'The Order' Season 2: Is [spoiler] really dead? Should she return in future seasons?
Spoilers for Season 2 of 'The Order'
For the most part, 'The Order' is an easygoing supernatural fantasy drama. We met Jack Morton (Jake Manley) in the first season, a freshman student at Belgrave University who wanted to join the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose to get vengeance on Edward Coventry (Max Martini), the Grand Magus of the magical secret society, for his mother's death. Edward Coventry also happened to be Jack's father, though the former did not know it.
Over the course of the first season, Jack met Alyssa Drake (Sarah Grey), a medicum of the Order whom he fell in love with. Things grew tense between them when Alyssa learned that Jack was also a member of the Knights of Saint Christopher, a group of werewolves dedicated to fighting evil magic. As a senior member of the Order, Alyssa is a skilled magic practitioner who is capable of performing powerful magic that is both defensive and offensive. She is also a huge admirer of Edward before she learned of his true nature and became his witness as he became ready to sacrifice his first-born son to absorb the power of the Vade Maecum.
In Season 2, Alyssa seems to have lost control of her power — all the spells she performs become amplified, leading to mishaps, including the death of the rogue practitioner who was killing people across campus. Though Alyssa suspects her power is out of control due to her feelings for Jack, it becomes clear that it is because of her connection to Edward, who is trapped in the Vade Maecum which was not destroyed but kept in secret by the new Grand Magus, Vera Stone (Katharine Isabelle).
Through the second season, we see her disassociate herself from the Order and become more attached to other magical groups. First was the Sons of Prometheus, the Order's rival magical society that is very Amish-like. They perform magic through their connection with nature rather than making sacrifices. While Alyssa was drawn to the Prometheans, she had to leave the group when many members were killed by a Praxis member.
We soon learned of Praxis's agenda — they wanted to make magic available for everyone and take down the Order. When Alyssa learned of Vera's betrayal, she grew closer to Salvador, the leader of Praxis, and began to work for Praxis.
This is where we started getting confused. Alyssa is a smart and ambitious practitioner, but we wondered why she was so quick to turn to Praxis. When Salvador was killed by Vera, Alyssa was determined to take down the Order, regardless of the consequences. Alyssa knows what happens when unsupervised magic is performed, but she seemed to have forgotten all she learned in the Order about the dangers of magic in the wrong hands.
Eventually, she was killed by Gabrielle Dupres (Louriza Tourco) who had taken on the werewolf hide of Midnight. It's a tragic end for a much-loved character, but perhaps it's the best thing that could have happened to her. While Alyssa became more than what she was in Season 1, it still felt off to see her acting out. What once seemed as a sensible character became reckless and somewhat selfish.
Moreover, with so much screentime devoted to Alyssa, we don't get to see character developments of the others, including such characters as Randall Carpio (Adam DiMarco) and Nicole, another acolyte. With Alyssa gone, we may even see what kind of Order member Jack could be without her.
All episodes of Season 2 of 'The Order' are now streaming on Netflix.