The final episode ofMayfair Witchesseason 1 opened with Rowan Fielding chasing Keith Murfis through the woods, ensuring an action-packed finale to a suspense-filled first season.Mayfair WitchesadaptedThe Witching Hour, the first book in Anne Rice’sThe Lives of the Mayfair Witchesseries, with season 2 set to adapt its sequel,Lasher. The show followed Alexandra Daddario as its main character, Rowan Fielding, as she struggled through the death of her adoptive mother and the resulting journey of discovery. Finding out she was the new designee of the Mayfair family led Rowan into great danger.
Rowan Fielding pursued the truth about her family and soon ran into Tongayi Chirisa’s Ciprien Grieve, a member of a secret society that documented the supernatural,the mysterious Talamasca. Psychic Talamasca member Grieve quickly formed a strong connection with Rowan, trying to help her as she wrestled with her powers and the discovery of her manipulative birth family, the Mayfair witches. As the heir to a unique tie to the family’s own supernatural entity, Lasher, Rowan’s power increased over season 1, but it came at a price, as revealed by the season 1 finale.
Rowan’s Supernatural Pregnancy Explained
Rowan Bore Lasher’s Baby
Rowan’s pregnancy was implied throughout season 1 ofthe Immortal Universe storyand culminated in the finale’s paranormal birth. Confusingly,it was Ciprien that biologically impregnated Rowan, after developing a romantic relationship with her. However, Ciprien was just the biological catalyst needed for Lasher to manifest himself in Rowan’s fetus. Rowan’s pregnancy was the fulfillment of a prophecy generated in the 1600s between Lasher and Suzanne Mayfair. This prophecy foretold Lasher’s rebirth in a physical body once a Mayfair witch was powerful enough to bear him.
Mayfair Witchesseason 2 will come out in 2025.
Given Lasher’s concern that Ciprien would “make [Rowan] conform to [his] basic human morality,” it makes sense that Lasher had no qualms about manipulating Rowan into a fast-tracked pregnancy, despite seeming to care for her throughout season 1.Rowan’s baby grew at an inhuman ratebefore being birthed into the world with the help of the ghost of Suzanne Mayfair, ensuring that her end of her bargain with Lasher was kept. In return for promising Lasher a bloodline of witches to eventually form the mother he required, Suzanne had received all her heart desired from Lasher.
What Lasher’s Rebirth Means For Mayfair Witches
Lasher Is Neither Clear Villain Nor Clear Protagonist
Jack Huston’s Lasher was the demon familiar that Rowan never asked for, and is now her demon son. In a complex turn of events,Rowan’s designee status made her the designated recipient of Lasher’s attachmentand loyalty. Lasher wooed Rowan with promises of the power that she always craved as a professionally frustrated, overlooked neurosurgeon. This was all in aid of Lasher’s endgame - being reborn as her son. Lasher was collaborative with Rowan to a certain extent. When Rowan accepted Lasher in the finale, Lasher secured his rebirth and granted Rowan powers over the elements, healing, and more.
However, Lasher hid his intentions to get Rowan pregnant, so that he could possess the baby. Lasher inevitably manipulated his rebirth from the start, plotting to get Rowan and Ciprien in the same house and having sex, so that Rowan could become biologically pregnant. Lasher, as a spirit being, couldn’t impregnate Rowan alone. However,Lasher finally became intimate with Rowan in the season 1 finale, consummating their bond and Rowan’s demon pregnancy. As per the book, Lasher, reborn as Rowan’s son, will grow up in hours, speeding up Rowan’s motherhood going into season 2.
Cortland Was Working With The Talamasca
The Talamasca And Cortland Shared A Goal
The finale oftheMayfair Witchesshowrevealed thatthe Talamasca had worked with Cortland Mayfairto ensure the fulfillment of the Mayfair prophecy. In episode 7, Ciprien escaped from being trapped in Lasher’s memory by ingesting the poisonous Henbane, dying in the memory to wake up in the real world. He stepped from the frying pan into the fire, narrowly escaping having his memory wiped by his boss after being reprimanded for trying to help Rowan, and finding out about the conspiracy between the Talamasca and the Mayfairs.
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After waking up from Lasher’s memory, Ciprien was driven by his boss, Albrecht, somewhere remote to observe the goings-on between the witch-hunters and the witches from afar. Albrecht explained that Ciprien had gotten caught up with Rowan and forgotten the purpose of the Talamasca - to observe only. Albrecht revealed thatthe Talamasca wanted the prophecy to be fulfilled, and Ciprien guessed that they had supported Cortland in making this happen. Ciprien escaped Albrecht’s threatened memory wipe by revealing to him that he himself was a part of the prophecy, having impregnated Rowan.
TheMayfair Witchesseason 1 finale crystallized the show’s themes of gender, sex, inheritance, motherhood, choice, and consent.
The Talamasca were a shadowy organization inAnne Rice’s books, of a certain moral ambivalence. Ciprien Grieve seemed to replace Anne Rice’s Michael Curry in the show, who was one of the Talamasca’s protagonists in the books, along with Jesse Reeves fromThe Queen of the Damned. Therefore,the show’s depiction of the Talamasca’s dubious ethics is fair, but Cortland Mayfair was actually trying to sabotage their activity in the book, instead of working with them. Overall, Cortland is seen to be a far darker presence in the show, making the Talamasca more sinister by association.
