As the Countess and her son move against John Alden's Indian friends, Mary suffers under the yoke of Puritan oppression stemming from an alliance between the Marburgs and another of Mary's powerful enemies in Salem. But even as she seems to be at her most hopeless, Mary tries to take advantage of a widening schism between mother and son. As John and Cotton proceed with their exorcism of Little John, each must process new information and gather strength to aid them in what lies ahead. Meanwhile, wracked with guilt and sorrow over Dollie's death, a mournful Isaac pays a surprise visit to an already somber town gathering, Anne Hale finds the fate of many may rest in her novice-but powerful-Witch's hands, and John and Cotton get the first glimpses of the enemy they are facing within Little John.
[PREVIOUSLY_ON] Isaac: I will not leaving Dollie on this vessel. Tituba: John Alden is alive. Mary: The comet will soon blaze overhead for only three nights. The gate will open, and our dark lord at last incarnates. Countess Marburg: Your son was born precisely that he should be the vessel for the dark lord's return. Mary: We do have a son. Countess Marburg has him, and they mean to kill him. But I know her weakness. Countess Marburg: So good of you to join us. Mary: It is over. I want my son. [ Horse whinnies ] Sebastian: Unh! Countess Marburg: [ Screaming ] Mary: Go, John! Save him! Boy: Who are you? John: Your father. Hathorne: Mary Sibley, you are under arrest on the crimes of adultery and fornication. Countess Marburg: You follow instructions extremely well, Mr. Hathorne. Hathorne: I am your humble servant. Cotton: Some things are better left unawakened. Boy: [ Distorted voice ] It's too late for that. We shall play cat's cradle with your entrails. Hathorne: Pride goeth before a fall! How far indeed this Jezebel has fallen! From first wife of Salem to painted whore! [ Crowd shouting indistinctly ] Woman: Burn her! Woman 2: Burn her! Hathorne: Now, now! Did she kill George Sibley? Man: Yes! Hathorne: No! But as his life force dimmed, she forced our founder to watch as she entertained her lovers in his own marital bed! And when our last founder finally mercifully passed to Heaven, one can only imagine how she and that corpse-botherer, Dr. Wainwright, disposed of the body. Leaving so many questions. Where is Dr. Wainwright? [ Crowd jeering ] Fled in shame? And how many other men did this siren lure into Mr. Sibley's bed? Man: Too many! Hathorne: As magistrate, I hereby strip you of all your ill-gotten gains. [ Crowd cheering ] Indeed, of the very name Sibley itself. What, then, shall we call you? Mary Walcott? No, I would not demean your father's name and memory. No, with no man's name, you will just be plain Mary, like the plain, worthless woman you are. [ Crowd jeering ] [ "Cupid carries a gun" plays ] ♪ Pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ witch drums ♪ ♪ pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ the witch drums ♪ ♪ better pray for hell ♪ ♪ not hallelujah ♪ [ Birds chirping ] [ Snake hisses ] Sooleawa: [ Gasps ] [ Screaming ] [ Gasping ] Shaman: Sooleawa! [ Grunts ] [ Bones crack ] Sebastian: That's what I love most about the new world, Mother... Such excellent hunting. Shaman: [ Gags ] [ Snake hisses ] John: You said an exorcism is risky. How risky? Cotton: Very. But, in theory, this circle I inscribed will contain the demon. Break the perimeter, however, and we risk death and eternal damnation. The boy, as well. John: Are we sure about this? Cotton: No. But what choice do we have? This may be our last and only hope to stop the witches. John: And save the boy. Cotton: Well, it is hoped. John: Well, it better be more than hope. Boy: Where am I? John: Take it easy, boy. Boy: These ropes... so tight. You said you'd protect me, but you're hurting me. Father, please! Cotton: "Father"? John: [ Sighs ] Boy: Father. Cotton: No more secrets, John. I must know everything about the boy. John: We were in love... Mary and I. I didn't know I left her with child. She bore the child in secret. You know how the town fathers would have dealt with her and with the baby. Cotton: Left to die in the woods. How did the boy come to be possessed? John: Mary says it was witches who had our child all these years and brought him back now precisely to be the center of their rites. I'm told the devil is already inside him. Boy: Father? Cotton: Go to him. But mark my words... Do not cross the circle. I must think. [ Door opens, closes ] Boy: It hurts, father. John: I know. Think of