"Previously on "Salem"..." "Don't be a fool." "You'll die out here." "Soon, little master, soon." "Then all that remains is to open the door and let your spirit return to this body." "Everything has a price, Isaac." "In this case, your life for hers." "You will return the child to gloriana." "You will restore her mind." "You will return the child, and you will restore her mind!" " I cannot!" " Yes, you must!" "What's done is done!" "Calm yourself." "We may need him yet." "And what of cotton?" "Let me out!" "Isaac!" "Isaac!" "Isaac!" "Our mother calls." "It is time we really listen." "Mary sibley." "Bring me the rest of her blood." "Now it begins." "The instrument is filled with red Mercury." "When the hammer strikes, all will blow." "That means we have a quarter of an hour for you to help me stop this thing." "Now, why on earth would I want to do that?" "You would damn generations to hell on earth because of your own bitter heart?" "!" "I'm home." "Well done, little marburg." "Your late mother would be proud of you." "Now, summon your husband." "The hour is nearly here, and with it, the moment of his glory." "And mine." "It's no good trying to escape me, mother." "Even hell will not hide you now." "In a few minutes it will be midnight." "It will be the dawn of black Sunday, of a new world, and most importantly, our wedding day." "I guess they're right." "A leopard can't change its spots." "No need to when they look so dashing." "So why come at all?" "Why risk your neck and dirty your hands when the bomb can take care of me?" "Excellent questions, captain." "Well, first of all, for the sheer pleasure of killing you myself." "Secondly, bring back a little souvenir of your corpse to your Mary for the pain she's caused me." "My Mary?" "Yes." "Yes, I admit that I failed to dislodge you from her heart." "Of course, she's made of sterner stuff than you." "I'd almost envy you, but there's no point in envying a dead man." "Thank you." "A little external pain distracts from the internal ache." "And still, nothing will ever taste as sweet to me as she did." "Do you remember what her nectar tastes like?" "I shall never forget." "No, these are my favorite, so I don't want to stain them." "Besides, I want to feel the life leaving your body as I kill you." "You have soft hands for a job like that." "Yes." "My fingers strummed her in ways your crude calluses could never." "Did you enjoy watching us, captain?" "That's right." "We really were there." "I hope you had enough time to pick up a few tips about how to really please a woman." "Ouch." "I could do this forever." "But time flies, even on battered wings." "Besides, we have only a few minutes until the red Mercury blows and destroys Salem and all life within her." "They're shouting my name!" "They will tear me apart." "A fitting end for a man of the people..." "Each shall have a piece of you." "Shut up!" "I could kill you in an instant." "They'll burn you out, and all of knockers hole with you." "I ain't interested in seeing knockers hole burned to the ground." "Those men outside..." "Pretty sure they'll listen to me." "All you need to do is free me so I can speak to them." "I am so close..." "So close to being rid of you, to claiming a life for myself." "And you would just come in and you ruin everything!" "My love, please, let us live to fight another day." "Call me that again." "What?" "My love?" "Yes." "I will call you my love every day, until the day I die." "But I would rather it were not today." "Let him go." "My love." "My love." "People of knockers hole!" "Friends!" "Neighbors!" "Please, they've set me free!" "We've won!" "There's no need for this!" "I know, dear cotton." "I know." "Terrible." "Awful." "Evil incarnate." "You've opened my eyes, dear husband." "I was the perfect wife, and yet you still preferred the company of a whore." "Well, the pain you caused me set me free from all my slavish craving for the world's approval." "Anne..." "Whatever your hatred for me, do not let that be hatred for all the people of Salem." "In minutes, they will all die." "But there might yet still be time." "Please, please let me out of here before it is too late." "You may yet save Salem, dear cotton." "You and I both know what a dissolute weakling you really are." "But when I release you, you will have the chance to be that great man everybody believes you to be." "It's perfectly safe now, Mr. dinley." "First I must choose which detail she will find most piquant." "So I may sip from the pain in her eyes when she sees it." "What do you think, dinley?" "What would move her most?" "The eyes that she gazed into?" "The heart that beats for her?" "Or those callused hands that she prefers to mine?" "I believe..." "I believe neither of us ever loved anybody but her our whole lives." "In my jealousy, I plotted her destruction." "Now, it