As the "Starry Messenger" comet approaches Earth, heralding the culmination of the Witches' dark plan, the Countess Marburg makes a long awaited acquaintance with one who plays a pivotal role in her and the others' cause. Mary and Wainwright grow closer, their mutual affection heightened by recently discovered revelations, but as the pair plans for the next steps along the journey she has in store for him, Sebastian takes matters into his own hands by killing Wainwright out of jealousy. Even as Mary prepares to strike against the Countess, she receives news that shakes her to the core. As Cotton tries to reason out information recently revealed to him, the betrayal of a recently made ally may spell his mortal doom. Meanwhile, Anne continues to glean knowledge from her dead father's writings, and a long-brewing feud reaches a tipping point, culminating in a surprising and potentially game-changing disclosure.
[PREVIOUSLY_ON] John: I thought you weren't done with me yet. Tituba: Depends on you, witch hunter, whether or not you can see how well our interests are aligned. John: It's hard to see what we've got in common. Tituba: Love and betrayal. Sebastian: My mother would have your father's book of shadows. Anne: Tell her the book is mine, and I will not give it to her until I choose. Cotton: Lay aside your science, Wainwright, and fall to your knees. This is what they plan for us. Wainwright: They? Who? Cotton: Witches. Wainwright: And this orrery, like some celestial clockwork, tracks the comet overhead? Mary: What is it you want from me? Wainwright: I want in. Countess Marburg: My dark lord is already inside the boy. And come the comet... We shall let him out. Mercy: What kind of mother would abandon her only child to the woods? The night is our playground. Mary: You said that once you were sure, you would tell me the secret tor destroying Countess Marburg. You spoke of an object. Increase: She keeps it close. Mary: Where? On the ship? Increase: It is the ship. Sebastian: This is the boy who sets my mother's heart ablaze. It's time to meet your queen. [ Clicking ] [ Bubbling ] Wainwright: I must have more of you and your unfathomable secrets. Mary: Mm, do not fear. You will in time. My dear doctor, I really thought that no man could find his way into my affections. But you have surprised me in so many ways. In return, you have had a small taste of the ecstasy and insight that awaits you down the crooked way. I warn you... It leads far from the comfortable main roads of civilization. Wainwright: Well, then let me begin my journey at once. Mary: Patience. Before you can continue your journey, you must go before the dark powers and strike your own bargain. At the witching hour, at midnight... Your journey begins then. In the meantime, you must make yourself useful. Wainwright: Anything. I am your humble servant. Mary: Destroy all your work... Everything you have written or gathered on the plague. All of it must be burned. Wainwright: [ Chuckles ] A scientist's notes are his life blood and the building blocks of all of his work. Mary: I told you last night... We are at war. Your observations on the plague are proof of my witchcraft. If Cotton Mather were to find it... Wainwright: You ask too much of me. Mary: But in return, you shall have so much more. Wainwright: [ Sighs ] It's true. Mather did all but promise to lead a crusade against the witches of Salem, and they would treat you far worse than the Inquisition treated Galileo. They would burn you like Bruno. Mary: Well, then unless you wish to see me martyred for our science, there can be nothing that leads back to me. Wainwright: It is not my papers that will lead him back to you but what we saw in the crags. Mary: Leave the crags to me. Wainwright: [ Sighs heavily ] [ Indistinct conversations ] Tituba: Shall I bring the young master his breakfast? Mary: No. No, I have another task for you. Tituba: Increase Mather! Mary: The one and only. I used it to summon his soul. Tituba: Risking necromancy without my aid is dangerous enough, but to raise Increase Mather from the dead... Mary: Your aid? I have new allies. Do not worry your cowardly mind. I've already sent him back from whence he came. But his specter proved quite useful. Apparently our Countess has a weakness... Her ancient, rotting corpse is the secret to her longevity. Increase told me where to find it, and at the right moment, it and she will be mine. Tituba: You trust him? Mary: Rather than you? I dare say. Now, for once, can you just do your job? You may start by disposing of that. Time to wake, John. Seize the day, my love. John? Countess Marburg: Lost something? How careless. [ "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 ♪ Mary: Where is he? Countess Marburg: Our little lamb is safe and sound. Mary: Tell me what you've done with him or I will rip the truth from your heart. Countess Marburg: [ Chuckles ] My heart? Better you should search your own. Mary: Oh, to hell with your riddles. Speak plainly or choke on my wrath. What have you done with my son? Countess Marburg: Perhaps it was