S2E3 The Nightcomers

Air Date: May 17, 2015

Written by: John Logan

Directed by: Brian Kirk

Synopsis: In a flashback, Vanessa meets The Cut-Wife, who teaches her how to harness her powers. Isolated at her lonely cottage on the moors, The Cut-Wife quickly realizes the extent of Vanessa’s powers and warns her of the danger that lies ahead – and the evil that pursues her.

The episode begins with Vanessa walking into her room to discover Ethan crouched by her blood scorpion. He asks her what it is, but she says its no concern of his. They sit on her bed together, and Ethan asks her to allow him to help her. She tells him she has never told anyone this story. She says it all began several years ago and far from here, on the Moors of the West Country. She says she went in search of answers to who she was. She begins to tell the story of the Cut-Wife of Ballentree Moor, the first witch Vanessa ever met.

4:20 Vanessa stands outside of a small cabin over the course of several days and nights. At one point the Cut-Wife opens the door, and Vanessa tries to cross the stones in order to enter the cabin. She cannot get past the stones, however, and she looks down on them to see they are warded with an odd symbol. The Cut-Wife laughs and closes the door. After several days, Vanessa falls to her knees from exhaustion, but stands back up again, determined.

6:01 The Cut-Wife finally goes outside to talk to Vanessa. She walks up to her and shoves her hand up her dress. She then bites her thumb and draws a cross on Vanessa’s head with the blood, and speaks the Verbis Diablo. She says: Etsoo Sataan sha’am tu pemoder mendafa’. Etsoon moqaf yerkhomi lakwe em heraa zahomblar. Which translates to: Keep Satan away from this house. Let in only those who walk by day.

The Cut-Wife tells her that she can move now. The Cut-Wife asks what she wants, does she want her to kill Vanessa’s baby? Does she want a love potion? Does she want a poultice for her aching joints?  Vanessa says no to all of this. The Cut-Wife says that she is like no others. Vanessa agrees with this, and tells the Cut-Wife that it is because she is like no others that she is there. The Cut-Wife demands that she tell her how she got the scar on her back. She tells Vanessa, “You’re strong-willed and agile, like the scorpion”. Vanessa feels the branding that the Cut-Wife endured, and because of this she allows Vanessa inside the cabin. Before she does though, she tells Vanessa, “Leave everything you were outside this door. Everything you are bring with you”.

9:23 Vanessa walks into the cabin, and the Cut-Wife tells her to wipe the blood off of her head, because it makes her look like an animal. The Cut-Wife tells Vanessa that she is closer to the beasts than the Gods, because she has been with a man. Vanessa tells the Cut-Wife that she believes she is cursed to see things not of this world. She tells the Cut-Wife about seeing Mina on the beach. The Cut-Wife tells her she can only give her knowledge she doesn’t want. Vanessa tells the Cut-Wife that she knows the person who branded her was someone she trusted and loved, a sister. If she is right, Vanessa says, then the Cut-Wife should let her stay. The Cut-Wife walks over to a table and gets tarot cards. She demands that Vanessa feel Mina’s lips and put her hand over the cards. Vanessa does this and selects a card. She asks if she should turn it over. “There is no need”, the Cut-Wife responds. She tells Vanessa that she can sleep on the sofa and have the stew in the pot. When the Cut-Wife has walked away, Vanessa turns the tarot card over. It is the Devil card.

15:29 Vanessa and the Cut-Wife walk through the woods. The Cut-Wife tells her that casting the tarot is a gift. The Cut-Wife says, “When you know the Arcana, you can hear the echoes of time in your ear. They are never always as they seem”. Vanessa asks about the Devil card, and the Cut-Wife tells her that it doesn’t always mean the demon from Hell, or the throat slit at midnight, but other things as well. The Cut-Wife demands that Vanessa tell her what other things the card could mean. Vanessa says tentatively, “Evil”, and the Cut-Wife snaps at her to do better. Vanessa replies, “A dark lover approaching, bringing terror, irresistible, part of you but not, the whisper of something ghastly and beautiful”. The Cut-Wife approves, and shows Vanessa Mandragora and Nightshade Botanical. Vanessa asks the Cut-Wife if she was born with the gift, and she replies that she learned it, but Vanessa was born with it. Vanessa asks her how she could know that, and the Cut-Wife replies that she sees Vanessa’s pain, that she knows that she has always been the way she is. They come across a hare in a trap, and the Cut-Wife picks it up and hands it to Vanessa. She tells Vanessa to snap its neck, and after a moments pause, Vanessa does so.

17:54 The Cut-Wife skins the hare and prepares it for supper, and asks Vanessa about her mother. Before Vanessa can answer, the Cut-Wife describes Vanessa’s mother for her. She says that Vanessa’s mother is dead now, but she was strong-willed and imperious. The Cut-Wife says that Vanessa’s mother fucked other men than her father, and that Vanessa saw her mother engaged in these acts. The Cut-Wife asks Vanessa if she enjoyed watching her mother fuck other men, and Vanessa says no. The Cut-Wife laughs, and says, “You did. Your little secret gave you power”. The Cut-Wife tells Vanessa that she is in danger, and she must learn to protect herself. Vanessa wants to know what she is protecting herself from, and the Cut-Wife says, “Legion”. The Cut-Wife tells her that she felt her all the way across the moor, and that she wanted to curl up in her little bed and sleep and sleep, but Vanessa still came closer. “The others felt you too, they will be here soon”, she says, and then she quotes Macbeth‘s something wicked this way comes.

20:03 Vanessa and the Cut-Wife sit and eat dinner. They talk of Mina, when the Cut-Wife feels something. She tells Vanessa to stay where she is, and goes outside. Madame Kali and 2 other witches are there. Kali asks the Cut-Wife about the brand on her back, and she replies, “Old wounds don’t hurt”. They begin to speak in the Verbis Diablo. Kali says: Ye moruwaakh eedh ye krederuu an Nebratron beselrayeb dünasse, shadesenori. Which translates into: You are foolish to think you can defy the Master, my sister. The Cut-Wife replies: Etsi Nebratronak, non eni, shadesenor. Etsi an oge heraa yak Nom Reshtoeth, Yesun Khriiston, shempsomai. This translates to: .He is your Master, not mine, Sister. I follow the day and the One God, Jesus Christ.

Kali remarks that she is glad that the Cut-Wife still remembers the old tongue, and demands that the Cut-Wife give them Vanessa. When the Cut-Wife refuses, Kali entrances her in an attempt to get her to cross the stones. The Cut-Wife is almost outside the safety of the stones when Vanessa, who had been watching from the door, comes outside, and yells stop. Kali’s spell on the Cut-Wife breaks, and Kali remarks on how powerful Vanessa feels. Kali tells the Cut-Wife that she cannot protect Vanessa forever, and asks if the Cut-Wife really wants this to be her last battle. The Cut-replies, “It is the only battle”. Vanessa walks out to the Cut-Wife, and the witches leave.

