Episode Recap: Will You Play With Me?

As the Quest for the Seven Keys begins to reach its last stages, the whole gang is together to try and figure out how to break into “The Castle at the End of the World” - which has seven locks. They need to get there quickly, because the people who work in the library want to control magic by syphoning it off. They even got Alice to work for them at one point until Quentin talked her out of it. Julia, meanwhile, has been reached by a messenger god and learned that she's a full-on goddess now. It turns out that Our Lady Underground gave Julia that magic seed, and now Julia is “Our Lady of the Trees.” She gives Quentin enough magic for one spell, says her goodbyes, and off she goes to fulfill her destiny. 

The team realizes that someone must have built the Castle at the End of the World and figures out that it was Calypso: an architect who built the castle and trapped the two people protecting magic inside. They go and visit Calypso and learned that she built it as a prison to hold a creature of unbelievable magnitude. It has the fountain of magic they’ve been looking for, yes, but what's locked inside that castle can never ever be allowed to escape. (We've heard this before, in an alternate timeline, right?) 

Julia learns a lot about how to be a Goddess, but still keeps feeling her friends pain as she goes about it. Even though Iris tells her to move on from this, Julia can't seem to let it go. And Quentin is also about to do something a little drastic. Using the magic Julia gave him, Quentin goes to the Castle and asks about the fountain of magic. He meets Ora, who agrees to open the castle door for them, but in exchange, Quentin agrees to take her place guarding the castle. His friends are, of course, pretty mad about it. Margo and Eliot suggest that they take the god-killing bullet with them, but Quentin is adamant. He's going to sacrifice himself for the team, so they can all save magic together and ensure whatever's in that castle from escaping. 

Meanwhile, back in Fillory, the Fairy Queen tells Fen that someone is hunting her people. Fen sets a trap and discovers it's, yes, Irene McAllister. Now it's the Queen's turn to offer herself for a sacrifice. In exchange for fairies always being safe from harm, the Queen offers herself up to the McAllisters to make into magic cocaine. Who accept the deal. The Fairy Queen tells Irene McAllister that she'll live to regret this deal, and lays down her life in a brutal murder. Once and for all. 

Alice goes to Dean Fogg and asks about a potion that will make her forget all magic and assume a different life forever. She's very convincing, she really wants this - and she finally tells Quentin she loves him and that she'll miss him, even though she won't remember him. Oh! Also! It turns out, Dean Fogg is in cahoots with the Head Librarian. 

The gang reaches Castle Blackspire and it turns out that everyone has different plans: Alice sneaks off as Eliot and Margo exchange glances and Quentin meets the monster in the castle. That monster turns out to be a youngish boy who is all-powerful and simply WANTS. Even the Gods can't stop him. But because Eliot has brought that God-killing bullet. He shoots the creature because Eliot didn't want Quentin locked in a prison for the rest of his life. Which is a dreadful mistake, as it turns out. 

It turns out, though, that Alice also decides to take matters into her own hands. She conjures a spell to destroy all the keys because she believes humans can't handle magic. She succeeds in melting them and trying to escape, but Margo's not about to let her. As Alice tries to escape, she runs into the monster, who has possessed the body of Ora the Knight. They seem to be losing control of the evil they aren't supposed to release. Eliot and Margo bring Alice back to the throne room to fix the key problem, and Julia appears, using her God magic to recreate the keys. Because of Quentin's willingness to sacrifice himself for the team, she is sacrificing her God powers to recreate the keys. Just like Prometheus did. 

It works! The gang picks up the 7 keys and turn on the fountain of magic. Once it's flowing, they're overjoyed! They did it! They completed their quest! And then - Irene McAllister and Dean Fogg turn up and place the syphon on top of the fountain, effectively putting the Library in charge of all magic again. The quest actually failed. Dean Fogg gets to re-open Brakebills, but magic is spotty, so he now has to request magic current from the Head Librarian, who, by the way, has Alice trapped there for breaking her deal with the Library. It seems everyone else, though, is off doing things. They don't have magic and they don't know who they are. They're all other people with no memory of their past magical selves. And Alice warns Dean Fogg that the monster from that castle could escape by jumping bodies. Even the Gods are afraid of this power. And…that power has taken over Eliot.