Season 1, Episode 8
The Strangled Heart
Eliot and Mike grow closer, while Quentin and Alice spend time apart to assess their feelings for each other. Mike, while attacking Quentin, stabs Penny with a cursed blade. Recognizing a similar event from the Fillory and Further books, Quentin and Alice are able to save him. Mike pretends to remember nothing until Eliza confronts him, at which point he recognizes her as Jane Chatwin and kills her. He also attempts to kill Dean Fogg, but before he can, he is killed by Eliot. In rehab, Julia meets a counselor named Richard who was trained at Brakebills and introduces her to religious magic.
Tropes Present In This Episode:
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: Eliza is revealed to be Jane Chatwin of the Fillory books.
- Bury Your Gays: Mike is killed by his lover, Eliot.
- Everyone Can See It: Quentin and Alice, after they gave into their animal sides at Brakebills South. Eliot spots it immediately; Penny, typically, finds it annoying, since he feels Quentin is hurting Alice by not admitting it.
- Idiot Ball: As we learn later, Jane is aware that she's going to be killed someday, doing something extremely brave. It turns out that brave thing is standing right in front of The Beast-possessed Mike instead of talking to him from several feet away or even through a closed door.
