Meet Quentin and Julia. Best friends. Post college, pre grad school. Trying to figure it out. In Quentin's case, trying to find meaning. Any meaning.

Quentin finds his life transformed when he's brought to - and accepted by - Brakebills University, a school for magic. Quentin, it seems, is magical.

Julia was offered an entrance exam to Brakebills and....failed. Normally when that happens, the subject's memory of Brakebills is erased. With Julia it didn't work. 

This sets Julia and Quentin on two different paths. Left with a memory of what she might have been, Julia becomes determined to master magic on her own. Quentin's just happy to be at Brakebills...and not too sympathetic to his best friend's plight.

At Brakebills, Quentin meets Margo and Eliot, best friends who are the year above him. They've got their own baggage and secrets (Season 1, people! You have to wait!). They also throw an amazing party. 

Fellow new student William "Penny" Adiyodi basically hates everyone. Which oddly makes him more appealing. Just ask Kady (also pictured here). 

Alice Quinn is another new student who is supremely talented. Like, valedictorian level (presuming magic schools have that). 

Shortly after arriving at Brakebills, Quentin has a vision of (or is he transported to?) Fillory, the Narnia-esque land that's the setting for his favorite fantasy series, Fillory & Further. There he encounters Jane Chatwin, one of Fillory's characters. What results from it changes the course of our Brakebills' friends lives forever. 

The aforementioned game changer? It starts here, with this guy. Call him The Beast.