A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 6 Recap: In Which Diana Is Kidnapped

In episode 6, the de Clermonts search for Diana after she is kidnapped by Satu and Gerbert. Satu attempts to torture Diana’s secrets out of her.

Recap

After abducting her from Sept-Tours while she was on a morning run, Satu flies Diana to an abandoned castle owned by Gerbert. The vampire waits for them there with Meridiana in her box.

When they arrive at the castle, Satu drops Diana into a courtyard and joins her there. Diana tries to escape, but is met by Gerbert, who is delighted to have seen a flying witch for the first time in many years. He examines Diana, noting that her scent is mingled with Matthew’s. He wonders if Matthew is attracted to Diana for herself, as well as for the Book of Life. “Women, after all, are his weakness.”

And apparently everyone knows it. But then Gerbert knows Matthew so well that he successfully created a vampire lover tailored exactly to Matthew’s tastes. Diana isn’t aware of Juliette yet.

Satu orders Gerbert to take his hands off of Diana. They agreed that since Satu was the one who could get Diana out of Sept-Tours, she could interrogate her first. Gerbert will have to wait his turn. He leaves them to it.

But there is also a hint of protectiveness in Satu’s tone. She bristles at allowing a vampire to harm a fellow female witch, even though she intends to interrogate Diana.

Diana asks what Satu wants from her. Satu assures her that she’s not her enemy. Diana tries to escape again, so Satu uses magic to close the courtyard’s exit gates and create a dome of silence so that no one can listen to their conversation. She begins the interrogation politely.

Satu: “I want to know how powerful you really are. Would you show me?”

Diana: “I don’t have any power.”

Satu is on the Congregation. Diana should know that she will have heard about the Witch Wind in the library.

Satu: “Why didn’t you fly when I dropped you, I wonder?”

Diana: “Because I can’t fly.”

Satu: “Can’t or won’t? Your family never teached you how to use your magic? It was their duty as your guardians.”

Diana: “Not every witch shows magical aptitude.”

Satu: “You’re not just any witch, Diana. You’re a Bishop. It did not escape their notice that you were powerful. They’ve done you a great disservice, Diana. My mummo taught me how to fly when I was a girl. She was the one who helped me understand my magic and embrace my power. Let me be the one to help you. [She takes Diana’s hand.] Show me the power inside you, and I can teach you how to control it. You don’t need to go through this alone.”

Diana insists that she’s not alone. When Satu realizes that she means Matthew will help her, a shock runs between their hands and they separate. Satu tells her that she needs to learn to protect herself from Matthew. She wants to teach Diana how to reject the influence of vampires before Gerbert returns and they don’t have much time. Otherwise, Diana might not make it out of there alive.

If you look at this conversation from Satu’s point of view, as a woman and a witch, she’s trying to do Diana a favor, while also trying to solve a mystery for herself. Diana has been staying with vampires who are known witchhunters. Satu doesn’t want Diana to end up like Meridiana or Gillian, so she’s trying to show her how they can escape together before it’s Gerbert’s turn to interrogate and imprison her. And Satu is actually intrigued by Diana’s power, which shares similarities to her own. She’s not wrong when she says that Diana’s parents and guardians should have tried harder to teach her to use her magic, rather than leaving her defenseless.

But Diana is wrapped up in her own biases. Witches hurt her parents, so she has a childlike fear of all witches except her aunts and of all magic, even her own. Like a child, she’d rather run away from trouble or let someone else save her. Since she can’t run from Satu, she chooses stubborn defiance, rejecting everything the other witch says.

Her protestations reveal that she is hiding something and won’t cooperate, so Satu changes tactics, trying even harder to convince Diana that Matthew is only using her to gain access to the Book of Life. To be fair, Satu doesn’t know either Matthew or Diana, only what she’s been told about Matthew by the Congregation. Literally everyone who knows Matthew believes the same thing about him, until they see him with Diana or talk to him about her. A relationship with a witch is totally out of character for him, except for the fact that it’s a destructive obsession.

Which sometimes makes me wonder if there’s some dark magic involved in bringing them together.

