‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ Recap – ‘Brianna’s Favorite Pencil’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’.
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Action. That’s what every fan of Motherland: Fort Salem was hoping that General Alder was going to take after the end of last week’s harrowing journey. For the Camarilla made their boldest move to date, and nearly toppled the Witch Army’s leadership and nearly ended the Bellweather family line. Moves that by virtue called for retaliation, but alas… it would seem that a full-scale attack simply isn’t in the cards for the general. For the next episode in this series, ‘Brianna’s Favorite Pencil’, saw more inaction from General Alder. The kind where she simply retreated to her quarters and mulled over who knows what, which was equally as unfortunate… when one considers that fact that the Camarilla made another bold move during her brooding.

For this evil organization went right after General Sharma and her attaché in India and were successful in their endeavors since she perished in a horrible manner and yet even then… Alder did little to react other than lament and well, with the top brass essentially out of commission and unwilling to speak to just about anyone, the rest of the army seemed quite lost, as did our favorite cadets as well. For Tally was desperate for answers, Abigail was a shell of her former self after being attacked once again and Raelle’s thoughts once again drifted to Scylla, now that she knew her love was alive and well and out in the world and for a time it seemed that the army was going to do nothing more than drift in this tale and wait for some sign of direction from leadership and that’s when something magical happened.

Because all of these events were transpiring during All Hallows Eve, and as part of the festivities, the group had a chance to take part in an ancient tradition involving the defense of a fire from spirits long gone and if by chance, they were successful in doing so… they would be able to speak with a witch from the past of their choosing as a reward. Which of course, motivated the unit to buckle down and make it happen so they could get answers at last and figure out what comes next with their general in hiding and well… they won, and Abigail and Tally were treated to some powerful surprises. Such as a pep talk from Carvel… one that informed Abigail that she needed to fight instead of lament and Tally, well she got the truth on Alder and trusts her even less now, since she learned that genocide is part of the Army’s agenda. But sadly, not everyone got what they wanted, since Raelle was hoping to speak with the spirit of her mother and received not a peep, since she is unaware of the fact that her mother is still alive.

But while it was nice to see the characters catch their breath and heal their wounds and start to forge their own paths, since it allowed for some growth and world-building to take place, there was some semblance of action that took place in this tale. For Scylla and Anacostia were able to gain entrance to a horrific Camarilla event. One where they planned to sacrifice an innocent young girl that was recently exposed as a witch, to reinforce their commitment to chaos and thankfully… Anacostia and Scylla didn’t let that happen. For they worked to shut off the power at this event in order to use their power and Scylla took full advantage of that. For she went right after the leader of this cell and destroyed him completely, before turning her attention to Shane and well… it is nice to see someone stand up to this ancient enemy since the general seems terrified to do so. 

In the end however, this was simply a fascinating tale. Primarily because it did a wonderful job of giving the audience a moment to catch their breath whilst the story set up the future of the season and boy, is that looking grim for the Witch Army. Because an incompetent leader that loves inaction and brooding, will be viewed poorly by the populace when it becomes public knowledge that the Spree are actually defending American interests. Plus, no good can come of the fact that Alder’s top lieutenants are questioning her leadership and her decisions and well, it will be interesting to see where this story takes us next, now that the once proud and bold Witch Army, is eager to stand by while their enemy thrives with impunity. Until next time.  

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