is my only regret." "I just couldn't bear to live without her." "But now I don't have to." "So listen..." "She is in unspeakable danger." "For once, prove yourself worthy of her love." "Save her." "How do we stop this?" "No, you can't run..." "You can't run far enough to get away from this." "All right, do you have any suggestions?" "Prayer." "I've been waiting for this moment since we met." "I hoped you might be the one, the great soul I need." "I am no great soul." "I am just another miserable sinner." "I beg you, by the glory you once knew, by the heaven you once dwelled in, do not use the innocent people of Salem as pawns in a chess game against your father." "Good mather." "With every word, you prove you're indeed everything I hoped." "Any minute now, midnight will strike." "We will see a tremendous flash, feel the earth itself pitch and roll beneath our feet, and hear the screams of thousands as they are vaporized." "For generations, you and your family have claimed responsibility for the good souls of Salem." "And in a moment, all that hard work will be obliterated..." "Not merely on your watch, but by your choice." "How is any of this my choice?" "I would stop all of it at any cost!" "Excellent." "Because you... and you alone..." "Have that power." "You may indeed stop all of this with but one word." "The word "yes."" "Yes." "Five minutes, captain." "I hope you know what you're doing." "Maybe if I jam the striker somehow." "Every soul has its price." "What's yours, mather?" "What would you sell your soul for?" "I want nothing from you." "What are you asking of me?" "The willing sacrifice of one great soul is far more powerful than the slaughter of so many thousand head of human cattle." "So I set their lives against yours." "Are you asking me to kill myself?" "It's not your life I want but your soul..." "Sinless and of free will that you must enter." "Enter?" "Don't worry." "It won't hurt." "Not at first." "All you have to do is open the door and walk through." "Consign yourself to an eternity in hell, and save every soul in Salem." "If I enter hell, you will spare the world your depredation?" "No, husband, let's not be greedy." "Nothing can stop the plan my dark lord has in this world." "But he would save every life in Salem." "Even the life of your true love." "What's her name?" "Harmonia?" "Desdemona?" "Gloriana." "Don't you want to spare that pitiful whore an agonizing death?" "My father told me that there was no time in hell..." "No past, no future, only all of time in an eternal present." "And that I was already there..." "Burning beside him." "I have tormented myself ever since, wondering what crime I could possibly commit that would so consign myself to hell." "I am relieved." "It was no crime, but a choice." "I will choose to be in hell, so that others may not." "Goodbye, Mary." "Goodbye, cotton." "And I'm sorry for everything I did." "If it weren't for me, then none of us would be here and none of this would have happened." "Shh, shh." "I'm sorry too, for all the harsh words I used." "You're sorry?" "!" "To her?" "!" "Aren't you sorry for all you did, for all you failed to do for me?" "!" "Indeed." "I am sorry." "I am truly, deeply sorry... that I ever laid eyes on you." "That's all right, cotton." "You have thousands and thousands of years to wish you had honored our marriage and treated me better." "I prefer this." "John sibley:" "Now, surely you did not imagine" "I would ask you to marry a mere boy?" "Look what a great sacrifice may bring." "I would have enjoyed all that came with the destruction of Salem." "And I shall indeed still set the entire world on fire with war." "But only a sacrifice of a truly great soul, a soul like cotton mather, could quicken my own life force." "And now the earth shall tremble that I am in my full glory." "Every move was expertly played, if I do say so myself." "Every piece moved to its proper position." "You refused the boy I was." "What say you to the man I've become?" "Boy or man, it makes no difference." "We cannot marry." "Did not my father get his Mary with the very child he would become?" "I shall simply reverse the order of things." "It is unnatural." "You are my flesh." "I gave birth to you." "You and I shall both be gods." "And we shall birth a race of gods and monsters." "I've already birthed one monster who would be god." "That is quite enough for me." "Mary, Mary, Mary." "You have already violated every dicta of god and man 10 times over." "You have wonderfully overthrown every shackle of convention." "Don't stop now." "Say yes to a whole new world of freedom and feeling." "What could hold you back from becoming my bride, and the real queen of the night?" "Revulsion." "The thought of touching you disgusts me." "Is it revulsion that makes your heart beat faster and faster as I approach, or