Lesser Evils: Season 2, Episode 9

WARNING: If you don't want to know what happened in this episode, don't read this photo recap! 

Quentin is faced with a conundrum: if he keeps Niffin Alice trapped inside of him he'll die. But if he boxes her up she's lost forever. So. Choices, Q. Get to it.

In Fillory, Eliot and Margo try to figure out how to win a war with their soldiers quitting in protest and the wellspring causing magic brownouts. The answer: Eliot decides to face off with the Lorian King, monarch to monarch.

The search for Reynard’s son finally bears fruit when Kady and Penny discover that the man they are looking for is…A U.S. SENATOR. Oof.

After announcing that he'd face off with the King of Loria, Eliot quickly realizes he's never HELD a sword, and sword magic can take months to learn. Enter Fen, with the gift of a magic sword that comes with its own handy spell to make the wielder of the blade a master swordsman.

Turns out, getting to Senator Gaines was pretty easy. The hard part is keeping shadeless Julia from killing him to harness his demi god energy…

Instead of killing the senator, Kady and Julia kidnap him and bring him back to Brakebills in order to figure out what to do next. After Julia threatens the senator’s life (again), Penny warns Kady that Julia is starting to act straight-up psychotic.

The time has come for Eliot to duel with the King of Loria and the pressure is on. If he loses, not only will he be dead, but most of his Fillorian buddies could be executed or imprisoned as well. Eliot turns to Margo for some encouragement…

… and what better way to pump a friend up for a fight than an EPIC LES MISÉRABLES SING ALONG!

Speaking of psychotic, remember how Alice still gets to take over Q’s body? Well during one of these moments, Julia goes for a visit and suffice IT to say: Niffin Alice + Shadeless Julia = BAD NEWS. 

MORE BAD NEWS: Reynard figures out A) Senator Gaines is his son, and B) Senator Gaines is at Brakebills. #UhOh

The battle is on! The sword’s spell is doing a bang-up job and Eliot is kicking some royal ass… until there is another brown out and the magic stops working. Luckily, Eliot is able to escape before the King can finish him off.

Another effect of this brown out? Brakebills’ wards are down, which means Reynard can just waltz right in. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

In order to fix the wellspring of magic and stop the magic brown outs, Margo takes a meeting with the ambassador to the fairy who can do all that! HUZZAH! In exchange, all they ask for is King Eliot’s first born child, which Margo agrees to… Wait, WHAT?!

While Margo is giving away his first born to save magic, Eliot (from the relative safety of a tree) gets to know King Idri. Turns out, they both might be feeling the same kind of… sexual frustration. (They both like dudes… if that wasn’t clear.)

Turns out Niffin Alice and Shadeless Julia are definitely up to no good. Julia essentially sacrifices Quentin to Reynard in an attempt to get Alice released and on the job of killing Reynard. Quentin, however, refuses to set Alice free.

Before Reynard can do his usual horrible things, Senator Gaines shows up and comes face-to-face with his father. The two disappear together for some demigod son/trickster god father bonding.

Julia and Penny trap Kady in a “clean room,” where magic just plain doesn’t exist, until they can figure out what’s next. Julia is FURIOUS. To say the least.

Peace has been restored to Fillory! AND no one had to die! Instead of killing each other, King Eliot and King Idri are going to get married because it turns out in Fillorian law, a king can have a husband AND a wife.

Which means that maybe Margo didn’t actually need to promise these guys- the fairies- Eliot’s first born. Also she hasn't told anyone that yet. Oof.

Unable to box her up for all eternity because of feelings, and not wanting to kill them both by holding her in, Quentin decides to trust that Niffin Alice doesn’t want to hurt anyone and lets her go. And just like that, she sails into the air, leaving Quentin no hope of seeing the real Alice ever again.