Season 4, Episode 1
A Flock of Lost Birds
Kady begins to realize her life has been changed and tries to put the pieces together.Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
- Anti-Magic: The cells in the Library are painted with a material that blocks magic.
- Call-Back: Kimber's introduction to Brakebills is shot in the same way as Quentin's back in the first episode. She and Todd also have a similar exchange to one that Quentin and Eliot had, where she wonders if she's hallucinating and he points out that him saying "No" could just be part of the hallucination.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Ember set up a magical emanation of himself to contact the current High King of Fillory if anything (besides he himself) threatens the realm. When Janet doesn't remember Fillory is real and doesn't respond as quickly as he would like, he teleports her to Fillory.
- Dare to Be Badass: Zelda is keeping Alice around because she believes Alice has the potential to become one of the world's greatest wizards, and Zelda isn't willing to let her die before that can happen.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Alice slits her own wrists and bleeds out, betting that Zelda will save her life. As she's recuperating, she's able to snag a cockroach as the first step in an escape plan.
- Glamour: All the members of the group have been given magical disguises that not only disguise them but actively cause disaster around them if anyone tries to question their new reality. Marina has to go to great lengths just to poke a hole in the glamour and it leaves her coughing when she's finished.
- It's A Small Net After All: Kady googles her fake identity. On page two she finds the obscure comic that was used to source the identity of herself and her friends.
- Irony: The group's "witness protection" identities reflect their personalities to various extents, and might have been ideal lives for them in a world without Brakebills. Unfortunately, it all comes crashing down.
- Quiet, studious Quentin is a professor.
- Ambitious and driven Julia got to live her dream of attending Brakebills, which she wasn't initially allowed to do in Timeline 40.
- Mean and glamorous Margo is a fashion executive who gets to order other people around.
- Lone wolf with a heart of gold Kady is a tough and competent cop.
- The casual Penny is a famous DJ.
- The hedonistic Josh is an Uber driver, which at first glance doesn't seem all that glamorous, but gives him the freedom to party.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: Inverted. The glamour disguises of the group are visible in the mirror while the viewer sees their real selves.
- Mythology Gag: Margo's witness protection identity is named Janet, the same name as her literary counterpart.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: A lot of the episode resembles a police procedural (in Kady's scenes) with a dash of The Devil Wears Prada (in Margo's scenes).
- Santa Claus: Santa Claus is a magician who learned forbidden magic that allowed him to become the legendary figure. The Library captured him because he had to poke around in the Poison Room to get that knowledge. He doesn't particularly like the moniker, deeming it too commercial.
- Shout-Out: Margo/Janet's subplot is a homage to The Devil Wears Prada, with her as Miranda Priestly. She's a Mean Boss who orders her plucky young assistant around. She even has said assistant fetch a difficult-to-get fantasy series book order.
- Slashed Throat: The Monster slashes the throat of to an ice cream vendor who annoys him.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Ember's magical emanation informs Janet that something is threatening Fillory, but he doesn't know what exactly it is, hence why he wants her to deal with it.
- Wham Shot: The end of the prologue as we see through Fogg's glasses that "Kimber" is really Julia.
