Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Mayfair Witches Season 2.
The chilling AMC show Mayfair Witches, set within the network's self-titled Immortal Universe, tells the story of Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), a neurosurgeon who discovers that her birth name is actually Rowan Mayfair, and that she hails from a family of powerful witches. As she digs into her background, we learn that every member of the Mayfairs has their own crucial role to play — as well as get a glimpse into the family's history of magic.
As the series reveals, someone from each generation of the Mayfair family is born with the ability to see, communicate, and command a demonic spirit named Lasher (Jack Huston); that person is also considered the Mayfair family "designee." However, magic resides in the bloodline of all members of the family, who have developed their own reputation within the supernatural underground of New Orleans. But who are the most prominent members of the Mayfair dynasty, and how are they each related to Rowan? Let's break it down.
Rowan Mayfair
Rowan Mayfair (Daddario) is the thirteenth designee and is also considered the most powerful witch in the her family line because she is a genetic combination of her ancestors' most powerful paranormal abilities. She was born to Deirdre Mayfair (Annabeth Gish), but her birth father is Cortland Mayfair (Harry Hamlin), Deirdre's uncle. As a result, Rowan was taken away from her mother at birth by her aunt, Carlotta Mayfair (Beth Grant), and given to Ellie Mayfair (Erica Gimpel) to raise as her adopted daughter. Carlotta intended to end their family's connection to Lasher and made Ellie promise never to tell Rowan the truth about her true heritage.
After Ellie dies, Rowan uncovers secrets about the Mayfairs and visits New Orleans in an effort to meet her biological mother, but Deirdre is killed before their reunion can take place. Rowan eventually embraces her connection to Lasher when her cousin, Tessa Mayfair (Madison Wolfe), is captured by witch hunters and dies. This fuels Rowan to seek revenge on the man who killed Tessa with Lasher's help. Later, Lasher uses Rowan to transform his spirit into flesh by rebirthing himself through her, thus fulfilling the ancient prophecy about the thirteenth witch serving as a doorway for Lasher to enter the mortal world.
Carlotta Mayfair
Carlotta Mayfair is Rowan's great-aunt and Cortland's sister, and hid Rowan away when she was an infant. Carlotta was also responsible for keeping Rowan's mother, Deirdre, catatonic, repeatedly drugging her niece to keep Lasher bound to her through their connection. As the reason Deidre was comatose for the latter half of her life, Carlotta is considered spiteful and will even commit acts of evil to prevent Lasher's rebirth. A religious, self-righteous, and even murderous woman, Carlotta's main goal is to rid her family of Lasher's influence, regardless of what she has to do to get rid of him. In the first season, Carlotta tries to kill Rowan by trapping her in a burning room and stabbing her with a knife, but Rowan retaliates by using her powers to throw Carlotta over the balcony of the Mayfair family home, where she falls to her death.
Deirdre Mayfair
Deirdre is Rowan's estranged mother, who became pregnant when she was assaulted by her uncle, Cortland Mayfair. Like many witches before her, Deirdre was infatuated with Lasher and was repeatedly drugged by her aunt, Carlotta, until the end of her life in an effort to sever her connection to him. While Deirdre is ultimately awakened from her comatose state by Lasher, thanks to Rowan's return to New Orleans, she is eventually killed in a plot orchestrated by Cortland, who also ordered the Talamasca to erase any trace of the crime after the fact.
Cortland Mayfair
Cortland is the current power-hungry patriarch of the Mayfair family and Rowan's biological father, as the first season reveals that he assaulted his niece, Deirdre, with the intention of ultimately furthering the thirteenth witch prophecy. Cortland also secretly teams up with the Talamasca to ensure Rowan fulfills the prophecy and hires someone to kill Deirdre before mother and daughter can reunite. While Cortland first appears as an ally to Rowan, he has selfish intentions behind encouraging Rowan to embrace Lasher. When Rowan finds out about the truth of her origins and Cortland's role in it, she uses her magic to turn Cortland to stone, though she later frees him from this prison at the beginning of Season 2.
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Tessa Mayfair
Tessa Mayfair is Rowan's young cousin with the ability to glamour men into a trance. Tessa initially visits Rowan after discovering that someone online is in possession of Deirdre's heart, and uses the opportunity to warn Rowan about the existence of witch hunters. At this point, Rowan doesn't want to be the Mayfair family designee, so she participates in a transference spell to get rid of Lasher, and Lasher appears to choose Tessa as the newest designee. With her newfound confidence, Tessa contacts the man who claims to have Deirdre's heart, but is kidnapped by witch hunters instead. Lasher doesn't answer Tessa's call when she asks for help while captured. Even though Rowan ultimately saves Tessa from being burned alive, Tessa is shot in the throat and killed by one of the hunters. Her kidnapping is the catalyst for Rowan completing the thirteenth witch prophecy.
