* AntiClimax: The climactic fight between witch and wizard was given quite a bit of build up, but it happens mostly unseen and what Esk does see only takes up about a paragraph.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Esk remained popular with some fans despite the fact that her story 'ended' and she was unseen at Unseen University (sorry) from then on... [[spoiler: until ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', roughly thirty-five years later in-universe and about twenty-five years later in RealLife.]]
** Granny Weatherwax was so beloved that she promptly became one of the main faces of the Witches books and one of the most popular ''Discworld'' characters of all time.
* FridgeHorror: Cutangle and his reforms are never seen or mentioned again after this book, but given the KlingonPromotion nature of the position of Archchancellor he was almost certainly killed before the events in ''Sourcery.''
** Cleaning the wizards' lavatory, Esk briefly stands between two mirrors, and glimpses one of the receding infinity of her own reflections waving to her. Cute, right? Now go read the other witch novels, and consider [[Literature/WitchesAbroad what happened to Lilith...]]
* HarsherInHindsight: Granny's insight that Esk hasn't been using the staff, it's been using itself and using ''Esk'', seems innocuous enough ... unless you've read ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'' too, in which we see a staff that similarly uses its bearer, ''and is an insane world-threatening villain''.
* HilariousInHindsight: Granny's awkwardness in giving TheTalk to Esk, given that she's later confirmed to still be a "maid" herself.
* SoOkayItsAverage: Widely regarded as the most "middle of the road" Discword book. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Its considered better than most of the early ones,]] but is a very weak start to the Witches stories.