A Discovery of Witches Seasons 1-3: Every Recap in Order

November 8, 2021October 31, 2022 ~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

Links to every Metawitches post about A Discovery of Witches, in order. Recaps for the complete series, plus a few extras.

Season 1

Book vs Screen Review: A Discovery of Witches Season 1 vs Book 1 – Review of the first installments of the saga, comparing and contrasting book and series.

A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: In Which Diana Summons a Book and Meets a Vampire – Diana Bishop, a hereditary witch who shuns the use of magic, discovers an unusual book in a British library. Before long, she attracts the attention of witches, vampires and daemons, including Matthew de Clermont, an ancient French vampire.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 8 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Take a Giant Leap

June 27, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 8, the season finale, Diana and Matthew’s enemies pose a greater threat than they ever have before. Friends, loved ones and new allies rally around them to find ways to thwart the species-separatist side of the Congregation. Diana’s magic and the Book of Life remain the key to a long-term solution, so they need to find a safe place for her to learn how to solve both puzzles.

Recap

We pick up where we left off, with Juliette confronting Diana and Matthew in the Bishop barn in Upstate NY. Juliette grabs Diana by the throat as Matthew belatedly realizes an enemy threatens Diana’s life and speeds to the barn to assess the situation. He asks if Gerbert is there too.

Juliette, breaking down in angry tears: “I’ve left him. You abandoned me! And now, you’re mating with her.”

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Travel to America

June 26, 2021June 26, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

Following Diana’s rescue from her ordeal with Satu, in episode 7 she and Matthew decide they need a new hiding place where Diana can learn to control her magic. It’s time to visit her aunts at the Bishop ancestral home in America. Miriam and Marcus join them before long.

Baldwin holds off the Congregation by blaming Satu for his failure to bring Diana back to Venice with him. Domenico, who isn’t finished with his revenge on Matthew, goes on the hunt for the Finnish witch.

Agatha tells Hamish about the connection between Sophie and Diana. They wonder if the changes that are coming will finally bring daemons more respect.

Recap

Ysabeau and Marthe walk Matthew and Diana to their helicopter as they prepare to leave for Diana’s aunts’ house in Upstate NY. Diana thanks Ysabeau for everything. Then Ysabeau reminds Matthew that Baldwin will stall the Congregation for now, but he’ll only be able to give them a couple of days head start. She warns Matthew to be ready to lead the fight that’s surely coming, but she’s available to help whenever he needs her. Matthew thanks her, then he and Diana board the helicopter.

I maintain that helicopters have essentially become flying cars for the wealthy.

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

June 17, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

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.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 5 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Break the Covenant

June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

Matthew and Diana are separated for most of episode 5, with him back in Oxford investigating the break in at his lab while Diana stays at Sept-Tours with Ysabeau and Marthe. Ysabeau takes the opportunity to test Diana by informing her about the realities of vampires and of Matthew’s romantic past. Matthew informs Gillian that it’s not a good idea to mess with vampires without backup. The various factions within the Congregation continue to huff and puff about the Covenant and the Book of Life.

Recap

Diana soaks in a luxuriously deep tub, recovering from her spontaneous witch water spell, while Ysabeau and Marthe look on to make sure she doesn’t flood the bathroom. Marthe brings her a towel and comments that the ability to produce witch water is a rare power these days. Diana says that she can’t control the elemental magic that she’s producing, like witch water and witch wind. Marthe thinks she just needs time, but Diana wants to visit her aunts to see if they can help her.

Ysabeau insists that she made a promise to Matthew, so Diana isn’t allowed to leave yet. Right now, they’re going hunting.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 4 Recap: In Which Matthew and Diana Visit Sept-Tours

May 23, 2021May 28, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 4, Matthew brings Diana to Sept-Tours, the ancestral French home where he was sired and where his vampire mother still lives. Matthew’s mother, Ysabeau, is a well known witch hunter, leading to a rocky start for her relationship with Diana. They leave Oxford in the hopes of avoiding further trouble with Peter Knox and the witches, but taking your girlfriend home to meet your mother isn’t exactly the most unpredictable move, so Peter and the Congregation discover where they are before long.