24:34 Vanessa helps the Cut-Wife back into the cabin, and up into her bed. Vanessa sees all the totems that the Cut-Wife has placed around her bed upstairs, and asks if they truly work. The Cut-Wife responds that they do, but she cannot remember which ones, so she hangs them all. Vanessa helps the Cut-wife get undressed for bed, and sees the brand on her back for the first time, a pentagram. The Cut-Wife tells Vanessa “We must prepare for battle. When it comes, it comes fully, and to the end”.

25:55 Madame Kali walks through a grazing field with cattle. She kills some of the cattle with her razor ring as she walks by.

26:24 Vanessa and the Cut-Wife sit by the fire, and Vanessa asks about Madame Kali and the other women. The Cut-Wife tells her they are Nightcomers, witches. The Cut-Wife says that those Nightcomers in particular were from her coven of yore. She tells Vanessa that away from the city, they learn such things as we used to know when the Old Gods walked. They were all Daywalkers then, “harmless dabblers in herbs and healing”. Madame Kali and the rest of her coven followed a different path, but the Cut-Wife did not. Because of this, she was branded a traitor, and cast out. “They became Nightcomers, following the Devil for what he promised them. Vanessa asks about what the Devil promises them, and the Cut-Wife replies, “What does everyone seek? Power, youth, beauty, love, to walk alongside, such as now, the great midnight arts.” There is a knock at the door, and Vanessa startles. The Cut-Wife calms her, telling her only those that are fully human can pass the stones.

28:16 A young girl stands at the door. The Cut-Wife asks if she is in need of an abortion. The girl nods her head, and hands the Cut-Wife a locket. The Cut-Wife asks what else the girl has, and she hands her 2 bird eggs. The Cut-Wife allows the girl to enter. She tells Vanessa to go upstairs, but Vanessa says she wants to help. The Cut-Wife is rough and unkind to the girl during the procedure, and the girl is scared and crying. Vanessa touches the girls face, and tells her, “God forgives all”.

29:51 Madame Kali and Sir Geoffrey talk within their estate. She pressures him to get the Cut-Wife off of the land. Sir Geoffrey says it is not so simple, because of the Cromwell Deed, which gives the land to the Cut-Wife indefinitely. Madame Kali is not satisifed with this answer, but tells Sir Geoffrey that it doesn’t matter. Sir Geoffrey mentions the blight on cattle.

31:34 Madame Kali and her husband ride their horses across their land, and into the grazing fields. They come across several dead cattle.

31:59 The Cut-Wife and Vanessa walk through the woods, and the Cut-Wife teaches Vanessa some of the Verbis Diablo. She warns Vanessa that she must not speak the Devil’s Tongue idly, or her mouth will become his, and she will tell only lies. Only if all else fails is she to speak the Verbis Diablo. The Cut-Wife tells Vanessa that the language is a seduction, and if spoken too idly, it will become all she can speak, and that is when a Daywalker becomes a Nightcomer. She points out Comfrey, and directs Vanessa to tell her what she knows about it. A carriage passes and a man spits on the Cut-Wife. She says, “They send me their daughters, but for this service they despise me. So it is for all those who do for women”. The Cut-Wife speaks about not understanding why people hate what they cannot understand, why they hate themselves most of all, for being old and not God-like. “Monsters all”, she says, and Vanessa replies, “Some more than others”. The Cut-Wife asks Vanessa if she is truly how she feels, and Vanessa says yes. The Cut-Wife replies, “Then it shall be, as long as you feel it”.

34:36 Madame Kali and Sir Geoffrey engage in BDSM. Kali taunts Sir Geoffrey with the fact that he cannot even remove one old woman from a small plot of land.

36:39 As Vanessa prepares for dinner, the Cut-Wife falls in pain. Vanessa gets her into her bed, and begs her to see a doctor. The Cut-Wife says there is no cure for what ails her, she is simply old and ready to die. Vanessa protests, but ultimately knows that it is true, for she has seen it in the tarot cards. The Cut-Wife asks Vanessa to stay and live in the cabin after she is dead, and help all of the poor, forgotten girls that will need a Cut-Wife. She tells Vanessa that she has never seen a Daywalker with such power, and she should use it for more than helping one girl, Mina.

38:24 Sir Geoffrey talks with the pastor of Ballentree Moor, and threatens that he will take away his job, and the entire town’s employment if the pastor does not get the smallfolk to turn against the Cut-Wife. The pastor reluctantly agrees.

39:13 Vanessa walks through the woods alone, when Sir Geoffrey comes across her. He grabs her, and threatens to brand her as a poacher as he tries to put his hand up her dress. He tells her to scream for him Vanessa bites his hand, and pulls out a knife and puts it to his throat. She tells him to scream for her, and he goes so. She then tells him not to come near “me or mine” again.

41:02 The Cut-Wife lays in bed and talks with Vanessa. She tells Vanessa about the deed from Cromwell, which he wrote for her because she gave him succor after the second battle of Newbury, about 1644. The Cut-Wife asks Vanessa if she has thought about her offer to stay in the cabin after her death. Vanessa says she doesn’t know if she will be going back to London to help Mina, but if she does, she will wait until after the Cut-Wife passes away. The Cut-Wife is disappointed in this answer, and tells Vanessa that she honestly does not know if her heart is good or bad, but she must show her something. She asks Vanessa to get a book off of a shelf for her. She tells Vanessa that the book is The Poetry of Death, and that it is the most cursed of all the spells and texts. The Cut-Wife warns Vanessa that she should only use the The Poetry of Death if she has been crushed and beaten, and if she has no other recourse. She tells Vanessa that once she uses the book, she will have gone away from God forever.Vanessa and the Cut-Wife hear a horse stuck in the mire, dying. “One wrong step is all it takes”, the Cut-Wife says. Vanessa replies, “For us all”.

44:28 The pastor talks with the townspeople in a pub. In order to incite them against the Cut-Wife, he quotes Leviticus 20:27. Sir Geoffrey tells the townsfolk that the Cut-Wife, if left unchecked will lead to his ruination, because he will have to close the manor, and find better grazing ground elsewhere. If she leaves, then the entire town will go under, he says. Sir Geoffrey gives them free drinks. He inspires them to fight for their homeland. It transitions to the Cut-Wife telling Vanessa that there will be something for her left in a box once she is gone. Back in the pub, Madame Kali stands next to the girl that came to the Cut-Wife and Vanessa for an abortion. The girl yells, “Burn the witch!”, and begins a chant.