something else, and you'll feel it less. Shall I tell you a story? Boy: Yes, please. Tell me about when you were a boy. Did you have any friends? John: Well, let's see. Uh... There was a boy. Isaac. [ Chuckles lightly ] He was a kind and simple soul... Still is. But do you know who was my dearest friend, the one I loved most already even when I was your age? Boy: Who? John: Why, the girl who turned out to be your mother. Boy: I miss her. John: Me, too. [ Bells tolling ] Countess Marburg: It didn't have to be this way. It should have been your day of triumph, not degradation. If you had not interfered last night, today would be the dawn of the new age. Mary: I'm sorry, Countess, but, unlike you, I could never find the death of my own son a triumph. And I would endure any amount of degradation to hold back that particular dawn. Countess Marburg: Don't be a silly girl. You have no such power. Mary: [ Chuckles ] Countess Marburg: It will dawn, just a day late. I am now on my way to find your son and your handsome Captain Alden. Mary: And if you should find my son and there is no trace of the dark lord left in him, what then? Countess Marburg: Well, that's just not possible. For your Captain Alden is a very fine soldier, and judging by the taste of his Indian mistress, an even finer lover. And he may run with him to the ends of the earth, but the seed is already in the boy. You know that as well as I do. Do I? T'would not be the first time a demon was driven from its home. Countess Marburg: An exorcism? Well, let us hope they do not try, for it will certainly kill the boy. Hathorne: Our home in Heaven, in glory, in the mansions of light, the lord has prepared for those who believe, who have lived by his word. Amen. All: Amen. Hathorne: What is there to say about our founder, George Sibley? [ Door bangs ] Isaac: How about that George Sibley was a son of a bitch? [ People jeer ] Hathorne: What did this dead man ever do to deserve... Isaac: Do?! What did George Sibley do? Besides sear the flesh of my face for the unforgivable crime of love? Well, for one thing, he sent John Alden off to die just so he could steal his girl. Hathorne: This from Isaac the Fornicator. Isaac: Hypocrite! Hypocrite. You're all fornicators. [ All murmuring ] Screwing each other every day of the week, including the Sabbath! I swear... if Jesus Christ walked the streets of Salem, he wouldn't find a man worth saving. Hathorne: This is vile blasphemy, and you will hang for it. Isaac: Go on, then! Hang me! [ People shouting indistinctly ] Hang me! Done died on those stocks years ago. [ Sighs ] You all, so busy looking for where the evil came from. You brought it with you. [ People jeer ] Still, you look all 'round for who could have done it. Must be the Indians, or the French... Or the witches... Or even my Dollie. [ Voice breaking ] Blame it on my Dollie. She had angel eyes. Couldn't see my scars... Just my soul... And loved it. Angel eyes. Risked her life to save mine. Angel eyes. And I'll remember them until my dying day. I promise you. But who will remember the lot of you when you're ashes? They say God sees every sparrow that falls. But he don't see you. [ People murmur ] Not no more! [ People jeering ] He forgot all about you. Salem is the dust he shook from his feet when he turned around and walked away, and he ain't never coming back! [ Grunts ] John: We're gonna get you out of this place as soon as we can. Boy: Where will we go then? John: Where do you want to go? Boy: The most amazing place you've ever been. John: Think of a vast wall of water the size of a mountain and a roar like nothing you can imagine. The Iroquois call it Niagara. The motion so endless it... It seems to stand still. When I saw it, I-I thought... If there is a God, this... This is what he looks like. Boy: [ Grunts ] John: Are you all right? Boy: No. [ Sighs ] These ropes, they burn. Please, father. I promise I'll be good. Just... loosen these ropes. They're hurting me. Cotton: Help me to discern the truth of this boy. Surely, if there be demons in this world, you must exist. For what kind of a world would have demons... But no angels? [ Sighs ] John: Come over here. [ Wind whistling ] Cotton: Don't do it, John. John: There's nothing wrong with this boy except some sickness and the pain we are causing him. He's just a boy! Cotton: One moment, he is just your son in all his innocence. But if he is under their influence, his soul is besieged by an other. It is that other we must expose and expel. Child, I'd like to recite the lord's prayer with me. Boy: I don't know any prayers. Cotton: Then simply repeat the words after me. