The Magic Book

## Episode guide

**"The Magic Book"** is the fourteenth episode of the first season of *Nate Is Late*.

## Synopsis

On the way to school, Malika is absorbed in the fantasy book she borrowed from a dusty shelf in the library: "Leviah, Protector of the Savannah".

## Plot

Nate and Malika are heading off to school where Nate tells Malika of a dream he had where the two of them ended up in another world, before managing to get to the school but are punished for the tardiness by Principal Prudence. However, Malika Is too wrapped in her book to pay attention to him. When he finally does get her to, she reveals the book to be one she found at the school’s library as “Leviah and the Protector of the Savannah” about an African girl who fights an evil king called  Ari who uses a magic staff to take all the water for himself just to have waterfalls in his palace, leaving the animals with nothing and prompting Leviah to stop him. Nate’s intrigued and tries to grab the book to look at it, but Malika tugs at it claiming she was still reading it, resulting in some pages ending up ripped in the struggle. Just as Malika starts to scold Nate, the book suddenly glows and sucks the two into it. Not long after Maurice finds it, picks it up and starts reading it.

Inside the book, Nate and Malika find themselves in a savannah but are suddenly confronted by two men with spears, demanding they tell them where a girl is. Before they can answer, said girl suddenly jump down from a nearby tree and starts fighting the men. Malika instantly realizes that the girl is Leviah, which she proves by reading one of the passages to what’s happening at the current. The duo then realize they’re in the book, Nate is ecstatic but Malika worried on how they’ll get out, though both agree watching Leviah fight is awesome. After Leviah chases off the guards, two of the pages suddenly float off and disappear with both surmising that in order to leave they just have to reach the end of the book. Leviah greets the two, stating she’s looking for two guide that she was suppose to meet up with to lead her to Ari’s castle. Nate instantly claims they’re the guides, which Leviah accepts and they head off….just as the guides that were suppose to lead her show up.

The duo quickly realize they have no idea where the castle is and the pages they have don’t give any specific directions or clues. Luckily they spot some puddles on the ground and figure it’ll lead them to Ari’s castle. However when they follow it, they find only a cave, which turns out to be a trap by the guards from earlier which used gourd to trick them. They also reveal their trap, a very ferocious lioness. Leviah doesn’t think it’ll hurt her but the lioness attacks on the guards’ commands. As Leviah fights the lioness, Malika notes that what’s going on doesn’t exist in the story meaning they have no way to know what’ll happen next. Luckily Leviah notes a thorn in the lioness’ paw and asks the duo to distract her. Nate and Malika reluctantly do so, getting its attention. Before it can pounce on them Leviah quickly knocks the lioness out and removes the thorn, bringing it back to normal. Malika notes that the throne was cursed and was how Ari controlled the animals under his command. When Leviah asks how they know that the duo come clean that they’re not guides but offer to help her. Nate wonders if the lioness know the way to the castle while under Ari’s control which fortunately it does and the three follow the lioness.

The trio reach the castle where Leviah quickly takes care of the guards allowing them inside. They find a makeshift oasis inside fueled by the waterfall from the water Ari stole. The trio venture further but Malika stops, having read the last page, telling Nate that while Leviah stops Ari she’ll drown in the confrontation as well. This puts the duo in a conundrum, let the story play out so they go home at the expense of Leviah’s life, or intervene and risk never leaving. However, when Leviah calls out to them stating she’s counting on them to help her and that they can “write their victory together”. The duo decides to risk changing things. They show Leviah the final page who, surprisingly, is willing to accept her fate if it saves the animals. But Malika convinces her that was only because she was on her own in the original story. But with Nate and Malika there, they might be able to avert that outcome.

Leviah confronts Ari who attacks her with his staff and his control over water. Nate and Malika cheer her on which distracts Ari enough for Leviah to knock the staff from his hands and kick it to a structure above the waterfall, cracking it and unleashing the stolen water. Leviah and Ari are swept away in the rush of water, but Nate and Malika grab hold of a vine that Leviah had tied to a bridge earlier and pull. Leviah manages to grab it, saving her from her initial death and swing to safety. The water is returned to the animals and Leviah thanks the pair for their help. The pages glow and Nate and Malika are transported home, both parties saying their good-byes. Back in the outside world, Maurice is reaching the end of the story, but gets scared off when the book suddenly glows, dropping it to the ground. Nate and Malika appear outside of the book and check it over, not only has it fixed itself, but the final page has changed to Leviah celebrating with the animals over the returned water.

However, their joy is soured when they realize they’re late. They reach the school where they see Prudence waiting for them, Nate bemoaning it was as he dreamed earlier. But Malika thinks they can change their outcome. They meet with her, Nate starting to explain what really happened, but Malika stops him and claims she had to go back home to get the Leviah book and return it to the library. Prudence accepts the explanation and lets the duo pass for their school day, but is bewildered when Nate says thank you in a language he heard Leviah say.

## Characters

* Nate
* Malika
* Maurice
* Leviah
* Ari's Guards
* King Ari
* Principal Prudence

### Allusions

* Leviah finding and removing the thorn in the lioness paw is a allsion to the Greek tale *Androcles and the Lion*.

## Gallery

Click the image to view the gallery for this episode.

## Transcript

Click here to view the transcript for this episode.

## Names in other languages

* **Basque:** Liburu magikoa
* **French:** Le livre magique
* **German:** Das verzauberte Buch
* **Mandarin (China):** 绘本奇旅
* **Spanish (Spain):** El libro magico

 Season 2 | 1. "The Lady of the Lake" • 2. "The Thunderbird" • 3. "The Crocodile Man" • 4. "The Golem" • 5. "The Hairdresser" • 6. "The Mood Enhancer" • 7. "The Chess Game" • 8. "The Drone" • 9. "The Astronaut" • 10. "The Gorgon" • 11. "The Dimensional Rift" • 12. "The Reptilians" • 13. "The Enchanted Bracelet" • 14. "The Ink Thief" • 15. "The Tiki" • 16. "The Puppet" • 17. "The Mandrake" • 18. "The Vampires" • 19. "The Sphinx" • 20. "The Pendulum" • 21. "The Giant Fish" • 22. "The Wedding Dress" • 23. "The Home Spirit" • 24. "The Great Pili-Pala" • 25. "The Endless Recess" • 26. "The Chicken Cop" • 27. "The Kitsune" • 28. "The Collector" • 29. "The Kappa" • 30. "The Beanstalk" • 31. "The Demigod's Test" • 32. "The Glitch" • 33. "The Tiny Tops" • 34. "The Magician's Top Hat" • 35. "The Chromapix" • 36. "The Gingerbread Family" • 37. "The Alphabet Agency" • 38. "The Wild Beasts" • 39. "The Return of the Cuddly Toys" • 40. "The Race Car" • 41. "Inside Professor Toybos" • 42. "The Asteroid" • 43. "The Time Travellers" • 44. "The Nebulons" • 45. "The Witches' Convention" • 46. "The Kobolds" • 47. "The Superstars" • 48. "The Goblin's Cousin" • 49. "The Golden Crown" • 50. "The Scarecrow" • 51. "The Banana Peel Part I" • 52. "The Banana Peel Part II"