The Birth of Twins
Episode 5 of A Discovery of Witches Season 3 begins in The Cotswold as Timothy’s funeral goes ahead. Diana and Agatha are there to see him off as the latter remains more determined than ever to make sure the twins are kept safe. Following the twins’ birth, rumblings in Venice see Gerbert contemplate whether the babes should be slaughtered outright. Any threat to their rule needs to be eliminated but for Baldwin, he decides to visit personally to see if such drastic measures are necessary. The thing is, the christening of the two babies will be seen by some as an act of war. Ysabeau is quick to remind the new parents of that, along with a warning that they’re about to find out who their true friends really are. One such enemy is Benjamin, whom we see skulking around in Berlin. After finding a witch called Lena using her fire powers outside a club, he takes her to a remote area in Poland, calling her “my Diana” and promising to do “lots of important work together.” The thing is, Benjamin is actually using this woman as bait to find Matthew, relaying a message to come out and find him. And as she hobbles away, that’s precisely what Lena does. Meanwhile, everyone gathers at Sept-Tours for the christening of baby Philip and Rebecca. Even Chris is there, who joins Miriam as her guest. The Allies all stand in the Chapel, rallying around Matthew and Diana as they secure the babies into this group formally. However, Baldwin shows up and spoils the party, wanting to take the babies to Venice for assessment. Diana and Matthew turn against the Congregation, refusing to acknowledge Baldwin’s play. When he refers to Matthew’s bloodline as “corrupt”, tensions simmer. A fight breaks out between the pair, leading Diana to conjure forth a great deal of magical energy to use against him. Eventually he succumbs and concedes defeat. Diana tries to strike a deal, making a promise that anyone with blood rage that acts out will be spellbound, keeping the De Clermont family safe. But of course, this would also mean the scion needs to go ahead as planned. With these terms established, Baldwin agrees to allow their scion to proceed. That night, Sarah quizzes Diana over why she didn’t use her knot magic in the chapel, given she relied on elemental power. The thing is, Diana was going to use this knot but realized it was the tenth and final one; the knot of creation and destruction. When Diana gets the Book of Life back and brings the pages together, she deduces that her magic will grow stronger. Goody Allsop foretold that old worlds will die and new will be born. Could Diana be at the heart of this? Back in Venice, Baldwin feeds back the details of the scion and the Christening. When Gerbert finds out Baldwin has legitimized this, he assures the council that the blood rage is under control, feeding back the spellbinding promise. Gerbert brings up the children and how the council doesn’t have any discipline to deal with them, believing the babes will destroy the very foundations they’ve built. Despite Agatha’s attempts to stop him, Gerbert senses an opportunity and decides that the vampires are going to take matters into their own hands. At Sept-Tours, Lena arrives and warns Matthew and Diana about Benjamin’s rampage. She also brings up the horrors of him trying to sire her. Even worse, she brings up his obsession with Diana and how Matthew has allegedly forced Benjamin to do all off this. Of course, this is false but the trap has been cleverly laid;Matthew will almost certainly take the bait. For now though, Matthew gathers the Allies together as they conduct the Scion and strengthen their claim. With the ceremony complete, Diana and Matthew prepare for what’s to come next.
The Episode Review
The Christening of the two babies ultimately signals a change in fortunes for our main characters. Although Baldwin agrees to the scion, it also comes at the cost of the Congregation in Venice acting independently, with Gerbert determined to assess the threat of these kids and take them away from Diana and Matthew. Who knows what will happen when they discover their powers. This is interesting too, with this episode showcasing that Philip appears to possess powers akin to Diana while baby Rebecca may actually be part vampire. Benjamin continues to be the wildcard in all of this though; a threat that’s been lurking in the shadows for much of this season and just waiting to strike. With two episodes left, it’s clear that he’s going to do so sooner rather than later. This third season has been really enjoyable and with the story threads all starting to come together now, everything is prepping for a big, dramatic finale to end this season.
