Episode Recap: The Flying Forest

So, last episode Quentin got into a huge fight with The Beast while trying to save Alice, who became a Niffin, then had to be defeated by Quentin’s Cacodemon. In the process, his shoulder was severed. And so, he’s getting it repaired by the Centaurs, who act as magical doctors. The catch is – his new shoulder is wood. Eliot and Margo, meanwhile, are left to figure out what to do with Fillory now. It has no money and the wellspring still isn’t repaired from Ember’s pooping in it. Eliot is morose, but Margo has an idea and heads back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Julia has located Kady, who's totally high in some drug den. has helped Kady get clean and talks her into helping with the plan to defeat Reynard. Kady is surprised when Julia reveals the (Oh God!) frozen dead Marina. The plan is to bring Marina back to life with the help of a library book. In order for that to happen, Julia has to get a special book from Brakebills.

As Quentin wakes up, he is reminded that Alice is dead and meets up with Penny, who came to get his hands checked out. These two are not friends. And even worse, Penny’s hands can’t be healed because it’s magic that even the centaurs are afraid of.  But all is not lost in Fillory, Margo’s plan works and she returns with a stash of living clay that she can use to make a new version of Eliot. With any luck, now they’ll be able to travel back and forth between the two worlds together (remember, Eliot's stuck in Fillory).

The plan works! Doppleganger Eliot (henceforth known as DopEliot) and Margo are able to end up at Brakebills. Julia found the book she needs, but since she can’t take it from the library, she’s forced to copy it by hand. When Margo discovers her, the two throw down: Julia calls Margo shallow and Margo mostly agrees, but also offers to help Julia copy the book. Not so bad after all, that Margo.

Meanwhile, at the Centaur’s retreat, Quentin spots the “White Lady” a sort of fawn-like white creature. One of the centaurs tells him that she’s one of the questing creatures of Fillory – and capturing her requires her to give the hunter a wish. Meanwhile, Penny has Quentin chop his hands off (yes, that) because his hands are still coming after him and uncontrollable.  

Back at Brakebills, some stuff is going down. The students and teachers are experiencing “magic brown-outs, “ but that isn’t even the weirdest part. Todd has taken over the cottage, and DopEliot is furious. Not to fear, he also meets a second year student he finds super hot and they decide they’re going to fool around. Instead, he ends up in a confusing mind-state where he’s jumping between his bodies. One of which is having sex with his wife in Fillory. And the other of which is having sex with the dude from the party. He decides to just go with it.

Penny and Quentin set off to find the White Lady. Penny is going to capture her and get his hands back and Quentin is going to bring Alice back to life. The problem is, they end up in the flying forest, which takes away your memories and makes you basically stoned. So that mission is stalled for a bit.   

Julia and Kady manage to wake up Marina, who tells them that 40 years ago, a girl got Reynard out of this world and she was the key to the whole plan. And then, just as abruptly as she was brought back to life, Marina dies.   Back in Fillory, Quentin and Penny finally do find the white lady, she agrees to fix Penny’s hands, and then tells Quentin that she’s not able to bring Alice back to life.  Quentin is destroyed and gives his final wish – to leave all of this behind and go back to New York. Wish granted.