Lore (2017–…): Season 2, Episode 5 - Mary Webster: The Witch of Hadley - full transcript
A young woman, raised in a town controlled by a religious zealot, must rectify a fatal mistake before a ravenous mob hangs the Old Witch, Mary Webster, in this story set just 11 years before and 100 miles from Salem, Massachusetts.
[running footfalls]
-[twig snaps] -VERITY: Shh.
The witch will hear us.
Do you wish to go back to your
master without the spell book?
Mr. Smith will take my word.
That's enough.
Stay here. I'll get it myself.
[door creaks open]
[meows]
-[gasps]
-[hisses]
[whimpers]
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
VERITY:
It is said that Mary Webster
was born in England,
but I believe that she crawled her way out from Hell.
Since I was a child,
I have heard stories of her covenant with the Devil.
She curses
all those around her,
even my sweet mother,
taking her from me.
Our most godly mayor,
Philip Smith,
sent her for trial
in Northampton,
but the cowards were too afraid to convict her of witchcraft.
They sent her away to Boston.
But Satan ruled that court
as well.
And now she is back in Hadley.
Mary Webster,
the witch, is back.
Dear Lord,
help me survive another night.
[door creaks]
Son.
Can you not see his thirst?
Fetch him some ale.
Son, you look as if you've seen
the Devil himself.
I came from the Bostock farm.
A cow was to calve,
so I went to give aid.
[sighs]
But it was a breech.
Born cold and dead.
It is an ill omen.
This morning Mary Webster
was seen near the paddock.
That blight... blighted woman
is back from Boston?
How? How?
I got word
that she was acquitted.
Boston.
Godless city.
They care more
for their carriages
and their fine clothing
than their... s-souls
and their safety.
Can they see through
their foolish eyes that a witch
curses everything she touches?
[shattering]
She touched me.
Child...
you tell me what you know
about Mary Webster.
[knocking at door]
Hello?
[knocking continues]
You lost this on your visit
last night.
Have you come
to seek your revenge?
My brother's not far.
I'll scream, and he'll come.
You're a stupid girl,
aren't you?
As dull and befuddled
as everyone else in this town.
I thought
this was important to you,
the way you flailed after it
last night.
My mother made it for me.
Before you cursed her.
Do you think I don't have
other matters to attend?
Take it, girl.
[footfalls approaching]
What are you doing?
Is that Mother's cloak?
The witch was wearing it.
Goody Webster was here?
You must have scared her off.
That is Mother's.
I remember the color.
Did the witch steal this
after she killed her?
Verity, Mother was sick
for many years.
Yes.
So why did she suddenly die
a day after I saw her talking
to that witch?
Do you really think
that an old woman
-can have so much power?
-I think that woman can.
Don't let your head be as soft
as your heart, Levi.
Watch your quick tongue.
Yes, I've heard the rumors.
But I don't pay mind
to idle talk.
"Idle talk."
Last year the Byfield boy
was trampled by cattle
as the witch walked past.
And when the witch walked
through our field,
the crop died.
And on moonless nights,
the witch takes the form
of a black cat
with imps suckling
her many teats.
Paradise Lost?
I don't think
you need Mother's books
to inflame
that imagination of yours.
-I wasn't finished with that.
-Nor with this.
There is no time
for flights of fantasy.
Mr. Smith wants to see you.
I'm supposed
to finish my chores.
Please, Verity-- I don't want
his temper turned on me.
If you are my true friend,
you will come.
[Verity sighs]
The blight from your fields
has found mine, Levi Hollister.
How do you fare, Mr. Smith?
The Lord has given me
better days.
But, then, this is not His work.
This past night you spied
on Mary Webster at her home?
What evil did you witness there?
The witch was outside,
-with fire and smoke...
-Yes.
-Yes, and what was she doing?
-She was summoning a demon.
There was a hole in the earth
that was open to Hell.
Good girl, Amy.
What else?
She was...
performing dark magic.
-Was speaking
in a demonic language.
-We stole inside
her hovel and took a book.
A spell book.
VERITY: But it fell
when we ran from her.
Was my name...
on the witch's tongue?
Tell me the truth,
Miss Hollister--
did she speak my name?
Yes.
As I was running away,
she shouted after me,
"Tell Philip Smith
he is cursed by Satan himself.
-The Devil will have his soul."
-I knew it.
