The longer Mayfair Witches stays on the path to the spring of magic, the more it opens itself up to some surprisingly convoluted lanes of philosophy. It’s not so much about the gray per se, but a more brazen declaration of the inevitability of good and bad. Lasher’s proving to be the bringer of life and growth on a near-barren earth. And like all messiahs, he can’t really help that a part of him has a great capacity to inflict pain. He’s had a rather strange existence ever since the 1500s. The only thing I can crib about is that we’re already at the penultimate episode of season 2 of Mayfair Witches.
Spoiler Alert
Julien’s come back to life
The Scottish Mayfairs are up to no good as far as Lark is concerned. In his sleep, he might be falling victim to a gnarly spell they’ve concocted for him. Last week, I had half a mind to speculate that Ian would be driving Cortland to his death instead of the decided destination. It wouldn’t be too wild a thought considering Ian is Ian, and he doesn’t know that Cortland wields the gift of immortality. That topic does come up on their little drive. After a heart-to-heart and a show of Ian’s magic, Cortland means to get Ian to trust him when he confides in his half-brother about his gift. In terms of the timing of it, it’s pretty tragic that Cortland’s had a change of heart. When he learns that Julien wants to come back to the realm of the mortals, and that Ian would be giving up his firstborn, Hamish, as the vessel for his father’s spirit, there are two things playing in his mind. He sees it as his opening to get some face-time with dad. And you know how badly Cortland wants to figure out Julien’s plan so that he can somewhat avenge what his deranged father has done to the family. But that’s not all. It actually disturbs Cortland that even in his death, Julien is playing these nasty games with his children. So with Hamish acting as their rope to the mortal world, Cortland and Ian traverse the fabric between the two worlds and meet their father. The reason I believe Cortland did this partly out of the goodness of his heart is because he trusted Ian in the first place. He really thought he connected with his long-lost brother. That wasn’t a smart move, considering Ian’s always proved to be dad’s pet. It was a move made with the best of intentions and all the naivety of a hopeful heart. To lay it out simply, Cortland was wrong to trust Ian, especially with something as dangerous as crossing over to their dad’s spirit realm. The grip of Julien’s dominance is much stronger on Ian. So even though Julien actually meant to be a parasite in Hamish’s body and wanted to trap his soul in the spirit realm forever, Ian would’ve abided by this terrible wish just to appease his dad. But lucky for Hamish and Ian, Cortland made the mistake of telling Ian that he’s basically immortal. And since nothing’s kept a secret from Julien, he recognized an immortal Cortland as the perfect vessel for his wretched soul. Cortland’s goodness gets him stuck in his father’s dark spirit realm as Julien hitches a ride to the physical world with Ian and takes over Cortland’s body. You know what they say, kids. When you’re dealing with strangers, it might be best to play your cards close to your chest until you know you can trust them.
Lasher remembers Ashlar. And so does Ciprien
Rowan’s lost in the tunnels. But the flicker of hope steadies as her pyrokinetic power grows. Who else could make that happen but Lasher? But what she finds on the other side of the door she’s led to isn’t Lasher. It’s Ian’s wife Amintha, hoping to give Rowan a vial of Lasher’s blood and send her on her way. When it comes to saving her family, getting a vial of Lasher’s blood is a good enough solution. But Rowan cares about her son. And she’s not a witch to break under pressure. She instead gets Amintha to reunite her with Moira. She’s been held hostage under not-too-bad conditions for obvious reasons. But Rowan’s not ready to take Moira with her. She knows that the Scottish Mayfairs will block her path to Lasher if she’s got a mindreader by her side. So Moira’s still technically a hostage. But the schemes don’t seem to be going too well for Amintha either. With her powers at their peak in close proximity to Lasher, Rowan finds it easy to terrify Ian’s wife and find her way to her son. But something’s shifted inside Lasher. He’s freshly back from discovering his grand purpose in life. Abel guided him on his path to remembering his history at the altar. They haven’t been lying about the existence of a certain Saint Ashlar. Lasher was once the bounty of life and magical gifts to the tortured people at the glen. And even now, a drop of his blood bends nature to his will and he grows a land of green at the altar. It’s not that he isn’t happy to meet Rowan. But Lasher’s achieved clarity. The kind of clarity that’s also regulated his emotions enough for him to not be in distress anymore. So as he points out that Rowan only wants him for selfish reasons, he shows that he’s matured enough to feel safe by himself. But the most