A Discovery of Witches - Matthew and Diana Challenge The Covenant

The fourth chapter certainly is the culmination of Matthew and Diana’s burgeoning relationship reaching a volatile stasis, as the idea of a vampire and witch on the verge of breaking The Covenant (an agreement between demons, witches, and vampires not to have “interspecies” relations) is just too intolerable for The Congregation. The Congregation (heads of each species come together to discuss matters of grave importance for all three) discusses how Matthew supposedly “kidnapped” Diana, took her off to France, and is holding her with his “witch killer” mother, the notorious Ysabeau De Clermont (Lindsay Duncan). Ysabeau’s husband, Philippe, was killed by a witch (he was the catalyst in the formation of The Covenant, which provides an irony all its own considering his son is in love with a witch), and afterward she went on a South American “purge” of covens. When Diana calls her aunt (and aunt’s lover), they obviously freak out. Knox sends Domenico to bring Diana to The Congregation to supposedly answer for her misbehavior (her power is held secret by Knox; when Knox is questioned by his protégé, who accompanied him to the council meeting, about concealing just how powerful Diana was when tested as a child, receiving a strong punishment for confronting him at all), but Matthew will not allow it. Ysabeau rejects her coldly, using little insults and slights that dig at her despite Diana’s efforts to get along. Ysabeau just doesn’t like witches and isn’t particularly happy with her son bringing Diana to their estate, knowing what the repercussions might (must) be. With Matthew attacking Domenico (who arrives with a lot of arrogance and pointed warning about disobeying The Covenant and causing trouble) and telling him that he will NOT take Diana with him, that outright defiance will most certainly not go over well!

The undermined romance between Matthew and Diana thanks to factors beyond their control (well at this point in their story arc) remains at the fore, which is to be expected in a series that builds all of these other characters around them. Diana and her power, still not yet tapped at its zenith, remain a building block episode to episode. You see more and more of what she is capable of. In this “chapter” (episode) she “makes it rain”. Ysabeau looks on from her balcony with her sister, wowed by what Diana can do…the rain not all falls but is “reversed”, moving upward as Diana grieves Matthew leaving her behind. Because he wants her safe, Matthew informs Diana that they will not break The Covenant.

Diana, a willful, independent woman (called warmbloods often by vampires) who might be considered ignorant for not following the guidelines and laws set forth by The Congregation, choosing to care for who she wants. Being told she can’t love a particular species because of some covenant before she was born doesn’t sit well with Diana. And Matthew looking at the crime scene photos of her parents, he realizes that they will killed by their own…Diana’s parents were murdered by witches (chalk line circle Matthew sees under the bodies). So Diana’s trust in her own species takes quite a hit.

Reaching critical mass, this episode is starting to see the cracks in the already strained relationships between all species, as Diana and Matthew’s romance causes even more trouble. With Juliette confronting Matthew’s son about wanting to see his father (Gerbert is at the Congregation council meeting), Diana rejecting Knox and his orders to get him the book they desperately covet, and some demon vision involving Diana that Agatha (Tanya Moodle) is interested in. Agatha has a son who has coordinated a demon internet community and a pregnant daughter-in-law who has visions (later learned to be Diana and a mysterious figure whose face she can’t quite verify clearly). This subplot is still undergoing its beginning stages but, much less everything else in the series, Diana is at the center. [3/5]