Episode Recap: Oops!...I Did it Again

The team troubleshoots how to save the planet

Josh is cooking for the team while they troubleshoot how to save Earth. The Harmonic Convergence problem is solved, but the whole planet is at risk. So … it's worse? Margo and Eliot go over their emergency code words. Penny says they have 12 hours to save the planet. Alice is freaking out; Julia confidently comforts her. Kady stumbles in from the outside and has an idea for a spell they can try to work cooperatively. With five minutes to go, the team starts to work their magic when a surge hits. They Tut together to create a spell and … it fails. The world ends.

Eliot and Margo wake up — back in the events that happened the day before. What?! All the things that happened in the last 12 hours are happening again, and Margo and Eliot realize it. They are in a time loop! Just Margo and Eliot. They bring everyone else up to speed. They try other ways to save the planet. They fail. 1) Penny dies trying to travel. 2) Another cooperative spell fails. 3) Another spell fails. 4) A bad idea fails. 5) And on and on through 10 attempts.

Margo and Eliot ask a horomancer for help

Margo and Eliot head off to a horomancer Penny once met. He realizes that they sprayed something on themselves causing the loop. Eliot and Margo then remember spraying "Permanance" on in Fillory — Ooooh! The horomancer tries to send them back 48 hours but all time magic is locked. And thus, the world ends again.

Next up, Margo and Eliot try to use the clock to Fillory to talk to Jane Chatwin. It's a no-go, which means there's no portal. Eliot suggests they go back to Brakebills and relax with some potential creative problem solving, A.K.A. unbridled hedonism. They head to the Physical Kids Cottage to drink to excess. All the while Eliot periodically hears a voice calling his name, sees creepy writing, a door, etc. It's ominous, unsettling and super distracting.

He also starts seeing the words "Let Me Out" seemingly written in blood, along with visions of the door to the Mosaic Cottage in Fillory. He tells Margo he thinks the Monster is still inside him, she assures him it's PTSD. The next time Eliot wakes up, Margo does not remember the loop, and he is truly alone.

Eliot confides in Josh, who gives some unconventional advice about the Monster: Maybe let it out? It's Josh's vote of confidence that spurs Eliot to open the door the next time he hears knocking. And out of the door comes…Charlton! Apparently, Charlton was somehow still in Eliot's memories via his Happy Place and Eliot's Moon Brain gave him an exit.

Eliot, Charlton make friends with wales  

Eliot and his newfound ally in the time loop, Charlton, go to Fisher Beach to find Margo. There, they find a whale communication tower and learn that whales started the loop with their magic. They trace sigils into the ocean floor to keep the Kraken dormant. And if the Kraken awakens, ancestral whale magic will turn time back by 12 hours in order to fix whatever released it.

Eliot and Charlton strategize. Eliot thinks if they get the whales to release the Kraken early enough in the day and it sets the time loop back soon enough, they might have a chance to un-break the moon. The whales agree to help, and the plan works!

Eliot reverses the clock, saves a world and maybe another

The whales send Eliot back in time to the night of the Harmonic Convergence. Eliot uses a secret word with Margo, and quickly comes up with a new plan. They manage to knock out Marina, stop the Harmonic Convergence and NOT break the moon. Well done, Eliot: The world's unknown hero.

The team celebrates back at the NYC Penthouse. Eliot talks to Margo on the balcony. He admits that things have not been going well and he's been pushing her away. He does remember the Monster, and it was bad and bloody. He knows he's better with Margo but is struggling to let her in, even though he knows he is miserable when she's not around. She tells him to save himself like he saved everyone else. They hug and it's lovely.

Then, there's frantic knocking at the Penthouse door and it's Todd. Sir Effingham has recently approached Todd, so he fills Julia in on the latest ask. Turns out the world is still ending, but not Earth. Fillory! They saved one world, and the other one is now at risk. Still at risk? Oof.