Disney’s Coven Academy has reached the end of a thrilling season 1. Honestly, you’d never know this was their debut release when the episodes are so captivating and packed with magical lore. Despite feeling like season 2, I hope there are many seasons to come. This cast deserves all the praise and joy. All 21 episodes are available to stream on Disney+. Here’s to my final recap of one of the best new supernatural teen dramas to hit Disney+.
In episodes 20 and 21, Briar and her friends face the ultimate fears: the truth and bloodline secrets. Despite all their magic, they still struggle with who they truly are and where they come from. William’s evil path messes with Jake’s head while Briar uses everything in her to win against the darkness.
Although the Winter Solstice of 1998 secrets were outed, there’s still more under the surface waiting to be revealed. After everything good and bad, I wish there was more. Like the students are saying goodbye for winter break, we’re saving goodbye for now too while we hope for another season.
The Winter Solstices
Ollie hears Jake's chanting as he tries to break out of the chains William locked him in. Jake cries out for help only to come face-to-face with his enemy. They finally have it out about Jake coming between Ollie and Briar. Ollie only stops vamping out when Jake mentions that Briar's in trouble and it's serious. Despite it all, Ollie breaks Jake free so they can go save Briar.
Briar runs through the woods only to be sucked into a portal and back to William. He reveals that for his ancient spell to work, he needs a witch to chant it with him. Not only that, but the dark grimoire is Mary's, which is from a long line of dark magic-practicing witches. I’m not sure he’s telling the truth, but Briar has no choice but to go along with him until help arrives.
Back at the Winter Solstice Dance, Tesse and his vampire friends terrorize the witches and warlocks. Mr. Cole asks what Tesse wants as McKenna goes to defend her brother’s honor. Finally, her magic works, allowing McKenna to return to her side. Mr. Cole breaks his cane in two, stabs the vampire that Teagan froze in time, and the rest come after him. Miss Graves arrives just in time and casts away the vampires with a ray of light. She ushers the students to the vault as Sasha runs off and pulls Tesse off a student. It’s then revealed that Tessa is actually Sasha’s late brother, Mason.
Mason warns Sasha to get out of there. As he zooms off, Teagan comes and finds Sasha asking about Briar. Sasha feels Briar’s terrified movements as they run to go find her. Meanwhile, Briar refuses to help William as he threatens to turn her to ash. Then, she realizes he can’t harm her because he needs someone in Mary’s bloodline to cast the spell. Killing or harming Briar is off the table. Yet, he still threatens to kill her dad in Brooklyn and her coven sisters. She takes the dark grimoire, hoping it is the right move to keep her loved ones safe.
Jake and Ollie teleport into the school after the vampire attacks ended and the students/teachers ran to the vault. Ollie doesn’t smell Briar’s blood, so they figure out William must have her at the Leylands, while the vampires smell Jake’s blood and are coming for him. Ollie surprises Jake and does him a solid by taking his Jake to lure the vampires away from him while he goes to save Briar.
Briar attempts to say the dark magic chant as William rudely corrects her. As she’s trying again, Sasha and Teagan arrive just in time so Briar can get away from him. But he’s too strong for Sasha’s magic. Instead, they join hands and chant the binding spell like Mary’s coven did in 1998. He easily breaks the light magic with dark magic and freezes Sasha and Teagan. He drags Briar away, threatening for her to cast the spell or her coven to die. Not wanting to lose anymore people she loves, she begins the chant alongside William.
In seconds, the Leylands light up, but it’s not spreading. William yells at Briar to read the spell again. It doesn’t work, so he grabs the grimoire from her and comes after her as she backs towards her coven. He wields dark magic to choke Briar, Sasha, and Teagan like he did Mary. Jake breaks William’s spell by jumping him from the side; before William can attack him, he throws the grimoire through a portal.