Satu tells Diana that Matthew will use her and then throw her away the way he threw Gillian away after she broke into the lab. Diana dismisses any harm Matthew might have done to her friend, saying both Gillian and Satu follow Peter blindly, implying that makes it okay to hurt them.

Satu lies and tells Diana that Matthew killed Gillian, describing the attack in vivid detail. Diana is sure that Matthew wouldn’t hurt her friend. Satu tells her to stop fighting her “true nature”. She sends out a spell, silently working magic on Diana until Diana uses magic to repel her and stop the spell. Satu is pleased that Diana used magic to protect her mind from a magical attack. She prepares to test Diana’s other powers.

Gerbert tells Meridiana that there are two powerful witches in the castle with them, one light and one dark, just like in her prophecy. Meridiana repeats the first line, “Beware of the witch with the blood of the lion and the wolf.” He asks which one of them she means.

Satu gives up on getting Diana to cooperate, realizing that she’s switched her loyalty from witches to vampires, and calls her “a traitor and a disgrace.” She tries to use Diana’s parents death to guilt her into siding with the witches again, but that’s a huge mistake. Diana lets Satu know that it was witches who killed them, not humans or vampires. Diana calls up her witch wind at the same time, but Satu is too strong for her and dispenses with it easily.

Hmmm, Peter Knox was floored by Diana’s witch wind. Has Satu been hiding the true strength of her powers around him so that he doesn’t feel threatened by her or decide he needs to examine her insides to figure out where her power comes from?

Satu says she knows Diana is lying because she’s read her file. Diana repeats that witches, including Peter Knox, killed her parents, then covered it up. Satu is taken aback for a moment, but then correctly assumes that Diana’s parents were keeping secrets, just like their daughter.

The Witch Kingdom is a high surveillance state. Big Broomstick is watching you.

Diana asks if Satu is going to kill her the same way her parents were killed. Satu replies that she’ll do whatever is necessary.

Meanwhile, back at Sept-Tours, Matthew is still sound asleep. Except I thought vampires didn’t exactly sleep in this universe? The one night in 1500 years that he manages to doze off…

He wakes up and becomes alarmed that Diana didn’t immediately come running when the sound of his breathing changed.

Satu recites an elemental spell while tapping on a round box. She raises a storm, then makes Diana rise several feet above the ground. She demands that Diana reveal her secrets. When Diana refuses, she slams her to the ground. She lifts and smashes Diana a couple more times, trying to get a reaction out of her.

In Upstate NY, Auntie Em does a scrying spell, which shows a smoky gray scene that terrifies her. She tells Sarah that Diana is in pain.

Satu is looking a lot like a witchhunter as she gets serious about torturing Diana’s secrets out of her. I guess witches consider their magic open source and keeping it to yourself is a major crime.

Diana is about 6 feet off the ground and upside down. Satu takes flames into her hands from a ring of fire, then does the opening spell on Diana that she discussed with Peter in episode 5. She beams a controlled flame from her hand like a laser to burn a line down the center of Diana’s back. Diana screams in pain, but her back doesn’t open. Her self-protective magic is stronger than the opening spell. Satu speaks to her telepathically, ordering her to reveal what’s inside of her.

Matthew frantically searches Sept-Tours for Diana just as Baldwin arrives from Venice. He accuses his brother of taking her and attacks him. Balwin points out that if he had Diana, he’d already be on his way back to Venice. Marthe, always the de Clermont voice of reason, discovers that Diana’s scent disappears in the garden.

Satu becomes exhausted and has to give up, but she magically burns a brand into Diana’s back first. Both women pass out on the ground.

Matthew examines the spot where Diana’s scent disappears and they realize she must have been taken by a flying witch. This is the first time Sept-Tours has ever been breached by a witch. It could start a war between vampires and witches, just like everything else that’s happened this season. They try to determine which witch could have done this. 😈

They know that Peter doesn’t have the ability to carry it out directly, so Baldwin calls him to ask what he knows. Peter seems to actually be in the dark about this particular operation, but his hesitation when Baldwin asks about Satu gives her away as the likely suspect.

