Top 15 Moments from Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1

Motherland: Fort Salem delivers a phenomenal Season 1 and introduces its fan-favorite characters: Raelle, a daring witch who hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Abigail, a bold witch with expectations to uphold in her family, and Tally, an enthusiastic witch who fights for the good of the people.

Motherland: Fort Salem explores the relationships between friends and family in a military dynamic where witches are the ones defending the country, but the show is much more than that.

As the show follows the three main characters, it showcases family bonds, overcoming fears, sticking true to one’s believes, and gives excellent LGBTQ+ representation as a central storyline. Over the season, many moments bring tears to your eyes, and other moments make you want to yell out loud.

It wasn’t easy, but here are my top 15 moments of the season, in no particular order. Beware, there are spoilers!

1. The Spree Leader (Episode 10)

Raelle’s mother being dead is a crucial storyline plot that follows throughout most of the season and is why Raelle joins the army in the first place, so the thought of her as leader of the spree is shocking.

It’s no secret that Raelle’s mother had her own grudges against the military and how things were running, but faking her own death and leading a rebellion is a real game-changer. I can only imagine how it will impact Season 2.

2. Mall Travesty (Episode 1)

I have to include the opening scene to the whole series because it’s the attention grabber that initially made me continue watching. This scene works wonders because not only does it grab the viewers’ attention immediately, but it also makes them think hard about what’s happening and what they just witnessed.

The mall mass suicide is a perfect first meeting with the spree and showcases just how powerful they are from the get-go.

3. Death No More (Episode 10)

Raelle and Abigail’s “death” scene is one of the most emotional scenes in the series, mainly because after Tally sacrifices her youth to General Alder, Abigail jumps last second and sacrifices herself in an attempt to rescue Raelle.

It’s a miracle that their powers combined save both of their lives and allows them to fight another day, even if they are currently stranded.

“I love you, shitbird,” will go down as one of my favorite quotes because of the sentimental value behind it between the two. The emotional connection the two share is beautiful, and I can’t wait to see more of it in Season 2.

4. Tally’s Sacrifice (Episode 10)

Tally making the conscious decision to let Alder take her youth in the middle of combat is a massive moment because it comes out of nowhere, and doesn’t quite make any sense.

At the beginning of the season, Tally looked up to Alder for what she had done hundreds of years ago, but as time goes on, she realizes that Alder has her own set agendas and will do whatever to achieve her goals.

Tally’s actions showcase bravery and loyalty in the heat of the moment. Instead of allowing Alder to die, which would solve many of their problems, she willingly gives her energy to her right before she dies in combat. This action from Tally is sure to be a significant storyline arc in Season 2, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

5. Raelle’s First Meeting with Scylla (Episode 1)

This particular moment is a top moment of the season because it’s the very beginning of Raelle’s storyline with Scylla. It eventually leads her to believe that she is the powerful witch she’s always been but not without some complications at first.

Their relationship may be built on a bed of lies, and that part will never change, but overall it’s what set a fire under Raelle’s ass to continue fighting.

6. Butting Heads (Episode 1)

When groups are forced together, there’s bound to be some tensions in the beginning, but the complications between Raelle and Abigail stems mainly from their parents. Raelle blames Abigail’s mother for her mother’s death and decides to take some of her frustrations out on Abigail.

This is the first moment that showcases their powers together and just how powerful they are when conjoined. From this exact moment, it’s evident that their group will be one of the best to graduate, even though they have some drama to work through.

7. Alders Lifeforce (Episode 3)

When one of the witches in Alder’s core group dies, it takes a toll on Alder, and the institute as all of the leaves, trees, plants, and fruit begins to die immediately. Before this, it was unknown why Alder consistently had a group of old witches following her around everywhere.

This scene is one of my favorites because it’s interesting to see how the people selected to give their lives to Alder react when given the news. To the people chosen, it’s an honor to give their life away for the greater good of the world.

8. Scylla’s Confidence (Episode 2)

Scylla is an undercover agent working with the spree and has orders to deliver Raelle to them, but it’s unknown what her ranking is. At first, it seems like Scylla is a key player and has some power in the group, but it’s abundantly clear after the balloon breaks the mirror that she’s not in charge.

