A Discovery Of Witches – Season 3 Episode 6 Recap & Review

Goodbye Knox

Episode 6 of A Discovery Of Witches Season 3 begins with Matthew leaving Sept-Tours, intent on confronting Benjamin. In his absence, Diana decides to go after the book in Oxford. Sensing that everyone has a role to play in this, Diana organizes the troops.

Hamish is tasked with making arrangements while Sarah and Fernando are due to follow Diana. The rest are to look after the babies and keep them safe, no matter what.

This mission is bound to attract a lot of attention though, something Diana is well aware of. That attention comes from Gerbert, who rallies the vampires to his cause, forcing Baldwin into line alongside Domenico. A war is coming, and it may well be arriving sooner rather than later.

In Brighton, Gallowglass is confronted by Fernando, who heads down just before he gets a tattoo. Now, at the end of  the last episode Gallowglass left the house in regret and he’s made it to the south coast.

Fernando urges Gallowglass to return, pointing out that he’s an honorable man. And that honorable man does return, showing up in Oxford some scenes later. Although, if he traveled on Southern Rail there’s no chance he got there on time. (Yes I know this is a bit of a niche joke. As someone who lives near Brighton, the rail services here are atrocious!)

With Gallowglass and Fernando keeping watching, Diana and Sarah head in to the library together. It’s touch and go for a while, but eventually they retrieve the book, which initially had a masking spell on it.

With Sarah watching on, Diana assembles the three pages, which in turn sends magical ripples right the way through the building. It also sees the book swing wildly through the volume. As it does, Diana places her palms on the pages as the words and numbers seem to be sucked inside her.

Entranced, Diana begins to talk about an ancient power known as the Bright Born; two hearts becoming one when fear overcame them. Sarah senses their time is up and tells Diana she needs to leave. When they do, Diana is entranced and not herself. Even worse, the Book of Life is completely empty. It’s all been consumed inside Diana.

In Venice, Domenico questions Gerbert’s motivations, but the old man smiles wryly and admits he’s been scheming for quite some time. For centuries, to be precise. He’s been positioning himself in the middle of this war, using Benjamin as a weapon to take out Philippe.

Of course, this also positions Domenico as just another pawn for him to use, and as the realization dawns on Domenico, his thin smile slowly fades.

Domenico approaches Baldwin in secret and tries to talk him around, pointing out how Gerbert has been manipulating all of this and has been behind everything, consumed b his own lust for power. Domenico leaves it up to Baldwin to make his choice over how to play their hand, but in return he wants… nothing. He just wants to do the right thing. Even Domenico himself is surprised by his choice!

Meanwhile, Matthew goes on the hunt for Benjamin. The torture chamber he hurt Lena in is empty but Matthew can sense his son nearby. So naturally he waits for him to return.

The thing is, Benjamin has been waiting too. He’s been waiting for the opportune time to strike, when his father is at his most vulnerable and happy. Matthew listens to his son’s antagonizing when  he shows, biding hiss time to strike. When he brings up Diana, he doesn’t wait any longer.

This is enough for Matthew to hit back as the pair fight. It’s an impressively shot brawl too, with Matthew eventually apologizing for being a bad father while besting his son. Just before landing the killer blow, Satu shows and saves Benjamin. Uh oh.

Knox, looking the worse for wear, shows up before Diana and the others, desperate for the Book of Life. When Knox claims that Emily’s death was chalked up to pest control, it’s too much for Sarah to listen to, and she begins conjuring magic while the old man monologues.

Diana approaches and links hands with Sarah, helping to channel her magic and its potency. In doing so, Knox shatters out of existence; the wind magic does its job and the group return to Sept-Tours with the book. Despite it being empty, Diana sets to work writing out what’s in her head; pages and pages of diagrams, icons and writing. If what’s written here is to believed, it seems like everyone is connected.

In the wake of all this, Diana receives a video message from Benjamin. Matthew is still alive – but barely. He’s being drained and he doesn’t have long left. It’s a lure of course to bring Diana in, serving Matthew up as juicy bait. It would appear that Diana is about to be reeled in.

The Episode Review

So it all comes down to the final episode of A Discovery of Witches, where everything is left hanging in the balance. Gerbert is intending to strike out and rally the vampires to his cause, while Benjamin’s threat is just the ammo Diana needs to bring everyone together to resolve this bitter conflict once and for all.

The cryptic words about two hearts beating as one, along with the faint echoes of fear, could well be referencing the witch and vampire feud as a whole, or it could be referencing the babies. Either way, it does set everything up for a tantalizing finale to this season.

This penultimate episode also handles the Knox situation nicely, with him finally killed at the hands of Sarah. Calling Emily a pest is enough for her to channel magic and kill him outright, which is probably for the best given his influence in this season.

However, Gerbert and Benjamin are still very much alive and it all comes down to the final 45 minute chapter to close everything out. Will they be stopped in time?