Summary
A deadly blood parasite begins being passed around in “Spring Outbreak, Part 2”, as The Order gets weirdly and unexpectedly meta.
This recap of The Order season 2, episode 8, “Spring Outbreak, Part 2”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
“Spring Outbreak, Part 2” takes picking up where we left off to a new level — it opens with the exact same shot of blood seeping out from under the door as Kepler arrives and finds carnage in the interrogation room. Foley blew his own innards out using a customized murder spell. Kepler and Vera argue about the coming decision that’s to be made regarding Vera’s fate. Tensions are reaching a boiling point here.
Gabby and Angus arrive to escort the Knights back to the temple as prisoners since everyone thinks they’re responsible for some reason. The wolves are willing to come along, but not in chains. Nicole and Selena, meanwhile, are tasked with cleaning up Foley’s mess. A couple of interesting things to note here. Selena suggests that, because of Nicole’s feelings for Lilith, a new Magus might require she prove her loyalty. And the blood on the bucket starts to develop a mind of its own.
Meanwhile in The Order season 2, episode 8, Jack, Randall, and Hamish are brought before Vera and Kepler. They’re forced to spill the beans about Salvador being a werewolf. Out of nowhere, Robert starts behaving very oddly, then vomits blood and dies. Vera thinks that Foley’s incantation might be contagious in some way, but Jack says that since the Knights didn’t hear ringing, he couldn’t have been killed by an incantation. Jack also reveals to Vera that Alyssa thinks she kept the Vade Maecum.
Speaking of Alyssa, she breaks into Vera’s home to poke around. We’ll return to this in a little while, though, since it’s time for Vera’s fate within the Order to be determined in a ceremony led by Kepler. Vera gets so many votes in her favor that Kepler abandons all pretense and just starts questioning how anyone can vote for her. But it’s clear that pro-Vera sentiment within the Order is strong. Her position looks safe.
While waiting for the decision to be confirmed, the Knights try to get to the bottom of what’s going on and suspect that rather than a murder incantation, what they’re seeing might be an enchanted virus — magic ebola, as Randall succinctly puts it. They take this to Vera and suggest the solution is an enchanted cure-all. They can brew the potion, but, as Jack says, they can’t make anyone drink it. Vera has to find a way to break up the conclave.
Meanwhile, Salvador confronts Alyssa, who figures out that she was the one who summoned Zecchia and pulled off the heist. Salvador also reveals the fact that she’s a werewolf, but little else for now. In the meantime, the wolves try and get the acolytes to drink the cure-all, but Angus leads a minor revolt after another of their number, Terry, comes down with the virus and dies in front of them. At this point, I don’t feel like Angus’s point is particularly well defined, as the wolves have proved themselves trustworthy again and again. But no matter. The Knights are put on clean-up duty and discover that the blood is alive. Randall theorizes that it’s a parasite that makes its victims incredibly needy so that when they seek comfort they can vomit blood on the next victim. Angus also attempts to usurp Vera but is knocked into the conclave, where he reveals to Kepler that the wolves pulled off the temple heist. That proves a pretty compelling argument for the assembled Adepti, who vote… Jason Priestley as Grand Magus, after he’s finished arguing with Ian Ziering. I have no idea why the show’s suddenly getting meta here.
After enjoying a risotto together, Salvador finally starts giving Alyssa an idea of what her endgame is — a kind of equal-magic-for-all utopia, even if she doesn’t necessarily believe in the concept of utopias. Alyssa tries to make an escape, but Salvador just lets her go without much fuss. She’s hoping that Alyssa buys into her worldview.
The wolves, Gabby and Vera find themselves locked up in the room where Foley exploded, where they postulate about what has really been pulled off here. Vera has an idea and sends Hamish rooting around in Foley’s exposed innards for a tiny creature that can apparently imitate blood. He finds it. They’re then able to finesse their way out of captivity by appealing to Nicole’s kind side, and Vera presents her findings to Kepler and co. Jason Priestley vomits his guts out to prove her point.
But Vera’s smug triumph is shortlived. Just as she’s declaring how she’d rather lead an inclusive Order that champions the supposed outsiders who have done more today than any other member, Alyssa arrives with the Vade Maecum. Vera lied about possessing the book the whole time, which Kepler, hilariously, thinks makes her a fine leader. Alyssa’s disillusionment runs so deep that even a smooch from Jack can’t convince her to reconsider. She walks away from him, and the Order, and as she does so she’s given a puff of the amnesia powder. Jack rewrites her memory, instructing her to forget the Order, the Knights, and him. It’s a sad moment.
A funny moment, though, is the revenge Vera gets on Ian Ziering; she gives him a permanent glamour that makes him look like Jason Priestley.
Jack, Hamish, and Randall report to Vera for their first assignment having signed the amnesty. Their first official duty is to tear apart the Vade Maecum and never tell her where they hide it. When they pull it apart, though, it reveals magazines. Alyssa kept the original. We see her meet with Salvador, who protected her memories from the powder. Together, they plan to stir some sh*t up, and it’s with that idea that The Order season 2, episode 8 ends.
