The Librarians (2014–2018): Season 2, Episode 2 - And the Broken Staff - full transcript
Prospero and Moriarty's scheme is actually not to recover the staff but to replace it using wood from the Tree of Knowledge located in the heart of the Library. Baird and Carson are able to reach this location despite problems with the Library's security system and the interference of other fictional characters summoned into existence by Prospero. Carson destroys a tree that Prospero incorrectly believes to be the Tree of Knowledge, and Prospero flees, while Moriarty (under threat of being sent off a cliff by Baird) agrees to withdraw from the dispute. Jenkins confesses that the Library has systemic problems he cannot explain, including several artifacts that have disappeared. Carson leaves alone in search of these, while the reunited Librarians prepare to help Baird with the Library's work.
[Whoosh]
Hey, nice save on the storm.
- Good work.
- Thank you. It simply required
an understanding of the
adiabatic lapse rate
as it relates to the
Madden-Julian Oscillation
without losing the thermally
driven circulation.
And a whackload of magic.
We need to get them back on the road
- as soon as possible.
- They did good work.
Wouldn't have beat Prospero without 'em.
We didn't beat Prospero.
He got away, and he got his book.
I would've gone after him, but instead...
We made a plan and executed it together
instead of just charging into the fog.
But fog is the best part.
Are you... sulking?
No.
Maybe. I don't know.
Yes, I am,
because we had a good thing
going out there, you and me.
Runnin', adventurin'.
- Alone.
- Yes, the alone parts are the best.
Yes, but for now,
with Prospero on the loose
and Moriarty by his side,
we need all hands on deck.
Hey, three extra Librarians,
we play our cards right,
- we can get the drop on the bad guys.
- Okay, we can try.
Getting the drop on the bad guys
would be nice for a change.
[Groans]
Work time. Work, work, work, work, work.
♪
[Whoosh]
Rather than go our separate ways,
our Guardian has convinced me
that this would be an ideal opportunity
for us to join our forces together
to try to take out our enemy.
This man... Prospero.
We know. We were there.
Prospero is a Fictional.
In some very rare cases,
a character is so famous,
so well-written, a play
or story is read so often
that the psychic energy
combines with the ambient magic
and allows them to literally
step out of their story.
Prospero the magician, in theory,
would be very dangerous.
But in the text of "The Tempest"...
Prospero gives up his magic,
he drowns his book, he breaks his staff.
However, recent events indicate
that he may be trying
to get his power back.
Which is very unusual for a Fictional.
Typically, they are
bound by their stories,
lacking free will to
choose their own fate...
Uh... sorry.
[Chuckles] Okay, no,
I'll just... Really? Okay.
Okay. Anyway, as I was saying,
Prospero has somehow
managed to find a way
to rebel against his narrative
and reclaim his power.
- He has recovered his book, w...
- We, uh...
- Which we already know.
- Yes, I know!
Meaning that his next move will be
to find and repair his staff
unless we beat him to it.
All right, I like it.
Startin' on offense.
- What do we do?
- Well, the staff was broken...
[Whispers] Wow! I'm so sorry. It's
just that I usually do the briefings.
You usually do the rapid fire
conclusions, dramatic reveals,
and all the running about.
- Fair enough. Proceed.
- Thank you, sir.
So the original staff
was broken in 1611,
right after the first
performance of "The Tempest,"
which is when Prospero first
appeared as a Fictional.
And what happened to the pieces?
That we don't know.
[Mouth full] Do we have a
copy of "The Tempest"?
It was published 10 years
after the performance.
There might be some clues in there.
I believe there's an original
folio in the reading room.
I'm on it. Folio. Reading room.
- Where's the read...
- Oh, you go...
Oh, no, let... Stay. I'll do it.
It'd be quicker.
Stone, Ezekiel, why don't
you check the card catalog
and look for any references
to a lost staff?
Cool. We'll check the
library annals, too,
see if any previous Librarians
had any experiences
- with the Prosperity bloke.
- Prospero.
Whatever.
Someone should also probably
check the magic tomes.
I mean, even if he beats
us to the pieces,
he still needs to reforge it.
That could be a potential failure point,
- and we can get him there.
- Very good.
Uh... I'll do that.
How... was... that?
Good Plan "A."
Now we need a Plan "B" in
case he gets the staff first.
Any ideas?
Well, I had a pretty
good idea that involved
neither releasing a solar
flare in New York City
nor defacing what could
only be described as
a towering monument to liberty, but...
Okay, that's in the past.
What matters now is...
[Whispers] Past.
Eve, I know where the staff is.
Unless I missed my guess,
and I never miss my guess,
I can get those pieces and be back here
in two jiffs of a lamb's tail.
That's a thing, right?
- Okay, so we all come with you.
- No.
You should send them on Plan "B"
in case I'm wrong, which I'm not.
But you should come with me.
This isn't just a clever excuse
- for us to run off adventuring, is it?
- A little bit,
but I also think it's
more strategic planning,
because I guarantee
wherever that staff is,
that's where Prospero will be.
From my text, I summon thee to serve.
♪
By arts arcane and spirits vile,
come to my side, Moriarty.
So...
This is what the fuss
was all about then, eh?
The Wallace Collection is
significantly more impressive.
And it was descended from
the dreary Vernet family.
A snobbish air for one so lowly born.
[Crackling]
[Groans]
I am the first of the Fictionals.
I summoned you. I control you.
Remember that.
And now, little sprite...
help us to find the heart.
Seems your watch is broken.
His senses are befuddled by this place.
Some magic far beyond his
own obscures the path
that leads to treasure that we seek.
We'll need another way to reach our goal.
[Door opens]
And here it stands.
[Snaps watch shut]
A wave upon our shoal.
BAIRD: We go to the nicest places.
[Laughs] Isn't this great?!
This was the estate of John Dee,
mathematician, astronomer,
advisor to Queen Elizabeth I,
also confidante and contemporary to...
William Shakespeare.
Also, he was a wizard.
Shakespeare had a friend
who was a wizard?
Kinda buried the lead there.
And if Prospero's staff was broken,
Shakespeare would've
wanted to hide the pieces.
Where better to hide the
pieces from a wizard
than in the home of another wizard?
400 years the pieces of staff
have been here in this dump?
Shakespeare's power lay in the narrative
that he wove over the audience.
He would've hid the pieces as close
to the heart of that
power as possi... ble.
The stage. Eve!
Shakespeare and his
players used to perform
works-in-progress for
John Dee and his friends.
This would've been their stage!
Hey, you actually look good up there.
Well, you know, there was a time...
[Chuckles]
where I fancied that I might become
a classically trained thespian.
In fact, I auditioned for
"Hamlet" in high school,
and I killed it.
- Did you get the part?
- I did... not.
I was the stage manager.
But I would've been amazing.
Anyway, Shakespeare would
not have let these fall
into the wrong hands.
He needed some sort of
passcode to make sure...
[Hollow tapping]
...that they didn't get discovered...
Words...
that would've never been
spoken on this stage.
Eve, you're a genius!
There is a word,
a word that no actor, no thespian,
no one steeped in the theatrical
traditions such as Prospero
would ever have uttered unless
they were in a production.
[Whispers] "Macbeth."
[Whoosh]
[Gasps]
"Swear by his sword."
Are we gonna find magical swords?
'Cause I did not bring
anything for that.
No, that's Act I, Scene V.
Those are the words spoken by
the ghost of Hamlet's father,
usually spoken from beneath the stage.
[Hollow thud]
The staff is below us.
Ah! Uh, I've got references
to a bunch of lost magic staffs in here.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang,
the Staff of Zarathustra,
the Staff of Ra.
Just cross-reference
"staff" with "broken."
How? It's not like it's a search engine.
What do you mean how...
You... you don't know
how to use a card catalog?!
Uh, it's the 21st century,
I don't know how to shoe a horse either.
All right.
I'm gonna go see how Jenkins
is doing with the folio.
[Switches click]
[Clank, Whoosh]
[Alarm blaring]
What's going on?!
The doors are locked!
It's the library's security system.
Alpha level alert, basic
intruder lockdown.
[Door rattles] No point
pulling on those doors, mate.
Won't do you any good.
How do you know that?
How do you know that, huh?!
You never pay attention to anything!
'Cause I read the security manual...
First thing I do in any building.
Yeah, but why is it going off?
I mean, that's the only
way into the Library.
