Abbie and Ichabod race the Headless Horseman to recover a sword capable of defeating Moloch. Here is a recap of the Sleepy Hollow episode “Magnum Opus.”
Recap:
Abbie and Ichabod play a game of Heads Up to distract their conscious mind and allow the unconscious to release helpful information. It’s not helping. Katrina calls Ichabod from the mirror, telling him she hasn’t killed Moloch yet. Once she leaves the room, Henry absorbs the mirror’s information. Ichabod deciphers an anagram in Grace Dixon’s journal leading them to the sword of Methuselah, a weapon capable of killing any being on Earth. They place the journal against a mirror, which reflects an image of the Join or Die political cartoon. The snake’s tongue marks the spot, like a treasure map. Seeing this, Henry sends Abraham to get the sword first.
Having seen the emblem, Abbie draws it in the dirt. It’s a snake eating its tail. They move some sand around, find a door, and take the spiral staircase into a set of caves filled with stone statues. Seeing Dixon written on a lamp, Abbie realizes these are real people turned to stone. Ichabod rushes them out as they’re chased by a Gorgon, a monster capable of turning humans to stone with eye contact. Abbie sparks an idea to allow someone with no eyes to find the sword for them – someone like Headless. Henry knows what Katrina was planning with the poison and says she’s to blame for putting Ichabod in danger. Henry will sound a horn three times when the apocalypse is nigh.
That night, Abbie and Ichabod return to the ruins. They follow Headless into the caves, letting him fight the Gorgon, while they sneak into a back room containing a ring of swords. As Abbie tries to figure out which is the sword of Methuselah, Ichabod leaves to hold off danger. Headless beheads the Gorgon. Seeing Headless as Abraham, Ichabod proposes a deciding match. A swordfight ensues, being intercut with one of their matches in the past. Abbie removes a sword, turning them all into snakes that escape through cracks in the wall. Abraham enters, and Abbie tells him the sword doesn’t exist.
Abraham hears the horn and heeds the call to Moloch’s side. Downtrodden and doubtful, Ichabod sees his reflection in the basin the swords surrounded. It’s not filled with water; it’s oil. Abbie and Ichabod light it on fire, revealing the sword of Methuselah. Henry summons Moloch. He rises in a ring of fire.
Comments:
– “Magnum Opus” served mostly as a set up for the midseason finale, but it was an interesting and engaging hour in its own right. The strong, trusting relationship between Abbie and Ichabod held the episode together, distracting the audience from the ultimately slow pace of the episode.
– Having the previous episode begin with Abbie’s vision of her mother among some ruins served a double purpose not apparent until this episode. On the one hand, it set up Abbie’s encounter with her mother in “Mama,” but it also gave the audience a veiled clue at this week’s hiding place. It was a clever move, and I especially enjoyed the way that the flashes from “Mama” were added into “Magnum Opus.”
– The transition out of the first flashback was noticeably odd. Having Ichabod’s face from the flashback remain on half the screen while the other half was moving into the present seemed like an unnecessary way to show that things from the past are happening in the present. Not only did the content of the flashback give this away, but Ichabod also had an explicit line about how his and Abraham’s fates were entwined.
– In general, I found the flashbacks in this episode to be extraneous, and that’s a first for this series. They did not add any new information to the relationship between Ichabod and Abraham or between Abraham and Katrina. Regardless, they were still cool to watch.
– In one of the many great scenes between Abbie and Ichabod, Abbie ponders whether it’s her destiny to die young like so many of her ancestors. This provided a truly vulnerable moment for the character and reminded us that she’s just as human as we are despite her great destiny. It’s always nice to see the support and motivational words that Abbie and Ichabod have for one another.
– Another great scene in “Magnum Opus” was the one between Henry and Katrina. Even though Henry is the Biblical horseman of war and Katrina is only a witch (though far from powerless), it was impressive to see her have equal footing with him in their back-and-forth. She’s quick to respond and smart to try to tap into his humanity. It was an excellent way to use Katrina’s inner strength when her use of magic got her into a little trouble.
– Headless beheading the statues in the cave for no apparent reason was an amusing touch.
– The moment the circle of swords turned into snakes was unexpected and completely fitting given the snake symbol found on the outside. I was captivated by this.
– “George Washington! He was our liar-in-chief! He formed the Culper Spy Ring. That was a network of liars.” – Ichabod
– “Were you meant to teach history or to make it?” – Abraham (to Ichabod)
– “Our quest will not be without peril.” – Ichabod
“Crane, you and I can’t have lunch without peril.” – Abbie
– “Don’t tell me you’re trying to take a selfie with a Gorgon.” – Abbie (to Ichabod)
