This week on The Magicians 4×11 – “4-1-1” (because why not, right?) – our #Squad were called to take a step back before they could move forward. It is also possible that their worst and most brilliant professor messed up time travel and made them revisit some awkward personal history – we’ll go with both. This episode brought a lot to the surface, most significantly we finally, finally, finally find out Quentin Coldwater’s magical discipline. The answer to this long standing conundrum (at least to Q; book fans already knew the answer to this) seemed to disappoint him, but we found Repair of Small Objects to be an absolutely fitting discipline for Quentin, here’s why.
“Quentin, sometimes trying to fix something only makes it worse.”
– Ted Coldwater, 1×05
The show has never shied away from giving time to Quentin’s mental illness. Rather than popping up once a season for a very special episode, his depression has been a constant presence; sometimes (literally) standing in a corner, and sometimes front and center. Since the very beginning, Quentin’s struggle with breaking and being broken has been central to his character as he repeatedly declares that things just break around him. These broken things in his life include but are not limited to: his mom’s ashtray, his dad’s model plane, his own brain, his relationship with Alice Quinn, his father’s remission, and all of magic. And as evident as it might have been that not all of these things were entirely Quentin’s fault, he has always tried to fix them.
Quentin repairs his father’s model plane in Episode 1×05. (SYFY)
Early in Season 1, Quentin show’s his father that he is a real magician by repairing the model plane he broke as a child. From that moment on, Quentin has linked his magical ability to his ability to fix what is broken around him: bringing Alice back from being a Niffin, attempting to help Martin Chatwin, and letting the Monster do absolutely anything it wants with him as long as it keeps Eliot Waugh’s body unbroken. Perhaps most telling is that timeline after timeline, Quentin tries 39 different ways to fix it all…and dies trying.
Quentin’s discipline isn’t Healing Magic or Quest Leading – it is the Repair of Small Objects, as it is offhandedly revealed to him by the always sour professor Mischa Mayakovsky. An oddly specific discipline, it seemed to be a huge letdown for Quentin that it was not as bombastic as Phosphoromancy and Telekinesis. Instead, he has…mending little things.
There is something quietly magical – pun fully intended – about Quentin’s discipline being as understated as he himself has always tried to be. While small objects may sound trivial, we have seen time and time again how something small can be critical. Many of the most pivotal things in the universe of The Magicians are tiny, like a key, a button, a mosaic tile, or the quietest part of a person’s soul. Things that are small and easy to dismiss can still cause the world to fall apart.
Quentin preparing for a spell in Episode 4×11. (SYFY)
Throughout the current season, it has been made abundantly clear that although it may be easy to assume so, Quentin isn’t the only hero of the Story. Disappointing as that may be for some, it is one of the most endearing and compelling aspects of Quentin. He will not barge in and single-handedly save the day, as much as he wants to. More often than not, the most that Quentin can do is dedicate himself wholeheartedly to helping. It could not be more fitting then that his discipline is not the gift of snapping his fingers and solving everyone’s problems. After all, Quentin couldn’t force Alice to be content being human again, or save Cancer Puppy, or even be there for his father’s death. His openly voiced frustration that magic should be able to fix the biggest problems in the world is bookended with an ability to help in small but still important, ways.
“How does it feel?”
“Like I helped it wake up, and remember what it was before.”
– Alice and Quentin, 4×11
With the uncertain but probably traumatic future that awaits as Season 4 comes to a close, this one subtle but awe-filled revelation of Quentin’s gift is a gold coin in our pockets. As he described it, what Quentin actually does for broken things is not cobble them back together or force shattered pieces to fit an ideal of perfection. Instead, his art is a gentle coaxing, a soft reminder of what these things were before. Sometimes the people in Quentin’s life need to be reminded who they were before, too – before they were thrown or dropped or pulled apart, before they were hurt or used. The not-hero of our story probably won’t storm in like a knight in shining armor and save the day, but we can always trust in Quentin Coldwater not to give up on anyone, or anything, that is in need of mending.
The Magicians is currently in its fourth season and airs Wednesdays on SyFy. Seasons 1-3 are available for streaming on Netflix now.