There's no intruders in here.
Unless they're already inside
and they're trying to keep us out.
The only person inside is Mr. Jenkins.
Why would he wanna lock us out?
'Cause somebody's in there with him.
Prospero.
He brought the fight to us.
JENKINS: How do you
know about the Library?
The guardians of all
treasures magic and strange?
I've wandered the Earth
for centuries now.
It would be impossible
to not hear of thee.
And now we walk the
path o'power, we three.
Um... I will not aid you.
As a fellow gentlemen of intellect,
I'd suggest you cooperate.
It'll go easier on you.
[Chuckles] Oh, please.
Uh, you know, I-I usually
resist playing this card...
well, at least in supernatural circles...
do you know who I am?
You've a trace of an
accent that you hide well,
but not completely.
Something between Germanic and Celtic,
suggesting Ancient Britain.
From your stature
and the shaking of your
fingers in your sword hand,
the way you stand here unafraid,
I'd venture to say you
were a man of action.
A noted one.
The logical deduction would be
you're a Knight of the Round Table.
Or were. A former knight, yes?
Um, uh, well, my point, though, is,
I've been threatened, tortured,
and bullied, bothered, grilled,
menaced long since before
you two were even a glimmer
in your writers ink pot.
I will never lead you to your staff.
My staff? 'Tis broken.
Surely that you know.
I came here in pursuit of bigger prize.
My first staff was forged
of a branch of the Tree of Knowledge.
[Whispers] I would have another.
And so the Library's heart
is where I've set my eyes.
[Grunts]
Cassandra, move.
[Alarm continues blaring]
Forget about it, mate.
If I can't get those
doors open, no one can.
We gotta do something.
All right? Prospero has got Jenkins.
Nobody knows the Library like him.
Jenkins would never help him.
Well, he got Jenkins to lock us out.
Maybe he's able to, like,
control him somehow.
I highly that doubt that.
This is an Alpha alert,
lowest level of security.
If Prospero did have
Jenkins under control,
he'd have set off an Omega alert,
which means you wouldn't be
about to chop down that door.
You'd be a big pile of ash
in a nice set of work boots.
Jenkins is playing along?
He set a low level security
so they'd think he was cooperating.
Exactly. An Alpha alert
has that backdoor.
Wait, it does?
Am I the only one that reads
the security manuals?
There's a hidden passcode
in case a Librarian or Guardian
ever needed to get back in.
What is it?! Ugh!
Well, stop playing with
your phone and find it!
It's simple.
We go to the library, the local one.
[Grunts]
[Board thuds]
[Exhales]
Ooh! My knees.
[Groans, grunts]
[Heavy thud]
[Blows air]
It's locked.
With some sort of code.
[Blows air]
"The Guns Bind Gab."
Bind... gab.
Words we don't say.
No, "Macbeth" again?
No, there's no quotes
about guns in "Macbeth."
If it's a code, we need some
sort of cypher to solve it.
Unless it's a self-contained anagram.
Ooh! I like anagrams.
Guns bind gab.
Guns bind gab.
No, uh...
Bathings... bunged.
- Now that better not be it.
- No.
Bad... begins...
- Ah!
- Hmm?
"Things bad begun makes
strong themselves with ill."
"Macbeth," Act III, Scene II.
Uh, you were a stage
manager in high school.
I was Lady Macbeth, and I was amazing.
Act III, Scene II. Three...
Scene... two.
[Lock clicks]
[Clank]
- Get ready, Eve.
- Okay.
You're about to feast your eyes
on the pieces of Prospero's staff.
Smaller than I'd thought.
"Not yet, but soon and long ago.
"I pray your journey
- does not end in woe."
- [Gasps]
Whoa. "The Librarian"?
Some other Librarian from 400 years ago
beat us here.
Took the staff pieces and
left an annoying note.
If a Librarian left that note,
the staff isn't here...
It's back in the Library.
- Docent.
- I got it.
- Uh, excuse me, ma'am.
- Yes, may I help you?
Yes, I need to check out a book.
It's an emergency.
May I please see your library card?
Oh, I-I don't have a card, but...
well, I'm the Librarian. [Chuckles]
You're Jane Stevens?
No. No, no, no, I, um, I'm...
the Librarian. [Chuckles]
Uh, from a different library.
But I do need to check out a book.
Any book?
No, the one book that is
in every single library...
"The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare,
- Unabridged."
- Oh, I'm sorry.
Our only copy was just checked out.
Huh?
Hey, hey, excuse me, excuse me.
Little girl, hi. [Laughs] Hi.
How are you? Listen,
we... we need that book.
- I just checked it out.
- Yeah, I know, sweetie,
but we need it for official business.
See, we're the Librarians.
You're not Mrs. Stevens.
No, no, but we do, however,
appreciate your dedication
to learning, huh?
Yeah, it is very admirable.
And we're very impressed you
read such a grown-up book.
Look, we need that book
back, or something very bad
is gonna happen to a lot of people,
and you don't want that, do you?
Give me 50 bucks.
- What?
- What?
No, we... we don't wanna buy it from you.
- We just want you to g...
- 50 bucks.
Now you listen to me,
young lady. We're...
$75.
I like her.
Tick, tick.
You want me to lead you to
the heart of the Library?
Clearly, you are out of your mind.
Not out my mind. I am but out my book.
I cannot lead you to
the heart of the Library.
Former Knight or not, I'm sure
with the right inducement...
No, no, I'm sorry, you misunderstand.
I am literally not capable
of doing it right now.
Shows no signs of lying.
We'll have to look for it on our own.
And quickly. He's clearly
trying to stall us.
Ah! You can look all you want.
You're not going to find it.
The heart of the Library
doesn't even exist
on the same extradimensional
plane as the Library itself.
What don't you forget about it?
Give it up.
I'm sure we could work something out...
The heart hides in a
separate fold of space?
No wonder our dear
friend was so displaced.
- I...
- [Whoosh, cracking sound]
Ariel, take us to the gateway
to the heart of the Library.
[Alarm continues blaring]
[Whoosh]
Oh, you're back!
- What?!
- You're back!
- What?!
- You're back!
- Hang on.
- [Alarm stops]
- What?
- Wait, how did you teleport back
- without using that door?
- I can use any door.
- You can?
- You can't?
- We have a problem.
- I know.
- The staff is here.
- Prospero is here.
- Wait. What?
- Wait. What?
We received this note
from a previous Librarian,
saying that the staff had been
removed from where we thought
it was hidden, and hidden
somewhere in this Library.
Prospero broke in while
you guys were gone.
Seriously?!
This is the third time
this place has broken into
since I started working here.
We're gonna have to have a serious talk
about this so-called security system.
He made Jenkins put the place
on lockdown. We're shut out.
Okay, nobody panic!
This is an Alpha level alert.
It's an easy fix.
What we need to open these doors is...
- Yeah, we were just about to...
- Yes, that.
But to get the passcode, what we're gonna
- have to figure out...
- Year, date, day, hour, minute,
divided by the corresponding
coefficient play,
act, scene, word...
I'll have it in three, two, one...
- Portents.
- [Alarm beeps]
Very good.
I see you've all passed my test.
MORIARTY: And if our foes
gain entrance to the library?
They lack Ariel to find the heart.
If what the knight says is true,
they won't be able to follow us.
Yet perhaps we need some aid.
The brains are yours. Now...
let the brawn be made.
[Blows air]
[Blows air]
Welcome to Team Fictional.
BAIRD: Jenkins!
What do we do? Do we thaw him out?
If it's representational magic,
can we symbolically melt him somehow?
Not if it's a binding spell.
Once in Shanglow, the
city beneath Shanghai,
I was under a binding spell so
powerful that mere thought...
[Grunts]
[Ice shatters]
[Grunts]
- [Exhales] What?
- Oh!
The job's not all about
obscure knowledge, people.
Sir, Prospero's here, and
he has Moriarty with him
and a celestial being
locked inside a pocket watch.
- CASSANDRA AND STONE: Ariel.
- Where is his staff?
He's not after his staff, sir.
He's after something worse,
uh, which I may have compounded
with a tactical error.
- It's been that kind of a day.
- He's after a new staff,
and he's going to the heart
of the Library to get it.
There's a staff in the
heart of the Library?
- No.
- Um...
A tree. The Tree of Knowledge.
The Tree of Knowledge
is the heart of the Library?
