Warning: this article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, “What Rough Beast. After a season of mystery and secrets, Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches first outing culminated in a world-changing place on Sunday night with Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) fulfilling a long-held prophecy as the thirteenth Mayfair witch, fully embracing her power and Lasher (Jack Huston). The episode ended with Rowan being the “doorway” for Lasher to become flesh — literally Rowan giving birth to a child and Lasher embodying that child — and in its final moments saw Rowan choose Lasher and power over Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa) who sought to, in his own way, protect her from what he sees as a threat.
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While it’s all framed as Rowan’s choice, it’s also a huge victory for Lasher who has been seen at odds with Ciprien over the past few episodes to get Rowan to choose him over the Talamasca agent she’s come to love. Speaking with ComicBook.com about Lasher’s major victory in the season finale, Huston reminds that while yes, Rowan did make the choice, there was still manipulation — Lasher is “the devil nonetheless.”
“It was interesting because I hadn’t actually read the book, so I was sort of reading as things were sort of divulged to us as we sort of read different episodes,” Huston explained of learning Lasher’s trajectory. “So, the big finale was a surprise to us all, I think. Lasher won big. It was interesting. I think what was cool about the way this was sort of set up was everything was actually Rowan’s choice. It was never forced upon her. I think that was quite an interesting choice of the writers and of how it was done. And it was never forced. He never wanted to be that sort of aggressor. He wanted her to choose and through that, but the end of it was her choosing that she fully accepted and that’s how she came into her power and that’s how Lasher came into his power.”
He continued, “They always say, it’s rather warm under the wings of the devil. So, it’s sort like that’s the thing. There’s the whole manipulation that’s done in there. But he’s the devil nonetheless.”
Huston has previously made the comparison about it being warm under the wing of the devil and Lasher before. In a previous conversation with ComicBook.com, Huston teased some of Lasher’s ulterior motives, particularly about the two working together and being capable of anything, something that clearly seemed to bear out in the finale.
“Episode five is that moment where you realize, or what he wants Rowan to realize, is as much as he is this entity that is able to control things and do things everything is actually through her. He wants her to understand that it’s her choice and he wants to empower her, but that’s not without the subtle manipulation that comes with that, with Lasher,” Huston said. “I think Lasher does have ulterior motives, but don’t we all? I think he’s a very complex character because his existence is purely based on the witch who he’s attached to, so he doesn’t exist without them, and they aren’t the all being, all powerful, which Rowan especially doesn’t know at this point, without him. What he’s saying is, if we work together, we’re capable of anything, but also without me… it’s that famous old saying, it’s very warm under the wing of the devil.”
As for where things from here, with Lasher now embodied in Rowan’s newborn son, it’s unclear exactly where season two of the series will take things. Series creator Esta Spalding said that, while they are trying to work from the books, they haven’t started too deeply on breaking season two just yet, though the Season 1 finale certainly seems to set the stage for a clash between Lasher and Ciprien, though the series will likely maintain focus on Rowan’s story.
“We are really trying to work from the books, but you’re right. Rowan is not the active driving force in that second book and in our show, we want her to be, to put it frankly,” Spalding told ComicBook.com. “It’s exciting to watch her. We’re asking questions about her, about what will power do to her, what will she do with it? Will she use it well and wisely and so on. So, we really want to follow through on her relationship with Lasher and what this kind of deal with the devil, this deal with power means in the second season, but in a way that empowers that character to make the discoveries for herself and not just be taken along on a journey. So yes, there’s a shift there for sure as we go into this in the journey forward because it is very much a show about Rowan.”
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches is now streaming on AMC+.
