Motherland Fort Salem Episode 10 Witchbomb- Breaking Down That Amazing Finale

Motherland Fort Salem Episode 10 brought the heat. Now, that’s the way to do a finale! Thank God there will be a season 2. Heavy spoilers ahead.

You can’t accuse Motherland Fort Salem of not delivering the goods. The alternative history science fiction show went from zero to sixty in ten short episodes. An entire reality, culture, and mythology were created seemingly overnight. If the first couple of episodes were a little slow, all was forgiven in one heart-pounding event that showcased all the actor’s talents and left so many cliffhangers. Powerful new foes, parents misbehaving, ancient races of people, and so many mushrooms. Here’s all you need to know about that exciting Motherland Fort Salem Episode 10.

The Spree, Scylla, and Raelle’s Mom

In an episode with so many reveals, one of the biggest involves the Spree. They attacked again. This time it was a soccer game. A stadium full of players and fans were turned into zombies, all chanting, “Our ancient enemy has returned.” Why they chose this attack instead of something more deadly, we don’t find out until the final act, but when we do, it turns everything we thought we knew on its head. For several weeks now, there has been discussion that the Spree may not be entirely bad. Maybe misguided and certainly less concerned with innocents than they should be but not evil with a capital E.

That perfectly sums up Scylla. She is, for sure, shady boots, but she does have some good in her. She is right to tell Anacostia that they aren’t that different. The Spree gave her a place to channel her pain and grief when her parents were killed. They had surrendered but were killed anyway to set an example. That trauma would affect any child. Anacostia is empathetic because she also lost her parents when she didn’t need too. They could have been healed, but magic was prohibited unless on the battlefield, and they were sticklers for the rules.

Because she understands Scylla, she allows her to escape using her face to do so. Just before Anacostia lets her go, she gives her a lighter, and we see her leave the room with another Anacostia on the floor. It was all part of the ruse. Scylla needed to make it look like Anacostia was knocked out to save her from being suspected of helping. All of this was set up, and that is why she gave Scylla the lighter. She knew she would need to burn her facade away once it was safe. We have not seen the last of her. Raelle still holds a torch for her, and she is connected. The final scene assures Anacostia knew what she was doing all along. Now that she knows where the Spree headquarters are, Alder will have to decide which enemy she wants to fight.

The safe house Scylla ran to held a bounty of information. First, it likely is in the midwest somewhere, as that is what makes the most sense based on what we know from Scylla’s stories. Second, someone who looks a lot like Anacostia was running in front of the house. Why was she there? Is that someone else who has assumed her face for some reason? If so, why? Or is it the apparent answer she let Scylla go to follow her? Lastly, the Granddaddy of all reveals. Raelle’s Mom is alive and the head of The Spree. She was never trying to hurt Raelle just save her daughter and judging from Scylla’s face, she never knew.

Demetria McKinney(Anacostia) does her best work in Motherland Fort Salem Episode 10. Anacostia has been very controlled through nine episodes. The most emotion she would show is a pause and a raised eyebrow. All that changed tonight when she unleashed her frustration at Scylla. Her barely contained anger was so palpable.

Raelle, Abigail, and Tally

Oh, it hurts my heart what happened to our ladies this week. They literally went to Hell and back. The unit loads into a chopper to rescue the Tarim instead of going to War College. It turns out Khalida had other plans for the girls and demanded they be part of the strike force with Adil. Abigail’s Mom Petra did everything in her power to get her out of it and sent to War College, but Abigail has grown a conscience and a spine and went with her team anyway.

She has shown the most growth this season. She went from a spoiled, entitled kid to an independent woman. Raelle grew on her, and they eventually formed an unbreakable bond. Raelle and Abigail have a love born from mutual respect. I believe Ashley Nicole Williams(Abigail) when she jumps into battle to save Raelle. It is not easy to hold your own with a powerhouse like Taylor Hickson(Raelle), but she has done well.