If he makes a new staff
from the wood of that tree,
we are powerless against it.
Then we have to get there first.
Jenkins, how do we get to the heart?
There's an elevator. I've
never been there. I don't...
I have no idea, sir.
That's where the compounded
tactical error comes in.
The Library is, um, out of order.
Out of order? Would you all
excuse us for a moment?
Ever since the Library
returned, it's been...
How do I say this? Uh... off.
Off? How?
Rooms missing, hallways unaccounted for.
I've tried mapping it, but it's unstable.
It's changing without...
without any warning.
And... [Sighs] then there
are the missing artifacts.
Whoo. [Exhales deeply]
Library's missing artifacts?
16, last count.
When were you gonna say something?
Sir, I thought I could figure it out
before anyone found out.
Tactical error on my part.
Which we will be
discussing later at length.
- Yes, sir.
- However, at the moment, if that's true,
we don't know how to get to the heart.
No, but with Ariel, Prospero does.
It will lead him there.
Okay, assuming I'm reading
these right, and hey,
magical maps, no guarantees,
these rooms haven't shifted.
They're the same in all the maps.
You're right. That's the annex.
That's the only actual connection point
between the outside
world and the Library,
- so that stays stable.
- And also the antiquities room.
It's the oldest room in this
incarnation of the Library,
the bedrock on which
everything else was built.
Oh, and the reading room.
The largest collection of actual books,
the iconic image of the Library.
Well, three points is all
you need for an Intel.
- If we triangulate...
- Triangulate!
Triangulate the Library,
like a Rubik's Cube.
No matter which way
you twist it or turn it,
the center always stays the same.
If you can line those up,
you can solve it in seconds.
- Six seconds, not to brag.
- If you triangulate, uh,
you'll need some sort of
a detection device, Jenkins.
I'm assuming you have...
I have some magical surveying
equipment to track ley lines.
Good, we will triangulate the Library.
To find the heart, I suggest we
split up. Two people to a room.
Jenkins, why don't you and
Cassandra anchor the Annex?
- Yes, sir.
- Eve, why don't...
I'll take Stone, go to the reading room.
- You and Ezekiel take antiquities.
- 'Cause I thought we'd... we'd,
- Great.
- Okay.
Ah! The sprite has found
the final passage
to the Library's heart.
[Exhales]
[Whoosh]
[Sighs] They've made it to the elevator.
It'll take them straight
to the heart. [Sighs]
If you didn't tell us something was off
with the Library, I'm sure
you had a good reason.
Ah, a reason. Hmm, yes.
A good one?
I thought it was me.
Judson always kept the
Library such shipshape,
I...didn't want anybody
to know that I couldn't.
I-I thought, Oh, you know,
I'll keep it quiet,
then I'll have a bit of
time to figure it out.
Get the Library to trust
me like it did Judson.
Now, ego... Ms. Cillian, ego
and fear were my reasons.
[Crackling]
Whoa! What the...
Don't move.
[Lowered voice] The antiquity
hall's in the right place,
but the Greek and Roman wings
seemed to have jumbled.
[Whispers] Oh, the Spear of Ares
and the Spear of Mars
are only a few feet from each other.
The helmets of Mercury and
Hermes are almost touching.
And the lightning bolt of
Zeus is out of its case.
Okay, do you know how lucky
we are that this whole place
hasn't blown sky high already?
[Whispers] Very, very lucky.
[Lowered voice] See, the Romans copied
Greek mythology and they
changed all the names,
so there's two sets of artifacts.
And if they come into contact,
it is like matter and anti-matter.
Or like meeting your own
counterpart in the Mirrorlands.
Do you understand that?
If we don't keep them separate... boom!
This whole room is basically
one big, giant ticking magical bomb.
[Crackling continues]
[Whispers] Yeah.
[Whispers] Too bad we don't have
one of those big bomb suits, eh?
What is that?
W-why is your eyebrow moving?
All right, this has gotta be the place.
I'm gonna set up. Center of the room.
[Scoffs]
Blank pages.
"Alice in Wonderland."
Oh. Love "Alice."
It's one of my favorites.
"Frankenstein."
[Book thuds]
Off with your heads!
[Laughing]
Didn't see that one coming.
Off... with... their... heads!
[Laughs]
It's another Fictional.
He summoned the Red Queen
from "Alice in Wonderland."
No, that's the Queen of Hearts.
Red Queen is from
"Through the Looking-Glass."
There's a difference?
Off with their heads,
off with their heads,
off with their heads. [Laughs]
[Grunting]
[Glass shatters]
[Grunting continues]
Baird! This is wrong. [Laughs]
In the books, she ordered the beheadings,
but it clearly states
that they were pardoned.
Don't nitpick the crazy ax lady!
EZEKIEL: You're sure this is safe?
The Bracer of Agamemnon,
the gauntlets of Athena,
the Helm of Poseidon.
You're all Greeked up.
There is no way that Zeus's
lightning rod will strike you.
[Exhales sharply]
Ah. I saw that.
What?! I'm getting
comfortable over here.
I'm watching your show of expertise.
You have never liked me.
Now's not the time for that.
[Sighs]
[Crackling]
[Whoosh]
Whoa. I didn't know that it did that.
Well, if you're okay with it,
can we finally set up
that ley line surveying Doo... Ooh.
Aah!
Frankenstein's Monster.
What is taking them so long?
Prospero's descended another level.
When this happens in the movies,
don't they try to, like,
override the elevator or something?
Indeed, they do, yes, but
in the movies, usually,
the elevators were made
after the Reformation.
[Giggling]
Off... with... your head. [Laughs]
[Lowered voice] Any ideas?
[Whispering] Flynn said
Fictionals don't have free will.
They're bound by the
nature of their story.
Maybe we can use that against her.
Okay, okay, okay, how does
Alice defeat her in the book?
Well, she doesn't.
She just wakes up. It's all a dream.
[Grunts]
[Queen cackling]
Was worth a shot.
[Red Queen giggling]
Okay, if we can't beat
her, do we banish her?
Send her back to Wonderland?
The only way to Wonderland's
through the rabbit hole.
[Gasps] Or...
BOTH: Through the looking-glass.
Okay, you keep her distracted
with Wonderland... stuff.
I'll look for lights.
[Giggles]
Off with your... head.
[Click]
Yah! Ha!
Back! Back, you! Ha! Yah! Back!
Frankenstein's Monster...
he hates fire, right?
In the movie, not the book.
There's a difference?
I hold no hate for fire.
My hate is reserved
for those who abhor me,
meaning thee, man,
who fancies himself in
the image of the divine
and yet vilifies me as monster!
[Blows air]
- Okay, there's a difference.
- [Lighter clicks shut]
[Whispers] The original text
is very long-winded.
- Ow! Oh!
- If you do not find my words concise,
take my actions to be so.
I was brought forth to kill thee.
A-actually, you were not
brought forth to kill.
- Seems very kill-y to me.
- Shut up.
You only killed because of despair,
once you'd been abandoned
by your creator,
after you felt that the world
had... had turned on you,
hated you, uh, feared you.
"If I cannot inspire love,
then I will cause fear."
Those were your words.
[Grunts, gasps]
You never wanted to kill.
You just wanted to belong.
And I refuse to fear you
and I refuse to hate you.
Come here.
Come on.
Hug it out.
Hug it out for humanity.
Yes!
There's no need for violence.
This is how Librarians solve problems,
with our minds...
and our hearts.
[Whines]
- A fool's dream!
- Worth a shot. Worth a shot.
- [Chokes]
- Taunt me not with my heart's desire.
What admiration could
even a single being show
to such a fearsome visage as mine?
What remedy can there be
for one so foul as me?
[High-pitched voice]
Little plastic surgery, maybe!
What?
Actually, he's right.
This isn't the 1800s.
Modern medicine can fix your... visage.
Yeah, and with that size
and those reflexes,
you ever considered playing
professional sports?
[Grunts]
You wouldn't be adored by a single being.
You'd be adored by millions.
Yeah. [Mutters] Yeah.
[Giggles] Off with your...
Hey, hey, Queen!
You.
You Wonderland girls, you
like wordplay, don'tcha?
Well, here's one for you...
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
[Laughs] Because there's a "b" in both.
- What? There's no... Should've just ran!
- Off with your head! [Cackling]
I hope Flynn and Ezekiel
are having an easier time.
So you say I just swipe right?
- Exactly.