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Boy: Our father, which art in... Oh! Father. Cotton: "Which art in heaven..." Boy: Father, don't make me. Cotton: No demon may speak the "our father." The very words scorch their tongue. John: It's all right, son. They're just words. Try and say them for me. Boy: [ Gasping ] Cotton: "Our"... Boy: Our... our fa... Cotton: Say the words. Continue, boy. Boy: Don't make me! Oh! Father! He's hurting me! John: All right, stop it! You're hurting him! Cotton: Why can't he say them? Go on, boy! Say the words! "Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed... Boy: No! No! John: Stop it! Cotton: Say the words, child, if a child you be! John: All right! Boy: Stop! Make him stop! Cotton: Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name! Boy: Aah! Cotton: [ Screaming ] Boy: Me-ne me-ne te-kel up-har-sin! Me-ne me-ne te-kel up-har-sin! [ Echoing ] Me-ne me-ne te-kel up-har-sin! [ Roaring ] Shay-tani, shay-tani lama sabak-tani! [ Screams, roaring ] Cotton: Aah! Both: [ Gasping ] Countess Marburg: What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy? I must find the boy. Sebastian: Is it a terrible disappointment, Mother? Countess Marburg: What? Sebastian: That I still live. That you never got to consecrate me as you will her son, never got to hold my young body beneath the hell-blood to see your ancient lover's form emerge from my dead face. Countess Marburg: I do not deny it. But all's well that ends well. So leave me so I may be sure it will end well. Sebastian: Will it end well for me? It is hard, Mother, to be born to rule and yet know I will never be king. Countess Marburg: We all play our part in the great drama. True, despite my fondest hopes, you were not born to be a king. But console yourself, Son. You will be a knight of the dark realm and satisfy yourself in every way. Sebastian: All I want is Mary. Countess Marburg: Do not fixate. It shows a damnable lack of imagination. I told you... You may have anything or anyone whenever you wish. Sebastian: And what if I want only one thing? Countess Marburg: Trust me, Sebastian. There is not only one of anything. Not only one sun in the Sky, but an infinity of suns in the Sky. Not only one Earth, but an infinity of Earths wandering lost in the night. There is certainly not only one god, but many beings of power, if you but know their names. And there is never, not ever, only one man or woman for us. And if, after all your wisdom, all I want is Mary? What then? Countess Marburg: Then you should grow up. Get out. I have work to do. I must find the boy. Get out. Get out. Get out! [SCENE_BREAK] Cotton: Our battle is not with your son but what is within him. Now relight these candles while I prepare to rouse the beast inside. John: [ Sighs ] Boy: [ Whimpers ] [ Gasping ] Cotton: "O almighty and everlasting god, be merciful to we who implore thee. Send thy Holy Angel from Heaven to bless and hallow these ashes so that we, who know ourselves to be but ashes, may fear no evil. Protect us, o lord." Countess Marburg: [ Thinking ] John. [ Echoing ] John. John! John Alden. I've so wanted to meet you. John: This is some kind of witchcraft bullshit illusion. Countess Marburg: Where I come from, we kiss our new friends. John: I ain't your friend. Countess Marburg: I'll tell you a secret. This is an illusion, but so is all that you call life, everything you've been fighting for. Just let it all go for one joyous instant, and you might taste real life. John: My boy. Countess Marburg: Your boy? She told you it was yours, and you believed her? Oh, she lied to you, as she has many, many times before. [ Horse whinnies ] [ Hisses ] John: What the hell? Cotton: Are you all right? John: Did I leave this hut? Cotton: What? No, you just seemed very quiet and still for a moment. What happened? John: The witch was inside my mind. Or I was in hers. I-I don't... I don't know. Cotton: They are hunting him through you. [ Insects buzzing ] Mary: Isaac. Isaac: Don't talk to me, Mary. I don't want to hear a word you've got to say. Mary: Isaac, old friend, speak to me. Do not judge me. You do not know what I have faced. Isaac: No, Mary, I do not. But I believe that God gave us all something so precious and rare, he didn't give it to his angels... Choice, free choice. Whatever you faced, there was never a time when you didn't have a choice. Hathorne: Even the village idiot knows a harlot when he sees one. In