As the final episode of A Discovery Of Witches begins, Fernando (Olivier Huband) and the others try to find out what has happened to Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode). Ysabeau (Lindsay Duncan) and the others stop when Baldwin Montclair (Peter McDonald) enters the room. Diana (Teresa Palmer) admits she asked him to come because she thinks he can help. He watches the video and quickly notices that Benjamin (Jacob Ifan) is wearing the watch that belonged to Philippe. He begins telling them about Philippe (James Purefoy) being a prisoner of war. He was taken to medical when they found out he was a vampire and tortured are a result. They wonder if Benjamin was involved since they don’t think he could’ve gotten the watch otherwise. Baldwin says Benjamin has plotted to undermine the De Clermonts and destroy Matthew for centuries with help from Gerbert (Trevor Eve).

Ysabeau reveals Philippe was held captive in a hospital outside a town called Chelm. It was part of the German Reich although it is now Eastern Poland. Baldwin and Matthew tried to rescue him, but it was too late since he had already lost his mind. Benjamin likely wants Matthew to suffer the same fate. Diana is warned she’ll be walking into a trap. Regardless, she is going to go and Baldwin is going to go with her. They’ll need a doctor who has experience working with vampires. Marcus Whitmore (Edward Bluemel) says they’re going to need vampires experienced in combat too. Diana names Gallowglass (Steven Cree) and Miriam (Aiysha Hart). As for Phoebe (Adelle Leonce), Fernando (Olivier Huband), and Chris (Ivanno Jeremiah), they will be working with Hamish. They’re put in charge of surveillance so they’ll know if Benjamin tries to move Matthew. Diana is shown boarding an airplane just before the intro begins.

After the intro, we see that Matthew’s blood is being drained drop by drop. Benjamin tells him his heart is slowing although his blood could revive him. As Matthew begins speaking another language, Benjamin asks what’ll take to drive his faith out. He says God cannot save you and no one can. Gerbert shows up at Sept-Tours. Marthe (Sorcha Cusack) tells him Ysabeau is waiting for him. Gerbert tells her he is there as a friend before saying the heartbeats of the children are a strange sound. He reminds her that he warned her and accuses Diana of destroying her family. While Ysabeau and Philippe successfully hid blood rage for centuries, the family’s secrets are being exposed thanks to Diana Bishop. With the Book of Life, she has the power to destroy all vampires. Although Ysabeau doesn’t think she’d do that, Gerbert isn’t sure since she is still a witch. Gerbert sits down as they begin talking about the time when they hunted witches together and the family flourished under Philippe.

Now, she is a widow and her son is a criminal breaking away from his crumbling family to form his own scion. Ysabeau says Matthew had to make a scion because the Congregation made his only brother an enemy. Gerbert complains about Matthew breaking the Covenant before Ysabeau reveals she knows what they did to Philippe. Since Gerbert had a part in Philippe’s murder, his crimes are worse than anything Ysabeau’s family has done. Gerbert responds by saying Matthew and Diana will be executed when they’re found guilty and everyone implicated will be punished. He warns her there won’t be a de Clermont left untouched. He argues she is too good of a vampire to experience that fate. He believes the Congregation will show leniency if she gives up the children. She tells him to go back to Venice and that he has no dominion here. Before he leaves, he tells her he gave her every chance.

Once the airplane lands, Miriam gets out and kicks the door open. Diana and the others follow her inside. They listen carefully and hear two vampire heartbeats and a warmblood. One vampire’s heartbeat is weak. They find Matthew tied to the operation table with his heart visible. Diana approaches alone as Matthew pleads with her to kill him because he is in endless pain. Diana says it is an enchantment unlikely anything she has seen before. Once Matthew screams again, Diana casts a spell that makes him disappear. They hear someone asking them to show their power before Diana is told they’ll all die here. Diana uses her magic to put a barrier around her comrades and says this is her battle.