She's cursed me.
This fever is not natural.
-That witch has hexed me!
-Shh, shh, shh.
Child, why is
that cross crooked?
It broke last night.
Come here quickly
and let me see that cross.
-You did this?
-No.
The witch brought it back to me.
She fixed it.
No. Girl, my child,
this is a corrupted thing.
Get it off!
It's an abomination!
[flames whoosh]
An abomination!
We should fetch the doctor.
This fever will kill him.
Hush, woman! This is not
an illness a doctor can cure.
[Josias pants]
Get me Mary Webster.
Get me that witch.
[birds chirping]
LEVI: Get the rope
and gather the men.
We'll hang that witch.
What are you doing, Levi?
This is murder.
I have to do this.
If our crops fail again,
we'll need Mr. Smith's charity
to survive.
[sniffing]
"Mary,
"the love of God
warms our hearts,
"but a cloak warms our backs.
"I hope this will ease
your bones this winter.
"His humble servant,
Katherine Hollister."
Oh, Mother...
what have I done?
♪ ♪
[knocking]
VERITY:
Hello?
[door creaking]
Hello?
Have you come to steal
something else?
[cat meows]
I've come to give you a warning.
How very Christian of you.
Men are coming here.
Let them come.
-No, they intend to...
-To what?
Send me back to Boston...
for another ridiculous trial?
Make yourself useful, girl--
open that brandy for me.
They want to end the curse
you put on Mr. Smith.
The blackness in his heart
should have killed him
-years ago.
-You're not listening.
We fear men so much,
because we fear God so little.
You don't understand.
They mean to kill you.
What would you have me do?
Turn into a beast?
Flee into the woods?
I won't be driven from my home.
[whispers]:
Not again.
It is all I have in this world.
Please, can you listen to...
Why do you care?!
My mother.
She showed me charity...
when no other
in this wicked town would.
Then why did you
return her cloak?
Your family's kindness
died with her.
[horses approaching]
You need to leave.
You can't be seen
communing with a witch.
I can speak some sense
to my brother.
There is no sense!
Only fear and ignorance!
-[horse neighs]
-And that fear needs a face.
Go!
Go, child.
Go now.
This is my fault,
and witch or not,
-murder is a sin.
-JOSIAS: Witch!
We have come for a reckoning!
[pounding on door]
Show yourself, witch.
She's not here.
She must have left on her own.
RICHARD: Or she's taken
another form, escaped.
[shattering]
You are holding a cursed thing.
[gasps]
Towards the barn!
She ran out the back.
♪ ♪
[footfalls approaching]
Levi! She's here!
-The witch is here!
-[whimpers]
Aah! Aah!
[Mary shouting, groaning]
-Ready.
-Pull!
[grunting]
Witch, you're going
to dance upon nothing.
[man spits]
♪ ♪
PHILIP: You have been found
guilty of the sin of witchcraft,
but still you proclaim
your innocence.
Let the weight
of these rocks represent
the weight of your sins
against God.
What say you now,
Verity Hollister?
[gasps]
I am not a witch.
PHILIP [echoing]:
Verity Hollister.
[echoing]: You have been accused
of the sin of witchcraft.
Confess yourself
before these righteous men
here present
or confess yourself before God
and may He save your soul.
[echoing]:
I am not a witch!
PHILIP: Verity Hollister,
you have been found guilty
of the sin of witchcraft.
VERITY [echoing]:
I am not a witch!
I am not a witch.
[shouting]
[screaming]
Aah!
I am not a witch!
[screams]
-Verity. Verity.
-I'm not a witch.
What are you saying?
What were you doing
in the woods yesterday?
Willful girl.
You killed her.
No.
I killed her.
-I am the murderer.
-No.
No, you are not.
Perhaps you were right before.
After the hanging,
Mr. Smith's seizures stopped.
Go and take him
some nourishment.
Prove to him what
a pious Christian you are...
because now that
the witch is gone,
they'll be looking
for someone new to blame.
Just go and pray with him.
He will see your godliness
and all will be well.
PHILIP: The righteous person
may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him
from them all.
Evil will slay the wicked.
The foes of the righteous
will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue
his servants.
No one who takes refuge in him
will be condemned.
[door creaks]
[cat meows]
Paradise Lost.
The holy book.
