WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8, of A Discovery of Witches, streaming now on Sundance Now, Shudder and AMC+.
At the end of A Discovery of Witches Season 1, before timewalking to the past with Diana, Matthew made his vampire son, Marcus, the Grand Master of the Knights of Lazarus. The Knights are an organization started by Matthew's step-father Philippe and, while they remain a big deal based on reputation, they no longer have much of an impact on the daily lives of creatures. However, in the latest episode, the eighth of Season 2, Marcus realizes he can make the group relevant again by using them to change the rules that creatures have lived by for centuries.
The last time we caught up with Marcus in Season 2, Episode 4, he had a conversation with Nathaniel in which Nathaniel dismissed the Knights of Lazarus as obsolete. He also learned that, while he isn't afflicted with blood rage, as a member of Ysebeau's bloodline, he's a carrier -- something his family had been keeping from him for hundreds of years. Feeling betrayed, in Episode 8, he's decides to give up his position as Grand Master of the Knights of Lazarus and wash his hands of his entanglements with creature politics. Baldwin, the last living member of the De Clermont family that was turned into a vampire by Philippe and not Ysebeau, covets the position, so Marcus plans to hand the responsibility over to him, even though both Ysebeau and Matthew warned him against doing so.
But before he officially surrenders control of the Knights, two things happen that make Marcus change his mind. First, Sophie and Nathaniel's baby, Margaret is born and, as suspected, Margaret is a witch even though both her parents are daemons. The Council that holds sway over creatures has always maintained strict dividing lines between witches, daemons and vampires, and this makes Margaret's very existence dangerous. In fact, Marcus, Sophie and Nathaniel know if the witches find out about Margaret, they would try to take her away from her parents.
Second, Marcus officially gets together with Phoebe Taylor after proving to the skeptical human that he really is a vampire. Marcus fills Phoebe in on everything about his existence including the Knights of Lazarus, and that he plans to give the leadership of the organization up. But Phoebe points out that this would be a missed opportunity. After all, with the Knights at his disposal, he can do great things and fix creature politics for future generations.
Marcus recognizes the truth of Phoebe's observation and when he goes to meet Baldwin to formally hand over the medallion that symbolizes the Knights of Lazarus' leadership, he instead tells Baldwin he plans to stay on as Grand Master so he can bring positive change for creatures and help people like Sophie, Nathaniel and their daughter. Marcus tries to enlist Baldwin's help, but even though Baldwin is Marcus' vampire uncle, he isn't interested in working with him. Baldwin isn't concerned about the plight of other creatures, especially since Marcus' decision has prevented him from claiming control of an organization he believes should rightfully be his. In his fury, Baldwin insults Marcus and they part on bad terms, leading Baldwin to reveal Margaret's existence to fellow Council member Gerbert, who in turn, informs the witch Peter Knox.
Knox goes to the hospital where Sophie has just had her baby to verify that the newborn is indeed a witch. Upon confirming her status, he tells Margaret's grandmother Agatha, another Council member, that Margaret belongs to the witches and he will come back soon to take her so she can be raised with her own kind.
This is certainly a blow to Marcus' vision of creature unity. Clearly there are plenty of creatures who still despise the other species, and unfortunately many of them -- like Knox -- are against the idea of abandoning the divisions between them. After all, they've stayed separate for hundreds of years and deep prejudices against one another have become ingrained because of it. Yet, between the union of Diana and Matthew and the birth of Margaret, the previously established walls between species have already started to crumble. Marcus could very well hasten the evolution of the species' perceptions of one another from enemies to allies with the Knights of Lazarus' help -- and in the process he could fundamentally change the politics that have governed creatures for so long.
A Discovery of Witches Season 2 stars Teresa Palmer, Matthew Goode, Alex Kingston, Valarie Pettiford, Lindsay Duncan, Edward Bluemel, Aiysha Hart, Daniel Ezra, Aisling Loftus, Trevor Eve, Owen Teale, Malin Buska, Gregg Chillin, Tom Hughes, James Purefoy, Steven Cree and Adelle Leonce. New episodes are available to stream every Saturday on Sundance Now, Shudder and AMC+.
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