time, some poor man may be willing to ignore your transgressions and marry you. Decades of toil await you. Toil and, if you're lucky, the birthing of brats, one of which will likely kill you during labor. Hm. In the meantime, that most generous of gentlewomen, the Countess Marburg, has put up a bond of surety for your release. Use your freedom of movement wisely, Mary. Or it'll be the gallows next time. Mary: [ Breathing heavily ] Anne: But don't... don't you want this consecration? To have your dark lord out and about in the world? Mary: I only want my son. Anne: Your son? Mary: The boy you met at my house is not my nephew but my son. Mine... and John Alden's. Your friend, the countess, has taken him from me. He is to be the sacrifice of the consecration. I-it is his poor, little body that she intends to open up and house the dark lord. [ Sobs ] I've lost everything, but I would rather die by my own hand than be a servant of that bitch, helping with the destruction of my own child! Anne: Mary, as you have often said to me, remember who you are, what you are. You are filled with magic. There must be something you can do. Mary: No. No, I no longer have Faith in my magic. It has brought me and everyone around me nothing but misery and death. Anne: [ Sighs ] Do not give in to despair. That is what you would tell me. We are not puritans... Not anymore. We do not believe in this idiotic predestination. We make our own destiny. Mary: You're right. It's not over till we're dead and the birds are eating our eyes, eh? Thank you. Just remember this... You are an Essex witch. The Marburgs mean no kindness to the Essex. And Cotton will need your help. Anne: Cotton... where is he? How can I help him? Mary: He and John Alden are with my son somewhere in the woods keeping him from Marburg's clutches. Only you can decide when and how to help him. [ Door opens, closes ] Cotton: Have you ever done things or... or thought things that didn't feel like it was you doing them? Boy: It's hard to describe. Sometimes, it seems like I'm very, very small and hidden in a very dark place. Cotton: What happens then? Boy: I don't know, but I'm not alone in there. I'm afraid. Cotton: Afraid of what? Boy: Of the one who is there with me. In me. Cotton: Now, um, I want you to listen, for this is difficult. Close your eyes. Picture that dark place. Do not be afraid. Your father and I are here. We will not desert you whatever happens. Now, I am talking to the thing inside of little John. I know you are there. And I know that you can hear me. Now here this. There is no god but God. And God, this almighty, everlasting God... Boy: [ Gagging ] Cotton: So loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Boy: [ Gags, hisses ] Cotton: And Jesus rebuked the foul spirits, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him! [ Insects buzzing ] And the spirit cried and foamed and gnashed his teeth and rent him sore... Boy: [ Retches ] Cotton: And came out! [ Buzzing stops ] These are the words of the lord. Boy: [ Growling, groaning ] [ Cackles, hisses ] [ Distorted ] Cotton Mather. Did you know you're in Hell even now? My children tear the wings from your soul as from a fly. Cotton: I command thee, in the name of the eternal God and Jesus Christ, our savior, to speak your name and declare from whence thou cometh! Boy: I tell you what I once told him... I am legion. And I come from Hell to the place prepared for me... Salem. And I owe it all to you and Mary rutting in the graveyard. Ah, my Mary, she was the finest of my witches. She did all I asked... Slaughter my enemies... Or got the fools to slaughter each other for me. Cotton: [ Gasping ] Father. Boy: But now the bitch thinks she can betray me? Stop my triumphant entrance into this miserable dunghill of creation? Cotton: What is your purpose here? Boy: This little puppet of sh1t and bones shall be my royal carriage so I may grow to manhood and rule this land. Cotton: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Boy: [ Growls ] Cotton: But he that believeth not shall be damned. Boy: [ Growls ] Cotton: And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. Oh, foul fiend. Boy: [ Growls ] Cotton: I abjure thee in the name of Jesus Christ, son of almighty God, depart from this boy! Boy: [ Growling, hissing ] Cotton: [ Coughing, gagging ] Boy: Better you should come and join us in here, and soon this whole land will be my father's mansion! John: No. Boy: [ Growls ] John: I'm your father. Can't you hear me? You need to fight back. This is your body! Your