46:39 Vanessa and the Cut-Wife are still talking in the cabin. Vanessa tells the Cut-Wife that she is going to London after the Cut-Wife passes away. The Cut-Wife is angered by this, and calls Vanessa selfish. She says “You think you are going to be hero, you’re not. None of us are”. Vanessa replies that she is simply trying to do what is right, to which the Cut-Wife responds, “So you can sleep at night. Fuck your sleep, you selfish bitch, may you never pass a happy night”. Vanessa, unfazed by this, takes hold of the Cut-Wife’s hand. She then hears the townspeople coming up to the cabin. the Cut-Wife tells Vanessa to help her to feet, and that Vanessa should stay inside once she is out the door. Vanessa refuses to do this, saying she will walk with the Cut-Wife. The Cut-Wife tells her to watch herself closely, and to remember these words:

“When Lucifer fell, he did not fall alone. They will hunt you until the end of days. Be true.”

The Cut-Wife then tells Vanessa that her name is Joan Clayton.

48:30 Vanessa and Joan Clayton walk outside to meet Sir Geoffrey and the townsfolk. Sir Geoffrey tells Joan that he and the townspeople have resolved her to be guilty of necromancy, and of being in league with the Devil. A little boy then picks up a rock and throws it at Joan, hitting her in the head. Men run up to Joan and rip her and Vanessa apart while Vanessa screams. The men bring Joan to Sir Geoffrey, and he hits her. Vanessa is being held back by two men, while Joan Clayton is dragged to the tree, where she is shackled. The men holding Vanessa pull her head up by her hair, and force her to watch as the townspeople pour hot tar onto Joan and over her head. The girl who came to Vanessa and Joan for an abortion walks up to Joan now, with a lit torch, and lights her on fire. Joan Clayton does not scream as she burns. Madame Kali watches from afar. The pastor is then handed a cross-shaped brand, which he heats in the fire. He walks over to Vanessa, and the two men holding her rip her dress open. Sir Geoffrey grabs her head, and says, “Now child, scream for me”. The pastor brands Vanessa’s back, but she does not scream.

53:03 Vanessa, now inside the cabin, lays in front of the fire, her dress ripped and the branded skin on her back bloody and peeling. He struggles to get to her feet, and walks over to the door. She peers out of the door’s window to see the 3 witches standing outside.

54:05 After what must have been a few days for Vanessa to heal, she opens the box left to her by Joan, and sees the Cromwell Deed, with Joan’s name crossed out her own name replacing it. She looks over to the Poetry of Death, but does not take it. Instead, she takes the tarot cards, and puts them in her carpet bag. She then takes one final look at the cabin, and leaves. She cuts open her thumb and paints an blood scorpion on the stones outside in order to ward the cabin against evil. In voiceover, we hear Joan Clayton’s final words to Vanessa again.

Symphytum officinale

Scientific Name Symphytum officinale

Common Name Quaker comfrey, Cultivated comfrey, Boneset, Knitbone

Botanical Family Boraginaceae

In S2E3 (31:59), Joan Clayton quizzes Vanessa on Comfrey, who says that the plant is used as protection for travelers when blanched, crushed, and hidden in the left pocket.

While there are several internet pages that reference the ability of Comfrey to protect travelers, I cannot find the folklore source from which this belief came. However, Comfrey has been used in folk medicine as a poultice for treating burns and wounds. However, internal consumption, such as in the form of herbal tea, is discouraged, as it has been highly debated about whether it can cause serious liver damage.

References

Oberlies, Nicholas H; Kim, Nam-Cheol; Brine, Dolores R; Collins, Bradley J; Handy, Robert W; Sparacino, Charles M; Wani, Mansukh C; Wall, Monroe E (2007). “Analysis of herbal teas made from the leaves of comfrey (Symphytum officinale): Reduction of N-oxides results in order of magnitude increases in the measurable concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids”. Public Health Nutrition 7 (7): 919–24. doi:10.1079/phn2004624

 

The Poetry of Death

The Poetry of Death is a book that Joan Clayton passed down to Vanessa. It is introduced in S2E3 (42:45). Joan Clayton tells Vanessa:

“All of the texts, off all the spells, this one is the most cursed. Forbidden. The Poetry of Death. If ever the day comes, when my little scorpion is crushed and beaten, if her God deserts her completely, only then does she open it. And on that day, she will never be the same. She will have gone away from God forever.”

Vanessa does open the book, and uses to kill Sir Geoffrey in S2E7 (40:21). She speaks the Verbis Diablo, presumably reciting an incantation of dark magic from the book. This would mean that Sir Lyle’s claim that Brother Gregory’s relics are the only existing written example of the language, is actually false. Ethan witnesses the effects of the dark magic on Sir Geoffrey’s dogs, who turn on their owner, attacking and killing him. Angry and fearing for Vanessa’s soul, Ethan berates her for using the book.

We are first introduced to the idea of a Lupus Dei in S2E1 (39:30), as Hecate talks to her mother, Madame Kali, and calls Ethan the Lupus Dei. It is never explicitly explained how Kali and her coven know that Ethan is the Lupus Dei. We learned that Ethan was a werewolf throughout season 1, and as Lupus Dei in Latin means Wolf of God, it makes sense that the term is referring to Ethan’s ability to transform into a werewolf. However, we still know very little about werewolves or Lupus Dei in this universe. We do not know how Ethan became a werewolf, or if he was simply born with the ability, like Vanessa is a natural born Daywalker.

As Sir Lyle deciphers the Memoirs of the Devil, or the Brother Gregory relics, he comes across the phrase Lupus Dei, which is repeated several times in several different languages. Sir Lyle surmises that the phrase was being repeated so often, because Lucifer knew it was the only thing that could hurt him in his quest for Vanessa. Sir Lyle shares this conclusion with Victor, Malcolm, and Sembene. Sembene is the only one to recognize the significance of the discovery, as he is the only one to have seen Ethan transform. Unfortunately, Sembene was killed before he was able to tell Ethan about the discovery. At the end of season 2, Ethan has not yet made the connection that he may be the Lupus Dei. However, in the cold open to S3E3, Hecate calls Ethan the Lupus Dei, and it is the first time on screen that Ethan makes the connection.