the genius of those hags and your dusky caretaker to keep you in such ignorance. Mary: Ignorance? Of what? Countess Marburg: Poor dear. Of everything. Surely you knew that no great working can take place without a sacrifice. Mary: No. Countess Marburg: For this, the greatest of all workings, only the greatest of all sacrifices will do. Your son was born precisely that he should be the vessel for the dark lord's return. Mary: You are lying. It cannot be. Countess Marburg: I know this must seem... a terrible betrayal. Do you not think that the other Mary felt betrayal when she realized what God intended for the son he gave her? The Angel of the annunciation failed to mention that she would end up weeping at the foot of the cross beneath her slaughtered son. Now, like that other Mary, you must look beyond the deceit and embrace the glorious gift. And what an honor to sacrifice one's own to such a cause. It's a sacrifice I sought to make many years ago with my own son, Sebastian. I would have given anything for that honor, for him as well as for me. Alas, it was not meant to be. Mary: [ Crying ] There must be another way. Countess Marburg: I'm afraid not. When the comet blazes overhead tomorrow night, little John will be baptized in the river of hell-blood and granted the infinite honor of using his mortal frame to bear his dark force. Mary: [ Sobbing ] No. No, I won't do it. Countess Marburg: The choice is yours. Join us at the crags tomorrow and baptize him, allow our little prince to fulfill his destiny... Or I will bathe in his young blood as I have so many others. Mary: Kill him and the Grand Rite is over. Countess Marburg: For a time, yes. C'est la vie. But I am everlasting, unlike you, and when the starry messenger returns, it will be I who completes the Grand Rite. Mary: So either way, if I do as you say, my boy dies. Countess Marburg: He was only born to be a vessel. Do not deprive him or yourself of that honor. Mary: [ Crying ] [ Indistinct conversations ] [ Knocks on door ] Cotton: [ Groans ] Go away! I'm in no state for visitors, especially the likes of you. How dare you. Hathorne: My god, man. If pigs could read, this is how they'd live. Cotton: I owe you no explanation. This is my home. Now get out of it. Hathorne: I have this morning received a communication from Boston telling me of your banishment. Cotton: [ Laughs ] Hathorne: Our elders forbade your returning to Salem. Cotton: It's of no consequence. I was... meant to come back. Hathorne: You believe the law does not apply to you. Cotton: I live by the law, sir... The highest law. God's calling far outweighs the rules of a few narrow-minded bostonians. Hathorne: So, you think you're divinely summoned to be in our village? Cotton: For all our safety, I must be here to fight the witches. In my father's own words, save my very soul. Hathorne: Your father no longer breathes the air of Salem, and soon, neither shall you. Gentlemen, escort him away. Cotton: [ Scoffs ] Hathorne, listen to me. This is much bigger than our rivalry over Anne Hale. Hathorne: I am not here as a man but as a magistrate... To do my duty. Cotton: Then let me stay here. As magistrate, it is your duty to protect this village. I have proof that the witches spread this pox and will use it to damn all of our souls to Hell. Hathorne: What is your proof? Cotton: You know the dead were sent to the crags? Hathorne: Yes. Against my wishes. Cotton: There the cadavers have turned into a kind of... Evil black pitch. It forms a portal to Hell. Hathorne: Hell? Sounds like the ramblings of a lunatic 'neath the full moon. Cotton: Or a man in terror who has seen it with his own eyes. I expect little trust from you. But put your faith in Dr. Wainwright. His reputation cannot be assailed. He was with me and witnessed the same. He will tell you that. [ Door opens ] Wainwright: Mather. I'd no doubt enjoy one of our stimulating philosophical jousts, but my time at the moment is quite short. Cotton: Then I'll be brief. I need you to relay our treacherous situation to the magistrate. Wainwright: Well, in fact, I have some surprisingly good news. Today marks the first 24-hour period since I arrived in Salem without a single new infection. I do believe the worst may be past and this pox may finally be dying down. Hathorne: [ Clears throat ] Cotton: I've, um, spoken to him of the horrors we witnessed yesterday. Wainwright: Yes, well, [Chuckles] It's not often that I allow a novice to join my research, but Mather insisted on accompanying me to investigate the victims burry hell grounds. Wainwright: [ Sighs ] Little of any help. I had hoped to locate something to better fight off this parasitical pox. Cotton: Tell him about the black pitch. Wainwright: Black pitch? Cotton: What we both saw at the crags... Bodies disintegrating into an ungodly black pitch. A most unnatural substance you said you'd never eyed before. For god's sake, man, it set a branch on fire. Inwright: My dear Mather, we'd both had a fair bit to drink the night before, and in the light of day, I can't really say what I saw. Cotton: You saw what I saw, and now I need you to tell the magistrate about it. Wainwright: Be reasonable, friend. We saw nothing that can't be explained by the condition of those who saw it. Gentlemen, this pox may nearly be over, but I still have much work to do. Hathorne: What say you about this discrepancy, Mather? Cotton: He's lying! For all we know, he is under some witch's control! Wainwright: Mather, I like you, truly, but you go too far, and I've had enough. You have the word of a royally certified physician or a failed divine known for his drunken rages who attacked even you, so believe who you will. Cotton: Or believe your own eyes. As magistrate, you owe it to the people of Salem to investigate yourself. Come with me to the crags and then decide who speaks the truth. You want to save this town. You want to be Salem's leader. All I ask is that you see for yourself. Wainwright: I won't have any more of this nonsense. Hathorne: N-no, doctor. We shall go, all three of us. Wainwright: With all due respect, Magistrate... Hathorne: As magistrate, it is not your respect I require but your obedience. Wainwright: As you will. The Angels of Revelation said: "Come. See. Hell is here." Wainwright: Birds often die in a flock. It's grotesque, yes, but hardly unnatural. Cotton: God in Heaven... Wainwright: Just as I said. Hathorne: Where is your devilish black pitch? Cotton: It's the witches' doing. They've made it disappear. Hathorne: Or perhaps your gin consumption has finally caught up with you. Wainwright: In all fairness, my dear friend has suffered much lately... The loss of a father, banishment. And the strains of life can sometimes make the mind play vicious tricks. Cotton: It is not my mind playing vicious tricks but your lying mouth. Wainwright: My dear Mather, you said not two nights ago you'd seen your dead father. You must recognize that that hallucination was brought on by your own distressed soul. And I believe this was just more of the same. Cotton: Who got to you? What did they offer you?! Hathorne: Take him away. Cotton: You've sold your soul! You will go to hell. Let go of me! [ Grunting, breathing heavily ] You will burn in hell, Wainwright! Hell!! [SCENE_BREAK] Sebastian: [ Claps ] Bravo. I always say a beautiful woman should break her mirror early. Mary: Come to twist your mother's dagger? Sebastian: Oh, no. No, my mother doesn't know I'm here. I've just come by to... to help you see things more clearly. Mary: Very nice. Can you do that with my life? Sebastian: If you'd let me, I just might. Mary: My son is all that means anything to me. Sebastian: And to my mother. Mary: She wants... Sebastian: We both know what she wants. Do you know what I want? You. I saw you with him last night. Imagine what that would feel like with a fellow adept rather than a novice. Mary: Take my body, just give me back my son. Sebastian: Hold that thought. [ Door opens ] Speak of the devil and he appears. [ Knock on door ] Wainwright: Am I interrupting? Mary: [ Sighs ] Wainwright: I'm sorry. I'll come back. Mary: No, uh, come in, Doctor. We were just... Sebastian: Speaking of you. Mary has told me everything. Mary and I share many things, except, it would seem, her bed. That delight apparently is yours and yours alone. Wainwright: It seems I may have tread upon territory once marked by another. Sebastian: No. Indeed no. It would seem the better man has claimed the prize. Do not worry. I... Mary trusts me enough to keep your nighttime dalliances to myself. So can you. And please rest assured there is no ill will between us, and there are no secrets between the three of us now. Follow my lead. Be careful what you say. As for your boy, anything is possible... For good or for ill. Mary: The baron is one of us. He would advance our cause. You may speak freely. Wainwright: Well, I've just come back from the crags with Mather and Hathorne. I don't know how you did it, but Mather was utterly baffled. And no one, Hathorne least of all, will believe anything he says now. Mary: We call it glamour. Sebastian: Yes, a minor, but effective tool. Wainwright: [ Chuckles ] Minor? It's beyond the conception of our greatest minds. I must know more. Sebastian: And so you shall. Mary and I were just discussing that. Think of me as a guide who, along with Mary, will lead you to explore your new horizons. You understand it is not easy for a woman of her standing to move about with a man such as yourself. People would talk. She has asked me to act in her stead. And I can assure you, sir, I am skilled at the highest order of the dark arts and sciences. I am to lead you to the woods for your initiation. Wainwright: Now? Sebastian: But of course. Why waste any time? A man of your caliber will be of inestimable use to us. And the sooner you are initiated, the better. Wainwright: Is this your will, ma'am? Should I follow him? Sebastian: You can't save everyone. Think of your boy. If you ever want to see him again, leave the good doctor to me. Mary: Yes. Yes, he will show you the way. Wainwright: Excellent. The sooner I tear the veil away, the