"Praise be to the God
and Father
"of our Lord Jesus Christ,
"the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort,
"who comforts us
in all our troubles,
"so that we can comfort those
in any trouble
"with the comfort we ourselves
receive from God.
"Please, Lord,
guide this woman's soul
to heaven on a feather.
Shall the Lord..."
♪ ♪
[ghostly whisper]
[knocking]
I brought mutton stew
for Mr. Philip's health.
PHILIP:
Let her in, Josias.
It has gone cold.
You have come to pray
for my recovery?
Your brother stayed with me
all through last night.
On his knees in supplication.
But you are too late.
The curse has been lifted.
I am healed.
Now, we shall thank God.
Yes, of course.
But I stopped first
to offer another prayer.
For even a witch deserves
the Lord's mercy.
But there was no one
to pray over.
What do you mean?
What did you do
with Mary Webster's body?
[Amy screams]
I swear by everything
that is holy that she was dead.
The Devil has brought her back.
[pounding on door]
MARY:
Philip Smith.
Open the door, you coward!
[crying]: See with your own eyes
what your fear
has done to an old woman.
[pounding on door]
Mary Webster lives.
MARY:
You will have a reckoning!
-Mary Webster lives.
-God will judge you,
and you will fall short!
Mary Webster lives.
Mary...
[panting]
[coughing, retching]
What have we done?
What have we done?
♪ ♪
Levi!
Levi!
Help me get her up.
She's just a poor woman
who needs our help.
Will you turn your back on her?
Will you all?
Turn your back on God then.
Call yourself Christians;
you still do the Devil's work.
I was not a witch.
I was not a witch.
I was not a witch!
VERITY: Even now, years past,
I often lay awake,
imagining what that night
was like for Mary,
after my coward legs
had borne me away.
Hanging, alone,
life leaving in small gasps,
believing that God, too,
had fled.
Perhaps He hadn't.
Perhaps it was His hands
that tore the rope.
[rope snaps, body drops]
[ethereal singing]
But now, ten years later,
I wonder where God was
while evil swept through
the village of Salem.
[singing continues]
Did He watch while 13 women
and six men were killed?
♪ ♪
I can only wonder
if God deemed them
less worthy than Mary Webster?
♪ ♪
Or perhaps, that night,
it wasn't His hand
that sundered that rope.
Perhaps it was only Mary's.
MARY [echoing]:
I was not a witch!
♪ ♪
[horse neighs]
-[twig snaps] -VERITY: Shh.
The witch will hear us.
Do you wish to go back to your
master without the spell book?
Mr. Smith will take my word.
That's enough.
Stay here. I'll get it myself.
[door creaks open]
[meows]
-[gasps]
-[hisses]
[whimpers]
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
VERITY:
It is said that Mary Webster
was born in England,
but I believe that she crawled her way out from Hell.
Since I was a child,
I have heard stories of her covenant with the Devil.
She curses
all those around her,
even my sweet mother,
taking her from me.
Our most godly mayor,
Philip Smith,
sent her for trial
in Northampton,
but the cowards were too afraid to convict her of witchcraft.
They sent her away to Boston.
But Satan ruled that court
as well.
And now she is back in Hadley.
Mary Webster,
the witch, is back.
Dear Lord,
help me survive another night.
[door creaks]
Son.
Can you not see his thirst?
Fetch him some ale.
Son, you look as if you've seen
the Devil himself.
I came from the Bostock farm.
A cow was to calve,
so I went to give aid.
[sighs]
But it was a breech.
Born cold and dead.
It is an ill omen.
This morning Mary Webster
was seen near the paddock.
That blight... blighted woman
is back from Boston?
How? How?
I got word
that she was acquitted.
Boston.
Godless city.
They care more
for their carriages
and their fine clothing
than their... s-souls
and their safety.
Can they see through
their foolish eyes that a witch
curses everything she touches?
[shattering]
She touched me.
Child...
you tell me what you know
about Mary Webster.
[knocking at door]
Hello?
[knocking continues]
You lost this on your visit
last night.
Have you come
to seek your revenge?
My brother's not far.
I'll scream, and he'll come.
You're a stupid girl,
aren't you?
As dull and befuddled
as everyone else in this town.
I thought
this was important to you,
the way you flailed after it
last night.
My mother made it for me.
Before you cursed her.
Do you think I don't have
other matters to attend?
Take it, girl.
[footfalls approaching]
What are you doing?
