The Librarians (US) - Second Season

Hey, nice save on the storm.

- Good work. - Thank you. It simply required

an understanding of the adiabatic lapse rate

as it relates to the Madden-Julian Oscillation

without losing the thermally driven circulation.

And a whackload of magic.

We need to get them back on the road

- as soon as possible. - They did good work.

Wouldn't have beat Prospero without 'em.

We didn't beat Prospero.

He got away, and he got his book.

I would've gone after him, but instead...

We made a plan and executed it together

instead of just charging into the fog.

But fog is the best part.

Are you... sulking?

No.

Maybe. I don't know.

Yes, I am,

because we had a good thing going out there, you and me.

Runnin', adventurin'.

- Alone. - Yes, the alone parts are the best.

Yes, but for now,

with Prospero on the loose and Moriarty by his side,

we need all hands on deck.

Hey, three extra Librarians, we play our cards right,

- we can get the drop on the bad guys. - Okay, we can try.

Getting the drop on the bad guys

would be nice for a change.

Work time. Work, work, work, work, work.

Rather than go our separate ways,

our Guardian has convinced me

that this would be an ideal opportunity

for us to join our forces together

to try to take out our enemy.

This man... Prospero.

We know. We were there.

Prospero is a Fictional.

In some very rare cases, a character is so famous,

so well-written, a play or story is read so often

that the psychic energy combines with the ambient magic

and allows them to literally step out of their story.

Prospero the magician, in theory,

would be very dangerous.

But in the text of "The Tempest"...

Prospero gives up his magic,

he drowns his book, he breaks his staff.

However, recent events indicate

that he may be trying to get his power back.

Which is very unusual for a Fictional.

Typically, they are bound by their stories,

lacking free will to choose their own fate...

Uh... sorry.

Okay, no, I'll just... Really? Okay.

Okay. Anyway, as I was saying,

Prospero has somehow managed to find a way

to rebel against his narrative and reclaim his power.

- He has recovered his book, w... - We, uh...

- Which we already know. - Yes, I know!

Meaning that his next move will be

to find and repair his staff unless we beat him to it.

All right, I like it. Startin' on offense.

- What do we do? - Well, the staff was broken...

Wow! I'm so sorry. It's just that I usually do the briefings.

You usually do the rapid fire conclusions, dramatic reveals,

and all the running about.

- Fair enough. Proceed. - Thank you, sir.

So the original staff was broken in 1611,

right after the first performance of "The Tempest,"

which is when Prospero first appeared as a Fictional.

And what happened to the pieces?

That we don't know.

Do we have a copy of "The Tempest"?

It was published 10 years after the performance.

There might be some clues in there.

I believe there's an original folio in the reading room.

I'm on it. Folio. Reading room.

- Where's the read... - Oh, you go...

Oh, no, let... Stay. I'll do it. It'd be quicker.

Stone, Ezekiel, why don't you check the card catalog

and look for any references to a lost staff?

Cool. We'll check the library annals, too,

see if any previous Librarians had any experiences

- with the Prosperity bloke. - Prospero.

Whatever.

Someone should also probably check the magic tomes.

I mean, even if he beats us to the pieces,

he still needs to reforge it.

That could be a potential failure point,

- and we can get him there. - Very good.

Uh... I'll do that.

How... was... that?

Good Plan "A."

Now we need a Plan "B" in case he gets the staff first.

Any ideas?

Well, I had a pretty good idea that involved

neither releasing a solar flare in New York City

nor defacing what could only be described as

a towering monument to liberty, but...

Okay, that's in the past. What matters now is...

Past.

Eve, I know where the staff is.

Unless I missed my guess, and I never miss my guess,

I can get those pieces and be back here

in two jiffs of a lamb's tail.

That's a thing, right?

- Okay, so we all come with you. - No.

You should send them on Plan "B"

in case I'm wrong, which I'm not.

But you should come with me.

This isn't just a clever excuse

- for us to run off adventuring, is it? - A little bit,

but I also think it's more strategic planning,

because I guarantee wherever that staff is,

that's where Prospero will be.

From my text, I summon thee to serve.

By arts arcane and spirits vile, come to my side, Moriarty.

So...

This is what the fuss was all about then, eh?

The Wallace Collection is significantly more impressive.

And it was descended from the dreary Vernet family.

A snobbish air for one so lowly born.

I am the first of the Fictionals.

I summoned you. I control you.

Remember that.

And now, little sprite...

help us to find the heart.

Seems your watch is broken.

His senses are befuddled by this place.

Some magic far beyond his own obscures the path

that leads to treasure that we seek.

We'll need another way to reach our goal.

And here it stands.

A wave upon our shoal.

We go to the nicest places.

Isn't this great?!

This was the estate of John Dee,

mathematician, astronomer,

advisor to Queen Elizabeth I,

also confidante and contemporary to...

William Shakespeare.

Also, he was a wizard.

Shakespeare had a friend who was a wizard?

Kinda buried the lead there.

And if Prospero's staff was broken,

Shakespeare would've wanted to hide the pieces.

Where better to hide the pieces from a wizard

than in the home of another wizard?

400 years the pieces of staff have been here in this dump?

Shakespeare's power lay in the narrative

that he wove over the audience.

He would've hid the pieces as close

to the heart of that power as possi... ble.

The stage. Eve!

Shakespeare and his players used to perform

works-in-progress for John Dee and his friends.

This would've been their stage!

Hey, you actually look good up there.

Well, you know, there was a time...

where I fancied that I might become

a classically trained thespian.

In fact, I auditioned for "Hamlet" in high school,

and I killed it.

- Did you get the part? - I did... not.

I was the stage manager.

But I would've been amazing.

Anyway, Shakespeare would not have let these fall

into the wrong hands.

He needed some sort of passcode to make sure...

...that they didn't get discovered...

Words...

that would've never been spoken on this stage.

Eve, you're a genius!

There is a word,

a word that no actor, no thespian,

no one steeped in the theatrical traditions such as Prospero

would ever have uttered unless

they were in a production.

"Macbeth."

"Swear by his sword."

Are we gonna find magical swords?

'Cause I did not bring anything for that.

No, that's Act I, Scene V.

Those are the words spoken by the ghost of Hamlet's father,

usually spoken from beneath the stage.

The staff is below us.

Ah! Uh, I've got references

to a bunch of lost magic staffs in here.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang, the Staff of Zarathustra,

the Staff of Ra.

Just cross-reference "staff" with "broken."

How? It's not like it's a search engine.

What do you mean how...

You... you don't know how to use a card catalog?!

Uh, it's the 21st century,

I don't know how to shoe a horse either.

All right.

I'm gonna go see how Jenkins is doing with the folio.