Mayfair Witches – Season 1 Episode 5 “The Thrall” Recap & Review

The Thrall

Episode 5 of Mayfair Witches season 1 starts with a flashback to Donnelaith, Scotland in 1681. Suzanne is helping with the delivery of a baby but the father denies the newborn after seeing the baby has syndactyly (webbed fingers). He accuses her of bewitching his wife by giving her herbs.

A few hours after the delivery, Suzanne and her sister visit the woman who gave birth and are surprised to find no one at home. They find her in the village centre, tied up and being accused by the witchfinder of the king of being a witch. Her sister starts chanting the words the witchfinder says he caught the lady saying. Suzanne warns her that those words are wicked and to never say them again.

At the present time, Rowan is in thrall, she can’t remember the tragic events that occurred. She and Ciprien are happily repeating each day over and over again. They have no real sense of time and are in a blissful dream. They open up to each other and learn so much about each other. However, reality starts to sip in and she notices that Ciprien is bleeding.

She starts recalling the events of the night Carlotta tried to kill her. She and Ciprien try to get to the hospital but they can’t make calls and no matter how hard they try they can’t leave the house. Ciprien is sure that Lasher wants him dead.

As Ciprien waits by the door and Rowan tries to search the house for other exits, Ciprien casts a spell but the door fails to open. He has a vision of a former Talamasca worker, Stewart who was assigned to protect Antha Mayfair but he disappeared. Stewart warns him that he should not have fallen in love with Rowan. He tells Ciprien that Lasher doesn’t like that and will most likely trap him in this house. Ciprien asks what happened to him but Stewart disappears after warning him not to die in the house.

Rowan, on the other hand, is distracted by another illusion where Ciprien seems fine. This Ciprien tells her that she has a concussion after hitting her head. She manages to get out of the illusion and rushes to Ciprien. Ciprien tells her that Lasher has done this before. Rowan decides she will save Ciprien with or without a hospital. She is a doctor, after all, she can try.

As she searches for medical supplies, she finds Millie (Carlotta’s sister) on the brink of disappearing. Millie asks where Carlotta is but Rowan has no clue. She rushes back to Ciprien to help him. Ciprien asks her to use her powers to check his wound before she operates.  It turns out that the wound is not what she thinks it is. Ciprien is ready to give up his life but Rowan makes a deal with Lasher. She agrees to play his game if he lets Ciprien go. Ciprien disappears out of the room.

Lasher gives Rowan a dress and she puts it on and goes downstairs to meet him.  He tells her he sent Ciprien home as she wanted and that he is alive.  He takes her into one of her fantasies and tells her that everything that happened is what she wanted.  She is in charge and she only has to wish for it. Rowan denies that these are her heart desires and says she wants to leave but Lasher says she wants to dance. They dance and Lasher tries to win her by fulfilling her heart desires when she was a child. Lasher is in her head and her memories. He tells her she can be more if she agrees to be his and they share a kiss.

He brings her out of the fantasy and shows her Carlotta and he tells her that she wants to kill Carlotta. Rowan denies wanting to kill Carlotta and says that it is his desire because Carlotta made it her life’s mission to stop him.  Rowan runs to Millie to ask for help to get away from Lasher.

In the meantime, Ciprien is magically transported to his house where his sister is desperately looking for him. She sees him hurt and bleeding and wants to take him to the hospital. However, Ciprien insists to wait for the help he has already asked for from Talamasca.  He tells her he was hurt while working at the Mayfair house.

He asks her to hide and soon a healer arrives. She performs a magical healing ceremony and he is back as new, not even a scratch.  After the healers leave, Ciprien swears his sister to secrecy. He leaves to find Rowan even after his sister warns him that it is dangerous.

Back at the Mayfair house, Millie helps Rowan to get control of the house. Rowan tells her that they are on the same side. To perform a ceremony, she goes to the basement to find the supplies needed. Millie locks her in and she finds the rotting body of Delphine. Lasher tells her that Carlotta killed Delphine. Rowan orders the door to open and it does.

Rowan asks Lasher to let Carlotta die in jail, so Lasher frees Carlotta from his hold and Rowan tries to help her. Carlotta admits that she knows a way out and tries to convince Rowan to jump to her death from the balcony. Rowan realizes that her grandmother was killed in the same way by Carlotta. Rowan tells her that she will not let Carlotta control or kill her.

Carlotta, in a fit of anger, wishes she had killed her when she was a baby. Rowan gets angry and uses her power to kill her. She feels remorseful and blames Lasher. She opens the door and walks out but everything is upside down

The Episode Review

I think Rowan and Ciprien greatly underestimated Carlotta and Lasher. Lasher is powerful enough to put a curse on them and it took them forever to snap out of it. Rowan couldn’t tell where the illusion starts and where it ends. It begs the question, are these her desires or Lasher’s?

Carlotta is so scared of evil but she is just a different form of evil. She has killed and hurt so many and I am not sad she is dead. I wonder what happens to Millie now, with Carlotta dead.

At this point, Ciprien is in love with Rowan and will gladly die to save her. It is too early to tell if this will be his doom or their salvation.