Netflix's The Order: 12 Questions That Must Be Answered In Season 2
Wizards versus werewolves: Netflix's new formula for headscratching storylines.
The first season of Netflix's The Order presents viewers with some intriguing concepts. Magic can do just about anything, but it always comes at a price. Werewolves are not simply humans who transform, but rather something more akin to Marvel's symbiotes. Magicians and werewolves both join collegiate secret societies that teach them to harness their powers in between bouts of heavy drinking.
While the core premise is somewhat absurd, Jack's mission to stop Edward Coventry from completing the powerful Vade Maecum Infernal incantation can be highly entertaining at times. Tonally, it falls somewhere between Being Human and pretty much every show on The CW. This might sound like a bad thing, but the oddity of the show's tonal dissonance quickly becomes part of its strange charm.
Unfortunately, the show succeeds most when it strays from the central conflict. Jack's drunken eggplant emojis and Hamish's functional alcoholism may provide entertainment, but they take up time that The Order might have used to answer some major questions regarding its world and story. If Netflix decides to pursue a second season, they'll hopefully take the following 12 questions into account.
Warning: The jury might be out regarding werewolves, but major spoilers in the following entries are undeniably real.
12. How Did Both Silverback And The Vade Maecum Survive?
The reveal that Vera still possesses the Vade Maecum Infernal is meant to be a surprise, particularly since Jack, Alyssa and the Knights of Saint Christopher stood alongside Vera and watched her set the book ablaze. Their role as witnesses means little, however, in a world where even newbies can cast easily cast glamour spells on those they wish to deceive. The real shock is not the survival of the Vade Maecum, but rather Silverback's subsequent return to the Knights.
Lilith assumes that the Vade Maecum's destruction released Silverback from its bond, but it had just recently been established that Silverback is what gave the book its outer binding. Despite being a little burnt, the Vade Maecum shown in Vera's office is still fully intact. Without Silverback's page, the book should have no cover at all.
Given that Silverback only became bound to the book when its former champion failed to complete the incantation, the most likely explanation is that Edward's failure forced him to replace Silverback as the book's fourth part. It's also possible that the powerful Vade Maecum simply rejected Nephilim's Tears, while Silverback was still susceptible to the potion's enchantment-removing properties. Assuming the Vade Maecum continues to act as the show's primary MacGuffin in Season 2, the explanation for its survival should be provided early on.