Satu, still weakened, drags Diana into the castle ruins. She throws her into an oubliette, a deep dungeon whose only entrance is a small hole at the top, making it almost impossible to escape. It’s a long drop, injuring Diana even further. She lies on the ground, semi-conscious but silent. Satu and Meridiana scream in unison as Diana falls. Gerbert hears the screams and runs downstairs.

The de Clermonts sit in a circle and begin to form their search and rescue plan. Matthew begins making wide ranging, elaborate search plans, until Marthe stops him by using her common sense. She notes that the witch couldn’t have taken Diana far, because there’s never been a witch who could fly long distances. The kidnapper’s range would have been even shorter, since she was also carrying Diana, which means they must be close by. One of the neighbors might know something. Baldwin asks, again, if Diana is worth a war. Matthew’s “Yes!” explodes out of him.

Gerbert finds Satu on the floor near the oubliette. He demands that she get Diana out so that he can take his turn, but her powers are too weak. Satu had her way with Diana, but she stopped Gerbert from adding to her torture.

The de Clermonts realize that Gerbert owns the rugged, mountainous territory to the south, a perfect area to stash a hostage. They figure out that he must have teamed up with the witch-kidnapper. Matthew assumes that Gerbert’s ultimate goal is to destroy him.

Sarah and Em call Matthew to ask about Diana. They tell him that Em sees her in darkness. He asks Em what she saw in her vision. She saw an old castle and 2 figures with Diana. Promising to let them know when there’s news, Matthew hangs up.

Ysabeau and Marthe recall that Gerbert has a castle that’s in ruins in those mountains, La Pierre. Centuries ago, he kept an enthralled witch there. Matthew and Baldwin immediately take off in the helicopter.

Gerbert is a devious, complex figure, but I didn’t picture him having a Camping Castle set aside for his more sadistic hobbies. That seems more like Baldwin’s speed.

Diana has a vision of her parents telling her to wake up. They are in a dark space, with thick cobwebs engulfing the ceiling. Diana speaks as if she’s still a little girl, and reminds her mother that she’s owed a story. But she wants one with no bad parts. Rebecca agrees to tell a story, bad parts included. Diana has to face them.

Rebecca: “Diana was locked in a dark room, all alone.”

Diana: “A witch trapped me inside.”

Rebecca: “She wondered how she would ever get out. But then, she heard a knocking at the door. It was the Prince. He used all of his strength to open the locked door, but he still couldn’t get to her.”

Disana: “Then how did she get out?”

Rebecca: “Diana spied a hole in the roof, just big enough for her to squeeze through. So she called up to him…”

Diana: “Fly down and lift me out.”

Rebecca: “But the prince couldn’t fly so Diana had to help herself.”

Diana wakes up and looks for her mom, but it was just a dream. There’s no way out of the oubliette. She cries and struggles to find a human way out.

Matthew and Baldwin are almost at the castle. Gerbert brings Satu to the room where he’s keeping Meridiana and asks what she learned about Diana’s powers. Satu refuses to answer. He brings the two witches face to face and threatens Satu with a similar fate. Both witches take note of each other in a way Gerbert wasn’t intending. Gerbert leaves the room to give Satu time to think about her life choices.

Satu is definitely thinking, but it’s about the fact that he’s left her alone with a powerful witch. She asks Meridiana to share her power so that they can both escape. Satu absorbs a glow from Meridiana’s forehead, then opens the door, packs Meridiana up in her box, and leaves with the other witch.

Baldwin and Matthew prove their manliness by jumping out of the helicopter without parachutes. Matthew follows Diana’s scent to the oubliette, but Baldwin stops him from jumping inside, recognizing the trap for what it is. Diana hears her mother’s voice telling her that it’s time to use the wisdom from the story to escape. Diana remembers that she needs to fly out, but she can’t figure out how to do it.

Finally, she remembers her father saying, “Magic is in the heart, don’t forget.” Then she thinks of the pledge she and Matthew made to each other. She repeats, “Magic is in the heart. Fly” This time, it works.