Jojo Mayfair
Jojo Mayfair (Jen Richards) is Cortland's daughter, as well as Rowan's half-sister, and has the power of premonition, as we see her having a vision of Tessa being taken by the witch hunters in the first season. Upon meeting Rowan, she fears Carlotta will try and poison Rowan and is immediately protective of her. Jojo also informs Rowan that the designees are the ones who are really in charge of the family. Jojo questions her father's obvious obsession with Rowan, deducting that he must be hiding something from her. Later on, Jojo learns from Talamasca agent Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa) that Cortland raped Deidre, and later had her killed so that Rowan would come into her power. Jojo appears to want Rowan to be in charge after learning the truth about her father.
Suzanne Mayfair
Suzanne Mayfair (Hannah Alline) is the original Mayfair witch, appearing in Mayfair Witches only through flashbacks until her spirit helps rebirth Lasher through Rowan. While alive, she was a village healer in Scotland, and struck the original deal with the demon Lasher, resulting in a curse over her descendants. Lasher offers his services to Suzanne's family in exchange for the completion of the 13th witch prophecy. Suzanne was eventually burnt at the stake, as she lacked control over Lasher and was unable to hide her magic from the villagers.
Dolly Jean Mayfair
Dolly Jean Mayfair (Charlayne Woodard) is a wise, knowledgeable Mayfair cousin who assists in performing the spell that supposedly transfers Lasher to the next designee. While the Mayfairs are looking for Tessa, Dolly Jean is the first to realize Rowan is pregnant by Lasher and passes on the details to Cortland. Later, Dolly Jean overhears Jojo and Ciprien's discussion of the prophecy and reveals that the rebirth of Lasher will take mere hours, rather than months.
Moira Mayfair
Moira Mayfair (Alyssa Jirrels) is Rowan's cousin, and appears in the second season of Mayfair Witches. She blames the Mayfair family, along with Lasher, for the death of her sister Tessa. Her mother explains that Moira should be celebrating that Tessa's death helped bring about Lasher's rebirth, which will result in significant reward for the Mayfairs and their power. Moira possesses the unique ability to read minds but often wears headphones so she can block out the thoughts of those around her. Other family members override her mindreading ability by playing loud music when in the same room with her.
Elena "Ellie" Mayfair
Elena is a Mayfair cousin who was tasked with keeping Rowan safe after she was born, ultimately changing her name to "Elena Fielding" and moving away from New Orleans altogether. She spends two decades protecting Rowan until being diagnosed with cancer. Rowan confides in Ellie about her powers, fearing that she might hurt people with her mind. However, Ellie secretly calls the Talamasca, informing them that Rowan is coming into her powers and asking for information on whether the situation in New Orleans has changed. Ellie later dies from cancer with Rowan at her side, with her death ultimately kicking off Rowan's investigation into the truth about her past.
Gifford Mayfair
Gifford (Thora Birch) is Rowan's distant relative and has a reputation within the Mayfair family for being something of a recluse. She is wealthy, but self-deprecating in many ways, naturally drawn to tarot and the occult, and has the gift of foresight. Gifford senses something bad is coming, so she isolates herself at her lake house. Her tarot readings foreshadow danger for her family, and she ultimately has a fateful encounter with Lasher in Season 2, which results in her death.
Julien Mayfair
Julien Mayfair (Ted Levine) is Cortland's father and, therefore, Rowan's biological grandfather. The former patriarch of the family, Julien is an expert master of manipulation; at one point, Jojo Mayfair even claims that he once stole power from Mayfair women to increase his own strength. Julien makes his first appearance in Mayfair Witches Season 2, when he confronts Cortland after Rowan encases him in stone. Julien is cruel, tyrannical, and abusive, and considers Cortland to be especially weak, despite his role in orchestrating Lasher's rebirth into the human world. Their twisted father-son reunion is interrupted when Rowan frees Cortland from his prison, but it's clear that his foreboding presence will continue to haunt the Mayfair clan even from the beyond.
Mayfair Witches is available to stream on AMC+ in the U.S., with new Season 2 episodes premiering Sundays on AMC.
Mayfair Witches
- Release Date
- January 7, 2023
- Writers
- Michelle Ashford, Esta Spalding
Cast
-
Dr. Rowan Fielding -
Tongayi ChirisaCiprien Sip Grieve
WHERE TO WATCH
- Creator
- Esta Spalding
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Franchise
- Immortal Universe
- Creator(s)
- Esta Spalding, Michelle Ashford
- Producer
- Esta Spalding
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