is it desire?" "Does my person not please you?" "I can see that it does." "No." "Come here!" "You shall serve as maid of honor." "Bring her to the altar..." "That is, to my bed." "I could kill you." "No, you couldn't." "Because you are no longer a witch." "You are a mere woman, and a sick one at that." "Poor, pathetic little girl." "Not even woman enough to hold the interest of a novice like mather." "He left you for a mere whore." "And now, just because you can't have what you want, the whole world should burn?" "You are trying to provoke me into killing you, to spare you what is coming." "I have nothing." "Even John is lost to me." "Spare me having to consort with that thing." "I can help you." "I can make it so that you don't have to wed or bed John sibley, nor even suffer a single moment of his touch." "Lead on!" "Follow!" "Am I dying?" "No." "You're not dying." "Just rest, and when you next open your eyes, you will be utterly safe from his touch." "You will feel like..." "Well, like a new woman." "No!" "You're destroying your own homes!" "Isaac!" "Dorcas!" "Isaac!" "Stop!" "I'm so sorry." "This is all my fault." "No, it ain't." "You were just doing what you always do... saving me." "But I'm gonna get you home, and then we'll just stay there." "No arguments." "You hear me?" "Mary." "Mary, I'm here." "Is it really you this time?" "Yes." "It's me." "What have they done to you?" "You came back." "You came back for me." "I had to." "I couldn't stay away." "But tell me..." "What have they done to you?" "I don't know." "I thought it was the death of the essex now killing me." "But I think Anne and the countess..." "They've done something to me." "I'm here now." "It will be all right." "I thought you were done with me." "I'll never be done with you." "Never." "I just couldn't bear to see you with him." "I love you so much it hurts." "You love me." "You love me." "Since the beginning." "Never anyone but you." "I don't think I'm gonna make it." "They've done something to me." "They won't let me go." "You can make it." "Just keep talking." "I'm so cold." "Stay awake." "Stay alive for me." "I'll get us out of here." "Tell me again." "It helps me." "I love you." "Thank you, captain, but I can walk from here." "Hello, mother." "You're looking exceptionally well." "Your brother?" "I'm afraid he didn't make it." "Pity." "But then again, he was always the weak one." "And it's all for such a good cause." "Congratulations." "Thank you, my daughter." "And you shall have everything in return." "Mother." "You look even more beautiful than I imagined." "I..." "I'm afraid." "But you are here." "I don't want to be." "I tried my best to fight it." "But I just can't." "When you kissed me, all my world dissolved." "Hurry, mother." "I've waited too long for this." "As have I, my son." "As have I." "You." "What did you do to Mary?" "That wasn't Mary." "That was the countess marburg." "But if you stay calm," "I will reunite you with the real Mary." "Listen." "They are baying for our blood!" "My magic will protect us." "When things have calmed down," "I will get us both safely out of here, I promise." "There is no safety in Salem except that which I Grant." "If we're so safe, how the hell did she get in here?" "Leave the talking to those with something to say." "Please!" "Leave him be!" "Leave him be!" "Please!" "He's had enough!" "He's had enough!" "You're killing him!" "Stop!" "With a snap of my fingers, they'll be restored to the orgy of self-destruction they're intent on." "You too?" "A witch?" "And I intend to be the last witch." "Anne hale." "I warned Mary sibley about you long ago." "I told her to drown you like a kitten in a well." "Well, lucky for you she didn't." "Because I bring good news." "That wasn't Mary." "And I intend to be the last witch." "And give up my kingdom on earth?" "Like it or not, a widow you should be." "I will reunite you." "What the hell is going on here?" "Mary is downstairs, imprisoned." "You must take her away, as far and as fast as you can." "Do not look back." "Why would you help her?" "This is not for her." "Did you know I was in love with you all of my girlhood?" "And you saved my life once." "So I will spare yours." "Once." "But if either of you ever dare set foot in Salem again, you will wish I had killed you tonight instead." "And there is one thing I want in return." "That lovely angel-killing knife you made." "I am done trying to help these ungrateful wretches." "I accept my natural power, my rightful place, as should you." "Isaac, you would make a far better leader for Salem than hathorne, that disgusting old goat." "I seen what power does to people." "Corrupted hathorne." "Damn nearly got me too." "I can only imagine what your power is gonna do to you." "Take it from me, a fool knows a foolish path, and you are set upon one." "Let it go!" "And give up my kingdom on earth?" "No." "But I'd share it with you." "Thank you, but I want no part of it." "Too bad." "It was you who once told me that a woman's greatest power comes as a widow." "And that you yourself are in the process of becoming one." "I won't deny it." "Yes, it is true." "That was my plan." "But plans change." "And I changed." "Because of you." "You believe in me." "The only thing I want is to love and be loved." "Why do the best lack the courage of their convictions?" "The last thing I want is to be a widow." "Like it or not, a widow you shall be." "No!" "Stop it!" "No!