She calmly rises to Matthew and Baldwin. They help her through the opening, then take her to the helicopter and back to Sept-Tours. She wants to call her aunts, but Matthew decides that Ysabeau will call them instead. He tells her he’ll never let her go again.

Matthew takes charge of treating her injuries and cleaning her up. He tells her she was strong and calls her Ma Lionne, My Lion, for the first time. When he tries to help her up to bed, they discover Satu’s brand, which is in the shape of Matthew’s insignia. Diana looks at her back in the mirror, despite Ysabeau and Marthe’s worries that it will be too much for her. She’s proud that Satu wasn’t able to open her up the way her parents’ bodies were opened.

Gerbert finds the round box Satu used in her spell sitting in the ashes of her fires. He tastes the ashes and looks satisfied.

Matthew brings Diana a tray of food as she sips tea in front of the fire in his tower sitting room. She asks if he killed Gillian. He tells her no, he didn’t. But now he wishes he had, since she betrayed Diana. He won’t hesitate to hunt down and murder anyone else who hurts her. Diana wants to get revenge on Satu herself, so she makes him promise not to hurt her most recent attacker.

While Diana rests, Matthew finds Baldwin and thanks him for his help. Baldwin still intends to bring Diana back to the Congregation. When Matthew refuses to cooperate, Baldwin threatens to disown him from the de Clermont family. Matthew invokes the Knights of Lazarus, saying they’ll protect Diana. Loyalty to the Knights supersedes their obligations to the family and the Congregation.

Baldwin is enraged that Matthew has outsmarted him by using the nearly extinct crusader organization to protect a witch and a forbidden love affair. He’s still angry that their father, Philippe, made Matthew head of the Knights instead of him. But he obeys when Matthew says the formal words that call him to duty as a Knight, saying he’ll try to direct the Congregation toward punishing Satu rather than further scrutinizing Matthew and Diana.

Now that he’s met her, Baldwin almost seems a bit relieved to let Matthew take the responsibility for turning Diana over to the vultures on the Congregation out of his hands, though he’ll never admit it. He pushed Matthew into pulling rank to stop him and then had a plan ready for how he could help them with the Congregation.

Baldwin is a hothead, conservative and believes in a strict hierarchy, but he’s loyal to the core, follows directions and his family is everything to him. I doubt he would have actually disowned Matthew- it would have hurt Ysabeau, and his most sacred duty is to take care of his mother since his father can’t anymore. He and Ysabeau don’t get along that well, but Baldwin will carry out his father’s wishes even if it kills him.

Before he leaves for Venice, Baldwin stops to say goodbye to Matthew and Diana together. He speaks as head of the de Clermont family, encouraging them to take control of the situation and think strategically.

Baldwin: “You’ve both shown that you’ve got some fight in you. Hold onto that, because you’re going to need it. Do whatever it is you must to survive. You can’t hold the Congregation up forever. It’s imperative that you make your next move before they make theirs. Do you understand? Diana. ‘Til we meet again.”

Once they’re safe from Gerbert, Satu asks Meridiana who she is. She says that she could feel from the other witch’s magic that she’s very old. Meridiana gives her name, shocking Satu that Gerbert has kept THE Meridiana as a thrall and hostage all this time. Meridiana begs to be released, so Satu promises, “You’ll join the mothers on the other side as you. Only you. None of him.” Meridiana gasps with pleasure.

Satu removes Meridiana’s mask. The seer repeats her prophecy: “Beware the witch with the blood of the lion and the wolf, for with it she shall destroy the children of the night.” Satu repeats the last part, “The lion and the wolf?”

Does it have some meaning for her? I wonder if the prophecy was meant for Satu all along. Meridiana may have foreseen her true death, including the fight between the two witches, one light, one dark. Maybe while she’s been stuck in her box for centuries, going mad, she’s been reliving that pseudomemory and the prophecy over and over. Gerbert have been obsessing over a prophecy that has nothing to do with him.

Satu uses her powers to transform Meridiana into spirit energy. Before she goes, the seer says, “Thank you, weaver.” Satu is surprised to be called “weaver”.

