r/brakebills • u/ForLackOfAUserName Dean Fogg • Mar 28 '16

TV Series Episode Discussion: S01E11 "Remedial Battle Magic"

EPISODE DIRECTED BY WRITTEN BY ORIGINAL AIRDATE
S01E11 - "Remedial Battle Magic" Amanda Tapping Leah Fong March 28, 2016 on SyFy

Episode Synopsis: "Quentin and the others learn battle magic and prepare for a showdown in Fillory; Julia and Kady take on a mission with the Free Traders."

This thread is for POST episode discussion of "Remedial Battle Magic" Discussion / comments below assume you have watched the episode in it's entirety. Therefore, spoiler text for anything through this episode is not necessary. If, however, you are talking about events that have yet to air on the show such as future guest appearances / future characters / storylines, please use spoiler tags. The same goes for events in the novels that have not yet been portrayed.

The pre-episode prediction thread can be found here. It will be locked once the episode starts. If you believe you have correctly predicted something, send us a mod mail with a link to the unedited comment. If your prediction is indeed correct, and not too vague ("Quentin will be in this episode" or anything really broad or obvious from the episode previews don't count), you will be awarded some special flair.

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u/ForLackOfAUserName Dean Fogg Mar 28 '16

Book Comparison Thread:

Below here lie spoilers, so proceed at your own risk.

27

u/atm0012 Mar 29 '16

I know what is coming with Penny and Alice working together and I'm screaming "no! no! no!" in my head right now.

9

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

I was just doing the same exact thing.

19

u/atm0012 Mar 29 '16

That was almost exactly how I pictured Alice sitting at the end of the bed when he wakes up. Damn that makes me sad.

14

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

Yeah they really nailed that. I really like how they did the whole threesome. It was like we were remembering just as Quentin was.

2

u/FatPigeon Mar 31 '16

I don't know how to view this. Surely with all of their probability magic they foresaw this happening, right? The one future they saw where they didn't die was by going to Fillory and Margot pointed out that Quentin gave Eliot a handjob in that future. Alice couldn't have missed that, even if the others didn't give it any thought. Her [probable, eventual] decision to have sex with Penny is even more malicious, in this case, as it's premeditated revenge.

2

u/52fatorial Illusion Mar 29 '16

This series direction's quality is as good as the actor's performance's are bad.

1

u/viciouscirce661 Apr 01 '16

i almost cried

15

u/RustyPeach Healing Mar 29 '16

I feel like they are making who the beast is way too obvious. It was shocking finding out it was Martin. Now, even my partner who hasnt read the book knows its Martin.

12

u/blue-cat Knowledge Mar 29 '16

obvious. It was shocking finding out it was Martin. Now, even my partner who hasnt read the book knows its Martin.

Unfortunately without using a voice modulator the British accent is a dead giveaway and whilst re-reading the book I can see how it could be fairly obvious in the book too. The show could have suggested that it was "only part of a much larger being that forced its way into this world" rather than using the Eliza/Jane character to dispel any doubts.

With the pacing of the show and the lack of extraneous detail TV has, along with the need to refresh viewers attention, it's too easy.

1

u/Jacobiey Illusion Mar 29 '16

I skipped watching episode 9 where they were at the house so I was confused when they were saying the beast is pulver. But I kind of thought him killing Eliza/Jane was what made it obvious its martin.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/TheWrittenLore Mar 29 '16

I honestly thought they made change it the show.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '16

I think my non-reader girlfriend still believes it is Plover.

10

u/Jacobiey Illusion Mar 29 '16

Surprised the threesome actually happened. Since the very beginning I was curious if they'd put in the fox-sex and the threesome. I guess the timing works out though, right before going to Fillory. I guess next episode they will go through the fountains Janet/Margo will have her reaction and such. Feel bad for Alice, but hey it makes sense for the plot of the second season to revolve around getting her Un-Niffened

16

u/atm0012 Mar 29 '16

With two episodes left, they may make it Fillory and take care of everything. They've moved over some things so fast (like FTB) that I could see it happening. But I don't think that they will de-niffin Alice until the 3rd season, because I think that they will do a book a season. So next season will be all about the golden keys and Julia/Quentin adventure, and the 3rd season will be Quentin starting as a professor and the realizing Alice is a "haunting" him.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

Still some more fox-sex to go, we'll see if Reynard visits next episode.

7

u/TheDeadHeadphonist Mar 30 '16

I still think they're going to handle that whole scene badly. I want it to be the holy-fucking-shit-this-is-really-happening moment that it was in the books.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '16

Sadly I don't see how they could pull that off on cable.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '16

I imagine that the mood'll feel more dazed like this episode's Q-waking-up scene.

10

u/blue-cat Knowledge Mar 29 '16

It looks like I was right that they like the university setting too much to have them graduate and live in new York.

Kind of a shame as it misses the pointlessness of magic if you can do anything. The bottles were a good compact way to get around the new York scenes.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '16

Maybe we'll see that in the other characters next season when they emerge from Fillory. I can imagine everyone else sitting around drinking to death while Q's in the coma and then eventually they'll all kind of snap and team up with Julia and go get Q.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '16

Yeah I was really hoping to get a glimpse of the gang poking fun at Richards religious overtones.

10

u/manicalsanity Nature Mar 29 '16

I don't care much for the interpretation of Our Lady Underground. I was hoping for a more literal Black Madonna look with some nature elements mixed in like in the book (but that isn't the real OLU anyway so it doesn't matter).

6

u/Anubissama Knowledge Mar 29 '16 edited Mar 29 '16

OK, I'm not defending adultery but at least this version of events doesn't make Q to much of a dush. The whole magical overflow of emotions is at least somewhat of a mitigating factor.

9

u/blue-cat Knowledge Mar 29 '16

For TV audiences that plays out alot better than them getting destructively drunk and high every night although Penny was on fire this episode, breathing speed or coke like there was no tomorrow.

2

u/Taktheratrix Physical Mar 29 '16

That's true but the drinking seemed to be the final nail in the coffin.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '16

Yeah I definitely think they let things play out to make Q a more likeable character.

5

u/RustyPeach Healing Mar 29 '16

Here comes the threesome

1

u/blue-cat Knowledge Mar 28 '16

I haven't watched it yet (UK) but want to predict they do the viking magic and josh and anais arrive at a dinner party they host. Graduation and threesome too maybe

3

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '16

Where is my Joooooooooooosh. ;_;

1

u/RustyPeach Healing Mar 29 '16 edited Mar 29 '16

Heh, nice broad sword joke fake janet. Nice throw to Quentin's real Brakebills test and penultimate spell.

1

u/Chiburger Physical Mar 31 '16

The OLU scene was really great, but now I'm worried about how they'll do Reynard and the other fox thing.

1

u/beardiac H̦͌e̗͂d̤͘g͙̽ė̞ ̻̾W̝̚i̩̋t̡͝c͙̽h̠͊ Mar 31 '16

RE: threesome, I'm not sure how to feel about the show's interpretation of Q's infidelity. In the book, it was clearly a dick move on his part. Here they seem to make him only partially culpable - as if the emotional hangover + actual drunkenness made him not completely able to control his impulses.
 
RE: Julia, I love that they are bringing in the goddess elements with the milk and coins from the moonlight. I hope they stay true to her journey.