Ethan transforms into a werewolf at every full moon, and it is a transition that he cannot control. He describes the transformation as similar to a blackout, and says that he cannot fully remember what happens, but there is “usually blood”. Whenever Ethan transforms, he feeds on either a human, or an animal. The only exceptions have been when he transforms in S3E2; we do not see him feed on anyone in the tavern, and of course, when Sembene chained him in the cellar. While he is a werewolf he cannot control who he attacks or kills. The only exceptions, so far, have been Vanessa and Hecate. In the season 2 finale, after Ethan (in werewolf form) attacks and kills Sembene, Hecate unleashes him, in the hope that he would do the same to Vanessa. Ethan runs into the enchantment room, where Vanessa and Madame Kali are, and kills Kali with a swipe of his claws. He then goes toward Vanessa, who is scared, but stands her ground. Ethan stops, and looks at Vanessa, with something like recognition in his eyes. When she tries to touch his face, he runs off. Later in the season 2 finale (39:34), Vanessa goes up to her room to find Ethan there. He seems to remember seeing Vanessa while a werewolf, because he says to her, “Now you know what I am”, despite the fact that they have not seen each other or spoken since the incident. In S3E2 (44:35), Ethan transforms into a werewolf, and kills everyone inside the tavern he was in. Hecate was hiding in the wall in her Nightcomer form, spying on Ethan. She sees a man point a gun at Ethan, and kills him, and then kills the bartender. Ethan in werewolf form walks up to Hecate, but does not attack her.

In S2E6, Ethan asks Sembene to chain him in the cellar, and then watch him transform. Sembene does this, and in the next episode’s cold open, he explains to Ethan what occurred. Sembene says the shamans in his village called it Uchawi Mabadiliko, which can be translated roughly from Swahili to mean “magic change”. In season 3, it seems as though both Kaetenay, and a Native American woman who Ethan speaks to in the tavern before transforming, both know what Ethan is. Therefore, it would seem that at least werewolves, and perhaps Lupus Dei, are acknowledged in other cultures around the world in this universe.

Although Lupus Dei translates to Wolf of God, it is unclear if the Lupus Dei is entirely a force for good. In parts of season 2, and throughout the beginning of season 3, Hecate has been trying to convince Ethan to “embrace his sins”, so that she can “rule the darkness at his side”. Kaetenay is also concerned that if he and Sir Malcolm do not reach Ethan in time, they will have to “kill the evil he has become”. Kaetenay remarks that Ethan is “halfway damned already”.

 

Ministers of Evil–Sir Lyle

In S2E8 (24:37), after Sir Lyle has explained to Sir Malcolm, Victor, and Sembene the entirety of the prophesy in The Memoirs of the Devil, Sembene says why Vanessa has been selected as the bride of Lucifer. In response, Sir Lyle says this:

“There are old prophesies from prehistory that tell of such ministers of evil. Amunet from the Egyptians. Lilith from the Talmud. The Nordic Hella. The Celtic Macha. Mara from the Hindus. All variations of deities or demigods who were destined to unleash annihilation onto the world”

S2E2 The Verbis Diablo

Air Date: May 10, 2015

Written by: John Logan

Directed by: James Hawes

Synopsis: The group makes progress in understanding the Verbis Diablo, while Victor teaches Lily the about the world. Dorian meets Angelique, and Madame Kali begins her enchantment of Sir Malcolm.

OPENING CREDITS

3:08 The episode begins with Vanessa sitting in the corner of her room, looking frightened but determined. She leaves and goes to Sir Malcolm’s room. She tells him that “they” came to her last night. She asks if this is what it is like to go mad, and laments that not even her prayers are safe. Vanessa asks Sir Malcolm to tell her she deserves peace. He says he cannot tell her that, because his life has never known peace, but he tells her that he will not leave her side, “where we walk, we walk together”. They hug, and Sir Malcolm asks Vanessa to accompany him to a place where he finds a kind of peace.

5:28 Victor and Clare sit with Brona. Clare tries to talk to Brona, but she does not respond. Victor tells Clare to go slow with her, and her learning will be a process. Clare wants to fill her heart with poetry, but Victor wants to fill her head with language, and her belly with food. Victor tells Clare to leave her with him for teaching, and says she might regain her memories, but he is not sure, because Clare killed Proteus before he fully regained his memories. Clare tells Victor he need not remind him of his sins, but only remember his own. Victor asks if Brona counts as one of his sins. Clare replies that she atones for his first sin, “She is our future Creator. Tread carefully”. Clare leaves. Victor approaches Brona, who is hiding behind a shelf. Victor slightly opens the robe she is wearing and traces her Y-incision. He then closes her robe, and tightens the belt. He tells her his name is Victor Frankenstein. “Victor” she says. It is her first word since being resurrected.

9:15 Sir Malcolm takes Vanessa to an underground homeless shelter and soup kitchen of sorts. He tells her that his wife is involved in the work there, and it might help her find the peace she is looking for. They enter, and Vanessa sees all of the sick and suffering people living inside the shelter. Malcolm directs her to the food line, where they help to give out soup. Malcolm says that he works there when he can, and provides them with funds, because it makes him feel like a better man.

11:48 Rusks visits the Mariner’s Inn Massacre survivor, Mr. Roper, in the hospital. It is revealed that Mr. Roper cannot speak yet, due to extensive damage to his face. Rusk tells him to get better, because he wants to know who did this to him.

12:55 Brona walks around Victor’s lab, taking everything in, and speaking fluently and with ease, without her Irish accent. Victor tells her she has memory loss due to her “accident”, and comments that her voice is not what he expected. Brona replies that she sounds like him, because they are cousins. She asks what her name is, and Victor tells her it is Lily, the flower of resurrection and rebirth. She says that makes her sad, but she cannot figure out why. she begins to cry and Victor hugs her, telling her he will “Show her what life is”. She says “Teach me cousin, I am at your mercy”.

14:54 In the homeless shelter, Malcolm tells Vanessa he has an appointment with Sir Lyle. Vanessa stays to help in the homeless shelter for a while longer. She brings some soup to John Clare, and the two strike up a conversation. They speak of nuns and religion, and belief in Heaven. John Clare says he does not believe in Heaven, because this world and its creatures have always been enough for him. He recites the beginning of a Worthsworth poem. Vanessa says she sees no wildflowers, only suffering, and John Clare tells her to look closer. Vanessa is called away by a nun, and as she leaves she tells Clare that he has beautiful eyes.

20:00 Dorian sits at an outside restaurant table, staring at a picture of Vanessa. A woman sits down at his table and introduces herself as Angelique, no last name. She propositions Dorian, and he politely turns her down. Angelique asks if he turned her down, because of the woman in the photo, “did she break your heart?”. Dorian replies, “Such as it is, she broke it”. Angelique says she had her heart broken once, and vowed that it would never happen again. She has kept her promise, but her life is sadder for it. She gives Dorian her card, and leaves.

23:00 Sir Malcolm goes into a shop to pick a gift for Vanessa. He spots Madame Kali, and greets her under her other name, Evelyn Poole. She asks him to help her pick a new scent. When he leans down to sniff her neck, she speaks the Verbis Diablo into his ear. She says:

Odnauk een euk-zaabu fre’aazh Urshtoeth Shenesh zahomblar… Odnauk een amad en Nebratron sproshkata ratsni wosser khur terei ointso. Etsoo latwen ibibgordak en bezhdirfi yak esee roidakh euk-erahu mebaaken. Etsi hunak non kareenkhe dünasse. Ye eni. Ye enis.