- [Cell phone chimes and buzzes]
Hey! You already have a match.
She's cute.
Now!
[Queen giggling]
[Laughing]
Hey, Queenie!
- Off with your...
- [Switch clicks]
head!
[Exhales deeply]
Nothing but a deck of cards.
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
There. They've made it.
What happens now?
[Whooshing]
We've triangulated the center.
Okay, the energy from the ley line
should take us right to it.
I'll stay here and keep it steady.
[Grunts] I gotta hold it down.
You go.
We've run out of time.
They have reached the heart.
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
[Panting]
Flynn!
Ah! Good.
It's you. You made it.
Yeah, where are we?
The heart of the Library.
The Tree of Knowledge should be...
Got any knowledge about which
particular tree it might be?
I do not.
Ingenious.
One final defense mechanism.
Hide a single tree amidst a thousand.
Ingenious, yes, but no defense from us.
[Click] Now take us to
it, my little sprite.
Is it this one?
That is the Tree of Sorrow.
Ooh-Kay. What about that one?
That is the Tree of
Righteous Indignation.
All right, how about this one?
That is Abstract Creativity...
Eve, I'll know it when I see it.
I just haven't seen it yet.
You see, this whole forest is designed
to protect the Tree of Knowledge.
We don't want it to be easy.
Okay, but we want it to be easy for us
because the bad guys have
a glowy little sprite
that's gonna lead them right to it.
We're racing for a needle in a haystack,
and they've got a magnet.
Well, what do you want
me to do about it?
I want you to stop and think.
God, this is always the way with you.
Yeah, this is always the way with me.
For 11 years, longer than
any other Librarian,
it's been my way.
You don't mess with what's working.
But it isn't working, not for me.
I'm sorry. My people
skills are a little rusty.
Are you talking about this
or are you talking about this?
Because if you're talking about this,
maybe now not the best time.
I'm talking about all of this.
I can't live or... or work
by the seat of my pants.
You can't always win by
the seat of your pants.
Well, I haven't lost yet.
Everyone can say that until they can't.
11 years is beginner's luck for Prospero.
He's had 500 years to
plan whatever he's up to.
You think you're gonna defeat
that with a 5-minute plan?
Well, 5-minute plan
is better than nothing.
We're either together or we're not.
We're either a team or we're not.
- It can't be just your way anymore.
- [Footsteps approach]
Never mind. Now there's no time.
[Whispers] Remember when I
said I'd know it when I see it?
- Yeah.
- I see it.
- What?
- And I have a "plan."
- A plan?
- Yeah.
We must be quite near the tree.
Upon its roots, unless
my eyes deceive me.
How do you know that?
The Librarian.
And Guardian.
Duchess!
Pursue her, quick, before
she runs from view.
Whilst I pursue a reckoning overdue.
Oh! Oh!
[Singsongy] Ah, ah, ah.
[Sighs]
Well done, Duchess.
I admire your initiative.
Well, then you're gonna
love my gumption and spunk.
Sadly, I'm afraid they
outshine your tactical sense.
I'm fictional, immortal.
Drop the watch, and I'll
simply dive after it.
Really? You? Diving off a cliff?
If I remember your book,
that didn't work out so
well for you last time.
I know how your story ends.
It's over, Prospero.
You know I can't let you win.
Win or lose, the ending is not certain
while pen is still on
page and ink still wet.
Rhyming couplets?
[Laughs] I expected more.
An ending once was thrust upon my life
by force of will, of Shakespeare.
Not my own.
He wrote me to renounce my power's might,
a choice that, but for
him, I'd not have known.
Soliloquy. That's more
what I was expecting.
Hopefully, it won't turn into
a full sonnet. [Chuckles]
But now with book and
staff my power restored,
I will reclaim the ending I was due,
a happy end for me and all the world.
With magic, I shall
make these ends ensue.
Not without a staff. Not without Ariel.
I mean, look around you.
There are literally thousands of choices.
You will never find
the Tree of Knowledge.
- No?
- No.
Damn.
The Tree of Knowledge so revealed to me.
Come now, Duchess. Be reasonable.
If you read my book,
you know my defeat comes at
the cost of Holmes' own life.
He came back.
Ten years later and he
was never the same.
He was so changed, in fact,
that some scholars believe
it was never truly him
but me in a masquerade.
Are you prepared to take that chance?
Ah, oh.
[Sighs]
Gumption and spunk, indeed.
Very well, I offer you this treaty.
Return the watch to me
and I give you my word,
I shall quit this field of battle.
You're Moriarty. Why
should I trust your word?
If you won't trust my word,
Duchess, trust my self-interest.
I dare not return to
Prospero without Ariel.
His wrath would be
fearsome, even for me.
He holds my book and can
destroy me if he so wishes.
Give me the watch, and I
can return to him freely.
Deny it to me, and I'll
have to fight you for it.
And I cannot predict with any certainty
which of us will walk away from that.
A truce serves me better and you.
Q.E.D.
Until next time, Duchess.
Prospero, don't do this, please.
There has to be another way...
[Whoosh]
[Groans]
And now with staff in hand, I am...
- [Whoosh]
- [Voice distorts] Reborn!
No, no, no, no, no!
No!
What hast thou done?!
You destroyed the Tree of Knowledge
just to stop me?
What kind of Librarian art thou?!
The kind who knows that
sometimes you have to
turn your back on power.
This ending does not
fill the story's page,
but only marks a chapter on the stage.
I will find another object
with which to wield my rage!
[Exhaling deeply]
[Exhales sharply] You burned it?
Yeah.
To keep Prospero from it.
Yeah.
[Exhales deeply]
Tree of Knowledge...
gone.
What?
Don't be crazy. That's not
the Tree of Knowledge.
That's the Tree of Knowledge.
See, knowledge isn't old
or gnarled or knotted.
- [Gasps]
- It's young, always growing.
That's the thing about knowledge.
No matter how much you think you have,
there's always room to grow.
You made Prospero think
the tree was destroyed so...
So that he'd give up.
- Defeated a Fictional with fiction.
- [Sighs heavily]
Good plan, Librarian.
Just don't remember what that tree was.
- [Clears throat]
- I think it was important.
Yeah, it looks important.
Let's not tell Jenkins.
We won't. Secret's safe with me.
[Whoosh]
So I took the liberty of
locking down the Reading Room.
No Fictional will get in that way again.
You trapped the Queen of
Hearts back in her book,
and Frankenstein's Monster,
per your agreement,
is out in the world.
We'll see how that turns out.
Well, I'd love to say
all's well that ends well,
- but this is hardly ended.
- Nor has it ended well.
The Library is still malfunctioning.
Do you know the room that
we could never find a key for?
- Yes. What is in there?
- It is popping up in every corridor.
And, of course, there's still
the missing artifacts.
And then there's that mystery
note from some past Librarian.
Are we sure the staff isn't
already here in the Library?
Maybe it's one of the missing artifacts.
I've checked all the annals,
the appointment book.
There's no evidence whatsoever
that any Librarian anywhere
has ever recovered pieces
of Prospero's staff,
or that they wrote that note.
A mystery to remain unsolved, for now.
Our priorities are clear.
We're going after the artifacts.
Our priority is the Library.
It's broken. The defenses are down.
We need to tend to the homefront.
Did you see that list?
There's, like, 16 things on it.
And those are just the
ones that we know about.
They're out there. They're dangerous.
Prospero looked me in the eye and said,
"I'm going after more powerful objects."
We go after the artifacts.
Without a safe Library to put them in,
what's the point in finding them?
Without the artifacts, what's
the point of a Library?
Well, I'm... I'm... Excuse me.
I'm gonna go take care of
my desperately not wanting to be here.
Jenkins, get my adventure bag.
- I'm going after the Golden Camel of Marrakesh.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Stay... stay with us. Let us
plan for what's coming together.
If I stand still, then I go into my head.
And if I go to my head, I get lost.
Then let us help you find your way.
I know my way.
11 years, I've been
going my way. Too long.
This is better, I think.
You stay, you get ready for Prospero.
I go, find the artifacts,
clean up this mess.
Cover more ground.
Sure.
I'll, um... see you around, Eve.
Goodbye, Flynn.
[Whispers] Make sure she
takes care of herself.
What makes you think I have any
control over what she does, sir?
But I'll do my best. Good luck.
Where's Flynn?
He left.
Again?
I mean, shocking. Uh, I'm shocked.
