Damn, hasn’t Tally grown?
The formerly sweet mediator of the Bellweather Unit was no longer encouraging everybody to just get along on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2 Episode 9.
Indeed, by the end of the episode, Tally was roaring at the injustice of the turn events had taken.
When the unit started, Tally was the least of the three. She was the sweetie, Raelle was the hick, and Abigail the bitch.
But because of her empathy, Tally has been coming to the fore on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2.
Actually, her evolution probably began on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 10, when she selflessly became one of Alder’s Biddies to save her.
Even though she was reverted to her young self on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2 Episode 1, Tally had formed a psychic bond with Alder that served to haunt her.
That’s why Tally was able to put together Alder’s dirtiest little secret eventually: Using Nicte Batan’s spell, Alder caused the Liberian rebel witches to kill themselves, which led Nicte to use that same spell to find the Spree.
Learning about all her deceit really soured Tally and her sunny disposition on Alder.
Tally was content to mope for much of the season, having all this intel and no place to take it.
But she made the mistake of asking Petra about the Liberian campaign. Petra put two and two together and realized she finally had the opening she needed to get rid of Alder so she could replace her.
Surely, Petra had back-channeled all the info she pried from Tally to President Wade. How else to explain both Wade and V.P. Silver showing up for the interrogation of Nicte? They were hoping for something incriminating about Alder from Nicte.
And that’s what they got, largely thanks to Nicte’s hard-picked questioner (she couldn’t be called an interrogator) Tally. Evidently, from their limited interactions, Nicte could sense Tally’s distaste for Alder’s past misdeeds and manipulated her to get out those revelations for public consumption.
After that performance, everyone — but Alder — got what they wanted. Wade had the evidence she needed to force Alder to step down quietly. Petra was going to be the leader of the Army. Even Anacostia got promoted to captain and head of intelligence.
It’s surprising that Anacostia would accept a promotion from the woman who forced out her foster mother. But then, Anacostia had cooled on Alder after becoming aware of some of her recent actions.
Also, is it just a coincidence that Anacostia’s old flame Sterling, who was on Silver’s staff, turned up at Fort Salem around the same time the witch plague did? Might he be Camarilla?
Tally was the other person who wasn’t happy. She didn’t think Alder should be able to retire with her legacy intact after her actions in Liberia and her indirectly spawning the Spree.
So she found the obscure Rite of Proxy and interrupted Nicte’s show execution by challenging Alder to a duel. Not surprisingly, she got her ass kicked. But when the other cadets, led by Raelle and Abigail, jumped in to defend Tally, that execution was over.
Tally oh so effectively made the point that witches, whether Army or Spree, shouldn’t be fighting with each other but should be battling their common enemy — the Camarilla. It’s doubtful that the human politicians would agree, but at least they kept quiet then.
With her secret out, Alder finally accepted that her time was done. But hey, 300-plus years was a pretty good run. Now, will there be any fallout for the Bellweather Unit for exposing Alder?
While Tally was inadvertently turning the Army hierarchy upside down, her unit mates were busy as well.
Abigail used her access to the Army’s new leader to get an official sanction for her unofficial mission against the Camarilla. It’s kind of hard to go back to classes after you’ve taken part in the leveling of a Camarilla compound.
Poor Adil. For following Abigail’s lead, he was being shunned by Khalida after using violence to protect the Tarim. Khalida appeared to take the position that it was God’s will if their people get wiped out after refusing to defend themselves.
Raelle learned more about the mycelium from the portion of her mother that still lives on within it. The mycelium’s origin showed another side of Alder, who created it from the remains of dead witches killed by the Camarilla, including her relatives.
That was just the push that Raelle needed to turn down her assignment to be part of a dog-and-pony tour planned to sell the witch-testing centers.
What was the logic behind making Raelle put of that tour? Is her blowing up a building going to set human minds at ease?
It was great to see that Scylla wasn’t gone after all. In fact, Edwin even invited her to stay there as long as she wanted to. He’s not as oblivious as Raelle seemed to think.
Also, Scylla appeared to be forming her own cell of sorts in the Session and came up with a spell that could be used against the Camarilla.
Quinn doesn’t seem to be going away either.
To revisit the growth of Tally, watch Motherland: Fort Salem online.
What exactly are Anacostia and Abigail planning against the Camarilla?
Is Anacostia’s new friend a spy?
Who brought the witch plague to Fort Salem?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.