Season 3, Episode 1
The Tale of the Seven Keys
Quentin and Julia are still struggling to bring magic back, Kady and Penny are dealing with his cancer while he works for the Library, and Eliot and Margo have to tiptoe around the fairies who have invisibly occupied their kingdom.
Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
- Ambiguously Human: Penny points out that by certain definitions, he's not human; in particular, his Traveler powers work independently of the Wellspring, so he can still teleport.
- Auto Erotica: Penny suggests this to Kady. She turns him down because she doesn't have a car and he's dying.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The Great Cock notes that wishes never end well for mortals. Since he likes Eliot, he sends him on a quest instead.
- Crazy-Prepared: The Fairy Queen had every book on poison in both kingdoms destroyed and instructed anyone capable of seeing them not to assist Eliot and Margo unless they want to suffer a horrible fate.
- Failed a Spot Check: Bacchus, the God of Parties, has failed to notice that all human magic has disappeared. Considering that he didn't notice that Prometheus died fifteen hundred years ago, this apparently isn't new for him.
- From Bad to Worse: Now that magic is gone, Brakebills University's rich backers have lost a lot of money since many of the ventures they supported were propped up with magic. That leaves the unprofitable Brakebills on the chopping block unless Fogg can convince them he has some hint of getting magic back.
- Fun with Subtitles: Eliot and Margo have a conversation which is nominally in English, but with so many pop culture references that it needs subtitles.
- Godzilla Threshold: Since the old gods shut off magic, Quentin figures one way to get it back would be to get in touch with them, even though they're beings of incalculable power that view humans as inconsequential and their children are fickle at best. Julia is hesitant at first, but agrees when Quentin makes it clear he's going to try with or without her.
- Invisible to Normals: The fairies are invisible to everyone but Eliot and Margo. There are others that can see them, but the fairies have warned them to keep quiet about it if they know what's good for them.
- Kryptonite Factor: A hallway in the castle is made out of special stone which the fairies are extremely allergic to. Eliot uses this to send messages using dimension-hopping bunnies without the fairies watching.
- MacGuffin: There's a set of magical keys that can somehow return magic.
- Manchurian Agent: Referenced when Eliot calls Margo "Grace Park." However, she's not a sleeper agent, she's just an unwitting spy because the fairy queen can use her missing eye to see and hear everything Margo does.
- Only the Worthy May Pass: Only people who are fun enough can get into Bacchus's party. Josh gets in right away, but Quentin and Julia have to get drunk and do a dance they made up in high school before he'll let them in.
- Play-Along Prisoner: Penny can teleport out of his bonds at any times, but plays along with his captor to see what he knows.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Margo doesn't get Eliot's Gene Hackman reference, and Eliot in turn doesn't get the meaning behind her Harry Potter reference until she clarifies "our Harry" (Quentin).
- Sinister Surveillance: The Fairy Queen is able to see and hear everything Margo does through her missing eye.
- Stealth Pun: According to Bacchus, Prometheus led a tortured existence.
- Unusual Euphemism: Eliot and Margo use wall to wall pop-culture references as a code so that the fairies won't understand them. Subtitles are used so that the audience can actually understand.