Which translates to: “When jackals howled and the Old Gods walked… When men bowed down to the Master like the servants they were destined to be. Open your heart to my caress and you will know love and passion. You cannot resist. You are mine. You are His”.

25:45 Ethan is writing a letter in his room when Vanessa tells him their guest has arrived. Sir Lyle flirtatiously greets Ethan and then Victor arrives. They all sit to hear what Sir Lyle has to say about the Verbis Diablo, and he tells them the story of Brother Gregory. Vanessa asks what happened to Brother Gregory, and Sir Lyle tells her that eventually the other monks burned him at the stake for being possessed by the Devil. Sir Malcolm asks Sir Lyle if he could bring the artifacts to Grandage Place, and Sir Lyle says it should be a simple matter, and that he would like Ethan to accompany him to the museum.

29:52 Dorian Grey visits Angelique at her place of business, a brothel. She reveals that she has a penis, and Dorian seems even more intrigued by her.

31:12 Sir Malcolm and Madame Kali are at a gun range. They speak of his wife, and Malcolm tells Kali that while he and his wife are estranged and share no love between them, he is bound to her. Kali says she respects his honesty, and it is always good to have something to aim at.

33:39 Victor washes Lily’s hair, and she asks about their childhood. He tells her they were very close and would go on great adventures together as small children. He tells her that she would come to his bed when there were thunderstorms, and they never slept but clung to one another until the storm passed. He dyes her hair blond, and Lily asks if she admired fair-haired women. Victor says that he did, because they seemed kinder, like angels. “You’re making me into an angel, or maybe just the cousin you always wanted” Lily replies. Lily asks about John Clare, and Victor tells her he was her intended, to marry. She asks if she loved him, and Victor says he does not know, and it is up to her if she wants to love him now. Lily talks of not knowing how to act, and tells Victor not to let her be hurt, and he says he won’t.

36:05 Ethan and Sir Lyle sneak into the archives of the British Museum. While Sir Lyle searches for where the relics would be stored, Ethan spies a herald, and reads out the Latin inscribed on it, “So the hounds will protect”. Lyle is impressed that Ethan knows Latin, but corrects him, saying the word is “wolves” not hounds. Ethan speaks of timber wolves he saw in the New Mexico territory where he grew up. He says the wolves hunted in packs, and would tear out the wind pipe of their prey first, so all you heard was the splashing of blood on the ground, “They didn’t protect anything, they just fed”, he says. Lyle says he found where the boxes would be kept, and as they walk he tells Ethan of researching his own family crest, only to be disappointed to learn it was 2 interlocking fish on a field of lavender.

40:23 At night, Hecate follows a couple with a baby into a subway station. The couple boards a train, but soon the train comes to a stop and the lights flicker. Hecate quickly dispatches with the parents, in her Nightcomer form, and then stands over the baby as it cries.

43:19 Vanessa, Ethan, Lyle, and Malcolm lay out the relics on a table in the drawing room, and point out the many different languages present on them. Latin and Arabic are mentioned.

44:20 John Clare visits Victor and Lily. Clare is shocked by Lily’s transformation. She greets him, and tells him that she does not remember him, but knows they were friends. He introduces himself as John Clare.

46:00 At Kali’s mansion, it is revealed that Lyle is being blackmailed by Kali for information on Vanessa and the others. Hecate walks in and hands Kali a travel bag with the baby inside. Kali takes it to her enchantment room. As she speaks the Verbis Diablo, she cuts out its heart and places it inside a doll that looks like Vanessa.

Madame Kali says:

Ratsni een em heraa sheneshu, heraa en Sataan hun nesewis, etsi latwen ibibgordak khuris… Etsi hunak non wesrati kareenkhe dünasse, khur hemitus enis. Etsi an tu formago ekse enak, mastigahra libaarkeesk, kosta atsüü, yak ye sie wesrat tahis… Etsi Sataan wesrat neppaas. Etsi sha’amis an muuth zahomblar. Etsi sha’amis an suspaal sromanaht. Itsi dewaaudres.

This translates to: “As it was in the Ancient Days, the days of Satan and his brethren, your heart lies open before Him… You cannot resist my power, in service of His. This figure stands for you, cursed witch, wicked woman, and you are powerless before it… Satan’s power is all. He makes the Dead walk. He makes the Living die. Praise Him”.

51:33 Vanessa feels the doll’s creation.

END CREDITS

S2E1 Fresh Hell

Air Date: May 3, 2015

Written By: John Logan

Directed by: James Hawes

Short Synopsis:  Vanessa and the group meet their newest foes, Nightcomers, in the season premiere of season 2, and learn of the existence of the Verbis Diablo.

In the cold open, Vanessa walks through a snow-covered park. From afar, Madame Kali watches her, and begins to chant in a demonic language, which we learn later is the Verbis Diablo. In the Verbis Diablo, Madame Kali is saying: Kharadi… Hamatani… Esmi oksusen sepaatak, which means, “My child… My bride… Let me kiss your lips”. Vanessa feels this and begins to have flashbacks of her time with the Cut-Wife, and her witchcraft teachings. She drops to her knees. A man walking in the park with a woman goes to help Vanessa, but she stops him by putting up her hand. Vanessa looks up, frightened, but ready for battle.

OPENING CREDITS

Ethan wakes up in the Mariner’s Inn to see the carnage he wrecked at the end of last season.

7:19 Later that day (for its dark outside) Vanessa is returning to Grandage Place when Ethan stops her and says he needs to talk to her, but not in the house. Vanessa and Ethan get into the carriage, and Vanessa tells the driver to take them on the tour of the city.

7:43 Ethan tells Vanessa he is leaving London, and Vanessa is shocked and saddened by this news. She asks him where he intends on going, and he responds with Spain, or Russia. He wants to go somewhere and join a war, and “do what he is good at”. Vanessa wants to know why the war against the darkness isn’t sufficient for Ethan. He responds that the war is over, as both the creature and Mina are dead. Vanessa replies that Ethan is not foolish enough to think that the war is actually over, and he must know that was only a battle. Ethan asks about the other demons, those that live inside of us. “Inside of me, you mean?” Vanessa asks, confused. “No, thats not what I mean” Ethan answers. He then proceeds to tell Vanessa about experiencing something akin to blackouts. When she asks him what happens during these blackouts, he responds that he does not know, but “there is usually blood”. Vanessa, unfazed by this, asks how she can help him. Ethan responds, “You can’t change who you are. No matter who you save, or who you love”.

