Line #29 Recap/TheMagicians2016S03E03TheLossesOfMagic


1	'''Season 3, Episode 3'''
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3	!Losses of Magic
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5	Eliot's boat is attacked by pirates, and Margo has to deal with the Faerie Queen to save him. Meanwhile, the lamprey catches up to Alice, who is at her parents' house.
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7	!!Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
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9	* AstralProjection: Penny jumps out of his body to avoid the extremely painful surgery. This appears to have complicated the procedure somehow, as his body seemingly dies without him.
10	* BizarreTasteInFood: It seems that allowing him to eat the cancer he extracts is the price for summoning Asteroth. He treats it like a tasty snack, with it tasting better the further its developed, rather like cheese.
11	* ButchLesbian: The Pirate King is a tough lady who shows sexual interest in Margo.
12	* CallBack: Niffin!Alice liked pretty lights. Way back in season 1, Brakebills said Alice's discipline is light magic.
13	* ColdBloodedTorture: Alice tortured the lamprey's children to death. While she initially claims she was trying to learn about their magic, she later admits that they just made pretty lights when they died, and the slower they died the prettier the lights.
14	* CruelMercy: The lamprey spares Alice's mother, as it knows Alice hates her and figured leaving just her alive would rub salt in the wound.
15	* EarWorm: Invoked by the Faerie Queen, who punishes Gillan by sticking a song he hates in his head, which he will never be able to get out. Eventually, it will drive him mad.
16	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Well, maybe. The Faerie Queen claims to have been moved by Margo's speech to the ''Muntjac'', so she killed all the pirates so that the ''Muntjac'' wouldn't have to be raped by the pirate boat. Of course, she didn't raise a finger to help before Margo's speech.
17	* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The lamprey isn't trying to kill Alice. It just wants to kill her family and friends by impregnating them with its children.
18	* ForcefulKiss: Quentin is comforting Alice's mother when she suddenly starts trying to make out with him. This makes Alice suspicious that she had the Lamprey and might have put it back into him.
19	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Alice's kitten wigs out when it sees Carol, but it doesn't ''explode''.
20	* GlamourFailure:
21	** When Alice enters her parents' home, she's thrown by the horrible decor, like huge clocks and ugly statues. Her mother explains they've been using magic to cast the illusion of an upscale place for visitors.
22	** When Alice sees an overweight woman drinking, she's stunned to find it's their long-time neighbor Carol. It turns out she's been using magic to appearing younger and thinner all this time but now is exposed in her true appearance.
23	* HollywoodHeartAttack: Shocking a man in his 60s with a makeshift cattle prod (especially one who has a heart condition) can prove to be fatal.
24	* HopelessWithTech: Alice's father isn't even sure that cars have batteries.
25	* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: Pegasi are created by birds fucking horses, apparently.
26	* IAmAMonster: Alice eventually snaps and tells her mother how she tortured the lamprey's children to death, and that she's far more monstrous than it is.
27	* ISeeThemToo: Since most pirates have made a fairy deal of one sort or another, the Fairy Queen isn't invisible to them, to Margo's surprise.
28	* ItAmusedMe: The whole reason for Alice killing the Lamprey's family was that she enjoyed watching the "pretty little lights" when they died.
29	* ItsAllAboutMe: Alice's mother, as always. She spends the entire episode completely ignoring the threat of the lamprey in order to complain about Alice disrupting her life and not coming to see them first when she came back to life. On the other hand, Alice's father forgives her and is happy she took the time she needed.
30	* MakeAnExampleOfThem: The Faerie Queen uses her massacre of the pirates as a warning to Margo of what might happen if Margo continues to defy her.
31	* NiceGuy: The demon Asteroth seems like a genuinely friendly, chill person. He even apologizes when Penny's body dies in spite of his extraction of the cancer.
32	* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: When the Faerie Queen demands Margo's eye back, Margo crushes it first, making it impossible to restore but also making sure the Faerie Queen can no longer use it to spy on her.
33	* PetTheDog: The Faerie Queen kills the pirates because the alternative is letting a sentient tree-boat get raped. This doesn't stop her from being a sadist for the rest of the episode.
34	* PortalDoor: Eliot's key creates a door in the ''Muntjac'' which takes him, Fen, and Frey to parts unknown.
35	* ProphetEyes: The old lady on the street that grabs Julia has milky white eyes for the duration of her possession.
36	* SheIsTheKing: The pirate king is a woman. She's in charge, so she gets to be called whatever she wants.
37	* TakeThat: Margo says that she used to think pirates were cute, like Creator/JohnnyDepp. Now she understands they're dirty and kind of fucked up... like Johnny Depp.
38	* TakingTheHeat: Pick pickpockets Margo's stolen eye from the Fairy Queen, planning to blame it on one pirate or another. The Queen knows Margo's responsible, but since she refuses to say who's responsible for actually taking the eyes (and Pick ain't talking) the queen randomly chooses to punish Gillan.
39	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Kady puts out [=M&Ms=] in the hopes that the demon will be more interested in eating them than the humans. The demon she summons actually seems to think of cancer as a delicacy.
40	* UndeadTaxExemption: Alice's mother mentions that they were using magic to keep their house, and now that it's gone the IRS is looking for 30 years of missed payments.
41	* VaguenessIsComing: The possessed woman who grabs Julia expresses annoyance at Julia's slow progress in her quest, and warns that "they" are going to be more proactive in getting her to see the signs.
42	* WrongGenreSavvy: Margo quickly realizes pirates are ''not'' charming rogues but absolute murderous scumbags with no scruples or honor to deal with.
43	* YouAreTooLate: The demon cures Penny's cancer, but he dies during the operation. His spirit is still around and kicking, though, so it may not be permanent.
44	* YouWouldntShootMe: The lamprey tells Alice that her father has a heart condition, betting she won't risk shocking him to force it out. She would.

Context Recap / TheMagicians2016S03E03TheLossesOfMagic