So the Library's security system
could do with a bit of an overhaul.
Thank you.
And someone should
probably do an inventory
of the entire Library.
I mean, just to make sure that
no other artifacts are missing.
It's not like the Clippings Book
is gonna take a vacation
while we do it, so...
So what do you say, Colonel?
Would you mind a little company?
Sounds like a plan.
♪
Hey, nice save on the storm.
- Good work.
- Thank you. It simply required
an understanding of the
adiabatic lapse rate
as it relates to the
Madden-Julian Oscillation
without losing the thermally
driven circulation.
And a whackload of magic.
We need to get them back on the road
- as soon as possible.
- They did good work.
Wouldn't have beat Prospero without 'em.
We didn't beat Prospero.
He got away, and he got his book.
I would've gone after him, but instead...
We made a plan and executed it together
instead of just charging into the fog.
But fog is the best part.
Are you... sulking?
No.
Maybe. I don't know.
Yes, I am,
because we had a good thing
going out there, you and me.
Runnin', adventurin'.
- Alone.
- Yes, the alone parts are the best.
Yes, but for now,
with Prospero on the loose
and Moriarty by his side,
we need all hands on deck.
Hey, three extra Librarians,
we play our cards right,
- we can get the drop on the bad guys.
- Okay, we can try.
Getting the drop on the bad guys
would be nice for a change.
[Groans]
Work time. Work, work, work, work, work.
♪
[Whoosh]
Rather than go our separate ways,
our Guardian has convinced me
that this would be an ideal opportunity
for us to join our forces together
to try to take out our enemy.
This man... Prospero.
We know. We were there.
Prospero is a Fictional.
In some very rare cases,
a character is so famous,
so well-written, a play
or story is read so often
that the psychic energy
combines with the ambient magic
and allows them to literally
step out of their story.
Prospero the magician, in theory,
would be very dangerous.
But in the text of "The Tempest"...
Prospero gives up his magic,
he drowns his book, he breaks his staff.
However, recent events indicate
that he may be trying
to get his power back.
Which is very unusual for a Fictional.
Typically, they are
bound by their stories,
lacking free will to
choose their own fate...
Uh... sorry.
[Chuckles] Okay, no,
I'll just... Really? Okay.
Okay. Anyway, as I was saying,
Prospero has somehow
managed to find a way
to rebel against his narrative
and reclaim his power.
- He has recovered his book, w...
- We, uh...
- Which we already know.
- Yes, I know!
Meaning that his next move will be
to find and repair his staff
unless we beat him to it.
All right, I like it.
Startin' on offense.
- What do we do?
- Well, the staff was broken...
[Whispers] Wow! I'm so sorry. It's
just that I usually do the briefings.
You usually do the rapid fire
conclusions, dramatic reveals,
and all the running about.
- Fair enough. Proceed.
- Thank you, sir.
So the original staff
was broken in 1611,
right after the first
performance of "The Tempest,"
which is when Prospero first
appeared as a Fictional.
And what happened to the pieces?
That we don't know.
[Mouth full] Do we have a
copy of "The Tempest"?
It was published 10 years
after the performance.
There might be some clues in there.
I believe there's an original
folio in the reading room.
I'm on it. Folio. Reading room.
- Where's the read...
- Oh, you go...
Oh, no, let... Stay. I'll do it.
It'd be quicker.
Stone, Ezekiel, why don't
you check the card catalog
and look for any references
to a lost staff?
Cool. We'll check the
library annals, too,
see if any previous Librarians
had any experiences
- with the Prosperity bloke.
- Prospero.
Whatever.
Someone should also probably
check the magic tomes.
I mean, even if he beats
us to the pieces,
he still needs to reforge it.
That could be a potential failure point,
- and we can get him there.
- Very good.
Uh... I'll do that.
How... was... that?
Good Plan "A."
Now we need a Plan "B" in
case he gets the staff first.
Any ideas?
Well, I had a pretty
good idea that involved
neither releasing a solar
flare in New York City
nor defacing what could
only be described as
a towering monument to liberty, but...
Okay, that's in the past.
What matters now is...
[Whispers] Past.
Eve, I know where the staff is.
Unless I missed my guess,
and I never miss my guess,
I can get those pieces and be back here
in two jiffs of a lamb's tail.
That's a thing, right?
- Okay, so we all come with you.
- No.
You should send them on Plan "B"
in case I'm wrong, which I'm not.
But you should come with me.
This isn't just a clever excuse
- for us to run off adventuring, is it?
- A little bit,
but I also think it's
more strategic planning,
because I guarantee
wherever that staff is,
that's where Prospero will be.
From my text, I summon thee to serve.
♪
By arts arcane and spirits vile,
come to my side, Moriarty.
So...
This is what the fuss
was all about then, eh?
The Wallace Collection is
significantly more impressive.
And it was descended from
the dreary Vernet family.
A snobbish air for one so lowly born.
[Crackling]
[Groans]
I am the first of the Fictionals.
I summoned you. I control you.
Remember that.
And now, little sprite...
help us to find the heart.
Seems your watch is broken.
His senses are befuddled by this place.
Some magic far beyond his
own obscures the path
that leads to treasure that we seek.
We'll need another way to reach our goal.
[Door opens]
And here it stands.
[Snaps watch shut]
A wave upon our shoal.
BAIRD: We go to the nicest places.
[Laughs] Isn't this great?!
This was the estate of John Dee,
mathematician, astronomer,
advisor to Queen Elizabeth I,
also confidante and contemporary to...
William Shakespeare.
Also, he was a wizard.
Shakespeare had a friend
who was a wizard?
Kinda buried the lead there.
And if Prospero's staff was broken,
Shakespeare would've
wanted to hide the pieces.
Where better to hide the
pieces from a wizard
than in the home of another wizard?
400 years the pieces of staff
have been here in this dump?
Shakespeare's power lay in the narrative
that he wove over the audience.
He would've hid the pieces as close
to the heart of that
power as possi... ble.
The stage. Eve!
Shakespeare and his
players used to perform
works-in-progress for
John Dee and his friends.
This would've been their stage!
Hey, you actually look good up there.
Well, you know, there was a time...
[Chuckles]
where I fancied that I might become
a classically trained thespian.
In fact, I auditioned for
"Hamlet" in high school,
and I killed it.
- Did you get the part?
- I did... not.
I was the stage manager.
But I would've been amazing.
Anyway, Shakespeare would
not have let these fall
into the wrong hands.
He needed some sort of
passcode to make sure...
[Hollow tapping]
...that they didn't get discovered...
Words...
that would've never been
spoken on this stage.
Eve, you're a genius!
There is a word,
a word that no actor, no thespian,
no one steeped in the theatrical
traditions such as Prospero
would ever have uttered unless
they were in a production.
[Whispers] "Macbeth."
[Whoosh]
[Gasps]
"Swear by his sword."
Are we gonna find magical swords?
'Cause I did not bring
anything for that.
No, that's Act I, Scene V.
Those are the words spoken by
the ghost of Hamlet's father,
usually spoken from beneath the stage.
[Hollow thud]
The staff is below us.
Ah! Uh, I've got references
to a bunch of lost magic staffs in here.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang,
the Staff of Zarathustra,
the Staff of Ra.
Just cross-reference
"staff" with "broken."
How? It's not like it's a search engine.
What do you mean how...
You... you don't know
how to use a card catalog?!
Uh, it's the 21st century,
I don't know how to shoe a horse either.
All right.
I'm gonna go see how Jenkins
is doing with the folio.
[Switches click]
[Clank, Whoosh]
[Alarm blaring]
What's going on?!
The doors are locked!
It's the library's security system.
Alpha level alert, basic
intruder lockdown.
[Door rattles] No point
pulling on those doors, mate.
Won't do you any good.
How do you know that?
How do you know that, huh?!
You never pay attention to anything!
'Cause I read the security manual...
First thing I do in any building.
Yeah, but why is it going off?
I mean, that's the only
way into the Library.
There's no intruders in here.
Unless they're already inside
and they're trying to keep us out.
The only person inside is Mr. Jenkins.
Why would he wanna lock us out?
'Cause somebody's in there with him.
Prospero.
He brought the fight to us.
JENKINS: How do you
know about the Library?
The guardians of all
treasures magic and strange?
I've wandered the Earth
for centuries now.
It would be impossible
to not hear of thee.
