Mayfair Witches – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

What Rough Beast

Episode 8 of Mayfair Witches season 1 starts with Keith running in the woods trying to escape. Rowan is following him even though she is hurt and losing blood. Lasher appears and asks her to stop and let him do her bidding. She sends him to chase down Keith and kill him. Lasher follows Keith to a random shack in the middle of the forest and burns him alive. Rowan gets a vision of Lasher killing Keith and she is happy.

Elsewhere, Jojo updates Cortland on Tessa’s death and tells him that Rowan was gone before the family got there. Jojo finds it strange that her dad is obsessed with Rowan and she asks him to tell him the truth. Cortland refuses to tell her anything and calls Albrecht, who is at the bridge with Ciprein watching the fire Lasher set.

Ciprien apologizes to Albrecht for his outburst and thanks him for trusting him. He tells Albrecht that he is ready to do what he asks. He removes his gloves and touches Albrecht, learning that he possesses the ability to erase memories. At the same time, Albrecht’s men arrive but Ciprien insists on knowing the whole truth. Albrecht tells him there is no point in knowing since he will erase his memories.

Ciprien argues that it won’t be wise to do that. He starts putting the pieces together and realizes that Albrecht helped Cortland cover up his traces after he killed Deirdre. Cortland hired someone to kill Deirdre to make sure the prophecy comes to be. Ciprien reminds Albrecht that he is part of the prophecy. He will need his memory to do his part to ensure it is fulfilled.

Rowan is having his baby and Albrecht tells him that he will let him keep his memory on the condition that his men go with Ciprien to find Rowan.

Rowan passes out from blood loss and Lasher comes to her. Rowan tells him that everyone who is part of everything is dead. Lasher reminds her that she is still alive, but Rowan doubts that she will make it out of the forest alive. Lasher asks her to look deeper and find the place that holds the knowledge of her ancestors.

Rowan digs deep and ends up at Suzanne’s house. She hears a voice speaking a different language and Lasher tells her that it is his language. Rowan asks him to teach her, just as she finds the marking Suzanne left for her; a combination of all her knowledge. Rowan touches the markings and heals herself.

Rowan is ecstatic and Lasher tells her that she now has the power to heal other people. She also has the power to command all the elements he has power over. Rowan is happy with her new power and wants to stay awhile in the house. She asks Lasher to stay with her and they make love.  After they have sex, Lasher disappears and Rowan wakes up and sees a marking stating that the 13th witch is the doorway.

Odette finds a Talamasca card among Ciprien’s belongings and calls the number. She asks for Ciprien but the woman tells her that there is no one there with that name and she can’t help. Odette insists she knows the truth and even tries to describe Arjuna. The old woman hangs up and makes another call to inform the other party that there has been a breach.

Odette doesn’t give up and tries to hack into Ciprien’s laptop. She gets a visit from Arjuna and Albrecht. She is worried about Ciprien missing the birth of her child and not calling back. Albrecht tells her that her brother is fine just working on an emergency situation. He wipes Odette’s memory of the night she saw Arjuna heal Ciprien and any knowledge she has of Talamasca.

Meanwhile, Ciprien visits Cortland but he finds Jojo. Jojo asks him to wait and he touches a mask in the house. After touching the mask, Ciprien sees what happened the night  Deirdre got pregnant. Cortland killed the young man Deirdre took to her room and raped her while she was asleep. He is Rowan’s father.  He shares his vision with Jojo but she doesn’t believe him. After thinking about it, Jojo realizes her dad had something to do with Deirdre’s death.

She brings Ciprien to the Mayfair house and takes him to the room where they keep the bones of the designee. Ciprien touches the skull and sees one of the Mayfair witches asking to be told about the prophecy. Lasher appears to her and delivers the prophecy to her. The prophecy says that at the witching hour, over the bones of the foremothers, Lasher will embody a new form. A form with power that has never been seen before. The 13th witch is the doorway.

Jojo explains that the prophecy will happen in the mausoleum where all the designees are buried. Dolly Jean walks in on them talking and tells them that Lasher’s ripening is counted in hours. This means that Rowan is about to give birth, Ciprien rushes out but Dolly Jean asks Jojo to remain behind.