Diana walks away and enters a room where she sees Matthew with the babies. One baby bites Matthew’s finger. He says blood rage before sticking his bloody finger in his mouth. Then, he admits he should’ve killed them at birth although it isn’t too late yet. Diana knows it is Satu (Malin Buska) so she asks her to show herself and that causes the fake Matthew to disappear. Satu shows herself, sits down on the bed, and asks about the Book of Life. Satu says they’re both witches and weavers. As she told her once before, they’re not enemies. When Diana asks about Matthew, Satu says he is with Benjamin. Diana asks why she is helping Benjamin when he is killing their own kind, but Satu says they’re not their kind because they offer nothing. She and Diana are special. Satu talks about trying to open her up in La Pierre before saying she is stronger now. Diana is told to give up her secrets and the book.

The book’s contents appear on Diana who says she is the book. Satu argues that is not her destiny because it is hers. She plans to force the book out of Diana. Satu uses her magic to make fire. Diana quickly puts it out and tells her the book would never reveal itself to her. As Diana uses her magic to restrain Satu, she says their power is the lifeblood of all witches’ magic. They could’ve been allies, but Satu decided to use her power to destroy. Diana binds her to prevent her from using her magic again. Once she finishes, Gallowglass and the others seem to be freed. Satu shivers in the corner as Diana joins the others. Diana goes after Benjamin while casting a spell. She goes through all the knots as Benjamin approaches. When he runs toward her, she hits him with a magic arrow and knocks him to the ground. She says justice. With Benjamin dead, Diana checks on Matthew and tells him to drink from her. Marcus enters with the others. He tells her to wait.

Since he needs a sire, they’ll have to get him to Ysabeau. He is taken back and given her blood as we hear someone talking about not leaving bread on the table because it attracts the dead. Hamish (Greg McHugh) reads to Matthew while everyone waits to see if he will recover. Unsurprisingly, Matthew gets up and wakes up Diana who is sleeping in a chair nearby. Later, she finds him playing chess with Hamish and offers more of Sarah’s tea although Matthew has had enough. Miriam says she and Chris went back and compared Diana’s DNA to all other creature DNA. Matthew made a connection that unlocked a new perspective. He reveals Diana has demon DNA and everyone else does to varying degrees. Miriam says it happens to be the key to blood rage as well. If a vampire sires a human with enough demon DNA, blood rage will be present. The Book of Life says weavers are descended from witch and demon unions. Furthermore, that is the reason Diana was able to conceive their children or their Bright Born.

Chris explains the witches’ power was waning, vampires were unable to sire, and demons were suffering endemic mental health collapse relates to the decline in demon DNA across all creatures. Since the Congregation was forcing them to live separately, it was slowly destroying them. Diana wants to take this information to the Congregation. She is adamant about challenging it although Baldwin is worried they’ll be executed. Baldwin says he’ll be outvoted and he won’t be able to protect her. In private, Matthew tells him Diana needs support instead of protection. They believe this is what Philippe wanted all along. Baldwin agrees they should challenge the Covenant. He knows he should’ve trusted Matthew. When he is asked why he didn’t, he says he thought Philippe preferred Matthew as his successor. Matthew believes he made the right choice since Baldwin will always do what is right no matter how difficult.

Baldwin says he can’t protect Diana as the de Clermont representative although there is another way. He gives her the key and tells her she can sit in the de Clermont seat. She doesn’t have to be a vampire since she is a de Clermont so she will be able to chair the meeting and have the floor. She thanks Baldwin before getting ready to head to Venice. When they arrive, Gerbert believes they have brought the witch to cave to the Congregation’s demand. Soon, he learns that Diana is going to be the de Clermont representative today. They open the door and head inside for the Congregation meeting. Gerbert tells Baldwin he has just signed his family’s death warrant. Once the meeting begins, Gerbert quickly goes after Diana and says she should be punished for her crimes. She is accused of being involved in the deaths of Peter Knox, Juliette Durand, and Benjamin Fuchs.