Raelle was impaled by a Camarilla scythe when she removed her mother’s charm to help comfort the scared Tarim boy. She believed her mother died because she did not wear it into battle on her last mission, so why she took it off, I will never know. Abigail grabbed her hand, and the two women exploded in a giant cloud of wispy black goo. The goo is similar to whatever Khalida and the other Tarim child had. It is also what one of the Biddy’s was infected with when they got shot with a dart. Is this some sort of weapon manufactured by the Camarilla? We don’t know what happened, but mushrooms looked to be growing all over, and the girls are last seen walking hand and hand in a cloud of the same inkiness with their steps glowing.

Are they alive? Are they dead? Is it something else altogether. With the mushroom wall, Raelle touched in Episode 7 Mother Mycelium and the rapidly growing shrooms on the ground it is clear whatever happened to Raelle before saved her and Abigail now. The explosion more than likely is part o the mushroom life cycle. Spores are released from mushrooms to make new mushrooms. Raelle and Abigail are part of that reproductive cycle now. Raelle’s Mom may think twice about eating all those mushrooms she’s cooking up.

Tally gave her youth to save General Alder. In a fierce and wildly exciting battle with the Camarilla, Alder went down along with several of her Biddy’s. Tally was angry with Alder for Citydrop. She didn’t think Alder should have puppeted the President or sent the cadets into battle. Not afraid to speak the truth, she confronts Alder. When the General’s life is on the line, though, selfless Tally steps up. Regardless of her dislike of Alder’s tactics, she knows there are things she can’t understand about what Alder had to do and what she saw in her past. Being the most empathetic by nature she was the only one who could have saved Alder.

With Raelle’s enhanced abilities and the fact that Tally does not appear to be a full Biddy, maybe she can be restored. All the other Biddy’s we have seen prior lose their ability to communicate with words. Tally speaks and screams, even making it seem unlikely we will have to endure old-age makeup all next season. Jessica Sutton(Tally) is a series regular, so no way will she be wasted in Alder’s harem.

General Alder

The head of the US Army has some serious juice. We saw glimmers of the kind of power she possessed in previous episodes. Tonight she unleashed her full strength on the Camarilla and it was awe-inspiring. She isn’t so much power-hungry as she is paternalistic. Alder believes she knows everything and is the only one who can do the job. She may be right. She was slightly off about the Spree but she’s right about Petra. Abigail’s Mom isn’t capable of running the might of the free world. Alder is capable of admitting a mistake. Now that Lyne Renee has been promoted to a series regular we will get to see a whole lot more of her in season two. Her 300 years of backstory will be fascinating to explore. How that history affects her decisions in the present will be humanizing for the ice queen.

The Camarilla

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the Camarilla are definitely enemies of both The Spree and the Army. We now have confirmation that there is something far worse than the blue balloon popping witches. The Camarilla are back, and they are equipped with some heavy artillery. They are teched up warriors who have leveled the playing field with electronics instead of magic.

Voice boxes to replicate seeds and dampeners to render the witches magically impotent have both been seen. Far more interesting than any terrorist group, The Camarilla has as long a history as Alder and is committed to winning at all costs. Knowing now the Camarilla was behind the attack on the Bellweather wedding; questions are raised about the balloons. Did the Spree send the balloons to harm the witches? Did they send them to warn them? Has the Camarilla begun using balloons themselves to confuse the situation?

The seeds the Tarim possess are more potent than anything either side has, so it now makes sense why Alder wants them so bad. They could be employed to take out the witch hunters once and for all. Invisibility and earth moving could come in handy during a war. Combined with males having enhanced abilities, their skills are necessary. Adil has skills far surpassing anything the men we have seen so far display.

Motherland Fort Salem Episode 10 exploded out of the gate and never stopped. The sexier than it should be show(especially for Freeform) is a bonafide hit. The writing is tight, pacing well thought out, and performances believable. With the recent news, there is a season two, and Lyne Renee will be a series regular one thing is for sure. We haven’t even come close to scratching the surface of this female-centric, sexuality accepting show. They are women hear them roar. Catch up on all our Motherland coverage here.

Tracy Palmer

As the Managing Editor for Signal Horizon, I love watching and writing about genre entertainment. I grew up with old-school slashers, but my real passion is television and all things weird and ambiguous. My work can be found here and Travel Weird, where I am the Editor in Chief.