It is at this point that the carriage is attacked by what we learn later are witches, Nightcomers. The Nightcomers push the carriage over, and one comes through one of the openings, speaking the Verbis Diablo. The Nightcomer says: Etsi an Nebratron hamatas kwairegem. Etsi hunak non innisumi leu wesratis kareenkhe dünasse. Itsi traissalaam, mastigahra, koimmunda, akhita libaarkeesk. Itsi nat yenvagre en Nebratronak, Sataan. This means: “The Master seeks his bride. You cannot resist my summons or His power. Surrender, witch, unclean one, cursed spirit. Give yourself to your Master, Satan”. Vanessa responds in the Verbis Diablo, surprising and scaring the Nightcomer. Vanessa says: Itsi sist. Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non khur uu reshtoeth muirepmi terprai Yesun Khriiston. This means: “Stop. Go away. You have no power over me. I serve no god just Jesus Christ”. The Nightcomers are defeated, and retreat. Ethan looks at Vanessa, terrified. Vanessa and Ethan climb out of the carriage and look at the dead horses and driver, while the Nightcomers shape-shift into their human form and watch from afar.

13:01 We see Frankenstein lowering Brona’s body into a tub of water with the help of Caliban. Caliban asks Victor if Brona will remember her old life. Victor responds that he does not know, but that he hopes not, for her life was benighted. Caliban looks at Brona, and says that they will seek the shadows together. Caliban begins to leave, saying he must look for work, but warns Victor that he will never be far. Victor asks Caliban if he will finally leave him in peace if he gives him Brona. Caliban responds, “You would do better to ask your soul to leave you. We are bound on a wheel of pain, thee and me. I ask you, what is Frankenstein without his creature?”.

15:45 We return to Vanessa and Ethan, now inside Grandage place. Vanessa is visibly shaken, and Ethan is drinking in order to keep calm. Ethan speaks with Sembene, who has asked what the creatures were. Ethan says he doesn’t know, but they were not the same women that were with the creature they killed in an effort to save Mina. Ethan sits down to talk to Vanessa, and asks her if she knows what the creatures were. Vanessa tells him that she does know what they are, but does not elaborate. Frustrated, Ethan asks how can he help her if she won’t let him? Vanessa snaps that he cannot help, and that Ethan was going to leave, so he should go. She adds that if the creatures were going to kill her, they would have. Ethan, exasperated, says he will come back tomorrow, once Sir Malcolm has returned home, and leaves. Sembene gives Vanessa a shaw, and she asks him if he believes the past can return. “More than that”, he replies, “It never leaves us. It is who we are”. “God help us then” Vanessa replies.

18:31 Ethan walks to one of the porches at Grandage Place to stand guard. We see a Nightcomer, who we learn later is Hecate, watching from a roof.

19:08 Sir Malcolm and his wife stand over Mina’s and Peter’s graves. Gladys remarks on how “hollow” it felt to put an empty coffin in Peter’s grave. She doesn’t know what made her sadder, Mina’s full coffin, or Peter’s empty one. Malcolm says he feels he should return home, and implies he will sell Grandage Place. He says they were happy once. Gladys refutes that they were happy, replying that Malcolm was happy once, but everything between them is now buried. Gladys insists that they remain married, but wants Malcolm to return to London and stay there. Malcolm protests, “If you only knew how hard I tried to save her”. Gladys replies, “We have no more children for you to save. Or to kill”.

22:22 After wondering the London streets in search of work, Caliban finds Putney’s Family Waxworks, with a sign outside looking for employees. Caliban goes inside, and walks down a hallway called the “The Chamber of Grotesqueries and Gore”, and finds Mr. Putney. The man greets Caliban, and Caliban asks about the notice. The man says people find working there unnerving, and they are constantly in need of people, but they cannot pay much. Caliban says he finds the place familiar. The man shows him the new attraction, The Chambers of Crime, and tells Caliban that he will need help with it. Caliban replies that he wants the job, and Mr. Putney says he must first introduce him to the rest of the Putney clan. The man then shows Caliban his wax rendition of the Mariner’s Inn Massacre.

26:51 The scene transitions to Rusk inspecting the Mariner’s Inn. Rusk comments on all the brick buildings that are being built, and how wood has character, and holds its history. Rusk and Junior Inspector discuss if this could have been the Ripper’s doing as well. Rusk says that this case is different, because there was a survivor.

28:24 Vanessa paces in her room as Ethan and Sembene talk downstairs. Sembene tells Ethan that Vanessa has not left her room all day. Ethan comments that he has never seen Vanessa so frightened.

29:40 Victor sits at his desk. The metal tub holding Brona’s body clanks. Victor is distracted from his work and walks over to the tub. He looks in at Brona’s naked body, submerged in water. “What will you make of this life, I wonder?”, he asks, “Who will you be”? Victor says he misses talking to her, which possibly references his mother. He then fondles Brona’s breast and touches her body, but is startled by a knock on the door. It is Sembene, he tells Victor that he is required, and that he will need courage.

32:54 Caliban meets with Mrs. Putney. He gives his name as John Clare. Clare meets Lavinia, the blind daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Putney. Lavinia asks to touch John Clare’s face, which makes him uncomfortable, but he allows it. Lavinia shows John Clare out, and it is revealed that the Putneys want to make money off of John Clare somehow.

35:47 Vanessa runs down the stairs and hugs Sir Malcolm as he returns home. The group sits in the drawing room, and Victor takes Vanessa’s pulse and asks about these creatures that attacked them. Ethan again states that the women were not the same ones with the creature. He says that they were “branded and deeply scarred”. Vanessa says that those scars are the Devil’s Mark. “Those in the service of the demon are irrevocably marked. He rakes his claws across them to seal their obedience” she says. Malcolm asks Vanessa if she knows the language that they spoke. Ethan answers that it was Latin. Vanessa refutes this, saying that it was the Verbis Diablo. Victor says that is impossible, because the Verbis Diablo is a mythical language, an inverted version of angelic speech, spoken in the Garden of Eden before Lucifer appeared. Ethan says that it is a dead language, not mythical, and quotes John 8:44. Malcolm asks Vanessa if she knows the words spoken by the Nightcomers. She says she does remember much, and her own words came to her blindly, like an animal instinct. She does not know what she said. Malcolm wants to begin to help and protect Vanessa by learning to understand the language. Again Vanessa snaps that they cannot help her, “This is a battle I must fight on my own”. Ethan says he refuses to leave her, and Malcolm says he will not lose another daughter. Sembene presses Vanessa to tell them what the creatures were. She says they were Nightcomers, witches.