And now we walk the
path o'power, we three.
Um... I will not aid you.
As a fellow gentlemen of intellect,
I'd suggest you cooperate.
It'll go easier on you.
[Chuckles] Oh, please.
Uh, you know, I-I usually
resist playing this card...
well, at least in supernatural circles...
do you know who I am?
You've a trace of an
accent that you hide well,
but not completely.
Something between Germanic and Celtic,
suggesting Ancient Britain.
From your stature
and the shaking of your
fingers in your sword hand,
the way you stand here unafraid,
I'd venture to say you
were a man of action.
A noted one.
The logical deduction would be
you're a Knight of the Round Table.
Or were. A former knight, yes?
Um, uh, well, my point, though, is,
I've been threatened, tortured,
and bullied, bothered, grilled,
menaced long since before
you two were even a glimmer
in your writers ink pot.
I will never lead you to your staff.
My staff? 'Tis broken.
Surely that you know.
I came here in pursuit of bigger prize.
My first staff was forged
of a branch of the Tree of Knowledge.
[Whispers] I would have another.
And so the Library's heart
is where I've set my eyes.
[Grunts]
Cassandra, move.
[Alarm continues blaring]
Forget about it, mate.
If I can't get those
doors open, no one can.
We gotta do something.
All right? Prospero has got Jenkins.
Nobody knows the Library like him.
Jenkins would never help him.
Well, he got Jenkins to lock us out.
Maybe he's able to, like,
control him somehow.
I highly that doubt that.
This is an Alpha alert,
lowest level of security.
If Prospero did have
Jenkins under control,
he'd have set off an Omega alert,
which means you wouldn't be
about to chop down that door.
You'd be a big pile of ash
in a nice set of work boots.
Jenkins is playing along?
He set a low level security
so they'd think he was cooperating.
Exactly. An Alpha alert
has that backdoor.
Wait, it does?
Am I the only one that reads
the security manuals?
There's a hidden passcode
in case a Librarian or Guardian
ever needed to get back in.
What is it?! Ugh!
Well, stop playing with
your phone and find it!
It's simple.
We go to the library, the local one.
[Grunts]
[Board thuds]
[Exhales]
Ooh! My knees.
[Groans, grunts]
[Heavy thud]
[Blows air]
It's locked.
With some sort of code.
[Blows air]
"The Guns Bind Gab."
Bind... gab.
Words we don't say.
No, "Macbeth" again?
No, there's no quotes
about guns in "Macbeth."
If it's a code, we need some
sort of cypher to solve it.
Unless it's a self-contained anagram.
Ooh! I like anagrams.
Guns bind gab.
Guns bind gab.
No, uh...
Bathings... bunged.
- Now that better not be it.
- No.
Bad... begins...
- Ah!
- Hmm?
"Things bad begun makes
strong themselves with ill."
"Macbeth," Act III, Scene II.
Uh, you were a stage
manager in high school.
I was Lady Macbeth, and I was amazing.
Act III, Scene II. Three...
Scene... two.
[Lock clicks]
[Clank]
- Get ready, Eve.
- Okay.
You're about to feast your eyes
on the pieces of Prospero's staff.
Smaller than I'd thought.
"Not yet, but soon and long ago.
"I pray your journey
- does not end in woe."
- [Gasps]
Whoa. "The Librarian"?
Some other Librarian from 400 years ago
beat us here.
Took the staff pieces and
left an annoying note.
If a Librarian left that note,
the staff isn't here...
It's back in the Library.
- Docent.
- I got it.
- Uh, excuse me, ma'am.
- Yes, may I help you?
Yes, I need to check out a book.
It's an emergency.
May I please see your library card?
Oh, I-I don't have a card, but...
well, I'm the Librarian. [Chuckles]
You're Jane Stevens?
No. No, no, no, I, um, I'm...
the Librarian. [Chuckles]
Uh, from a different library.
But I do need to check out a book.
Any book?
No, the one book that is
in every single library...
"The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare,
- Unabridged."
- Oh, I'm sorry.
Our only copy was just checked out.
Huh?
Hey, hey, excuse me, excuse me.
Little girl, hi. [Laughs] Hi.
How are you? Listen,
we... we need that book.
- I just checked it out.
- Yeah, I know, sweetie,
but we need it for official business.
See, we're the Librarians.
You're not Mrs. Stevens.
No, no, but we do, however,
appreciate your dedication
to learning, huh?
Yeah, it is very admirable.
And we're very impressed you
read such a grown-up book.
Look, we need that book
back, or something very bad
is gonna happen to a lot of people,
and you don't want that, do you?
Give me 50 bucks.
- What?
- What?
No, we... we don't wanna buy it from you.
- We just want you to g...
- 50 bucks.
Now you listen to me,
young lady. We're...
$75.
I like her.
Tick, tick.
You want me to lead you to
the heart of the Library?
Clearly, you are out of your mind.
Not out my mind. I am but out my book.
I cannot lead you to
the heart of the Library.
Former Knight or not, I'm sure
with the right inducement...
No, no, I'm sorry, you misunderstand.
I am literally not capable
of doing it right now.
Shows no signs of lying.
We'll have to look for it on our own.
And quickly. He's clearly
trying to stall us.
Ah! You can look all you want.
You're not going to find it.
The heart of the Library
doesn't even exist
on the same extradimensional
plane as the Library itself.
What don't you forget about it?
Give it up.
I'm sure we could work something out...
The heart hides in a
separate fold of space?
No wonder our dear
friend was so displaced.
- I...
- [Whoosh, cracking sound]
Ariel, take us to the gateway
to the heart of the Library.
[Alarm continues blaring]
[Whoosh]
Oh, you're back!
- What?!
- You're back!
- What?!
- You're back!
- Hang on.
- [Alarm stops]
- What?
- Wait, how did you teleport back
- without using that door?
- I can use any door.
- You can?
- You can't?
- We have a problem.
- I know.
- The staff is here.
- Prospero is here.
- Wait. What?
- Wait. What?
We received this note
from a previous Librarian,
saying that the staff had been
removed from where we thought
it was hidden, and hidden
somewhere in this Library.
Prospero broke in while
you guys were gone.
Seriously?!
This is the third time
this place has broken into
since I started working here.
We're gonna have to have a serious talk
about this so-called security system.
He made Jenkins put the place
on lockdown. We're shut out.
Okay, nobody panic!
This is an Alpha level alert.
It's an easy fix.
What we need to open these doors is...
- Yeah, we were just about to...
- Yes, that.
But to get the passcode, what we're gonna
- have to figure out...
- Year, date, day, hour, minute,
divided by the corresponding
coefficient play,
act, scene, word...
I'll have it in three, two, one...
- Portents.
- [Alarm beeps]
Very good.
I see you've all passed my test.
MORIARTY: And if our foes
gain entrance to the library?
They lack Ariel to find the heart.
If what the knight says is true,
they won't be able to follow us.
Yet perhaps we need some aid.
The brains are yours. Now...
let the brawn be made.
[Blows air]
[Blows air]
Welcome to Team Fictional.
BAIRD: Jenkins!
What do we do? Do we thaw him out?
If it's representational magic,
can we symbolically melt him somehow?
Not if it's a binding spell.
Once in Shanglow, the
city beneath Shanghai,
I was under a binding spell so
powerful that mere thought...
[Grunts]
[Ice shatters]
[Grunts]
- [Exhales] What?
- Oh!
The job's not all about
obscure knowledge, people.
Sir, Prospero's here, and
he has Moriarty with him
and a celestial being
locked inside a pocket watch.
- CASSANDRA AND STONE: Ariel.
- Where is his staff?
He's not after his staff, sir.
He's after something worse,
uh, which I may have compounded
with a tactical error.
- It's been that kind of a day.
- He's after a new staff,
and he's going to the heart
of the Library to get it.
There's a staff in the
heart of the Library?
- No.
- Um...
A tree. The Tree of Knowledge.
The Tree of Knowledge
is the heart of the Library?
If he makes a new staff
from the wood of that tree,
we are powerless against it.
Then we have to get there first.
Jenkins, how do we get to the heart?
There's an elevator. I've
never been there. I don't...
I have no idea, sir.
That's where the compounded
tactical error comes in.
The Library is, um, out of order.
Out of order? Would you all
excuse us for a moment?
Ever since the Library
returned, it's been...
How do I say this? Uh... off.
Off? How?
