Episode Recap: The Serpent

A terrorist group calling themselves “Serpent” is kidnapping hedge witches, and implanting worms in their ears that hurt – or kill – them if they attempt to do magic. Pete shows Kady – it appears to be hedges turning on other hedges. 

Alice arrives at the Best Apartment Ever and offers to help Kady and others fight against The Library. Kady responds with fisticuffs: a quick punch in the nose for poor Alice. OK, now they can work together. She recommends to Kady and Pete that they map the system of magical pipes in order to find weak spots to exploit. They need a mole inside The Library, and Alice has an idea on who might fit the bill.

In The Library, Zelda attempts communication with Harriet. She appears in her mirror,
as well as that of Alice and Alice’s mom. She’s split into three pieces. To Alice, this is
leverage – a way to help Zelda and to also get what they want. Alice agrees to help put
Harriet together and escape from the mirror realm if Zelda will provide info on magical
junction boxes so they can track the system. Pete tells Kady that another hedge safe
house was attacked and she asks for a day to sort this out before they act.

Julia, Penny and Quentin are discussing the Dragon’s odd message – "Seek the Binder" – when Evil Eliot appears. The good news: The artifact they found was one of the god stones. And his “better” news: He only needs one more. And he knows Enyalius has it. He directs them to find him in order to put him back together. So it’s off to the Brakebills library for research.

In Fillory, Fen is definitely NOT telling Margo about her prophecy. The one where she is
supposed to overthrow Margo. And now that the animals are talking, the bunnies are
able to tell the news from Q that Eliot is alive and trapped in his body. Margo is thrilled
and wants to save Eliot. And she also is so relieved that she is VERY into Josh. The
romance is back on. And Josh has some news – he’s hosting a banquet and has invited The Foremost, a guy in the kingdom who has ice axes that apparently can free bodies that are possessed. This could be a way to save Eliot. Margo wants to talk to The Foremost.

In the Brakebills library, Alice overhears Penny, Julia and Quentin research both The
Binder and Enyalius. She takes some notes, and stays in the shadows. Then she heads to a spellcasting room to work some magic. With the mirrors from her mom, the
apartment, and Zelda’s office she is ready to conjure Harriet. And she has to do this
solo, so Zelda and Kady leave. Harriet starts to appear, but only one Harriet emerges
from her mirror. The spell isn’t working. Then Alice reaches for the crystal and a second, Evil Alice appears. She’s so mean, and so delicious. Good Alice is afraid of her, freaks out, knocks her out, and traps her in Library jail in the mirror realm.

Ru, the Queen of West Loria, appears in Fillory for the banquet. She wants to see Fen.
She had a prophecy that they would unseat Margo together. And when Fen seems
hesitant, Ru pulls out the threats. Looks like Fen is going to have to follow through on
this whole overthrow-Margo thing.

Evil Eliot has brought a psychic back to the apartment. He wants to remember things
from his prior life, and thinks this random guy might help. But – oops – he kills him. EE
needs someone with a stronger mind. Penny volunteers himself. Julia is concerned, and Penny is touched by that. Truly. There might be something happening between him and Julia. She doesn’t like it, but agrees to date him if he survives this EE mind game. EE and Penny go into his memories. He remembers an altar, the god rocks and a woman being sacrificed by Enyalius. Penny spots a door and goes through it, where he meets the real Eliot. They have a quick conversation where Eliot shares a ton of info, and then Penny has to race back because EE is calling for “Percy 23,” aka this Penny. The experience works for EE – he gets the info he needs – and Penny collapses, unconscious.

In the Library, Zelda and Kady have a moment. Turns out Zelda’s mother was a hedge
witch and she was living on the street when she was rescued by her mentor/boss,
Everett. It turns out that Zelda agreed to share the magic pipe junction with them
because she believes that Kady will truly keep things fair in a world of lots of tough
choices.

In the spell room, Harriet tells Alice that she needs to work with her bad self. So Alice
heads through the looking-glass into the mirror world and has a really tough
conversation with herself. Ultimately, they both agree that they need to work together.

As they head out of the mirror realm a book tosses itself their way that happens to be
called The Binder, so Evil Alice grabs it and off they go. They then work together on the
spell to save Harriet, and it finally works. Alice becomes just one person, and so does
Harriet.

In Fillory Josh overhears Fen’s overthrow plan. He lets Margo know. Then she talks to
Pickwick and learns that The Foremost will not be at the dinner. Turns out, the Leader
of the Southern Nomads will not be attending the dinner. Turns out he’s a sworn enemy
of Fillory. Now Margo needs to go on a journey. Turns out this banishment thing might
be just what she needs. Margo encourages Fen to overthrow her and tells her as much, then undergoes a painful banishment. She has a tender goodbye with Josh, who promises to help Fen keep Fillory together and provides snacks, a map and a
soundtrack. And a kiss! They are too adorable and Margo must come back to him at
some point! 

Alice and Harriet emerge from the spellcasting room in Brakebills. Zelda is thrilled to be reunited with her daughter and they have a long conversation. Turns out Harriet could observe everyone when she was in the mirror realm, and she knows that Everett is lying to Zelda.

And the Serpent? The blood worm ting? That’s not being spread by the hedges. It’s Everett. He’s trying to consolidate power and control with The Library. Harriet tells Zelda she has to do something about it. And out on the city streets, Pete is attacked and a worm implanted in his ear.

In Awesome Apartment Penny regains consciousness. He tells Julia and Quentin what
he saw and what Eliot shared with him. Evil Eliot is not trying to rebuild his body, but in
fact is planning something even worse. CLIFFHANGER! OMG! Next, please. Pretty
please?