39:30 We see Madame Kali’s castle, and hear her singing as she bathes in blood. The scene then transitions to Kali meeting with the other witches in their own drawing room. Madame Kali is obviously the leader of the group. She kisses Hecate, and expresses disappointment in the defeat of the other witches during the carriage attack. Hecate says she should have gone, but Kali says it was her own fault for underestimating the situation. Kali says she is concerned about “the man”, referring to Ethan. Hecate calls him “Lupus dei”. Kali tasks Hecate with dealing with Ethan, and says she will deal with Vanessa herself. One of the other witches asks for another chance, telling her that Vanessa spoke the Verbis Diablo. This prompts Kali to tell the story of the Roman General who began the tradition of Memento Mori. She then slits the witch’s throat with a razor ring.

44:47 Ethan and Malcolm watch Vanessa ascend the stairs to her room. Ethan says that he has seen that look in her eyes before, after a battle. Malcolm says Vanessa will talk to them in her own time, and Ethan informs Malcolm that he will be staying with them in the guest room.

45:38 Victor races home to catch the brewing storm to bring Brona back to life. In a dramatic scene, John Clare helps Victor to bring Brona back to life. She raises out of the tub and stares at the two men. They stare back.

49:43 Vanessa and Ethan share a small moment in the hallways before each retreat to their respective rooms. In her room, Vanessa gets two candles and a knife from her dresser. She then sits on the floor, and cuts her thumb, using the blood to draw a scorpion on the floor. She begins to prey in Latin. The scene transition to Madame Kali putting a cross of blood on her forehead and praying to Lucifer. Kali begins to speak the Verbis Diablo, and the praying of the two women begins to overlap. It is then revealed that Vanessa is surrounded by 3 witches.

END CREDITS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daywalkers

Our first introduction to the mythology of witches in Penny Dreadful comes in S2E1 (35:47). After a frightful experience with 3 Nightcomers, Ethan and Vanessa are shaken. Vanessa is asked several times about the creatures, and what they were. Finally, after prompting from Sembene, Vanessa tells the group that the creatures are Nightcomers, witches. In S2E3, we learn that Vanessa is herself a witch, a Daywalker, like Joan Clayton, the Cut-Wife. It is established in S2E3 that a person can either be born a witch, as Vanessa was, or learn witchcraft, as Joan Clayton did. There are witches that are naturally more powerful than others; Joan Clayton tells Vanessa that she is the most powerful Daywalker she has ever met, and Madame Kali remarks on Vanessa’s power when she first meets her in S2E3 (20:03).

When Vanessa asks Joan Clayton about Madame Kali and other women in S2E3 (26:24) that came to the door, demanding the Cut-Wife give up Vanessa, Joan Clayton tells her about both Daywalkers and Nightcomers. She says that she and Madame Kali were in a coven together, a long time ago. At that time, they were Daywalkers. Joan Clayton describes Daywalkers to simply be “harmless dabblers in herbs and healing”. Despite this claim, it would seem that Daywalkers, especially naturally born ones, can have powerful skills and abilities. It would seem that all Daywalkers can speak some of the Verbis Diablo, but refrain from doing so as much as they can, in order to not be seduced by the Devil. Joan Clayton warns Vanessa in S2E3 (31:59), “You must remember that such incantations are dangerous. And you must never speak the Devil’s Language idly. Have this language not become easy in your mouth, or soon it will not be your mouth, but his, and it will tell only lies”.

It is difficult to say what powers the average Daywalker would have, as we have only met 2 of them, Joan Clayton and Vanessa Ives, and both are very powerful. However, generally, it would seem that Daywalkers have some level of the following abilities:

• The ability to cast and read tarot cards
• The ability to speak at least some of the Verbis Diablo
• The ability to ward against evil
• The ability to touch people and see into their past and future
• The ability to be a medium for the dead or for supernatural beings
• The ability too have inordinately long life

Nightcomers

It would seem that to become a Nightcomer, one must first be a Daywalker, or at the very least, possess the ability to speak the Verbis Diablo. Daywalkers become Nightcomers when the Verbis Diablo becomes easy in their mouths, and they are seduced by Lucifer, usually through a promise of riches, everlasting youth, power, or even love. Once a Daywalker becomes a Nightcomer, they become a minion of Lucifer, and live to service him as payment for whatever he has promised them. The coven which Joan Clayton was a part of all turned to Lucifer, and when Joan Clayton refused to do likewise, she was branded with a pentagram on her back, and cast out as a traitor. Once in the servitude of Lucifer, Nightcomers are branded themselves, with what Vanessa calls The Devil’s Mark. This mark is seen when they are in their Nightcomer form, as naked, pale, bald creatures with large, open scratches decorating their backs and heads. Vanessa explains that these scratches, The Devil’s Mark, occur when a Daywalker submits herself to Lucifer, and he rakes his claws across her body, in order to seal her obedience. The mark is irrevocable. They also usually have brands on their bodies as well, in pentagram shapes. Nightcomers only take this form during the night, and that is when they are at their most powerful.

Nightcomers seem to have some of the same powers as Daywalkers, but these abilities are used differently. For example, Nightcomers are usually fluent in the Verbis Diablo, and speak it regularly, and they can feel the presence of another supernatural being. They also seem to possess the ability to live inordinately long lives, which may be even further elongated by dark magic or the promise of immortality or everlasting youth from Lucifer. There are many things that Nightcomers do that Daywalkers either cannot do, or will not do, because they are associated with dark magic. Nightcomers like simulacra, or fetishes. They infuse a fetish or Voodoo doll with the target person’s hair, as well as a baby’s heart, and this makes it easier to bewitch or enchant said person. In season 2, it is revealed that Madame Kali has a room full of simulacra dolls, which were presumably used on real people. We see Madame Kali use fetishes on Vanessa, Sir Malcolm, and Gladys throughout season 2. Vanessa mentions to Ethan that Nightcomers, during the day, usually take the form of beautiful and desirable women as a way to entice their targets, usually men, into their clutches. When in their Nightcomer form, they can also blend in with their surroundings, hiding themselves in walls. It is revealed that Nightcomers can enter and exit a location through mirrors, even if that place is warded with totems and talisman. Hectare informs Ethan that totems have no power if the Nightcomer does not believe in them. We also witness Madame Kali bath in blood, presumably to help her stay young. If a Nightcomer fails in the task set before her by Lucifer, presumably the contract is broken, and any promised thing from Lucifer is taken away. We see this with Madame Kali in the finale of season 2, when she fails to deliver Vanessa to her Master, and she rapidly ages and then perishes.

It would seem that both Daywalkers and Nightcomers have limits to their powers, as they are unable to conjure water or sustenance if needed. This is exemplified by Joan Clayton’s premium effort to teach Vanessa how to live off the land, and what plants are useful. It is also seen in S3E5, when Hecate is unable to conjure water in the desert with Ethan. Both Daywalkers and Nightcomers seem susceptible to same things that kill regular humans, but they have an inordinate endurance to non-fatal injuries. For example, when Vanessa goes through the trepanation procedure, she does not suffer the same ill effects that are described in other patients by the orderly (John Clare). She does suffer memory loss, however. Similarly, even though Hecate was near death while in the desert with Ethan, once they reached Talbot Ranch, she recovered quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Verbis Diablo is not a real language, but was created by David J. Peterson, who has also created the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for the Game of Thrones TV series, as well as several others.