Is that Mother's cloak?
The witch was wearing it.
Goody Webster was here?
You must have scared her off.
That is Mother's.
I remember the color.
Did the witch steal this
after she killed her?
Verity, Mother was sick
for many years.
Yes.
So why did she suddenly die
a day after I saw her talking
to that witch?
Do you really think
that an old woman
-can have so much power?
-I think that woman can.
Don't let your head be as soft
as your heart, Levi.
Watch your quick tongue.
Yes, I've heard the rumors.
But I don't pay mind
to idle talk.
"Idle talk."
Last year the Byfield boy
was trampled by cattle
as the witch walked past.
And when the witch walked
through our field,
the crop died.
And on moonless nights,
the witch takes the form
of a black cat
with imps suckling
her many teats.
Paradise Lost?
I don't think
you need Mother's books
to inflame
that imagination of yours.
-I wasn't finished with that.
-Nor with this.
There is no time
for flights of fantasy.
Mr. Smith wants to see you.
I'm supposed
to finish my chores.
Please, Verity-- I don't want
his temper turned on me.
If you are my true friend,
you will come.
[Verity sighs]
The blight from your fields
has found mine, Levi Hollister.
How do you fare, Mr. Smith?
The Lord has given me
better days.
But, then, this is not His work.
This past night you spied
on Mary Webster at her home?
What evil did you witness there?
The witch was outside,
-with fire and smoke...
-Yes.
-Yes, and what was she doing?
-She was summoning a demon.
There was a hole in the earth
that was open to Hell.
Good girl, Amy.
What else?
She was...
performing dark magic.
-Was speaking
in a demonic language.
-We stole inside
her hovel and took a book.
A spell book.
VERITY: But it fell
when we ran from her.
Was my name...
on the witch's tongue?
Tell me the truth,
Miss Hollister--
did she speak my name?
Yes.
As I was running away,
she shouted after me,
"Tell Philip Smith
he is cursed by Satan himself.
-The Devil will have his soul."
-I knew it.
She's cursed me.
This fever is not natural.
-That witch has hexed me!
-Shh, shh, shh.
Child, why is
that cross crooked?
It broke last night.
Come here quickly
and let me see that cross.
-You did this?
-No.
The witch brought it back to me.
She fixed it.
No. Girl, my child,
this is a corrupted thing.
Get it off!
It's an abomination!
[flames whoosh]
An abomination!
We should fetch the doctor.
This fever will kill him.
Hush, woman! This is not
an illness a doctor can cure.
[Josias pants]
Get me Mary Webster.
Get me that witch.
[birds chirping]
LEVI: Get the rope
and gather the men.
We'll hang that witch.
What are you doing, Levi?
This is murder.
I have to do this.
If our crops fail again,
we'll need Mr. Smith's charity
to survive.
[sniffing]
"Mary,
"the love of God
warms our hearts,
"but a cloak warms our backs.
"I hope this will ease
your bones this winter.
"His humble servant,
Katherine Hollister."
Oh, Mother...
what have I done?
♪ ♪
[knocking]
VERITY:
Hello?
[door creaking]
Hello?
Have you come to steal
something else?
[cat meows]
I've come to give you a warning.
How very Christian of you.
Men are coming here.
Let them come.
-No, they intend to...
-To what?
Send me back to Boston...
for another ridiculous trial?
Make yourself useful, girl--
open that brandy for me.
They want to end the curse
you put on Mr. Smith.
The blackness in his heart
should have killed him
-years ago.
-You're not listening.
We fear men so much,
because we fear God so little.
You don't understand.
They mean to kill you.
What would you have me do?
Turn into a beast?
Flee into the woods?
I won't be driven from my home.
[whispers]:
Not again.
It is all I have in this world.
Please, can you listen to...
Why do you care?!
My mother.
She showed me charity...
when no other
in this wicked town would.
Then why did you
return her cloak?
Your family's kindness
died with her.
[horses approaching]
You need to leave.
You can't be seen
communing with a witch.
I can speak some sense
to my brother.
There is no sense!
Only fear and ignorance!
-[horse neighs]
-And that fear needs a face.
Go!
Go, child.
Go now.
This is my fault,
and witch or not,
-murder is a sin.
-JOSIAS: Witch!
We have come for a reckoning!
[pounding on door]
Show yourself, witch.
She's not here.