better. I'm positively giddy as a schoolboy. Sebastian: Time enough for all that later. Come. There are secrets of the universe to unveil. [ Brown Jenkins squeaks ] Mr. Hale: My dearest daughter, if you are reading this, then I am dead, and you have gone some way down the dark path. I sealed this work so that you could only read it if you had attained some skills and a familiar. But what awaits is yet more significant and treacherous. Perhaps I was mistaken in keeping this all from you, but I dreamt I could save you from your fate. Now the lessons I should have taught you, you'll have to learn without me. But my heart and love are with you always. Know that you are not alone. [ Insects buzzing ] Sebastian: Mary certainly chose her protégé well. Wainwright: How so? Sebastian: Most men fear two things... The demon-haunted night and the woods filled with Indians and far worser beasts. And yet, here you are, and you're not the slightest bit afraid. Wainwright: My mind is not shackled by the petty superstitions and fairy tales of religion. Sebastian: Well, let us just say there are accurate superstitions and true fairy tales. As you will soon learn, all true knowledge once came from the one they call the devil. He attempted, eons ago, to bestow this knowledge on a man and woman. Wainwright: Adam and Eve? Sebastian: As I said, some fairy tales are real. Are you ready to take a bite out of that forbidden fruit? Wainwright: I am. At whatever cost, I am. It's all that I've ever wanted from life... Answers. Sebastian: Rest assured, dear doctor, after tonight, all the secrets of the universe will be laid out before you and all your questions answered. That is, of course, should you complete your initiation with your sanity intact. Wainwright: I have so much to learn. I thank you, sir. Really. I believe my entire life has been leading to this very moment. Ever since I was a child, I-I've dreamt of nothing more than seeking out the hidden places in nature. Now I feel like... An explorer on the edge of an undiscovered continent. But not this continent... Something far greater. Sebastian: So you are, my optimistic friend. Now let your exploration begin. Wainwright: [ Screams ] Sebastian: To your exploration, sir. You shall be the first man since Dante to enter Hell alive. Fear not. I will be there to comfort Mary in your absence. Tituba: You wanted to see me? Mary: He is gone. Tituba: Who's gone? Mary: My son. You remember him. The one you spent all those years lying to me about. The Countess has him and prepares him for a sacrifice, but you know all about that, don't you? I seem to be the only one who didn't. Why? Why did you deceive me for all those years? Tituba: If I'd have told you, you never would have gone through with any of it. I did what was necessary. Mary: You were my friend. Tituba: Was I? Or was I never anything but your property? Your good father owned me like a horse or a cow, and I was to care for you. And I did. You were just a girl. What would you have done with a child? Mary: I would have loved him. I do love him. Tituba: And how long would your love have sustained you both in the wilderness? Mary: So you gave him away. Tituba: No. No, I didn't give him away. We sold him to the devil himself like I was sold as a slave time and time again. But unlike me, he fetched a great price. I told you then... In return, all the world would be yours. And so it is. And so it will be if you could just learn to harden your heart. Mary: What if I never wanted the world? What if a heart, a real heart, and the love that goes with it, is all I ever wanted? Tituba: Tell me, did you find any last night when you were spreading your legs for the good doctor while they snatched your child? Mary: [ Exclaims ] Tituba: Good. Let's see this true heart of yours. Go on. Do it. Cut mine out. Kill the only person who's ever devoted themself entirely to you. Go on. Do it. Do it. If you think killing me will bring back any of the love you've lost, you're wrong. Only sparing me will. Mary: How? Tituba: John Alden is alive. Mary: John. I can't imagine what you must think. John: [ Inhales deeply ] It's easy. I just keep asking myself... "How did I ever love you?" Mary: I thought you were dead. I had no idea you were held here like this. Yes, I am one of the witches, but... John: No. No. You were never just one of them. You rule them. Why? Mary: Would it make a difference? John: Maybe. Maybe make me think that you were worth loving once upon a time. Mary: War. War against all our enemies. The very ones whose demise we dreamt of in our youth... The black-cloaked hypocrites who branded our friends, forbade our love, crushed all our hopes and dreams. I did nothing on my own behalf but everything for the world I thought we both wanted. And if it took their blood, all of their blood, to build it, then so be it. John: Bullshit. You... You've been lying to me from the moment I first left Salem. And you've never ceased lying since. Mary: If so, I have been repaid in lies a thousandfold, used by the other witches to do what I would never, ever do. John: