Season 2 of Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale is here, and with quite a twisted first episode. The show is about a city where witches can live freely. The first season ended on quite a shocking note, with Harper revealing herself as a witch and also killing Abigail, with no consequences, might I add, and the mystery of Dan’s death was solved. In typical fashion, the second season also begins with a murder, but it’s quite an unexpected one. On the other hand, the political climate surrounding the witches is as bad as it can get, thanks to everything that went down with Sarah and Harper. The question remains, will Sanctuary remain a safe space for witches, or will the whole world that these witches set up be ruined forever? On the other hand, we still don’t know much about the Grimoire. Is it connected to Harper somehow? Why does her magic keep getting called reckless, and will she manage to go on her wanderings like she’s been desperate to? With that said, let’s jump straight into the first episode of season 2.
Spoiler Alert
Who Was Murdered?
Episode 1 of the second season begins with Harper and Sarah practising magic in a remote place in Stoneacre. Sarah’s trying to teach Harper resistance. How to control her magic, but Harper’s clearly rebellious. When Agatha visits, Sarah tells her she’s simply showing Harper some magic because nobody knows Harper has magic, too. Harper plays along well. It appears there are new rules for the witches, even applying to normal work such as farming. At least 3 witches need to work together to get a good crop. But they’re not allowed to gather anymore. The problem is, even if one troublemaker reports them, they’re at risk of prosecution.
In the meantime, Maggie is struggling to keep the peace, because everyone is against her freeing Sarah and Harper. They think they’re still evil. The MP for Sanctuary, Angela, has clearly decided she’s against the witches, and berates Maggie at a jury meant to decide if what she did was right or not. Maggie defends herself as well as Sarah and Harper, but Angela’s words are reminiscent of Abigail’s, though she’s also not a witch, so there’s way more weight to it. Maggie keeping an open mind about the witches is seen as a big problem. All while Ryan, her young assistant, is doing his own sort of research all by himself, despite the dangers of it all.
Now, Sarah decides to leave Harper with the other witches and goes to the moot. It appears she’s not being accepted by her own kind. She’s used magic egregiously, which “lit fires everywhere.” She gets reminded that the hearings are causing quite a problem. It appears her grimoire is still in use, but she doesn’t have it; the police somehow lost it. But Sarah is still to blame for anything that goes wrong for the witches. Sarah wants to appeal to the council, but the decision is up to the moot. Sarah wants to return to Sanctuary to make everyone understand that she’s not the evil being they think she is. She wants reconciliation, and she’s been feeling like a refugee for the past year. All she wants in return is safety for Harper, who they think is a non-witch.
When she’s back, Harper’s still talking about her wanderings. Sarah’s certain that Harper’s not ready, but the girl’s adamant. For the moment, Sarah leaves her behind and goes back to Sanctuary by herself, but she tells Harper to keep “Starcross” (the same thing she said she’d lost). Back in Sanctuary, Sarah is reunited with Bridgette, who is now friends with Angela, who has a book club. Bridgette thinks Angela’s nice, but she’s clearly at odds with Sarah. We’ll have to wait and see which side she chooses. On the other hand, Maggie receives shocking news. Ryan’s been killed, and his arteries were severed. Maggie visits his remaining family. Ryan went to this woman after his mom passed, but they were family too. She tells Maggie that she wants her to handle the case and get him justice because she’s the best. Turns out Ryan told her about how Maggie was his mentor, but this makes Maggie beat herself up, thinking he got in trouble because of her. More importantly, it’s revealed Ryan was doing some sort of research of his own around Bittershore, a waterbody that had a history of animal killings, ones that looked like witchy rituals. Ryan, like Maggie, believed witches were good.
Who Visits Harper?
On the other hand, a man named Lachlan visits Harper and tells her he’s writing a book and would love to meet her mom. It seems Agatha knows him, too, and thinks he’s a trustworthy person. On the other hand, Harper’s also eager to see the witches on the farm, and she asks if she can watch, but she makes a massive mistake when she touches the ground, which leads to the crop being completely ruined. So much for a fruitful season. Maybe it’s got something to do with the tattoos, no? Anyway, this leads to Agatha throwing Harper out, because she feels she’s evil and reckless and will do something dangerous. This is not the time to show off your skills; it’s the time to hide and not let anyone see what you’re capable of, especially as a witch. Back in Sanctuary, it looks like someone is doing some evil things, but we don’t really see anything except for some witchcraft. The next morning, Angela visits the police and tells the chief that she needs information first, and it should not come to her through the press.
On the other hand, Lachlan joins Harper on her road trip because he needs a ride, and she happens to come by. They decide to get some food, but when Harper sees herself on the news, she feels terrible and walks away. Lachlan tells her he’ll give her company and protect her. This is when they start bonding, with him telling her witchy tales and her enjoying them. On the other hand, Maggie visits Sarah and asks her to help her find who killed Ryan, but Sarah refuses because she’s too afraid of the consequences. Magie’s disappointed, of course, and even tells Sarah that she feels guilty for what’s happened. Later, Sarah receives a package, and it’s a lock of Harper’s hair from her own files. Meanwhile, Harper asks Lachlan about Redhaven. Apparently 100s of years ago, witches came together to fight persecution; some believe they survived in a separatist community, but other people think they died. Harper calls it a “witch illuminati.” Back at the safes, Sarah finds all her clients’ records ruined and pulled out of the shelves. She knows someone has stolen Harper’s files and sent her the lock of hair. She immediately calls Maggie to tell her what’s happened. The two of them meet up in the dark of night, because now Sarah’s ready to help find out what happened to Ryan. The same person is threatening Harper.
At the end of episode 1 of Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale, Sarah is shocked to find out that a witch murdered Ryan at the boathouse. Sarah talks about a “Divining Spell.” She says the magic is very strong. Sarah reveals a sigil. But on the other hand, another shocking truth is revealed by Sarah to Harper, who makes it to Sanctuary. It appears the friend Harper made, Lachlan, is actually her father. Big reveals are happening this season already! We’ll have to wait till next week to find out if he’s here for good reasons or not.
