Miss Graves would do anything for Crescent Veil and its students in Coven Academy. She’s been protecting the school since she was Briar’s age alongside her coven, Tamora and Mary. From her past, we found out that everything connects back to Winter Solstice 1998 and the secret they vowed never to speak of again.
As Miss Graves and Mr. Cole tries to escape William, Miss Graves realizes she may have to face her past to win the war. While Miss Graves fights her past, Jake runs into trouble in the present that reveals something from his past.
By the end of episode 16, no one is safe from what’s coming. The more the present day students learn about the past students, the more danger they’re in. As dark magic and secrets run amok in New Orleans, the witches and warlocks must find a way to save the school and the city.
Jake discovers a piece of his past
Alexander, “says times up, Jake,” and attacks him. Jake isn't having it after having to be around Ollie. No one sticks a warlock on Alexander and gets away with it as Jake tries to run but keeps failing. When fighting fails him, Jake starts chanting dark magic. It sends pink flames around Alexander as he disappears. Only ashes are left where he stood in the street. All Jake can do is get away as fast as he can.
McKenna apologizes to Teagan about Jake's behavior. Teagan lets it slide given it made for an exciting Witchgiving. McKenna is being the nice sibling and witch for once as Teagan confides in her about being scared to use her magic. After all this time, McKenna is really putting her best food forward and even trying to make friends now.
Jake runs straight to Mr. Cole (William, unknowing to Jake) because he had no one else to talk about. He let dark magic take over and he lost control, killing Alexander. Yet Mr. Cole says he didn't lose control, but Jake is distraught over killing someone whereas his teacher doesn't seem phased. Mr. Cole tries to tell him it was Jake or him, but Jake isn't calming down.
Jake wishes he had just teleported out of there instead of killing Alexander. Mr. Cole digs the knife in and reminds him demonic creatures will always keep coming after him just like his father. Jake doesn't understand. Mr. Cole reveals that Jake's father was a warlock from an ancient bloodline, raised in New Orleans. A pack of werewolves came after him and his sister. They took his sister out, and Jake's grandfather used every source of light magic against them but it wasn't enough. All of them were massacred except for Jake's father.
Mr. Cole says Jake honored his lineage by fighting the vampire and that would make his father proud. Jake questions how he knows so much about his dad as a 13 year old and afterwards. Mr. Cole stands up and shows Jake his scars—werewolf scars just like Jake's dad had gotten as a teen. Jake puts two and two together as Mr. Cole confesses he lived it.
Mr. Cole explains he needed to earn his trust before he could reveal he was his dad. All this time Jake thought his dad was dead, and now he's been at Crescent Veil all this time. But he hasn't shown his true face (viewers know William is Jake's dad not Mr. Cole). He had to show Jake he wasn't a bad guy like he remembered. Yet, he deflects the question of where he's been all these years. He explains he came to Crescent Veil for Jake and only him.
The vamps want revenge
Alexander's memorial gathering reveals Jake truly did kill him. At first it didn't seem possible but even vampires meet their end under the correct dosage of magic or wooden stake. It looks like Ollie didn't know Alexander was murdered by a warlock until the speaker, Tesse, (Alexander’s best friend) says it. Then, he goes as far as saying they are taking the fight to Crescent Veil. He doesn't reveal Jake as the warlock, only that the warlock goes to school there.
Ollie does something foolish and says that's not possible because of the wards everywhere keeping vampires out. The situation gets worse when Tesse reveals they'll have to use Ollie's standing invitation to get into Crescent Veil. He stops Ollie from sending a text warning Briar that the vampire want to use him to get into the school. Tesse crushes his phone. The other vampires force him to drink human blood, and he wants more after one sip.
It’s all connected
Teagan and Sasha check on Briar when she doesn't return to the dinner table at Witchgiving. She accepts their company as she tells them she hates crying. Finding out her mom's killer only made everything harder as she's left with more questions than answers. Hopefully those answers will come with time. Briar reminds them how thankful she is for them knowing they'll never leave her, but Briar and Teagan are unaware Sasha got into the Coven Academy’s Italy campus.
Ollie thanks Sasha's mom for allowing him into her home. She simply says that Briar says he's good and she sees that in him. As things are simple and easy, she cuts her finger on the knife and excuses herself. Ollie's vampire senses rage inside of him and turns his eyes yellow as he tries to resist it. Briar sneaks up on him and knocks his eyes back to normal before she can see. She notices something is wrong and he deflects saying he needs to leave. He promises to call her later and runs out the door.
Miss Graves worries about what William will do at the Winter Solstice if they don't escape the basement and stop him. Everything he couldn't accomplish in 1998 is within reach. More witches and warlocks will die if William succeeds. Could William be keeping Miss Graves alive to make her a part of his twisted scheme?
Mr. Cole decides he might be able to tap into the wards and help Miss Graves escape. She disagrees, warning him that kind of magic could kill him. He's certain he'll be okay going to battle for her like he promised he would if ever needed. He hugs her and then turns around slapping a hand to the brick wall. Him and the wall lights up as he tries to defeat the wards. He collapses to the floor, telling her to run with his last breath. She runs up the stairs and shoulders the door open.