And what's that? Hmm? Mary: Kill our son. John: Our son? Mary: I have no life worth saving and nothing I've planned will ever come to be. I have no lies left, John, only an awful truth. Tituba: Wait. I know that he looks weak, but do not be deceived. He will kill us both. He's the witch killer. He's not the man you once loved. Mary: Well, none of us are who were once were, are we? John: [ Grunts ] Mary: Kill me if you must, but it will not alter the facts. We do have a son. And they mean to kill him. Cotton: I need to speak to Anne Hale. She would want to come with me. Hathorne: Oh, isn't that just like the scoundrel? To doom an innocent with his own misery and punishment. Cotton: She is to be my wife. Hathorne: Perhaps. But that was before she knew just how far outside the bounds you'd step. But don't worry. I'll make sure she's informed of your situation. And when she cries over your predicament, I promise my own comforting shoulder will await her. Tell anyone who asks the coach was attacked by Pequot. Make sure he's dead by the time you reach Amherst. Mary: This is John's room. He asked who his father was. I told him you were the very best of men, as was your father before you. He asked your name, and he claimed it for himself. When you went to war, I was a woman alone with child. John: Why didn't you tell me? If I'd known... Mary: You would have stayed and died at George Sibley's order. No. No, I had no escape till Tituba offered me salvation. John: You gave him up? Mary: Yes. I gave up our unborn child's life so that I might have a life of my own with you someday. What was I to do, John? I thought you died in the war. I had no word from you. You left me with no choice. For seven long years, I have lived with the guilt that I left our unborn child for dead in those woods, never to take his first breath, never to see his first sunrise, to hear his mother's heart beat, to look into his father's eyes. John: You told me none of it! Mary: When you came back to Salem, it was too late for us. And they would have killed you. They nearly did. It took all my strength to shield you from them. I loved you with all my heart. Life had passed us by, and I believed the child we had created was gone forever. John: But our son lived? Mary: Yes. Yes, that was the real lie. They didn't want him dead, not then. I was deceived by the Essex witches, by all those around me, by the only friend I had. All those years that I believed our child was dead, Tituba knew that he was being raised in the woods by the Elders. She kept it a secret until that night we were to meet under the moon and leave Salem forever. But before I could come to you, Tituba brought our little boy to me. I couldn't abandon him yet again. I had to stay with our son. John: I have a son. We have a son. Mary: We do. John: [ Chuckles ] Mary: And if we don't stop them, he will die never knowing you. You said you came to kill witches. Was it really just to kill me? Just vengeance? Or do you want to stop them, stop what I started, what they mean to finish? John, I beg you. Forget what you think of me. Hate me. Kill me. Just walk away and never see me again. But first, help me save our son. Mr. Hale: You have known for some time that you can move objects with your thought and without touch, but you must learn to do it without the heat of emotion. A lightning bolt may scorch an entire forest. Only a human hand can build a fire and tend a flame. Control is all. There is one power above all others, a divine power that comes with the greatest of responsibilities... That of life and death. The essence in all things is palpable to you. With it, you can give life or snatch it away. This is the truest malice a witch may perform... To kill at a distance with nothing but their will. You may wonder, dear daughter, with such gifts at your disposal, why I hid them from you. Because, dearest, there is no gift that is not also a curse, and I wish you save you from the price of your gifts. But having come this far, the price must be paid. I am so deeply sorry, my child, but it cannot be escaped or evaded. No gift without a curse. And he... is... the curse. Anne: [ Breathing shakily ] [ Creature growls in distance ] [ Screams ] [ Screams ] No! No! No! [ Crying ] Cotton! Cotton, help! [ Distantly ]: Cotton! [ Animal howls ] John: How can we find our son? Mary: Countess Marburg has him, but he will be well-guarded. John: No matter. I'll kill them all. Mary: No. No, she is far too powerful, stronger than any witch I've seen. But I know her weakness. Tomorrow night, she will take our son to the crags. They will be expecting me to join them, but you will be waiting for them, making sure our son remains out of harm's way. John: And where will you be? Mary: On the bitch's ship, finding her Achilles' heel and preparing to crush her. [ Indistinct talking ] Countess Marburg: Isn't it beautiful? A new star shines in Heaven just for you. And by the time it passes, you'll be that star. [ Indistinct chatter ] Mary: Do not fear, little one. Your father and I are coming for you.
Wages of Sin