Alright, ready to delve into “Be The Hyman?” Let’s get to it.
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We open with Margo (Summer Bishil) and Josh (Trevor Einhorn) reconciling with some makeup horizontal tangoing. Everything is falling into disarray, so why cling to past transgressions? Julia (Stella Maeve) reveals to Penny (Arjun Gupta) that Red Monkey Month in Fillory expedited the pregnancy process. Also, she wants Penny to be involved in their child’s life, regardless of their status as a couple. This warms my heart.
Suddenly, Margo, Josh, Eliot and Fen (Brittany Curran) are transported to another realm. It appears to be the throne room in Castle Whitespire. Ember (Dominic Burgess), our favorite chaotic hot mess goat god, sits before them. Yes, he’s still dead. But this is an enigmatic energy source, so basically he’s a ghost. Meanwhile, in the real world, the quartet are merely asleep. At least according to Lipson (Keegan Connor Tracy), who arrives to examine their unconscious forms. Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) decides to look up narcolepsy spells, just in case. Lipson takes a look at Julia. She reveals that Julia appears to be undergoing a normal pregnancy, but she should go to Brakebills for a more in-depth examination to be safe.
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: Dominic Burgess as Ember — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
Next, Ember reveals the problem at hand – Fillory is in trouble. What else is new? But this time, there’s zero chance of it being salvaged. Fillory is going to be utterly destroyed. So, this begs the question: how will our heroes save the innocent Fillorians when the dead return? Once the dead rise, everyone will meet their demise. Just think of the dead as pickles inhabiting the Land of the Living. Unnecessary pickles invading the world’s sandwich.
Once the quartet wakes up from their slumber, our team assesses their options. Alice reveals the page to the world seed. You know, the one the Couple snatched from Alice after chopping off all the fingers on her right hand. If they could retrieve said page, they could bring forth the seed and utilize it to create a new world. A new pocket universe to safely house all Fillorians prior to Fillory’s demise. It’s so radical it just might work!
Now, Umber (Nico Evers-Swindell) also appeared as an enigmatic energy source. Forever the ying to Ember’s yang, Umber appears to want to save Fillory. Of course, we know Ember delights in destruction and chaos. Eliot suggests they travel to Umber’s residence in Vancouver in search for information on how to create a pocket universe. If you’ll recall, Umber did create “Cuba” back in Season 2. Since Penny’s traveling powers are wacky, he revitalizes Hyman (Dustin Ingram) by locating him in the walls of the Physical Kids’ cottage. Penny removes the stasis charm necklace, so Hyman’s astral projection returns to his physical body. He’s alive!
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Brittany Curran as Fen, Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Dominic Burgess as Ember — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
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Then, Hyman roams about enjoying the 21st century. Sandwiches! Putting his hand to fire! Trying not to peep on girls! He finally meets Fen, and notes her reticence regarding the whole Fillory dies thing. She’s a native Fillorian, so the notion of leaving her home realm to decay doesn’t sit well with her. Hyman encourages her to voice her opinion to the group. Next, Hyman travels Eliot, Margo, Josh and Fen to Umber’s Vancouver residence. They encounter a “ghost butler” version of Umber at the threshold. Since, you know, the real Umber is dead along with his brother Ember. Umber appears to be speaking in riddles, but Fen discovers he’s merely reciting a Fillorian fable. Said fable details the account of Umber and Ember’s birth. Ghost Umber grants them passage to the house. Get it, Fen!
Meanwhile, Penny notices that Julia’s psychic visions are worsening. She chalks them up to residual aftershocks from traveling out of that Fillorian jail cell. However, Penny seeks out fellow Traveler Hyman for advice. He reveals that, when his mother was pregnant with him, she too was plagued by these visions. Eventually, she went mad. Uh oh. That’s not good.
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
Later, Alice and Kady (Jade Tailor) learn that Marina has experience with trying to thwart the Couple. They seek her out at her residence. However, Marina (Kacey Rohl) is not the same Marina of old… she’s nice. Friendly. Bakes subpar cookies, but at least she’s giving hospitality a good go. The pair discovers that Marina put herself under a spell that inhibits her ability to make bad decisions. At least she’s trying to be a better person.
Now, remember when Marina needed the Harmonic Convergence so she could pull off a heist of epic proportions? That was so she could steal the world seed from the Couple. The heist went terribly awry, and resulted in several deaths of her crew. Her girlfriend broke up with her. Oh, and said girlfriend has the heist book in her possession. Said book gives a detailed account of how to steal from the Couple. Alice and Kady try to persuade Marina to help them out. But Marina has to go to church! Nice Marina is unnerving, not gonna lie.
