‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’ Recap: ‘What Rough Beast’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season One Finale of ‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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We live in a world where we firmly believe… that good always triumphs over evil and it makes sense as to why. Because time and time again, we’ve seen evil rise and we’ve seen it make every attempt to conquer all that is good. Only to watch real heroes stand tall against it and defeat it in a concise and epic manner that should keep future evil doers from ever wanting to mess with the world. But while that belief has merit, since the entire globe stood up against evil in the Second World War… it isn’t an accurate view of our world and the constant dance between good and evil. Because in reality… one side never really stands above the other in this world. It’s a constant give and take.
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Which means that evil enjoys as many victories as good does along the way and well… just conquering it by sheer force isn’t the answer to seeing a world where it is defeated for all time, it’s understanding evil and how it wins. So that we are vigilant and able to fight it quietly before it becomes quite powerful and/or victorious. If anything, that process and that understanding is top of mind today, simply because they served as the focal themes of the season one finale of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches on AMC. For ‘What Rough Beast’ is a story that saw evil win and its victory claimed the good nature of Dr. Rowan Fielding. Which was stunning to say the least and well… it was her journey into darkness that answered all of our questions regarding evil and how it wins the day.  

In part, it is able to do so through apathy and curiosity. Because when others simply do not care about the outcome of what evil wants, it can thrive and when some want to know what the other half looks like, it is encouraged and the Talamasca is what embodied those concepts here. Since they continued to push the ‘we must observe’ mantra on Ciprien and some even said they had to know how the prophecy was going to turn out and going that route, really did help Lasher bide his time and thrive in the shadows. Because no one of note was going to stop him, not even the family for that matter since men like Cortland also taught us that evil’s promises of grandiose tomorrow’s… also help it win the day. Since Cortland was deeply interested in what Lasher could deliver unto him if he helped the prophecy come to fruition.

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However, evil’s victories are grounded in more than ego and apathy, they also require… cruelty and devastation. The kind that breaks the will of individuals, so they feel they have no choice but to follow evil and find salvation within its promises of a better tomorrow and that… was handled by Rowan’s journey here. For after weeks of suffering through devastating heartbreak and sorrow and grief, she was pushed to her breaking point here. Courtesy of Lasher, who seduced her in her broken state to make her feel needed and loved, and happy if for a moment, so she would trust him at last and accept his lies about the family’s past. The kind that painted a picture of a family line under persecution from hate and fear, instead of the fact that it was under fire from a desperate spirit that wanted nothing more… than to be born again through Rowan.  
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All of which, rattled Rowan to the point where she was confused and unable to stop the birth of a monster, and while she nearly escaped evil’s clutches… Cortland’s nonsense and ego hammered home what Lasher taught her and that… pushed her over the edge… and allowed for her to embrace evil and its power. Setting in motion a powerful prophecy and giving Rowan all the lies she needs to protect a true monster. Which allowed for evil to win and served to teach us… that we cannot accept apathy and curiosity when evil come knocking, nor can we let ego and lies spread. We have to be vigilant, and we have to fight evil with every fiber of our being and help others to realize that evil is here and that it wants something, and help those vulnerable to evil’s promises, to truly begin to leave it in the past.  

Of closure, that does little good now, since it won here. So really, that was more for the audience. Whereas the characters of Rowan’s world, are going to be left with devastation in their wake, since this episode also revealed the truth about Cortland and his sorted past with his own family, and of course… a monster is under the protection of a broken person. And the only hope now for a better tomorrow, is for good people to figure out how to reach Rowan and help her see the light, before it is too late. Which is likely what the recently announced second season of this delightful show will explore, and it will be interesting to see what comes next for Rowan, now that evil has manipulated her into burying the best parts of herself in the name of something diabolical. Until next time. 

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