There’s more chaos than love in the air for our heroes in The Magicians Roundtable 3X02 “Heroes and Morons”

Ready to begin a quest for the seven keys, Eliot (Hale Appleman) announces to the court (and the Fairy Queen) his intentions to sail for an outlying island. Ever the suspicious dictator, the Fairy Queen (Candis Cayne) insists Fen (Brittany Curran) accompany him on his trip. To make matters more complicated, she also sends her spy and their purported daughter, Fray (Madeleine Arthur). Prior to leaving, Margo (Summer Bishil) imparts a warning to her bestie. Upon arriving, Eliot finds a surprisingly accommodating tribe in fear for their lives from a monster. Their leader, Father Poe (Haig Sutherland), is revealed to hold the key (yes, THE key) to their survival…or so they think.

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Meanwhile, back on Earth, Julia (Stella Maeve), Quentin (Jason Ralph), and Josh (Trevor Einhorn) have decided to find Mayakovsky (Brian F. O’Byrne) and his batteries. When they track him to a hedge witch bar, they discover he married Emily (Abby Miller) before being turned into a bear by a female magician. A reluctant Kady (Jade Tailor) agrees to join the hunt to help save Penny (Arjun Gupta). When they realize that the woman is casting magic around NYC, they run into Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) before figuring out it’s Professor Lipson (Keegan Connor Tracy). After saving her from leaping off a building, they realize that Emily has one of the batteries. Kady reaches her first and steals it. Later, Quentin finds himself in a dark alley and attacked by the lamprey, who takes him as its next host.

There’s so much packed into this episode, so without further ado, our roundtable:

Caitlin (@shakesprs_ghost) - Paralegal, Step-Mama, and Book Nerd

Ali (@AliGhezelbash) - Engineer by day, “Genre” film, TV and comic book fan by day and night. Great stories can enlighten and entertain.

Diane (@Dianthrax) - Writer, Activist, Advocate, Auntie

Michelle (@CONtessa_966) - Writer for Three if By Space, Tweeter of live TV, Hockey Fanatic & Wiener Dog Mama!

1.The Fairy Queen with the mic drop! Are you Eliot or Fen when it comes to whether Frey is theirs?

Caitlin (@shakesprs_ghost): Okay so I actually audibly gasped when this happened - not quite sure why, because I totally saw it coming. However, I feel like I could go both ways on this question - On one hand, I am really believing that she could possibly be their child, as everyone obviously knows *sarcasm* that time folds over on itself in the fairy realm so it’s completely plausible that Frey is their child. (Also she looks like a great combination of both - excellent casting!) On the other hand, I am skeptical just because this is the Fairy Queen we are talking about.

Ali (@AliGhezelbash): I side with Eliot given that he was dead-on about the illusion magic. That shows he has good intuition! Also, I’m not sure The Fairy Queen is completely trustworthy.

Diane (@Dianthrax): I’m with Fen on this one. Not because I believe or trust her feelings or anything the Fairy Queen says, but I believe what Margo said to be true. It’s a strategically smart thing to do to tell Eliot and Fen that Frey is their daughter, and it’s emotionally manipulative, cold, and cruel. Sounds exactly like the Fairy Queen’s M.O. to me!

Michelle (@CONtessa_966): Eliot. Eliot. Eliot. Eliot. Let’s not forget that the Fairy Queen basically implied that it was her idea implanted into Fen as “Fen’s idea” to go with on this voyage with him. She can toy with a lot of things in our brains and Fen’s insistence that Frey is theirs is one of those things that she could be influencing. Though she’s certainly stubborn enough to be Eliot’s.

2. Mayakovsky’s living up to his bad boy reputation. Do we think Professor Lipson turned him into the Anthrosaurus as well, or was it someone else?

Caitlin: Wasn’t it Emily who actually turned him into a bear?

Ali: I’m going to say yes given that Lipson said she wanted to give some happiness and wonder to the kids. She clearly resented Misha, so I don’t think she’d have any problem doing that to him for the kids’ benefit.

Diane: Ha! I’m not sure who did it, but I’m glad they did! It’s about time that jerk got some of what was coming to him!

Michelle: I’m gonna go with someone else, I think that he is *really* living up to that bad boy reputation. He’s been planning this break from Brakebills South for awhile now, it wouldn’t surprise me if he used multiple different people along that journey and now has some enemies.

3. While Frey did swear her alliance to the Fairy Queen, she did also help retrieve the first key. Why do you think she did that?

Caitlin: I am starting to believe that Frey is actually their daughter and is loyal to them - I may be wrong, however I feel like I’m really onto something with this one.

Ali: Maybe the Fairy Queen became something of a mother figure for her and she feels some gratitude to her for raising her and taking care of her. Though she was raised by Fairies, she is not one of them.

Diane: I think Frey helped retrieve the key because she figured out that it was what Eliot was really after and she assumes that whatever it is, if Eliot wants it, then her Queen probably wants it too, Plus it’s much easier to take it when it’s delivered right to the castle you’re occupying.

