‘The Magicians’: Julia is off the rails — and it’s kind of awesome

“The Magicians” didn’t exactly send a GO GREEN message with Julia’s latest “arboricide,” but to be fair, those were some uppity friggin’ trees.

Thanks to her magical abortion, Julia is now demigod fetus-free, but the procedure had one massive complication: Her shade was nicked in the process, meaning she’s got zero pain, zero shame, and zero remorse — a pretty deadly combination for a magician. Her mission to kill Renard (Mackenzie Astin) is still in full swing though, despite her lack of emotional tethers, and Julia is more determined (and more focused) than ever to see this plan through.

RELATED: ‘The Magicians’ pulls an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ to help Julia

We have to be honest, we were pretty nervous about how Julia’s story would play out this year, especially when it became apparent that her rape had resulted in a child. Putting aside the fact that magical baby plots almost always crash and burn, we weren’t wild about the prospect of the show forcing Julia to carry and deliver a child she didn’t want; a child that was the result of the most traumatic moment of her life. It just didn’t spell out good things for Julia’s character — mentally or narratively.

“The Magicians” managed to turn that plot into one of the best things to ever happen to Julia’s character, however, as its given us a new and deadlier version of the girl we love. Julia’s big heart has always been at the core of her actions, so it’s as interesting as it is devastating to watch her operate without it. We’re not on board for Julia staying this way forever, but we’re absolutely invested in this storyline for her in Season 2.

Even if it does turn her into a bit of an arsonist and a sentient-tree killer.

Elsewhere, Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is still tormenting Quentin (Jason Ralph), but she’s not just causing mental damage — she appears to be causing physical damage as well.

RELATED: ‘The Magicians’ showrunners sound off on that new Alice twist & Julia’s pregnancy

After several mysterious body-swaps between Quentin and his niffin resident, Alice’s plan became clear: She’s trying to unlock the seal on Quentin’s back to set herself free. It’s a predictable goal, but also possibly an unavoidable one. From the state of Quentin after her final attempt to get another niffin to help her, we’re pretty sure that releasing Alice will be in his best interest if he wants to stay alive.

It’s impossible to tell if Alice was even telling the truth about his body being incapable of imprisoning a niffin since she already proved she’s not exactly trustworthy, but whatever is killing Quentin, it’s definitely niffin related.

Can Quentin release a malevolent niffin on the world to save his own life? And more importantly, should he?

“The Magicians” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy.

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