'The Magicians': It's definitely time to find out what happened back in Timeline-1
Spoiler alert for 'The Magicians' Season 5 Episode 7 'Acting Dean'
There's been a fair bit of time travel shenanigans on 'The Magicians,' in their own unique style of things. This season alone has seen time dwarves buried deep beneath the world, talking bees traveling through time, time stamps, chrono-stabilizing perfume and perhaps most bizzarely of all, a time loop cause by magician whales protecting a kraken's prison wards from a broken moon. This last episode has brought up one of the more intriguing results of Horomancy, the 39 timelines that all, in their way, fell to the Beast.
Through the seasons, we've learned bits and pieces of the other timelines. Timeline-23 got the most screen time, obviously, a world where a shadeless Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) became the Beast, from which timeline 40 got itself a brand new Penny Adiyodi (Arjun Gupta). This episode, we see the deranged "Psycho Fogg" (Rick Worthy) of Timeline-17 — a stark reminder of all the timelines that continue to exist in the ruins of the world they could not save. Fogg's perhaps an extreme case, but it's very unlikely that any of the 39 timelines are not steeped in misery. There's a fascinating wealth of stories to be found there.
One of the most interesting, and perhaps most important timeline that begs to be seen is Timeline-1. The very first one, that started it all. This season gave us our first real tease of that timeline, back in Episode 2. We learn that what brought Quentin to Fillory was the death of Eliot Waugh (Hale Appleman). We know that Jane Chatwin (Esme Bianco) recruited him then, but why she chose Quentin to fight back against the Beast is a story that's been left untold — and one that very much needs telling.
Timeline-1 is the timeline that started it all. We know that Quentin and Eliot are dead in that world — Quentin's death is what restarts the time loop — but beyond that, it's a blank. A huge question mark. Nobody but Dean Fogg and Jane Chatwin remember it, so how relevant that timeline is is a matter of debate, but it still remains a compelling source of fascination. With Quentin gone, and those he left behind trying to find their way to closure, finding out what drew him to Fillory before all of Jane Chatwin's manipulations might just be what's needed to finally be able to lay Quention to rest.
While Jason Ralph has left the show, all timelines are ones where Quentin has died. Getting to explore that first timeline is well within the abilities of the show. The timelines are kind of like the show's dysfunctional extended family. but Timeline-1 is the parental figure that birthed the rest, and it's about time we met it.
The next episode of 'The Magicians' airs February 26 on Syfy.