The Verbis Diablo, or The Devil’s Tongue, is the language spoken by Lucifer, Lucifer’s minions, most notably Nightcomers, Joan Clayton and Vanessa. It would seem that all witches, Daywalkers and Nightcomers, have some ability with the Verbis Diablo. However, it has been stated by David J. Peterson that he made the language nearly impossible to teach, because the point was it is an instinct a person gains once they have been touched by Lucifer. Sir Lyle informs us that the language has roots as old as Aramaic, and likely much older. It was an oral tradition, for the most part, like most now-dead languages. The language is technically forgotten, not mythical or completely dead, and has fallen out of usage. It is actually a collection of known languages, forming new patterns. According to the show, some of the notable languages found in the Verbis Diablo are Greek, Latin, Sumerian, and Arabic, along with many other obscure languages and pictographs. These languages usually take their archaic, or pre-grammar forms, and are therefore difficult to translate and read. David J. Peterson has said that he formed the language using sources such as Arabic, Akkadian, Middle Egyptian, Attic Greek, Latin, Farsi and Turkish.

Within the world of Penny Dreadful, before it became the Verbis Diablo, the language was spoken in the Garden of Eden, by Adam and Eve. After the fall of man, God spoke to Adam, but Adam could not understand him. This is reflected in John 8:43 and 8:44. Ethan quotes a rendition of this passage in S2E1 (37:45). The language had been reversed, turned inside out. To reflect this history within the language, David J. Peterson took words that meant something in a source language, and reversed it phonetically, to produce the word in the Verbis Diablo. Sometimes the reverse word came with a reversed meaning. Also pieces of words from many different languages were combined to produce portmanteaux which may have nothing to do with the original meanings of any of the parts. Patterns within the language may also be broken for no reason at all, and words, pronunciation, and auxiliary may suddenly be given new meaning, or change entirely, or drop out completely. David J. Peterson said that all of these oddities about the language make it unteachable, a language that you can only know by being touched by the Devil. This is contradicted a bit by the scene in S2E3 (31:59), when Joan Clayton teaches Vanessa some pronunciations in the Verbis Diablo, and also by the fact that Sir Lyle was able to translate it without fully knowing the language himself. While some fans have claimed that the inspiration for the language came from Enochian, David J. Peterson has refuted this.

Sir Lyle explains that there is only 1 known written example of the Verbis Diablo in S2E1 (26:28). This written example was created by a Carthusian monk in the 11th century, known only as Brother Gregory. The language was actually written on relics, not paper, that have been stored and forgotten about in the archives of the British Museum. Here is the story Sir Lyle lays out about Brother Gregory:

“In the 11 century, a Carthusian monk known to us only as Brother Gregory, began to lose his mind. He said he was possessed by a demon. Perhaps the father of all demons. This demon spoke to him in the Verbis Diablo. Brother Gregory wrote down what he said on whatever was to hand. Having nothing like science to consult, his brothers finally pronounced Brother Gregory mad and locked him away. But, his lunatic ravings are now in the British Museum. The only existing written example of this seemingly dead language.”

When asked by Vanessa what happened to Brother Gregory, Sir Lyle says:

“Locked away by his brothers, the visitations by the demon did not abate. They were deep within him. A curse if you will. Seemingly inescapable. After years of confinement and torment, they were finally convinced he was not in fact mad, but possessed by the Devil. They burned him at the stake.”

It is not clear if the Poetry of Death is written in the Verbis Diablo. If so, that would mean that Brother Gregory’s relics are, in fact, not the only written example of the language.

All throughout season 2, the group is trying to decipher the Verbis Diablo written by Brother Gregory on the various relics. In S2E8 (21:50), Sir Lyle reveals the full translation of the Verbis Diablo on the relics, or what he likes to call, The Memoirs of the Devil:

“In the great war for the Heavenly Throne we were vanquished. So God looked down on his defeated angels and found us to be evil angels. So he cast us out. He took us by our winged backs and raised us over his head. Thence, did he fling us from his Heavenly Throne and cast us down to Earth and Hell. So we were cleaved apart, two brothers cast out to two realms. One brother to Earth and the other brother to Hell. And thus were we set in eternal enmity. My brother on Earth to feed on the blood of the living by night. And myself in Hell to feed on the souls of the dead. Both in an eternal quest for the mother of evil, who will release us from our bondage and allow one of us to reconquer Heaven, and topple God from his bloody Throne. And so will the Darkness reign on Earth, in Heaven, everlasting. And so comes the Apocalypse”

David J. Peterson has  translated the scenes in which the language is spoken for season 2. Here are a few excerpts.

The Verbis Diablo spoken by Vanessa to the witches in S1E1 (11:30):

Itsi sist. Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non khur uu reshtoeth muirepmi terprai Yesun Khriiston.

“Stop. Go away. You have no power over me. I serve no god just Jesus Christ.”

Here are 3 lines from when Madame Kali enchants the Sir Malcolm fetish S2E6 (9:35).

Itsi paskheni em menkaak saddas ‘amüs. Esmai kogituhhuk paskhen. Ye hun uu wesrat tahi.

“Feel me stab deep into your mind. I will feel your thoughts. You are powerless before me.”

Etsi an tu gildust eni immesak. Etsi an tu trish en bianhkita immesak. Etsi an sha’am tu zendaamu ye balahee.
“This skin brings you to me. This hair brings you to life. This blood makes you live.”

Nüllaan esee menyaalu uuratsni lakwe eetsa roidakh. Esee orra’aabu vimaaru.

“Now you will feel pain unlike any you have known. You will see horrors.”

In S2E8 (21:50), Madame Kali recites this chant over and over again to the Sir Malcolm fetish.

Ye wosseri. Etsoo an esee uumezhdesi. Itsi Sataan weragnis uumezhdes ekse ebdee.    

 “You are my slave. You must obey me. You must obey great Satan.”

In S2E10, when Vanessa vanquishes Lucifer in the form of her own fetish, she says this:

Etsi wesrat khedekareb emi. Emi nebratronak nüllaan. Maa’. Etsi an nat ashgagna non dünasse. Itsi maa’ ebdee nüllaan! Emi nebratronak!

“I have the power to kill. I am your master now. Die. You cannot fight. You must die now! I am your master!”

You can see all the translations and phonetic spellings for the Verbis Diablo in Season 2 here.

I encourage you to check out David J. Peterson’s Tumblr and Goodreads pages for more information on the Verbis Diablo, or any of the other amazing languages he has created.