Meanwhile, Penny irks Julia by trying to control her again. Of course, we know his heart’s in the right place. But she’s a grown woman, my dude! He urges her to seek Lipson out for a full-on examination. Just to ensure the baby and her health. Then, we find our quartet in Vancouver in a conundrum. Ghost Umber reveals that they must choose from one of several pocket worlds masked as snow globes to safeguard the Fillorians. Should they choose incorrectly, the globes will explode. Fen’s knowledge of Fillory is put to the test, but she puts her foot down. She’s tired of them taking advantage of her and putting her desires on the back burner. Fen storms out, leaving the remainder to their own devices. My love for Fen grows by the day.
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
Later, Alice, Kady and Marina pay a visit to the latter’s ex-girlfriend. She’s none too happy to see Marina, nor is she thrilled by the prospect of Marina going down the path of darkness again. Alice and Kady try to convince the ex-girlfriend that they merely need Marina’s knowledge of how to rob the Couple. They just need the heist book, then they’ll be out of her hair.
Apparently, the Couple houses the page and their world seed items inside a hotel exclusively barring magicians. Thus, it will be damn near impossible to penetrate. Marina chases after her ex-girlfriend when the latter storms off. Alice realizes that they may need to lift Marina’s nice spell. Instead of thinking like Marina, they need the real thing. Unleash my sass factory!
Meanwhile, Hyman is eavesdropping on private conversations as if he was still dwelling in the astral plane. Penny urges him to learn 21st century etiquette. Oh, and make real friends. Now, in Brakebills, Julia encounters Lord Effingham (Sean Maguire), who realizes the error of his ways. His trust in Todd to carry out the quest was misplaced, because Todd. Thus, he wants Julia to take up the mantle.
Effingham essentially reveals to Julia that her crew are the ones responsible for Fillory’s apocalypse in the first place. Oh, and he’s not pleased with the decision to transport Fillorians to a pocket world. In addition, he reveals that Fillory’s destruction will have repercussions. Those who destroy her will soon discover they’ll ultimately lose the ones they love. If that isn’t cryptic, I don’t know what is.
Later, Eliot finds Fen sitting by her lonesome. She’s watching prayers sent from Fillory arriving as letters to Umber. She’s conflicted, naturally. The blatant disregard for her homeland is disconcerting to her. Eliot apologizes for making her feel inconsequential. Fen is so very important to the mission and to the group as a whole. She decides to help them choose the correct pocket world globe to make a new home for Fillorians. Downstairs, she finds Margo and Josh have chosen a slew of incorrect globes, and they explode in tandem.
Thankfully, Fen swoops in among the flying debris and snatches a globe with a seahorse inside. It’s the right one! She cites that Fillorians were transported to Fillory inside a seahorse, which is how they were conceived. Oh, and Ember and Umber were born from seashells. I appreciate the oceanic theme at play.
THE MAGICIANS — “Be The Hyman” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz, Kacey Rohl as Marina, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
Next, Alice and Kady surreptitiously remove Marina’s nice spell. Marina has convinced her ex-girlfriend that she is changing for the better, so the pair reconcile. The ex-girlfriend hands over the heist book to Alice and Kady. Prior to their departure, Marina gives our duo a wink, so we know she’s back to her lying, backstabbing, sassy self. Praise be to Ember and Umber!
Then, Penny finds Julia in the Brakebills lab. She reveals her encounter with Lord Effingham. He recounts the story of his childhood with his mother, and how he felt responsible for her unraveling mental state. Julia reassures him that they at least know of magic, unlike his mother. They have enough spells to protect Julia from going insane. We love a supportive and loving baby daddy! Also: get back together, you two.
Next, Julia and Penny arrive at the cottage to find Fogg 17 (Rick Worthy) out of Brakebills jail. Apparently, Hyman released him while in search of a friend. Wrong friend, my guy. Fogg 17 has the Circumstances control panel in hand. Now the Couple has everything they need to construct the world seed proper, along with the parchment instructional page. So, there’s that. The evil guys win again!
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Sh*t is hitting the fan, Fillorians! We only have two episodes left, and I’m simultaneously dreading it and longing to see how it all plays out. This series will always resonate with me on a profound level. I even wrote a whole article about how much The Magicians means to me, which you can peruse here.
Do you think our heroes will successfully steal everything they need from the Couple to build a new world for Fillorians? Will we see Julia and Penny’s hybrid baby before the series ends? How will Hyman survive when he learns that social media exists? Join me next week as I recap The Magicians, here on Geek Girl Authority.
The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 10pm on your Syfy affiliate.
Melody.McCune@geekgirlauthority.com
What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
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