Jake calls William out for attacking his kind to create a distraction so the girls can cast a spell to rid William of his darkness with the light from the Leylands. He tries to stop them, but the light magic fights back. To create more power, Jake joins the girls and chants the spell against William. As the light weakens William, Miss Graves runs up and tells Briar to grab her hand. Light envelopes their joined hands as Miss Graves wields a spell against William, which includes the powers of a mother and daughter. He’s gone for good this time.
After Winter Solstice
Ollie drops off something at Briar’s window as she’s checking in on Jake in his room. Unfortunately, she has to accept that Ollie told her to stay away, but Jake surprises her by saying Ollie isn’t a monster because he saved his life tonight. He admits to being wrong about a lot of things and even touches on his complicated issues with his dad.
Briar finally received closure and put her mom’s case to rest. They both agree it is time to shred the past and see what the future holds. They join hands and turn the dark grimoire over to ask. With emotions heavy, they finally almost kiss, but Briar stops them as Ollie watches from the shadows. They say goodnight, and she heads to her room and finds the package from Ollie outside her window: their pizza box, First Date Rose, and a letter. His goodbye promises to keep her close and safe at the same time.
Sasha faces her fears and enters the Vampire Den. She walks right past her brother, who questions her being there. It’s obvious that she’s looking for him and why he became what she fears most. He’s been gone for three years because his family are witches and warlocks who want his kind gone. Sasha tries to disagree, but he’s right: witches and warlocks put up wards against vampires.
He confesses that he always felt like an outsider while everyone had magic but him. Sasha didn’t care about magic; she cared about him as a person, as her brother with a big heart. Begging for him to rejoin her life doesn’t convince him he’ll be accepted. He turns on the vampire scare and pushes her to leave. Back at the school, she finds the Elixir of Life spell: it's a way to restore a vampire back to the human state.
Teagan meets up with McKenna, who immediately cancels their date, saying her flight leaves for Chicago early ahead of winter break. It’s early evening, so they’d still have time. McKenna reveals she was bitten by a vampire last night at the Winter Solstice and doesn’t know if she’ll be a hybrid because she doesn’t feel anything yet. Teagan agrees to keep her situation a secret. Although it is evident that Teagan is scared for McKenna, she holds tight to her and promises she’s not in it alone. This is the character growth we love to see.
Mr. Cole visits Miss Graves before he heads out for winter break. Although he had his identity stolen and life on the line, he still loves this school. They both agree that they are always waiting to do things at the best time but realize they need to hold onto every second after what they experienced. It turns out, they both have feelings for each other. He wanted to ask her to dinner, and she has two tickets to a jazz concert, which she wanted to invite him to. I love that she’s like, "Why can’t we do both?" As they finalize their date to some extent, Mr. Cole looks over and notices Agnes in the oil painting. Miss Graves pulls her out and scolds them for taking so long.
A storm is coming to New Orleans
Sasha and Teagan join Briar in her room as she’s packing for winter break. It really does feel like forever since they met for the first time and had to jump through hoops to get to where they are now. After everything, Briar made the girls' bracelets with enchanted beads that, if they are ever apart, will bring them back together.
While they are sad about heading home for the break, last night is still bothering Briar. Why didn’t the spell work if William needed a witch from the Robert family bloodline? Now that she knows her mom left because of secrets and not because she was pregnant, nothing adds up. There are no photos of her mom pregnant with her, plus when Miss Graves grabbed her hand last night, Briar felt a connection between them.
Miss Graves goes deep into the forest and calls upon a wayward soul: Mary Roberts. She tells Mary that she thinks Briar knows, as Briar and her coven are putting together the spell Miss Graves used to send William away. Through their conversation, we know Miss Graves wants to tell Briar the truth: why she gave her up and what happened. Mary warns her that no one can know that she’s Briar’s mother because the secret is bigger than them. Although she deserves to know, she won’t be able to protect her once the secret comes out. As Mary warns her and the girls connect the dots, a storm brews over New Orleans.
Coven Academy season 1 is now streaming on Disney+.
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