The Hidden Page
Episode 3 of A Discovery of Witches Season 3 begins in the US. Matthew, Marcus and Jack arrive to grave news; Geraldine decides there will be no scion. After the cull, there’s certainly no love lost here and the mission seems lost before they’ve even started. This is made all the more complicated and difficult given Jack is struggling to control his blood rage. They need a cure for him – and fast. After the video involving Benjamin, Jack feels like he’s been infected again. While Matthew stays with him, Marcus tries to make amends with Ransome, heading in to see him at his club. Marcus wants them to sign up to fight against the Congregation. Ransome likens this to being a sacrificial lamb, pointing out how his fellow vamps would be destroyed in the process of this. When Marcus brings up their plan, intending to form a scion to keep them all safe, Ransome rejects the offer. And even more so when he mentions the Blood Rage cure. “It’s a couple of centuries too late.” He declares matter-of-factly. However, Ransome soon shows up in front of Jack, learning that he’s the blood-raged vampire responsible for the killings. Jack points out that Matthew has ben helping him try to control his rage, which seems to be enough to pique his interest and reconsider Matthew. He sends a message to Matthew, asking to meet in private, determined to hash out their differences. Back in London, Diana works with Phoebe to find missing magic books. One in particular that takes Diana’s attention is the Book of Soyga. It went missing in 1583 at Dee’s library and was returned in 1595. It also appears to be full of symbols and icons. It’s had quite the journey over the years but appears to be settled in the British Library. Diana heads there early the next day, although she’s not happy about Gallowglass being ordered to accompany her. With him waiting outside the manuscript room, Diana heads in and finds the book in question. Searching through its pages, she uses her magic to form a veil around herself, making it seem like she’s just reading the pages. In reality, she uses her spells to move the letters quite literally off the page, forming a hidden message within. Specifically, the letter H. Could this be in reference to Hubbard? Diana certainly seems to think so. While this is going on, Hubbard is visited by Knox who brings up the riddle involving the Angel of Death and the Angel of Life, something Kelley mentioned in his letter. Knox has figured this out and believes Hubbard is in possession of one of the valuable pages. Just before Knox tries to strike him with magic, Hubbard moves on him, quick as a flash, choking the man out and promising he won’t leave the building alive if he continues. Some time later, Diana shows up and asks for the page too. After revealing his unpleasant spat with Knox, Hubbard also decides not to give it over to Diana. She implores him to see reason, pointing out that Knox believes this could tip the balance in the favour of the witches. Gerbert by comparison believes it holds the key to the origin of vampires, allowing the vamps to gain superiority in this cold war. There really isn’t a definitive answer over what it holds but one thing’s for sure -Diana does not desire ultimate power. She’s playing both sides, caught in the middle of this war. She also promises that if they fail in this task, war will break out regardless and the false pretense that everyone is equal will be lost. This is enough for Hubbard to hand over the hidden page. “I’m entrusting you to have the courage to do what needs to be done… whatever you may have to sacrifice.” He says ominously. Is this a bit of foreshadowing? Anyway, after promising not to betray that trust, Diana is one step closer to solving this conundrum. Back home, Phoebe also continues her research. She traces the origins of the book, as Diana and Sarah note that a page could be with a witch, vampire and a demon. This would make sense and as they continue looking, they uncover a guy called TJ Weston, who bought an illustrated page of the tree. This seems to be the man (or daemon as it turns out) they’re looking for. In the US, Matthew shows up to see Ransome at his club. There’s no love lost between them, and as they hash out their problems, Matthew recites every person he’s killed over the years. That list includes Jacqueline Lascelle, Ransome’s lover. This is enough for Ransome to lend his hand, agreeing to join the scion. In Venice, Benjamin shows up to see Satu. After learning about Diane’s twins, he’s on a vengeful mission, working on Gerbert’s orders it seems. He wants Satu to join him, given the feud brewing between her and Diana, but while Satu will swear her revenge, she won’t join Benjamin right now. Trouble is most certainly brewing though.
The Episode Review
With a split focus between the US and London this episode, the attention turns to finding the pages of the book. With Hubbard handing one of them over to Diana, and TJ the next possible target, does anyone else think Knox may get his slimy hands on the third? Seeing Matthew reconcile his differences with Ransome is a nice touch to his character, while Diana’s mission to find the pages gives her a driven mission to work with this season too. We haven’t seen much in the way of the blood rage cure yet but I’d imagine this too will come up in the chapters ahead, possibly curing Jack – or seeing him as a necessary sacrifice to save the rest of the blood-raged vampires. Either way, there’s a good amount of work done here to establish high stakes, and with the Venice-bound council members scheming and determined to strike, Diana and Matthew have quite the mountain to climb in order to thwart this threat.
