The Funeral
Episode 1 of A Discovery of Witches Season 3 begins with Matthew and Diana returning from their journey in the 16th Century. After Knox’s fight in the graveyard last season, Emily sadly passes away. As Sarah tries too process this news, Matthew reveals to the family that Diana is actually pregnant with two babies. There are two heartbeats… could this be enough to bring balance back between the two races? Another guest arrives soon after – Gallowglass – as the house descends into mourning for Emily’s death. A bloodthirsty Matthew remains determined to gain revenge. The thing is, killing Knox outright will only make him a martyr. So naturally, they have to try and find an alternate plan to take him down. This is made all the more complicated by the continued blood rage killings. In Oxford, these killings have captured the imagination of the public. The media has even spun this, calling it the “Vampire Diaries.” After the meeting, Matthew confronts Marcus over what’s happened. He blames him for not protecting the witches, nonchalantly accepting his relationship with Phoebe; the latter tries in vain to get in Matthew’s good books. Meanwhile, Diana speaks to Sarah about Em’s premonitions. She was convinced they needed Rebecca, but of course this goes against her own teachings, specifically telling Em not to get involved in higher magic. A hopeful Sarah even suggests they talk to Emily from beyond the grave. Eventually though, the family gather and honour Emily death properly, seeing her off in a beautiful ceremony. In the wake of this, Knox joins the vampire council as Agatha Wilson appears to talk. Before she can talk though, the blood-raged killings in Oxford are discussed. Domenico feeds back that he fought the vampire, as Satu chirps up and claims that no creature is safe. When this finally reels round to Em’s death, Knox is expelled from the council. Just before he goes, he promises to gain revenge on Agatha and the others. This spooks her enough to phone home, urging Marcus to leave with Sophie and Margaret before Knox returns. Knox isn’t the only one swearing revenge though. Diana too promises to get her revenge on him for what he’s put their family through. While she talks to Sarah about this, Baldwin arrives at Sept-Tours, putting a big hammer blow in Diana’s plan. He orders Matthew to leave Knox alone. Instead, he wants Matthew to deal with the blood-rage vampire on the loose. Part of this deal also involves a very awkward dinner where Baldwin brings up a guy called Benjamin. Now, Matthew has ties with Benjamin, given he’s actually Matthew’s son but Diana is convinced she’s met him before, originally going by the name of Fuchs, back in Bohemia. With the Congregation watching on, the dinner ends with an ominous warning – anyone who isn’t a De Clermont should leave in the morning. Despite Marcus’s attempts to rally the family together, urging them to conduct a scion, everyone leaves for London before things turn ugly. Back in London, Diana calls on the help of Chris to sort them out a lab to work in. They need to get to the bottom of this blood rage before the killer strikes again. After a quick catchup, Chris checks the bloodwork charts as he tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. Diana and Matthew soon break the news about their origins. Specifically through a beautiful bit of magic, conjuring forth watery flowers. This is enough to prove their worth, as Diana and Matthew urge Chris to try and find a cure for Blood Rage. As the episode closes out, Domenico speaks to Baldwin in confidence. He has pictures of the killer, and throws shade at Matthew and Diana, given the killings were near their house. The thing is, this killer is not either of them…but will Baldwin will convinced otherwise?
The Episode Review
With the Blood-Raged vampire on the rampage and the two families locked in this bitter cold war, it appears the only hope now will be Diana’s twins to unite everyone and right the wrongs caused. Most of this episode is taken up with mourning Emily’s death, which makes sense given the dramatic ending to season 2. It’s also a nice way of introducing all our characters again, including Chris too which is a nice surprise. Sarah’s grief could be a deciding factor over what she does going forward too, and of course Knox is still on the loose too, swearing revenge against the family. This, coupled with Domenico’s scheming, could well upset the precarious balance these two families currently have.
