Season 5, Episode 3
The Mountain of Ghosts
Margo, Josh, and Fen make plans to retake Fillory; Alice and Eliot go on a quest together; and Penny and Julia search for someone who can predict the magic surges.Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: With Margo and Eliot cut off from Fillory, Josh and Fen turn out to have hooked up with each other numerous times. Technically, it's more of a transgression on Josh's part since his relationship with Margo was active and more mutual.
- Broken Pedestal: Eliot lets everyone think Margo got them out of being pointlessly killed in the past. After she, Fen, and Josh go through their werewolf transformations, Margo breaks that pedestal herself because she doesn't want them to think she's a good person.
- Chekhov's Gun: Fen requests to duel with "childsplay knives" during the tournament. When Margo stabs her with one of these knives during their duel, it turns out said knives are enchanted so they can never cause lethal injuries.
- Clarke's Third Law: It's impossible to predict the magic surges using regular old magic... so Zoe creates a statistical model that can. It predicts the apocalypse will happen in two weeks.
- Close-Call Haircut: During their fight, Margo lops off a piece of Fen's braid with a near-miss of her axe.
- Commonality Connection: Eliot and the mysterious traveler bond over their lost loved ones.
- Digging to China: There's a well at the top of the mountain that goes straight down to the Underworld. Alice is taking the bit of Quentin's soul she stole up to it so she can reunite it with the rest.
- Everyone Can See It: Alice, at least, knew that Quentin was in love with Eliot as well as her all along, though she is glad Eliot told her.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: Alice gives one after Eliot says he thinks he almost had sex with the Dark King.
- Foreshadowing: The man who saves Eliot uses a spell that kills a Taker, something Josh and Fen couldn't figure out but the Dark King did.
- Hearing Voices: Eliot randomly hears a voice with no obvious source calling to him while prepping the camp.
- How Did You Know? I Didn't: Fen thinks Margo stabbed her knowing the knife wouldn't be lethal. After their werewolf transformation passes, Margo corrects the record.
- Internal Reveal:
- Eliot tells Alice about the time he and Quentin spent as a couple while they were trying to solve the mosaic.
- Margo tells Josh and Fen that Eliot sent the letter that saved their lives.
- It Runs in the Family: Bik is the latest in a line of Pickwicks serving as courtiers of Fillory.
- King Incognito: The man who helps Alice and Eliot turns out to be the Dark King.
- Lonely Together: Fen and Josh only hooked up after they gave up on waiting for Margo to return.
- Motivational Lie: Eliot lets everyone think Margo sent the letter that saved them, because a simple story is better for them.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Margo's horror after she thinks she's stabbed Fen to death immediately snaps her out of her rage.
- Noodle Incident: Zoe and her sisters averted an apocalypse in their senior year, but one of them was killed in the process.
- No-Sell: A Taker hit by one of Eliot's attack spells barely breaks its stride.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Dark King considers allowing one woman to join the Centurion Guard to be "progressive," and even then women are still referred to as the weaker sex, despite the fact that Margo and Fen both defeated multiple male opponents as well as female. Given what we see of the Dark King this episode, it's also possible this reflects his subjects' attitudes more than his.
- Power Incontinence: Due to the coming full moons on Fillory causing what Josh describes as "werewolf PMS," Margo's attempts to cast a skin-hardening charm only work on her left side.
- Refusal of the Call: Zoe saved the world once already, losing one sister in the process, and she's not interested in going through that again.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Alice and Eliot start fighting on their pilgrimage, their guide goes off for a smoke.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The Markus sisters. Zoe is a gregarious big-time financial analyst who is unwilling to help the protagonists avert the end of the world; Dani is an introverted mathematician who helps them out.
- The Smurfette Principle: Invoked. The Dark King only allowed one female Centurion at a time, so because Margo and Fen both qualified, they must fight each other for the position.
- Spotting the Thread: Margo quickly works out that Josh and Fen had sex when Fen exhibits signs of lycanthropy.
- Super-Toughness: Margo uses a skin-hardening spell which makes her immune to bladed weapons, but her lycanthropy acting up causes the spell to only work on her left side.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Alice and Eliot's guide mocks them for their ignorance regarding the Takers, and says they'll get themselves killed by sitting around eating cake and crying. Someone gets taken, but it ain't them.