Agatha visits Sophie and Nate so that Sophie can talk to her. First they reassure her that her grandchild is fine, but she needs to listen to Sophie. Sophie explains that she has such a strong connection to the witch she needs to give the statue to that she’s seeing her in her dreams. Agatha still wants to protect her family from the danger surrounding Diana, but Sophie tells her that she knows the witch, Diana, is in trouble- she’s not causing the trouble.

Sophie confesses that the connection to this witch might be so strong because Diana is a witch and Sophie comes from a family of witches. Agatha is confused and asks if Sophie is a witch. Sophie is a daemon, but the rest of her family are witches and the baby feels like a witch, too.

Agatha asks why they haven’t told her any of this before now. Nate reminds her that the Congregation will get involved if they find out the baby is a witch born of daemons. Agatha assures them that her family, including her grandchild, come first. “My loyalty and love are to you.”

Sophie tells her that they didn’t mean to upset her. The witch is important to Sophie and the baby. Agatha finally gives them Diana’s name.

In the morning, Diana tells Ysabeau and Marthe that she feels different, like she can breathe. Ysabeau informs her that she’s been liberated, unbound. Diana is confused. Matthew explains that they think she was spellbound and her ordeal at La Pierre freed her magic. Diana has no idea who would have done this to her. Spellbinding is usually used to control witches who are insane or who deserve severe punishment for hurting people. She looks in the mirror and realizes that she doesn’t know herself at all.

---

Commentary

Since this story is told from Diana’s point of view, we are meant to see Satu purely as a villain, particularly in the books. But she isn’t presented that way here. She’s been bullied, dominated and coerced by Peter into many of her actions. She went to Gerbert by choice, but that appears to be because she wanted to examine Diana on her own and to investigate the rumors about Meridiana.

She attempted to answer the Congregation’s questions through interrogation before resorting to magic, but Diana wouldn’t cooperate. And then she had the skill to use the opening spell without killing Diana, even though she also failed at gaining much useful information from it. By doing this, she revealed that both she and Diana are very powerful witches. Diana is too naive to understand this, but any witch who observed the interrogation would understand that she’s been holding back.

When Satu is done with Diana, she seizes the opportunity to rescue Meridiana, though it will turn Gerbert from an ally to an enemy. The witch community has always known that Gerbert has Meridiana, but they’ve either done nothing or haven’t been able to rescue her, so it’s worth noting that Satu is able to do it, especially in her weakened state.

She sets Meridiana free rather than selling her to another vampire, giving her to Peter or keeping her as her own prophet, a selfless act that proves Satu isn’t evil. She and Diana come from different areas of witch culture and are on different paths. But now she’s made enemies out of Diana and Gerbert and acted without Peter’s blessing, so she’s going to have to work to maintain her position.

Matthew’s intense threat to kill anyone who he perceives as harming her doesn’t bother Diana- since her parents were murdered by the people they should have been able to turn to for protection, Matthew’s intensity probably makes her feel safer. Diana is named for the Goddess of the Hunt and the last few episodes are meant to show that she lives up to the name. She’s not scared off by blood, pain, hard work or killing.

Diana in the oubliette always feels like a genie in a bottle to me, a magical spirit whose magic has been held hostage for far too long and is about to be released. In this episode, she protects herself from the opening spell that killed her parents and she saves herself from the oubliette by flying out- with a reminder from her parents. Her powers began to unwind when she retrieved the Book of Life from the library and her father appeared right afterwards. Now the spellbinding truly unwinds after she has to fight Satu for her life and both of her parents appear to her.

Matthew provides comfort and support while she goes through the change from a witch with suppressed power who denies her birthright, which leaves her feeling frightened and alone, to a woman who embraces her magic, which gives her strength and courage. But he’s not causing her to release it. Both leaps forward have coincided with a defining magical encounter and a visitation from one or both parents.

What’s not clear is whether Diana was always fated to meet Matthew or if her parents arranged for her to have a powerful vampire bodyguard to make her feel safe throughout this process. Were her parents telling her about a prophecy or did they create both the story and the prince? If Juliette could be created for Matthew, Matthew could be induced to love Diana.

Images courtesy of AMC.