Episode 30: The Dead Queen

### Additional Voicework

Stephanie Hickling Beckman as Margold Underwood, Shasparay Irvin as Nina Jennings, Cam Collins as Delia Hubbard and Miss Lavinia, Dr. Ray Christian as Bartholomew, Brandon Sartain as Indiana Boggs

## Content Warnings

"Gore, monster violence, mutilation, frank discussion of historical racism, assault, references to lynching, references to death of a child, descriptions of the desecration of dead bodies and cult activities."

## Plot Synopsis

Marcie Walker prepares her house to be the center of the preparations by herself, Delia Hubbard, and Marigold Underwood. Deeley arrives with her cousin, Indiana Boggs. Delia "Deeley" Hubbard admits that she's still learning but is willing to do what she could to help. Marcie welcomes them both.

Melvin Blevins goes to meet Marigold "Granny" Underwood and her daughter, Nina Jennings, in Wythville, VA, where there had been a lynching a couple years earlier and a resulting scandal that left the town desolate. Melvin meets the two by the town's funeral home, and Nina demands he prove himself to be trustworthy. Granny Underwood acquiesces to calling someone dead to prove Melvin's character. They summon Vera Blevins's spirit and Granny Underwood congratulates him for raising a strong woman. Melvin takes them back to the Walker House.

The first supper, Marcie welcomes her guests and prepares to never have another meal like it again. While they're eating, a group from Good Mother Ministries including Evelyn Burgess and Georgie Triplett arrives offering a "huckleberry cobbler" in order to share the news of the Good Mother. Marcie and the others are suspicious of the cobbler and Granny Underwood identifies it as pokeberries, not huckleberries. Georgie feigns ignorance as Evelyn is confused. The wards burn the cobbler, proving that it was intended to cause harm. Apparently Georgie orchestrated this meeting to poison the occupants of the Walker House before they could complete their ritual under the guise of evangelizing. Evelyn is shocked by this but Georgie proclaims how the others will be destroyed by the Good Mother. The wards push her back and Marcie tells Evelyn to tend to her flock. Georgie is dragged away cursing.

The three witches do their best to prepare. Bartholomew visits right before to see their progress and Deeley asks how The Dead Queen came to be. He explains that the Child and the Mother are two separate entities. The Child was meant to be a vessel for The Inner Dark, but it proved to be too much for such a small body. Another vessel was chosen, but she resisted being filled and thus a fight between Mother and Child was born, sometimes one triumphing over the other for a time. Over a hundred years before, seven came together--three of the Green, three of the others, and one greater still--to bind or destroy her. They bound her and renew the binding every seven years, but the Queen only needs to be in the ground on the year of the rebinding and can walk the land for the other six. Bartholomew says they will soon set things right.

Melvin drives them as close as he can and promises to wait for the Witches before they meet Skin't Tom, Miss Lavinia, and Old Sister--who appears as lost loved ones to the witches--at the place that has no name where they start the ritual. The idea behind the ritual is to use The Green to weave a web to ensnare the Dead Queen in. Granny Underwood comforts Deeley and instructs her to watch Marcie closely as she will most likely be called on to be Weaver someday. Granny Underwood and Old Sister act as the Loom, Skin't Tom and Deeley as the Wool, and Marcie and Miss Lavinia as Weavers. As they begin working, Deeley swears she can see the web they're weaving. Monstrous spiders begin to attack them and Deeley nearly leaves her wards in fear but steadies herself. Georgie Triplett attacks them with a knife but is stopped by Granny Underwood disarming her and then the wards turn her to ash.

The Dead Queen arrives in an attempt to stop the ritual and brings more spiders in overwhelming numbers. Deeley undoes the Dead Queen's web with her Necromancy. The Queen tries sending other dead creatures at them and one almost gets Marcie, causing Skin't Tom to sacrifice himself to save the ritual. Lavinia attacks the creatures too as the Dead Queen comes forward, fighting with the Child over control of her body. Lavinia attacks the Dead Queen as the Child takes control and throws her off, pulling the life force from the Witches and Old Sister. The ritual is almost complete and as the Dead Queen comes closer, Bartholomew as a bear attacks and puts the Other Queen in the grave, burying her and knocking the Witches to the ground. They recover, including Lavinia, and finish the ritual, Old Sister stepping up to provide most of what they lacked from losing Tom.

Afterwards, the witches adjourn to the Walker House with various after effects. Deeley is thinner and has a haunted gaze as well as a grey streak in her hair. Granny Underwood regained some of her youth. Marcie is tired and vows to sleep-in.

Bartholomew sits at the grave with some clothes and waits for the woman in the grave to crawl out. It is revealed that it's Daughter Dooley and she asks how bad the ritual was this time.

## Relevant Characters

* Bartholomew
* Marcie Walker
* Delia Hubbard
* Marigold Underwood
* Skin't Tom
* Miss Lavinia
* Old Sister
* The Dead Queen