After Witchgiving blows up in their faces, the girls spread out yearbooks from Coven Academy’s past. They find Mary, Miss Graves, and Tamora at their convening ceremony, Winter Solstice 1998. In other words, the night they were talking about in their last conversation before Mary was murdered.
Something isn't adding up as Teagan notices Miss Graves casting a spell in a variety of yearbook photos. Mary's killer used their left hand when using the spell to kill her, while Miss Graves always used her right hand. Finally, they realize Miss Graves can't be the killer because she wouldn't just switch hands to kill someone. They are back to square one on who the murderer really is.
Teagan realizes that she didn't see Miss Graves in the past but a warlock shape shifting. As they ask who would want to frame Miss Graves, she comes running in. Sasha and Teagan immediately tell her they were wrong and they're sorry. Finally, Briar believes Miss Graves loved Mary and would never hurt her. Miss Graves stuns them all when she says she knows who the killer is and that he's in Crescent Veil.
Winter Solstice 1998
Mary thanks Tamora and Emma for standing by her side as they step into officially being a coven at their Winter Solstice 1998 dance. William walks over and congratulates them. While Mary is kind, Emma is icy to William and his offer to help coach them to be head coven.
Before William can steal Mary away, Emma pulls her back and wonders why she isn't keeping her distance. Whatever she was going to say next comes to a halt when she sees the dark magic marks on Mary's arm. Mary shrugs off Emma's warning of dark magic’s effect and walks off to meet up with William in the dead of night.
He reveals his surprise spell, and that it has to be epic since it's the Winter Solstice. At midnight the lines are hit with a dose of dark magic. Mary worries people will die from the power but William reminds her how great they feel from using it and so will everyone else. Emma pulls Tamora off the dance floor when she can't find Mary and William.
Agnes brings light to the Leylands at the witching hour. She notices William and Mary running from the other side as the field glows. William repeats the chant to Mary as they get closer. Once they are steps away from Agnes, they say the chant and Agnes disappears.
William doesn't care that they took out Agnes and whoever was with her because the chant he'll cast will take away all the demon-blooded creatures. He believes this will save lives. As Emma and Tamora come up, Mary tells her coven what William is doing and that they need to stop him. They quickly seal him in light until help comes.
Miss Graves explains Winter Solstice 1998
When the council asked them what happened, they lied and said William kidnapped Mary, so the council stripped his magic. Agnes' gifts saved her but the guard with her was killed. Miss Graves and Tamora covered up Mary's involvement since that night.
Until Briar started asking questions, Miss Graves could keep it from her in the present day. She wanted to keep Mary's memory wholesome. Mary shouldn't be remembered for one wrong night, because that wrong night led her to stop using dark magic for good. She wasn't that young witch anymore and Briar, already needing the truth, was better off remembering the Mary she knew. He killed Mary and Tamora out of revenge and Miss Graves knows he is saving her for last. But Briar is determined to kill him before he kills Miss Graves.
Miss Graves reveals that Mr. Cole died saving her life. She also knows William probably had something to do with the head warlock’s sudden and early retirement. Briar wants to do something now but Miss Graves reminds her she needs her powers. They can't just get her grimoire, they have to get a rare moon stone since dark magic took her powers. Crescent Veil has one for emergencies but since she's wanted for murder, Miss Graves can't get it herself. She knows Agnes will alert the council, so she tells the girls it's up to them. They must go after 10 PM when Agnes leaves the vault and at all costs steer clear of “Mr Cole.”
Briar runs into Jake's room to tell him everything. She had to stop him apologizing for Witchgiving to get her reveal out. Jake's more upset that she's talking to Miss Graves than finding out Mr. Cole is William, who also shape shifted to kill Mary and get inside Crescent Veil undetected. Jake keeps saying that Briar once believed it was Miss Graves but she begs him to understand she had proof and one of those is that the real Mr. Cole is dead. She begs him to be careful around William as she confesses she cares about him. Not only is he left with a massive truth dump, but also Briar caring about him as she heads to meet the girls for their mission.
Briar finds the cabinet with a very particular lock where the moon stone is kept. As Sasha is keeping watch, Agnes comes up to her wondering why she isn't home with her mom. She lies about needing advice on the final, but Agnes knows about Sasha's acceptance letter. Agnes tells her she knows what she's looking for, something she hasn't told anyone: The elixir of Life is most likely in Florence, Italy. Agnes stops her from using her empath powers and turns her own on her to get Sasha to tell the truth.
Briar opens the cabinet, but the moon stone is in a sealed glass case. Her shattering the glass alerts William as he's passing through the hallway. Briar comes face-to-face with William (as Mr. Cole) as she hides the moon stone.
Coven Academy season 1 is now streaming on Disney+. You can keep reading our recaps here at Show Snob.
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