She must have left on her own.
RICHARD: Or she's taken
another form, escaped.
[shattering]
You are holding a cursed thing.
[gasps]
Towards the barn!
She ran out the back.
♪ ♪
[footfalls approaching]
Levi! She's here!
-The witch is here!
-[whimpers]
Aah! Aah!
[Mary shouting, groaning]
-Ready.
-Pull!
[grunting]
Witch, you're going
to dance upon nothing.
[man spits]
♪ ♪
PHILIP: You have been found
guilty of the sin of witchcraft,
but still you proclaim
your innocence.
Let the weight
of these rocks represent
the weight of your sins
against God.
What say you now,
Verity Hollister?
[gasps]
I am not a witch.
PHILIP [echoing]:
Verity Hollister.
[echoing]: You have been accused
of the sin of witchcraft.
Confess yourself
before these righteous men
here present
or confess yourself before God
and may He save your soul.
[echoing]:
I am not a witch!
PHILIP: Verity Hollister,
you have been found guilty
of the sin of witchcraft.
VERITY [echoing]:
I am not a witch!
I am not a witch.
[shouting]
[screaming]
Aah!
I am not a witch!
[screams]
-Verity. Verity.
-I'm not a witch.
What are you saying?
What were you doing
in the woods yesterday?
Willful girl.
You killed her.
No.
I killed her.
-I am the murderer.
-No.
No, you are not.
Perhaps you were right before.
After the hanging,
Mr. Smith's seizures stopped.
Go and take him
some nourishment.
Prove to him what
a pious Christian you are...
because now that
the witch is gone,
they'll be looking
for someone new to blame.
Just go and pray with him.
He will see your godliness
and all will be well.
PHILIP: The righteous person
may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him
from them all.
Evil will slay the wicked.
The foes of the righteous
will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue
his servants.
No one who takes refuge in him
will be condemned.
[door creaks]
[cat meows]
Paradise Lost.
The holy book.
"Praise be to the God
and Father
"of our Lord Jesus Christ,
"the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort,
"who comforts us
in all our troubles,
"so that we can comfort those
in any trouble
"with the comfort we ourselves
receive from God.
"Please, Lord,
guide this woman's soul
to heaven on a feather.
Shall the Lord..."
♪ ♪
[ghostly whisper]
[knocking]
I brought mutton stew
for Mr. Philip's health.
PHILIP:
Let her in, Josias.
It has gone cold.
You have come to pray
for my recovery?
Your brother stayed with me
all through last night.
On his knees in supplication.
But you are too late.
The curse has been lifted.
I am healed.
Now, we shall thank God.
Yes, of course.
But I stopped first
to offer another prayer.
For even a witch deserves
the Lord's mercy.
But there was no one
to pray over.
What do you mean?
What did you do
with Mary Webster's body?
[Amy screams]
I swear by everything
that is holy that she was dead.
The Devil has brought her back.
[pounding on door]
MARY:
Philip Smith.
Open the door, you coward!
[crying]: See with your own eyes
what your fear
has done to an old woman.
[pounding on door]
Mary Webster lives.
MARY:
You will have a reckoning!
-Mary Webster lives.
-God will judge you,
and you will fall short!
Mary Webster lives.
Mary...
[panting]
[coughing, retching]
What have we done?
What have we done?
♪ ♪
Levi!
Levi!
Help me get her up.
She's just a poor woman
who needs our help.
Will you turn your back on her?
Will you all?
Turn your back on God then.
Call yourself Christians;
you still do the Devil's work.
I was not a witch.
I was not a witch.
I was not a witch!
VERITY: Even now, years past,
I often lay awake,
imagining what that night
was like for Mary,
after my coward legs
had borne me away.
Hanging, alone,
life leaving in small gasps,
believing that God, too,
had fled.
Perhaps He hadn't.
Perhaps it was His hands
that tore the rope.
[rope snaps, body drops]
[ethereal singing]
But now, ten years later,
I wonder where God was
while evil swept through
the village of Salem.
[singing continues]
Did He watch while 13 women
and six men were killed?
♪ ♪
I can only wonder
if God deemed them
less worthy than Mary Webster?
♪ ♪
Or perhaps, that night,
it wasn't His hand
that sundered that rope.
Perhaps it was only Mary's.
MARY [echoing]:
I was not a witch!
♪ ♪
[horse neighs]