Dolly Jean tries to calm Jojo down. She says she was also fooled by Cortland. Jojo says that they can’t let what is happening be the story of their family. She reckons it is time someone else takes charge of the family.

Back to Rowan, she is surprised to find Lasher gone when she wakes up. As she walks around the house, calling for him, her belly starts to grow. She hears Lasher’s voice asking her to follow her ancestor’s path to the end and he promises to be there with her at the witching hour.

Rowan fails to understand his message but she is immediately transported through different rooms as the clock ticks down. In real-time, Cortland drags Rowan’s body out of the forest to the mausoleum. (Rowan is still passed out and the events are happening in her mind.) He cleans her up and lays her down on the crypt inside the mausoleum.

Rowan is still travelling the path of her ancestors, in the last room she meets her mom. Deirdre tells her that Lasher has run out the clock. It is the witching hour, Lasher is the baby she is carrying. Rowan finally understands that as the 13th witch, she is the doorway for Lasher to take a human form.

How does Mayfair Witches Season 1 end?

Rowan finally wakes up and sees the spirit of Suzanne who tells her that this is what was meant to be. She is there to help Rowan deliver the baby. Rowan starts experiencing labour pains and Suzanne helps her through the birth as Cortland watches from a distance. She delivers a healthy baby boy and Suzanne tells her that if she accepts the baby, he will give her great power.

In the interim, Ciprien calls Albrecht and asks that he allows Ciprien to bring the baby to Talamasca. He points out that they should be careful given that the baby will be a powerful being. It will be wise if they watch the baby up close.

Ciprien plans to use Rowan’s trust in him to steal the baby from her.  Albrecht, who was still in Ciprien’s house waiting for Odette to wake up decides to transport her to Talamasca. He is hoping that Odette will breastfeed Rowan’s baby once Ciprien steals him.

Concurrently, Rowan notices that the baby is growing so fast she puts him down and tries to run. She sees Cortland who is also there to take the baby. She decides she won’t let him have her son who is already crawling. She picks him up and tries to kill Cortland using his powers. She is shocked when her powers fail to work.

Cortland marvels at the fact that Lasher held up his end of the bargain and made him immortal. However, Lasher and Rowan are now one; she sees and knows everything he knows. She turns Cortland into a stone and tells him that she knows what he did to her mother.

She walks out of the mausoleum carrying the baby as it rains heavily, where she finds Ciprien waiting for her. She tells him that the baby is their son and asks to go back to the house where they will be happy. Ciprien offers to carry the baby and Rowan senses someone else is there with them. She asks Ciprien but he lies to her. Rowan strikes the ground near Ciprien’s feet with lightning and Ciprien tries to tell her that Lasher is manipulating her.

Rowan tells him that she is the one causing the lighting and she is the one in control. Ciprien tells her that she won’t be able to control the baby’s power. Rowan responds that he is the one who can’t control her and walks away from him carrying the child.

The Episode Review

We got answers to the various questions we had throughout the season. We know who killed Deirdre and why, while we also find out about the deal between Lasher and Cortland. And to be honest, I think Cortland got what he deserved!

I have not read the books so I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the show and I’m sure others were similarly shocked to learn he is Rowan’s dad.

I didn’t expect Ciprien to betray Rowan but he has a right to be concerned about how baby Lasher will wield his great power. We already know that Lasher doesn’t conform to human laws of morality. There is also the question of who will be stronger between him and Rowan and what happens when it all goes out of Rowan’s control. By Rowan walking away is she fully embracing the dark side? Is she about to dive deep into her villain ego?

It is possible her motherly instinct kicked in and she now wants to protect her child. There is no underestimating the lengths a mother will go to protect her child, and it’s clear Ciprien overlooked that and forgot that Deirdre suffered from having her child taken away. This is why Rowan felt even more betrayed because she sees it as him doing the same thing that was done to her mother.

Either way, everything here makes us very excited to see how everything plays out in season 2.