Recap

Matthew and Diana drive to Sept-Tours, rounding a section of road that overlooks the picturesque estate and village as they approach. Eventually, we’ll come to know this section of road very well, but for now, Matthew speeds through without giving Diana a chance to take in the view. As they drive through the village, she asks if the villagers know that the de Clermonts are vampires. He answers that they do- it’s safer for vampires to have a community, just like witches.

It’s also the only way the de Clermonts could have lived there through generations of humans without trouble arising.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: In Which Diana Discovers a New Talent

January 30, 2021January 30, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

In episode 3, Peter and Gillian push Diana for the Book of Life until she reaches a breaking point. Matthew helps distract Diana from Peter and Gillian’s machinations by showing her one of his old homes. Diana reciprocates by cooking him dinner. Marcus convinces Diana to let the vampires test her blood.

Recap

Matthew scouts out the Bodleian Library early in the morning, before Diana is even up, and finds that it’s already teeming with creatures hoping to be there the next time Diana summons Ashmole 782. He meets Diana outside her dorm and offers to take her on a day trip instead, since it’s unlikely she’ll be able to concentrate with so many eyes on her in the library.

Diana is wearing another amazing blue coat, this time a sky blue, mid thigh-length fuzzy number that she’s paired with a thick, cable knit, cream-colored sweater. It’s as if she knew Matthew would be waiting downstairs and wanted to look as huggable as possible. It worked, too, because he caught himself in the middle of ordering her to go with him and actually asked.

Before she can answer, Gillian (imagine me saying it the way Seinfeld says “Newman”) interrupts with, um, an urgent matter that she just thought up while she was following that vampire over from the library. She’s terribly worried that Diana is angry with her for betraying her to Peter Knox and needs to explain herself, right here on the street. Diana has realized that of course it had to be Gillian who told the other witches about Ashmole 782.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 2 Recap: In Which Matthew Visits a Daemon and Diana Is Betrayed

January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 2, Matthew and Diana go their separate ways for a bit. Matthew takes a trip to visit his daemon friend Hamish to hunt and gain some perspective. Diana continues her research while the other witches try to convince her to give them the Book of Life. We’re also introduced to the vampires of Venice, where the Congregation is located.

Recap

We begin the episode on location in Venice, Italy, home of the Congregation, with vampire Juliette Durand (Elarica Johnson) sipping an espresso at an outdoor cafe next to one of the canals while Haley Reinhardt’s version of White Rabbit plays. This is peak, atmospheric All Souls Trilogy, my friends. Drink it in. I’m writing this in late January, 2021, after almost a year in COVID lockdown. Shows like this, that give us beautiful views of the wider world without the troubling aspects of reality, are a lifeline right now.

Or maybe lifeline isn’t the right word, since we’re currently on vacation with a mentally unstable vampire. Chances are, as long as your name isn’t Matthew, you’ll be fine. 😘

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A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: In Which Diana Summons a Book and Meets a Vampire

January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

This is a recap of season 1 episode 1 of the TV series A Discovery of Witches. My season 1 review/book vs TV series comparison can be found HERE. All of my A Discovery of Witches posts are listed at the tag, HERE.

Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to season 1, when Matthew and Diana began their journey together. I’m enjoying writing about S2 so much that I’ve decided to give S1 a try, since I’ve also had some requests for it.

Season 1 of A Discovery of Witches is based on the book of the same name by Deborah Harkness, which is the first book in her All Souls Trilogy. The story follows Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), an American witch and historian currently working at Oxford University in the UK. She’s never been comfortable with her magic, but after she discovers a mysterious, ancient book in one of the university’s libraries and meets Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), a vampire who studies the biogenetics of creatures (witches, vampires and daemons), a whole new world of possibilities opens up for her.

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