The Magicians Review: Six Short Stories About Magic (Season 3 Episode 8)

Harriet’s life story is revealed while helping Quentin and the rest of the group break into the underworld library on The Magicians Season 3 Episode 8, “Six Short Stories About Magic.”

Out of all the short stories being told my favorites are Harriet and Fens. I never read the books, so I don’t already know all the background information on the characters like some, but I never figured that Harriet was family with someone who worked for the library and that’s why she has a hatred for them.

One thing that makes Harriet’s story so compelling for me is that they made the entire thing silent and I applaud that decision because it makes it more authentic to the character and gives the audience a feel of what it’s like to be deaf.

I especially love how when Harriet uses magic we don’t hear the sound, but a vibration instead. It’s like we felt the motion of the spell as it is being cast and not the sound of it happening.

Representation matters and I’m happy that The Magicians is a show that understands that and works towards having good representation on the show.

Harriet’s story makes me like her character even more because up until now we didn’t know why she had this hatred for the library and why she wanted to attack it. She’s been on the right side the entire time and only wants the library to be open so the knowledge can be used freely.

I think that Harriet is coming from a place of defiance, confusion, and, deep down, she wants her mother to finally agree with her that she is not in the wrong. We know that doesn’t happen, but I think that it would have been a great plot twist to feature.

Zelda is a sucker for rules, but her daughter making her betray her moral compass would make for a good storyline.

As for Fen, I feel sorrow for her because the whole time she’s been fighting the fairies, she’s thought that it’s been alongside her daughter and that eventually, they would gain their freedom, living a happy life together after.

Fen has had her whole world ripped apart right in front of her eyes when Fray tells her and Eliot that she isn’t their daughter. I haven’t liked or trusted Fray since the beginning, but I do applaud her for speaking up and telling the truth.

Whether Fray was only telling the truth because of the fairy queen’s betrayal or if she genuinely does care for Eliot and Fen after they took care of her, I don’t care.

Irene is controlling fairies, using them as slaves, cutting off their limbs, and then snorting the powder they make for magic. The only question is why?

Why does Irene have these fairies under her control and how? If Irene can see fairies, it means that she made a deal with them and Skye doesn’t believe that there are any more fairies so what is going on?

With magic gone my only theory is that the library is stealing fairies from other worlds and are killing them to keep the magic going for them. This theory could also provide an answer as to why the Fairy Queen is so keen on making a fairy army.

What if the fairies that we saw overthrow Fillory are the only remaining fairies, and that’s why the Fairy Queen is laying low? Because the library is killing them into extinction?

The only thing that “Six Short Stories About Magic” is missing for me is Eliot and Margo’s storyline and how they’re going to gain the trust of Fillory back.

All that we see from Eliot’s story is him talking to the sloth, who apparently is the leader behind this situation, and I wish that we had time to see them deal with the problems in Fillory as well.

Other Thoughts:

• I knew I was right not to trust or like Poppy.
• Could Victoria and Harriet be dead since they were still on the mirror bridge when it broke?
• Why would Sylvia betray Penny and make him stay in the underworld? Could she still be mad about him leaving her in the poison room?

What did you think of this episode of The Magicians? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy.

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