The Third Page
Episode 4 of A Discovery of Witches Season 3 begins with the search for TJ Weston beginning. Diana and Phoebe do their best but he seems to have just vanished into thin air, at least if the scarce records of him are anything to go by. So naturally Diana decides to enlist the help of a witch coven to conjure a location spell. The thing is, in doing so this would cause Knox to show himself, and potentially thwart their plan. Diana is not to be deterred though, and wholeheartedly believes this is the right course of action. With Gallowglass and Sarah by her side, a very-pregnant Diana uses her magic to find the hidden convent down an alleyway. Three dozen members are part of this group, but their leader is whom Diana speaks to. With two pages already found, they need the third. The witches agree to help, and with the circle drawn and Diana in the driving seat, they set to work trying to track down TJ Weston. Using some nicely worked CGI, a model house is conjured in the middle of the table, which eventually settles itself into coordinates for Weston’s house. While this is going on, Satu speaks to Benjamin in Venice, talking to him about the prophecy involving Diana. Specifically they contemplate whether she’s the witch destined to surpass all others. Satu though is intent on proving that theory wrong. Elsewhere, Miriam arrives to see Chris, who hasn’t slept all night. He’s compared Ransome’s samples to the ones they currently have, and he’s discovered something. Chris deduces that during Matthew’s rebirth something already in his non-coded human DNA reacted to the new genetic information of the vampire genes. Chris doesn’t think they replaced everything, meaning that thee triggers for blood rage may not lie in the vampires – it’s the humans who hold the key. Whatever’s going on here, it’s far more complicated than we first thought. Miriam hops over to New Orleans and breaks the news to Matthew about what they’ve found involving the DNA. They’ve analyzed the samples and Chris has deduced that Blood rage is a developmental anomaly. The blood rage is triggered by something in the human DNA. Unfortunately this also means that this can’t be cured through vampires. Either way, Miriam implores Matthew to head back to London. He needs to be there for Diana’s birth, which could be any time now. Although he feels defeated, Miriam encourages him not to give up and to keep fighting – but doing so by Diana’s side. Matthew rings Baldwin and decides they need to meet. In the woods, Matthew tries to make him see sense, determined to carve a new chapter for their family. Unfortunately Baldwin refuses to lend his support to the scion and walks away, unwilling to negotiate. However, Knox is the first to act here. He shows up at the witch coven and notices the remnants of Diana’s magic. Using his powers, Knox figures out where Diana has gone. And just like that, an image of TJ’s house pops up on the table. Uh oh. Diana, Sarah and Gallowglass follow the coordinates and find TJ, unaware that Knox may be doing the same thing. The man is shook up and implores Gallowglass leave. He’s also pretty erratic and refuses to let them use magic – or take the page away from him. Diana concedes defeat and leaves. When she does, Gallowglass reveals that Philippe entrusted him to watch over Diana. Diana is grateful for Gallowglass’s help, and together they bring Agatha over to see TJ, intending to swing things in their favour. It works too, with Agatha pointing out that Timothy is not alone anymore. He’s not a lowly daemon on his own, and she implores him to embrace the community he’s been sheltered from. This kindness is enough for him to hand over the missing page to Diana. With the third page in their possession, Diana knows she can help heal the Book of Life and figure out how to stop this coming war. As she leaves the house, she starts to go into labour. Talk about timing! News of her labour spreads, as Matthew and the rest of the family gather to see her give birth to the twins at home. Diana and Matthew both decide to call the twins Rebecca and Philip, in honour of their parents. While it’s happy families all round, for Gallowglass it’s a bittersweet pill to swallow. As the episode closes out, Agatha heads over to Timothy’s house, hearing him sobbing from inside. The thing is, Knox has clearly got there first and she eventually finds him in his dying breath surrounded by a circle of salt.
The Episode Review
With Knox on the hunt and the three pages gathered by Diana, the arrival of the twins spells another complicated chapter in this series that looks set to ramp up the drama across the remaining 3 episodes. A Discovery Of Witches has done well to balance out the various factions, and seeing Timothy killed like that is almost certainly going to see Agatha more determined than ever to help Diana’s cause. Coupled with Benjamin on the hunt, Satu’s own vendetta against Diana and the growing dissent between Baldwin and Matthew, there are lots of different elements in this show that remain balanced on a precarious knife-edge. This third season has done well to keep things exciting, with a good deal of magic-wielding and drama to boot. Whether everything will erupt into all out war though, is another matter. We’ll have to wait and see!