Rooms missing, hallways unaccounted for.
I've tried mapping it, but it's unstable.
It's changing without...
without any warning.
And... [Sighs] then there
are the missing artifacts.
Whoo. [Exhales deeply]
Library's missing artifacts?
16, last count.
When were you gonna say something?
Sir, I thought I could figure it out
before anyone found out.
Tactical error on my part.
Which we will be
discussing later at length.
- Yes, sir.
- However, at the moment, if that's true,
we don't know how to get to the heart.
No, but with Ariel, Prospero does.
It will lead him there.
Okay, assuming I'm reading
these right, and hey,
magical maps, no guarantees,
these rooms haven't shifted.
They're the same in all the maps.
You're right. That's the annex.
That's the only actual connection point
between the outside
world and the Library,
- so that stays stable.
- And also the antiquities room.
It's the oldest room in this
incarnation of the Library,
the bedrock on which
everything else was built.
Oh, and the reading room.
The largest collection of actual books,
the iconic image of the Library.
Well, three points is all
you need for an Intel.
- If we triangulate...
- Triangulate!
Triangulate the Library,
like a Rubik's Cube.
No matter which way
you twist it or turn it,
the center always stays the same.
If you can line those up,
you can solve it in seconds.
- Six seconds, not to brag.
- If you triangulate, uh,
you'll need some sort of
a detection device, Jenkins.
I'm assuming you have...
I have some magical surveying
equipment to track ley lines.
Good, we will triangulate the Library.
To find the heart, I suggest we
split up. Two people to a room.
Jenkins, why don't you and
Cassandra anchor the Annex?
- Yes, sir.
- Eve, why don't...
I'll take Stone, go to the reading room.
- You and Ezekiel take antiquities.
- 'Cause I thought we'd... we'd,
- Great.
- Okay.
Ah! The sprite has found
the final passage
to the Library's heart.
[Exhales]
[Whoosh]
[Sighs] They've made it to the elevator.
It'll take them straight
to the heart. [Sighs]
If you didn't tell us something was off
with the Library, I'm sure
you had a good reason.
Ah, a reason. Hmm, yes.
A good one?
I thought it was me.
Judson always kept the
Library such shipshape,
I...didn't want anybody
to know that I couldn't.
I-I thought, Oh, you know,
I'll keep it quiet,
then I'll have a bit of
time to figure it out.
Get the Library to trust
me like it did Judson.
Now, ego... Ms. Cillian, ego
and fear were my reasons.
[Crackling]
Whoa! What the...
Don't move.
[Lowered voice] The antiquity
hall's in the right place,
but the Greek and Roman wings
seemed to have jumbled.
[Whispers] Oh, the Spear of Ares
and the Spear of Mars
are only a few feet from each other.
The helmets of Mercury and
Hermes are almost touching.
And the lightning bolt of
Zeus is out of its case.
Okay, do you know how lucky
we are that this whole place
hasn't blown sky high already?
[Whispers] Very, very lucky.
[Lowered voice] See, the Romans copied
Greek mythology and they
changed all the names,
so there's two sets of artifacts.
And if they come into contact,
it is like matter and anti-matter.
Or like meeting your own
counterpart in the Mirrorlands.
Do you understand that?
If we don't keep them separate... boom!
This whole room is basically
one big, giant ticking magical bomb.
[Crackling continues]
[Whispers] Yeah.
[Whispers] Too bad we don't have
one of those big bomb suits, eh?
What is that?
W-why is your eyebrow moving?
All right, this has gotta be the place.
I'm gonna set up. Center of the room.
[Scoffs]
Blank pages.
"Alice in Wonderland."
Oh. Love "Alice."
It's one of my favorites.
"Frankenstein."
[Book thuds]
Off with your heads!
[Laughing]
Didn't see that one coming.
Off... with... their... heads!
[Laughs]
It's another Fictional.
He summoned the Red Queen
from "Alice in Wonderland."
No, that's the Queen of Hearts.
Red Queen is from
"Through the Looking-Glass."
There's a difference?
Off with their heads,
off with their heads,
off with their heads. [Laughs]
[Grunting]
[Glass shatters]
[Grunting continues]
Baird! This is wrong. [Laughs]
In the books, she ordered the beheadings,
but it clearly states
that they were pardoned.
Don't nitpick the crazy ax lady!
EZEKIEL: You're sure this is safe?
The Bracer of Agamemnon,
the gauntlets of Athena,
the Helm of Poseidon.
You're all Greeked up.
There is no way that Zeus's
lightning rod will strike you.
[Exhales sharply]
Ah. I saw that.
What?! I'm getting
comfortable over here.
I'm watching your show of expertise.
You have never liked me.
Now's not the time for that.
[Sighs]
[Crackling]
[Whoosh]
Whoa. I didn't know that it did that.
Well, if you're okay with it,
can we finally set up
that ley line surveying Doo... Ooh.
Aah!
Frankenstein's Monster.
What is taking them so long?
Prospero's descended another level.
When this happens in the movies,
don't they try to, like,
override the elevator or something?
Indeed, they do, yes, but
in the movies, usually,
the elevators were made
after the Reformation.
[Giggling]
Off... with... your head. [Laughs]
[Lowered voice] Any ideas?
[Whispering] Flynn said
Fictionals don't have free will.
They're bound by the
nature of their story.
Maybe we can use that against her.
Okay, okay, okay, how does
Alice defeat her in the book?
Well, she doesn't.
She just wakes up. It's all a dream.
[Grunts]
[Queen cackling]
Was worth a shot.
[Red Queen giggling]
Okay, if we can't beat
her, do we banish her?
Send her back to Wonderland?
The only way to Wonderland's
through the rabbit hole.
[Gasps] Or...
BOTH: Through the looking-glass.
Okay, you keep her distracted
with Wonderland... stuff.
I'll look for lights.
[Giggles]
Off with your... head.
[Click]
Yah! Ha!
Back! Back, you! Ha! Yah! Back!
Frankenstein's Monster...
he hates fire, right?
In the movie, not the book.
There's a difference?
I hold no hate for fire.
My hate is reserved
for those who abhor me,
meaning thee, man,
who fancies himself in
the image of the divine
and yet vilifies me as monster!
[Blows air]
- Okay, there's a difference.
- [Lighter clicks shut]
[Whispers] The original text
is very long-winded.
- Ow! Oh!
- If you do not find my words concise,
take my actions to be so.
I was brought forth to kill thee.
A-actually, you were not
brought forth to kill.
- Seems very kill-y to me.
- Shut up.
You only killed because of despair,
once you'd been abandoned
by your creator,
after you felt that the world
had... had turned on you,
hated you, uh, feared you.
"If I cannot inspire love,
then I will cause fear."
Those were your words.
[Grunts, gasps]
You never wanted to kill.
You just wanted to belong.
And I refuse to fear you
and I refuse to hate you.
Come here.
Come on.
Hug it out.
Hug it out for humanity.
Yes!
There's no need for violence.
This is how Librarians solve problems,
with our minds...
and our hearts.
[Whines]
- A fool's dream!
- Worth a shot. Worth a shot.
- [Chokes]
- Taunt me not with my heart's desire.
What admiration could
even a single being show
to such a fearsome visage as mine?
What remedy can there be
for one so foul as me?
[High-pitched voice]
Little plastic surgery, maybe!
What?
Actually, he's right.
This isn't the 1800s.
Modern medicine can fix your... visage.
Yeah, and with that size
and those reflexes,
you ever considered playing
professional sports?
[Grunts]
You wouldn't be adored by a single being.
You'd be adored by millions.
Yeah. [Mutters] Yeah.
[Giggles] Off with your...
Hey, hey, Queen!
You.
You Wonderland girls, you
like wordplay, don'tcha?
Well, here's one for you...
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
[Laughs] Because there's a "b" in both.
- What? There's no... Should've just ran!
- Off with your head! [Cackling]
I hope Flynn and Ezekiel
are having an easier time.
So you say I just swipe right?
- Exactly.
- [Cell phone chimes and buzzes]
Hey! You already have a match.
She's cute.
Now!
[Queen giggling]
[Laughing]
Hey, Queenie!
- Off with your...
- [Switch clicks]
head!
[Exhales deeply]
Nothing but a deck of cards.
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
There. They've made it.
What happens now?
[Whooshing]
We've triangulated the center.
Okay, the energy from the ley line
should take us right to it.