life, not his! Boy: Come, Father. Come to me. I can offer you anything. Do you want to love Mary Sibley... Or kill her? Or perhaps you'd like to kill her, then love her. I can make the dead dance in the most delightful ways. John: Enough! [ Thunder crashes ] Boy: [ Roars ] Cotton: [ Gags ] [ Coughing ] Boy: Oh, Father, how many men have you killed? What makes you think I'm here because my mother was a witch and not because you, Father, are a soulless killer? Cotton: [ Gasping ] Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish. John: Get... [ Thunder crashing ] Boy: [ Roaring ] John: Out... Of my son! Boy: [ Screeches ] [ Crashing, roaring stop ] Cotton: [ Gasps, wheezes ] [ Coughing ] [ Indistinct conversations ] Sebastian: You cannot escape destiny so easily. Mary: Let me go. Without me, the consecration comes to a stop. My boy will live on. Sebastian: A boy is nothing without his mother. You would flee the stage before the final curtain fall? That is a sin. Possibly the only sin. It is not given to us to write our own roles. Mary: A wise man told me recently that we were given something even the angels were denied... Choice. If my role requires that I destroy my son, then I choose not to. You were to be the offering the last time the comet appeared. Sebastian: Yes. Mary: Do you ever wonder what your mother felt sacrificing her son? Sebastian: I have no need to wonder. Mary: I'll tell you what I feel for my son... Simply love... Complete and unconditional. But I suppose you would have no idea what that feels like, would you? Sebastian: Enough! Come, Mary. I will take you home. Cotton: I heard what it said about Mary. Is it true... That she is... or was... A witch? At her behest, I murdered my own father. Well, at least now I know why I'm already in Hell. John: What kind of god... Gives me a son... Only to have me kill him? Cotton: The same god who commanded Abraham to put the knife to Isaac, who let his own son die a most gruesome death. Boy: [ Gasps ] [ Groaning ] [ Normal voice ] Did I do what you wanted? John: [ Chuckles lightly ] Cotton: Yes. Do you remember anything? Boy: Not really. Except it was like a nest of wasps inside me, all stinging me. John: Are the wasps gone? Boy: Most of them. I can still feel one way down. [ Chuckles ] But I think it is he now who is hiding... not me. Cotton: [ Chuckles ] John: [ Sighs ] Boy: Are you really, truly my father? John Alden? John: Don't ever doubt it. Boy: Then run and hide, Father. She is coming for me. [ Men shouting indistinctly ] John: Goodbye, Son. Get him as far away as you can. [ Shouting continues ] Cotton: Good luck, Captain. Cotton: I swear I will not let the devil defeat me, and I shall meet you again, Father, and not in Hell, but at the right hand of God. Countess Marburg: You should have taken my offer and become one of my consorts. At least you would have known a few hours of pleasure. Now you will know only death. [ Sniffing ] He is not far. Sebastian: Captain John Alden, lover of witches, reluctant father of the devil himself. So, it's a brave last stand you're wanting. The odds seem so unsporting, but I am nothing if not fair. Come. My men will do nothing. Come. I'm the one you want. John: [ Grunting ] [ Wind whistles ] Sebastian: I said I was fair, but if there is one thing you should have learned from our beloved Mary, it's never trust a witch. Cotton: Oh, no. Anne: Cotton? Cotton: No, no, no. Anne: Cotton. Cotton: Anne? Anne. Sebastian: Your battle is over and lost, your son soon in my mother's hands, and your woman soon in mine. I will think of you when I feel her shudders of pleasure when I kiss her throat. And just as I enter her, I will remember your eyes at the moment this entered you. John: [ Grunts, groans ] [ Coughs ] [ Breathing heavily ] Cotton: The boy is Captain Alden's son. Anne: What? Cotton: There is no time. The boy must be saved. Anne: Saved from what? Cotton: The witches. They were after him. They know John and I have him. Anne: Well, then, come with me. I know a hiding place where none can find us. Cotton: No. No. John Alden... I-I can't leave him to fight alone. He saved my life. I must at least attempt to save his. Anne: Then give the boy to me. I will take and hide him. Cotton: Yes. Little John. Little John, wake up now. This is my wife, Anne. Go with her now. She will take care of you. How good you are... And brave. Anne: It's going to be fine. Boy: There's something inside of me. Anne: That's all right. There is something inside all of us. [ Wolf howls ]
On Earth as in Hell