interesting thing that conversation unearths is that Lasher is a source of good. It’s something that Sip reads when he touches Lasher’s ancient remains at the Talamasca. Anamika’s helped Sip bag the New Orleans branch. And he’s reciprocated by helping them out with a solution to the Daniel Molloy situation. Unlike their offensive stance, Sip would rather they discredit the volatile book Molloy wrote in “Interview with the Vampire.” It would build up to more than the Talamasca can handle if the general public got comfortable with the idea that vampires are real. But now for the bigger deal. When Sip is near the Taltos corpse from the 1500s–the one that the Talamasca has kept in their arsenal for a long time, waiting for the right moment to use it–the energy the corpse radiates immediately tells Sip what he needs to know. The corpse is Saint Ashlar’s, Lasher’s previous physical form. Through Lasher’s warm recounting, we get to know that he was born of a witch queen and a Scottish lord. His father’s faith in him saved him from death at the hands of the king. While the world thought him a demon because of his rapid growth, Ashlar’s father recognized him as an angel. He proved his father’s faith true when he came to the Scottish village that’d been destroyed by the furious king. The wolf he commanded showed him the greenery he could bring on earth with a drop of his blood. He even remembers being in love with Emaleth before his life was cut short. And now that he’s realized that life and magic gave him another chance to fulfil his vision, he’s content with his purpose. It does comfort Sip to know that the Taltos, or more specifically Lasher, is a source of life, not death, but it doesn’t bode well for him to follow that thread. When Sip and Polina reach the place in Scotland where Ashlar’s body was found, Sip can sense that he’d died in a different place and had been buried here. That definitely smells like some foul play was involved in Ashlar’s death. He might’ve been killed by the king. And since he’d come from a witch, he might’ve had a tie with the Mayfairs long before Suzanne called forth his spirit. But Sip’s got to save his own back now. A dirty cop’s cornered them. Could the officer be on Ian’s payroll?
Does Lasher Marry Emaleth?
Abel didn’t just help Lasher regain the memories of his previous birth. He’s also reconnected Lasher to his feelings he had as Ashlar. He now feels a genuine longing for Emaleth, a kind of pull that’s bigger than the animalistic surge of desire he feels when he’s around her. So while Rowan is sceptical about the same thing Lasher is hopeful about, to Lasher, his purpose is very real. Rowan’s decided to stay for the wedding. And that means that all the Mayfairs other than Moira and the real Cortland are gonna be in attendance. Julien’s thriving in Cortland’s immortal flesh. His only complaint is about the tacky accent he now has to get accustomed to if he wants to convince people that he is in fact Cortland. The wedding happens to be the perfect place for him to meet Rowan. Her mind’s too preoccupied to notice the obvious blemishes on Julien’s performance as Cortland. And to make matters worse, Ian’s gotten Lark under his thumb to get some power over Rowan. The strange ritual Lark was put through at the beginning of the episode physically bound him to Ian. So any pain Rowan causes Ian will be inflicted on Lark as well.
Rowan’s hands are pretty much tied. Moreover, ever since Moira told her that they’ve killed Albrecht, Rowan’s come to see how vicious the Scottish Mayfairs can be. The wedding’s out of Rowan’s hands. If the way the bride and groom are bound with ropes to be kept apart is any sign, Lasher and Emaleth are headed towards an unbelievably passionate affair. It’s as though they’re two forces of nature–helpless against the pull of their purpose–to procreate and bring forth a being who will heal the world. It does seem pretty odd that Emaleth comes off completely powerless against the whims of the Mayfairs. If she’s Taltos, wouldn’t she have the power to make them bend to her will? That kind of makes me ponder the possibility of Rowan being spot on about the Scottish Mayfairs. The idea is noble. You get two powerful beings together. They birth the healer of the world. As a reward, your magic gets more potent. But the Scottish Mayfairs may have more of a sinister role in this whole ordeal. They might’ve even been a part of the scheme that killed Ashlar. They only stood to gain from it if they could make themselves necessary to Ashlar’s rebirth.
In the ending of Mayfair Witches episode 7, the priest weds the two Taltos who are dying to consummate the marriage. It’s pretty freaky that the consummation takes place practically in front of the wedding guests. But the Taltos don’t live by the human code of morals. This is Rowan’s true initiation to the world of the “creature” she has birthed. I suppose things are about to move pretty fast with Lasher and Emaleth. Even if Rowan wins this fight, she might be going home with a daughter-in-law and a very grown grandkid.