I'll stay here and keep it steady.
[Grunts] I gotta hold it down.
You go.
We've run out of time.
They have reached the heart.
[Whoosh]
[Whoosh]
[Panting]
Flynn!
Ah! Good.
It's you. You made it.
Yeah, where are we?
The heart of the Library.
The Tree of Knowledge should be...
Got any knowledge about which
particular tree it might be?
I do not.
Ingenious.
One final defense mechanism.
Hide a single tree amidst a thousand.
Ingenious, yes, but no defense from us.
[Click] Now take us to
it, my little sprite.
Is it this one?
That is the Tree of Sorrow.
Ooh-Kay. What about that one?
That is the Tree of
Righteous Indignation.
All right, how about this one?
That is Abstract Creativity...
Eve, I'll know it when I see it.
I just haven't seen it yet.
You see, this whole forest is designed
to protect the Tree of Knowledge.
We don't want it to be easy.
Okay, but we want it to be easy for us
because the bad guys have
a glowy little sprite
that's gonna lead them right to it.
We're racing for a needle in a haystack,
and they've got a magnet.
Well, what do you want
me to do about it?
I want you to stop and think.
God, this is always the way with you.
Yeah, this is always the way with me.
For 11 years, longer than
any other Librarian,
it's been my way.
You don't mess with what's working.
But it isn't working, not for me.
I'm sorry. My people
skills are a little rusty.
Are you talking about this
or are you talking about this?
Because if you're talking about this,
maybe now not the best time.
I'm talking about all of this.
I can't live or... or work
by the seat of my pants.
You can't always win by
the seat of your pants.
Well, I haven't lost yet.
Everyone can say that until they can't.
11 years is beginner's luck for Prospero.
He's had 500 years to
plan whatever he's up to.
You think you're gonna defeat
that with a 5-minute plan?
Well, 5-minute plan
is better than nothing.
We're either together or we're not.
We're either a team or we're not.
- It can't be just your way anymore.
- [Footsteps approach]
Never mind. Now there's no time.
[Whispers] Remember when I
said I'd know it when I see it?
- Yeah.
- I see it.
- What?
- And I have a "plan."
- A plan?
- Yeah.
We must be quite near the tree.
Upon its roots, unless
my eyes deceive me.
How do you know that?
The Librarian.
And Guardian.
Duchess!
Pursue her, quick, before
she runs from view.
Whilst I pursue a reckoning overdue.
Oh! Oh!
[Singsongy] Ah, ah, ah.
[Sighs]
Well done, Duchess.
I admire your initiative.
Well, then you're gonna
love my gumption and spunk.
Sadly, I'm afraid they
outshine your tactical sense.
I'm fictional, immortal.
Drop the watch, and I'll
simply dive after it.
Really? You? Diving off a cliff?
If I remember your book,
that didn't work out so
well for you last time.
I know how your story ends.
It's over, Prospero.
You know I can't let you win.
Win or lose, the ending is not certain
while pen is still on
page and ink still wet.
Rhyming couplets?
[Laughs] I expected more.
An ending once was thrust upon my life
by force of will, of Shakespeare.
Not my own.
He wrote me to renounce my power's might,
a choice that, but for
him, I'd not have known.
Soliloquy. That's more
what I was expecting.
Hopefully, it won't turn into
a full sonnet. [Chuckles]
But now with book and
staff my power restored,
I will reclaim the ending I was due,
a happy end for me and all the world.
With magic, I shall
make these ends ensue.
Not without a staff. Not without Ariel.
I mean, look around you.
There are literally thousands of choices.
You will never find
the Tree of Knowledge.
- No?
- No.
Damn.
The Tree of Knowledge so revealed to me.
Come now, Duchess. Be reasonable.
If you read my book,
you know my defeat comes at
the cost of Holmes' own life.
He came back.
Ten years later and he
was never the same.
He was so changed, in fact,
that some scholars believe
it was never truly him
but me in a masquerade.
Are you prepared to take that chance?
Ah, oh.
[Sighs]
Gumption and spunk, indeed.
Very well, I offer you this treaty.
Return the watch to me
and I give you my word,
I shall quit this field of battle.
You're Moriarty. Why
should I trust your word?
If you won't trust my word,
Duchess, trust my self-interest.
I dare not return to
Prospero without Ariel.
His wrath would be
fearsome, even for me.
He holds my book and can
destroy me if he so wishes.
Give me the watch, and I
can return to him freely.
Deny it to me, and I'll
have to fight you for it.
And I cannot predict with any certainty
which of us will walk away from that.
A truce serves me better and you.
Q.E.D.
Until next time, Duchess.
Prospero, don't do this, please.
There has to be another way...
[Whoosh]
[Groans]
And now with staff in hand, I am...
- [Whoosh]
- [Voice distorts] Reborn!
No, no, no, no, no!
No!
What hast thou done?!
You destroyed the Tree of Knowledge
just to stop me?
What kind of Librarian art thou?!
The kind who knows that
sometimes you have to
turn your back on power.
This ending does not
fill the story's page,
but only marks a chapter on the stage.
I will find another object
with which to wield my rage!
[Exhaling deeply]
[Exhales sharply] You burned it?
Yeah.
To keep Prospero from it.
Yeah.
[Exhales deeply]
Tree of Knowledge...
gone.
What?
Don't be crazy. That's not
the Tree of Knowledge.
That's the Tree of Knowledge.
See, knowledge isn't old
or gnarled or knotted.
- [Gasps]
- It's young, always growing.
That's the thing about knowledge.
No matter how much you think you have,
there's always room to grow.
You made Prospero think
the tree was destroyed so...
So that he'd give up.
- Defeated a Fictional with fiction.
- [Sighs heavily]
Good plan, Librarian.
Just don't remember what that tree was.
- [Clears throat]
- I think it was important.
Yeah, it looks important.
Let's not tell Jenkins.
We won't. Secret's safe with me.
[Whoosh]
So I took the liberty of
locking down the Reading Room.
No Fictional will get in that way again.
You trapped the Queen of
Hearts back in her book,
and Frankenstein's Monster,
per your agreement,
is out in the world.
We'll see how that turns out.
Well, I'd love to say
all's well that ends well,
- but this is hardly ended.
- Nor has it ended well.
The Library is still malfunctioning.
Do you know the room that
we could never find a key for?
- Yes. What is in there?
- It is popping up in every corridor.
And, of course, there's still
the missing artifacts.
And then there's that mystery
note from some past Librarian.
Are we sure the staff isn't
already here in the Library?
Maybe it's one of the missing artifacts.
I've checked all the annals,
the appointment book.
There's no evidence whatsoever
that any Librarian anywhere
has ever recovered pieces
of Prospero's staff,
or that they wrote that note.
A mystery to remain unsolved, for now.
Our priorities are clear.
We're going after the artifacts.
Our priority is the Library.
It's broken. The defenses are down.
We need to tend to the homefront.
Did you see that list?
There's, like, 16 things on it.
And those are just the
ones that we know about.
They're out there. They're dangerous.
Prospero looked me in the eye and said,
"I'm going after more powerful objects."
We go after the artifacts.
Without a safe Library to put them in,
what's the point in finding them?
Without the artifacts, what's
the point of a Library?
Well, I'm... I'm... Excuse me.
I'm gonna go take care of
my desperately not wanting to be here.
Jenkins, get my adventure bag.
- I'm going after the Golden Camel of Marrakesh.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Stay... stay with us. Let us
plan for what's coming together.
If I stand still, then I go into my head.
And if I go to my head, I get lost.
Then let us help you find your way.
I know my way.
11 years, I've been
going my way. Too long.
This is better, I think.
You stay, you get ready for Prospero.
I go, find the artifacts,
clean up this mess.
Cover more ground.
Sure.
I'll, um... see you around, Eve.
Goodbye, Flynn.
[Whispers] Make sure she
takes care of herself.
What makes you think I have any
control over what she does, sir?
But I'll do my best. Good luck.
Where's Flynn?
He left.
Again?
I mean, shocking. Uh, I'm shocked.
So the Library's security system
could do with a bit of an overhaul.
Thank you.
And someone should
probably do an inventory
of the entire Library.
I mean, just to make sure that
no other artifacts are missing.
It's not like the Clippings Book
is gonna take a vacation
while we do it, so...
So what do you say, Colonel?
Would you mind a little company?
Sounds like a plan.
♪