Michelle: That’s a tough one! It could be that she just couldn’t stand by while someone was lying, in like a know-it-all sense. It could be that she genuinely wanted to help Eliot retrieve the key. Maybe it also could be that she thought this would help him in collecting taxes from these people. There are a lot of different alleys we could venture down here.

4. Why do we think the lamprey chose Quentin as the next host? Alice isn’t exactly fond of him right now…

Caitlin: I think the lamprey chose Quentin because Alice is actually fond of him - she’s just in denial. I think that with this happening, Alice’s true feelings will come to light.

Ali: I wonder if somehow, someway, the lamprey knows that Alice still has some attachment to him. Will the lamprey use that attachment to hurt Alice more than if it was a random person used as its host?

Diane: I wondered about that too! Can the lamprey sense emotions or emotional ties? Or maybe it senses emotional damage between people and that’s why it went to Quentin? What puzzles me the most, though, is what THE HELL is up with the lamprey and cats???

Michelle: Just because Alice isn’t fond of him doesn’t mean Quentin as a host wouldn’t offer inside information. Plus, with all of them attempting to find Mayakovsky’s batteries, it’s more likely that Quentin as a host will run into her than some random construction worker will. Though it’s a double-edge knife…yeah, there could be some inside info to be gained or become a step closer to her proximity wise. It’s also way more likely that she (or someone else in their group) will spot it straight away and sort it out.

5. The tension between Kady and Julia is still as strong as ever. What do you think it will take to mend that bond?

Caitlin: I think for that bond to be mended, Julia will have to help Kady save Penny. I think that will show Kady that Julia truly cares for her as a friend and is going to be there for her.

Ali: I think that the only thing that can mend that bond is Penny AND magic being saved. I think if one or the other doesn’t happen, one of them will feel short-changed and resentful.

Diane: I think things will change once Kady heals Penny; that has to be the first step before she can even consider thinking about forgiving Julia. These characters have been through so much together and changed so much. I just love Julia’s story!

Michelle: Right now I’m not sure that anything can. Short of Julia magically (haha, no pun intended) stumbling upon another battery and healing Penny for good - what they need is some time and maybe some space / good will towards each other first before they go trying to sort things out.

6. Josh may not be part of the OG squad, but he’s certainly doing his part! Should we assume he’s “the lover of tomatoes” mentioned by The Great Cock?

Caitlin: I love Josh so freaking much - he is so funny and relatable. I do think that he is “the lover of tomatoes” mentioned by The Great Cock (how I do wish we had seen him this episode!)

Ali: I think Josh is great. He adds some much needed levity to the cast. If he is not “the lover of tomatoes” he is the lover of comic relief and witty quips.

Diane: I certainly assumed that’s who he was. Is there anyone else who could fit that description??

Michelle: YES! Josh is of course the lover of tomatoes, I mean did you hear how mopey he was at the party about losing the ability to have great tomatoes? I think that he will be stepping into a bigger role this season and I couldn’t be more excited for him. I think that he will be a great addition to the Quest team and he offers a sort of lovable and genuine vibe.

7. Let’s have a show of hands: who’s waiting for the sentient Muntjac to have a diva moment?

Caitlin: *raises both my hands, my daughter’s hands, and my fiance’s hands*

Ali: I would love to see that, and particularly how that would manifest. My hand is raised.

Diane: I LOVE the Muntjac! The idea of a magical, sentient ship with a beautiful glowing heart is so cool! But I don’t know how it works to build something out of the sentient trees and end up with a somewhat sentient boat? Isn’t it a little Frankenstein? Which does not bode well for our King…

Michelle: ME!!!! I love that Muntjac is made of sentient wood and therefore has a *personality*. We saw (I think) just a very small taste of that tonight. Luckily, Eliot is enough of a diva himself that I think the two of them will get along just fine. Honestly the Muntjac is probably the woman he needs to worry about least on that boat right now, but I don’t think that she will be as approving as some of the others in our “Questing Crew” and it will be hilarious when we get to those moments.

Final Verdict: There’s nothing better than the open water and murderous intentions in The Magicians 3X02 “Heroes and Morons”

There were so many little things to love about this episode. There was Quentin narrating a tale visualized in the Deathly Hallows style. There were bears, anthrosauruses, and sex orgies (oh my!). We even had an exploding kitten (RIP fluffy lamprey detector) and Tick at his gossipy best. Eliot got to show off his smarts - granted, with some help - and successfully completed the first part of the quest. Let’s not even get started on how our Russian lothario managed to con so many women into doing his bidding…

Are there things we thought could have been a little tighter? Sure. The whole search for the Anthrosaurus and checking out the sex party didn’t advance the plot that much. Was it fun though? Yes. We were also a bit surprised that no one thought to go after Alice after her kitten exploded and she ran down the hallway. We really thought Quentin would at least know something’s up.

It’s clear that we’re going to see what lamprey-Quentin does to track down Alice. Will she know it’s not him? We hope so. What will happen to Quentin if they don’t get it out? Will Penny really be saved using the book Kady got from Harriet? Whose side will Fray ultimately be on? This is going to be a long week!

The Magicians returns Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 at 9/8C on SyFy.