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "No!" "I've watched you since you were a scabby girl, being walked through this village like a dog." "And even at your lowest, you had something." "You had a fierce ambition, a thirst for power." "Where has that gone?" "Just let him go." "Please, just let him go." "You can be the queen of the night." "You can have it all." "I only want to be with him." "I just want to be with him." "That is very touching." "Let it be so." "Be with your love." "My natural power." "Because I bring good news." "That's too bad." "The dark lord will fulfill his promises?" "Of course, as he always does." "Yes." "I will go far away." "Yes." "But that may not be enough." "You see, there can only be one narrative of the witch panic in Salem." "And I must control that story." "No one will ever hear from me." "No." "But like every great enterprise," "I need a little insurance." "That's the thing about being a seer, is you can't change what you see." "It's tragic, really." "Because you are right." "The world to come will be founded on the blood, sweat, and bones of people like you." "Why, after all you've done to secure my victory?" "Power." "I've discovered mine." "But don't worry." "I'll bring you back." "But I will be your immortal bride, not Mary." "I already carry the child you will make your new home." "And mine was an immaculate conception, as it should be." "Yes." "I can taste your destiny." "How did I not see it?" "You are indeed the one." "You will bring me back." "And who knows, maybe this time, with you," "I shall have a happy childhood." "John!" "John!" "Get away." "No." "No." "No." "I waited eternities for you." "Waded through centuries of blood and for what?" "To lose you now?" "With eons of evil and ecstasy spread before us and oceans of blood to bathe in and a world at our feet for the taking." "What have you done?" "You stupid, stupid child." "I should have drowned you in my womb or strangled you on my breast or..." "Forgive me." "I was in shock." "Now I understand." "I always knew you were my special one." "Whilst it is indeed a bitter thing to have victory snatched from me," "I am proud of you." "You are a true marburg." "I will happily accept my new role, not as queen, but as queen-mother." "Thank you, mother." "But I've already learned everything I need to from you." "What was it you told me?" "We all murder our parents." "Mary." "How did we come to be here?" "How is this possible?" "I don't know." "I don't know." "But I know Anne hale is responsible." "I don't know whether to kill her or kiss her." "Well, she's not here right now, so..." "Do you remember what I told you all those years ago?" "That vow I made?" "You said you'd come back for me." "I told you." "You said you'd be back in a year." "I see your point." "Some things are worth waiting for." "You all know me." "As you knew my father and know my husband." "And I know what they would say if they were here." "These terrible pains we feel are but the birth pangs of our brave new world." "I shall know something about birth pangs myself before too long." "And I shall endure them." "By knowing that every contraction of agony bring me one step closer to seeing my hope appear before my eyes." "Just as each of our terrible trials brings us one step closer to our new Salem." "And I tell you now with total certainty..." "We will not only survive all, we will prosper and grow until Salem is the richest city in this nation, with an influence that spans the globe." "But I am not just here to remind us of the glories to come." "But to warn you all of what I now know to be the awful truth." "We have been ruled by witches all along." "And not, as we thought, from the outside, but in the very worst way..." "From within." "Witches ruled Salem from the very top." "Names like sibley and marburg turned out to be masks for the most notorious witches." "Witches who very nearly succeeded in turning Salem into hell on earth and handing our entire new country over to the devil himself." "But I promise you, I promise you now, we will do whatever is necessary to cleanse our town of every last of Satan's whores and make sure that Salem is never again ruled by witches." "Captions by vitac..."