“The World in the Walls” begins in a different setting than past episodes. Quentin wakes up in a strange room. Its not one we’ve seen before at Brakebills. He has a new roommate also. Is this some type of dream?
Eliot and Julia pass by Quentin as he tries to make sense of it all. He has a medical bracelet on. Which leads us to believe he’s at a medical facility. When Quentin tries performing magic by producing fireworks for Julia, she says she can’t see it. Just as it appears Quentin is losing his mind, Julia shows her hand — she says she wants to see the fireworks too, but Quentin never said he was making fireworks.
Eliot is another patient at the facility and Julia is a guest visiting Quentin. Penny, however, is a janitor. Even in his dreams Quentin is a racist against the minority!
We get a lot of scenes of Quentin doubting what he’s experiencing. Trying to make sense of it all. Jane from the Fillory books comes to Quentin to give vague clues.
During a group therapy session, Quentin begins singing a Taylor Swift song. It looks like this is just Quentin spiraling downward into craziness. In reality he’s calling out to Penny for help.
We learn that its Julia and Marina behind Quentin’s dream state, with some help from Kady. Marina describes it as “high-end cooperative magic.” Marina was expelled from Brakebills her senior year. They erased everything she ever learned or did there, and she plans to get those skills and memories back.
After Quentin’s pleas for help, Penny heads off to find his sleeping body in the real world. Kady shows him and Eliot where he’s stashed. They take Quentin to the Dean, who uses a special spell to try and wake Quentin up. The drawback of the spell is it drops the defenses around Brakebills that keeps it hidden from the real world. This is how Marina gains entry to do some stealing on campus.
Julia confesses to Dean, Eliot and Penny that she’s behind Quentin’s predicament. Penny goes back under to retrieve Quentin, who finally comes to.
At the end it appears Marina disciplines Julia for talking to the Brakebills staff. Julia’s tattoos begin to burn. So does this mean she’s gone back to square one in her magic training?
The Magicians airs Mondays at 9pm ET on Syfy Channel.