Mayfair Witches Season 1 Finale’s Title: “What Rough Beast” Meaning Explained
The Yeats Reference Speaks Volumes
TheMayfair Witchesfinale is titled “What Rough Beast,” alluding to a W.B. Yeats poem calledThe Second Coming, which relates to Lasher’s rebirth. The 1919 poem may be the Irish poet’s most famous, and concerns the atmosphere of Europe after WWI, describing the death of an age and the birth of another.The violent and cataclysmic rebirth of Yeats' poem is whatMayfair Witchesrefers to in its titling of the season 1 finale- Rowan has her own violent and cataclysmic birth to contend with.
The Real Meaning Of Mayfair Witches Season 1’s Ending
Rowan Won Back Control Of Her Baby
TheMayfair Witchesseason 1 finale crystallized the show’s themes of gender, sex, inheritance, motherhood, choice, and consent, with Rowan escaping Cortland and Ciprien with her baby. As one ofthe bestMayfair Witchescharacters, Lasher had a large role in the finale. After chasing witch-hunter Keith Murfis through the woods with Lasher and eventually destroying Murfis, Rowan was left bleeding from the injuries she got from her run-in with the witch-hunters.The show explored how men manipulated Rowan throughout season 1and how they exploited her vulnerability in the finale, as she lay bleeding.
Men sought control over Rowan’s body, using her womb as a vessel for their own ambitions without her consent.
Rowan had asked Lasher to kill Murfis and he had, and then Lasher showed Rowan how to heal herself in her dream state while unconscious, making it seem like Rowan was in a position of power over Lasher. However, the following scenes proved the complex reality -Lasher granted his witches power but used this as leverageto secure his rebirth. Cortland was on Lasher’s side, also manipulating Rowan into fulfilling the prophecy of birthing Lasher’s physical form. He had even raped Deirdre to ensure Rowan’s birth, furthering the prophecized bloodline.
Both men sought control over Rowan’s body, using her womb as a vessel for their own ambitions without her consent. Cortland found the unconscious Rowan and dragged her to shelter, but it was far from safety. Rather, he took her to the mausoleum so she could give birth “at the witching hour, over the bones of the foremothers,” as per the prophecy. After Rowan gave birth,Cortland and Ciprien had plans for Rowanand her baby. However, Rowan defied them both, seeking bodily autonomy and escaping with her baby, so she will be facing motherhood alone going intoMayfair Witchesseason 2.
How Mayfair Witches Season 1’s Ending Compares To The Anne Rice Book
The Show Kept Much Of The Anne Rice Story
TheMayfair WitchesTV show retained a good amount of the story from its source material,The Witching Hour.Showrunner Esta Spalding said toVarietyof her approach to the show’s finale: “we are just going from the book, which has this wild, wild ending, and we wanted to honor that.” Lasher, in human form, immediately started growing in both the book and the movie, speaking to Spalding’s claim. However,in the book, Lasher grew into an adult almost immediately, unlike in the show. Perhaps wisely,Mayfair Witchessaved this landmark moment for season 2.
Rowan’s independence and power were emphasized by the show’s finale, Lasher being a baby. This contrasted the book, whereby Rowan fled to save Michael, not reject him, and her son was an adult.
Rowan gave birth on Christmas Day in the book, funnily, but theMayfair Witchesfinale wasn’t festive in the slightest. It’s uncertain if the show aimed to be festive viewing, but the timing didn’t work out, or if it actively decided to leave this element out. Of course, in the book, it was Michael Curry who fathered Rowan’s baby, not Ciprien.Rowan escaped with Lasher in both book and movie, but Rowan’s independence and power were emphasized by the show’s finale, Lasher being a baby. This contrasted the book, whereby Rowan fled to save Michael, not reject him, and her son was an adult.
How Mayfair Witches Season 1’s Finale Sets Up Season 2
Season 2 Will Show Lasher’s Growth
Mayfair Witchesseason 2 will adapt the second of theAnne Rice booksin theLives of the Mayfair Witches series,Lasher.In this book, Rowan is on the move with Lasher, discovering the dangerous power of her demon son. In the show,Rowan will be balancing her new powers with the power of her son, who will become an adult soon. Rowan may be fleeing from the Talamasca in season 2, after rejecting Ciprien’s offer to look after her. She will be fleeing, in particular, to Europe, as per the books.
Speaking toEntertainment Weekly, Esta Spalding confirmed thatMayfair Witchesseason 2 won’t ignore the book’s Europe arc. She said “there’s a whole section in the book where Rowan is in Europe and there’s some stuff in Scotland,” responding to a question about what fans could look forward to in season 2. Harry Hamlin is confirmed to return inMayfair Witchesseason 2 as Cortland, along with a new character - his father (viaCollider). So, Rowan won’t be safe from the Mayfairs either in season 2.
Mayfair Witches
Cast
Mayfair Witches follows a young neurosurgeon who discovers her unexpected lineage as the heir to a powerful family of witches. As she navigates her emerging magical abilities, she confronts a dark force that has plagued her family through the generations. Created by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford.