She gives an order to the balloon she’s speaking with to hurry her extraction up because she was getting impatient, implying that they followed her orders to an extent but instead clarifies that she has a big head and is not in charge.

9. Scylla Choosing Raelle (Episode 5)

At first, Scylla has no real feelings for Raelle, but as time moves on, she begins to fall for her, which makes things confusing when she’s supposed to be a target. Scylla has her damages and, to an extent, has proven that she can be evil without a thought, but deep down, something is trying to save her.

Raelle brings the good out in her, and it’s the first time that Scylla has felt a real connection with someone in a long time, which is why she stays at the wedding instead of luring Raelle off to be kidnapped.

10. Raelle’s Power (Episode 7)

Raelle was taught by her mother how to heal people in an unconventional way that the military doesn’t teach, but, in a way, this method is much more powerful than they could ever imagine.

After countless attempts at trying to save Adil’s sister by the doctors on Fort Salem, all it takes is one time for Raelle to rid her of the infection inside wholly.

This is a powerful moment for Raelle because she finally realizes the extent of her powers and just how powerful she can be. Team after team couldn’t fix his sister, but Raelle heals her in one attempt by herself. She truly is her mother’s daughter.

11. The Wedding Slaughter (Episode 5)

As a response to Scylla’s blatant disobeying of orders to deliver Raelle to them, the spree releases a horde of balloons at the wedding party, destroying all festivities. However, they aren’t the only ones who make an attack.

At first, it’s thought that the spree is the ones behind the murder of Charvel, but after the finale, it’s brought to clear that it was the Camaria who was behind the attacks on the Bellweather’s, not the spree.

12. Abigail’s Loss of Purpose (Episode 8)

After the loss of Charvel, Abigail has to put on a front and act like she’s okay, but in reality, she’s not. She’s never felt broken down, depressed, and not in charge of her own life. She spirals for a hot minute afterward, almost killing a soldier in the process during a training exercise.

Her inability to stop herself from pummeling the soldier’s face in is a clear sign to everyone that she’s not okay, and she needs help to get through it. This is where her unit comes in handy because she can be herself with them, even if she doesn’t want to be.

13. Libba’s Funeral (Episode 9)

Abigail and Libba have been enemies since birth because of the rivalry their families have towards each other, but having to witness Libba’s dead body after an attack awakens something inside of Abigail. What were they fighting for? Why did they hate each other so much when it was their families who had issues and not them personally?

Abigail giving Libba her eulogy is one of the most emotional scenes throughout the series because she realizes that their fighting was pointless, but ultimately beating Libba is what motivated her to become better. Libba was the reason why she was so good at what she does.

14. Anacostia Releasing Scylla (Episode 10)

Throughout the season, Anacostia does Alder’s bidding whenever she says so, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t think for herself.

After being the one to sit with Scylla and breakdown why she did what she did, Anacostia understands that Scylla isn’t necessarily a lost cause, which is why she releases her instead of allowing her to go to prison where she will die a horrible death.

I know that Anacostia made the right decision, and now she has the opportunity to keep tabs on Scylla and watch her every move to make sure that she did the right thing.

15. Alder Puppetting the President (Episode 9)

It’s at this moment Alder proves that she will do anything in her power to get whatever she wants, and nobody’s going to stop her.

It’s apparent throughout the season that Alder is having issues with her authority being listened to when it comes to the president, so instead of being replaced, she takes matters into her own hands. I think that something inside snapped when she knew she was no longer in charge.

I don’t think that any of it was for the good of the country; instead, it was jealousy and rage because Alder was going to be replaced after serving 44 prior presidents. I look forward to seeing the interactions between Alder and the president the next time they see each other because there has been no interaction between the two since.

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Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 is a delightful show that brings the drama, action, and keeps bringing me back week after week. With how the finale ended, I can only imagine what’s in store for Season 2.

What were your favorite moments from Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1? Make sure to leave them in the comments below!

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