He also tells everyone how she spellbound Satu who was a member of this Congregation. Diana says falling in love was forbidden by the Covenant and it was a law that sanctified prejudice and exclusion. She never meant to hurt anyone but had to defend her family from attacks driven by hatred. She knew she was breaking the covenant because it deserved to be broken. Diana warns them that it will make them all extinct if it is allowed to stand. Although Gerbert denies that, Diana pulls out the Book of Life and says the proof is in there. She explains it belongs to all of them. When Diana says she is the Book of Life, Gerbert accuses of her bewitching it. However, she says it was bewitched long ago and she just opened it. She casts a spell that turns the book into a tree as she explains all creatures are related. They listen as Diana insists each member of the Congregation is related to one another.

When the magical tree disappears, Gerbert calls it an enchantment. Diana says everything in the book is backed by science. Gerbert remembers the dark days before the covenant when they were hunted by humans. Diana says the segregation was meant to keep them safe, but it has been catastrophic for all creatures. The purity of their species has led to their decline. She claims the demon DNA is vital to all of them and they need it to survive. She proposes a motion to overturn the covenant and Agatha quickly agrees. Gerbert proposes another motion to have Diana and the others punished. The group begins discussing it as Diana says they’re free to study the scientific evidence. Sigismund suggests reforming the covenant to some degree. Diana believes they need more since the basis of the covenant is separatism. She says it must be abolished to prevent others from becoming victims of its terrible consequences.

Jack (Toby Regbo) tells Matthew the twins are asleep and Sarah is watching them. Matthew asks how he is. Jack says he is practicing what Matthew taught him. He feels in control. Matthew is confident they’ll get there in the end. Jack gives him the miniature portraits. As he leaves, Matthew tells him he loves him and Jack says the same. Then, the Congregation prepares to vote on the two motions. Sig says all crimes against the covenant will be pardoned if it is overturned. Enough members of the Congregation vote to overturn the covenant so the other proposal is voided. Diana says it will be a new beginning for all of them. She claims they’ve all been guilty of looking out for their own best interests and ignoring those with lesser power. She argues they need a new leader and she thinks Agatha would be a good pick. Domenico agrees and enough other members do too.

Agatha laughs as she wins and takes over the Congregation. Diana tells Gerbert his day of judgment is coming before she leaves. Matthew says it began with absence, desire, blood, and fear. It began with a Discovery of Witches. With the covenant abolished, Nathaniel (Daniel Ezra) and Sophie (Aisling Loftus) can return to Agatha with their baby. Domenico sits in a fancy chair. Matthew says the creatures are reemerging as fear and prejudice are fading. Marcus and Phoebe get married. Miriam and Christopher seem closer too. Matthew says there is a new world that rights the wrongs of the past and acknowledges the sacrifices of those made along the way. Fernando gets a memorial for Hugh like he always wanted.

Gallowglass and Matthew shake hangs before Gallow leaves on his own. They’ve found the strength to move forward as the legacies live on. As Philippe used to say, in every ending, there is a beginning. Diana is shown writing in a book as music begins playing. Matthew removes his coat and they start dancing together.

 

A Discovery Of Witches Review

Unfortunately, the final episode of A Discovery of Witches can only be described as underwhelming. I genuinely expected a lot more considering this was the last episode ever. Around the midway point, Diana had already dealt with Satu and Benjamin in the most anticlimactic way possible without either putting up a real fight. Instead, she spellbound Satu and scolded her like a baby while Benjamin just ran straight into a magic arrow.

Just like that, the episode was mostly over besides some boring dialogue with the Congregation. The last 20 minutes didn’t have much of an impact because it never felt like Diana, Matthew, or the babies were really in any danger due to the Congregation. If this was going to be the focal point, it should’ve focused on it a lot more throughout the season.

Instead, it turned into an outdated political rant with a predictable ending. Plus, most of the things that happened in the previous six episodes were just thrown out of the window. I have to wonder what the point was of going to New Orleans to team up with Ransome and his family considering they weren’t even in this episode. The second season was hit and miss, but the third was by far the worst of the three.

Now that I know how badly this ends, I’d have to think long and hard before I recommended it to anyone. The finale was very disappointing to say the least. It scores a 4 out of 10. All recaps of A Discovery of Witches can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.